Sermon on August 22, 2010
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.
For those of us who spend a weekend every spring slipping seeds into the soil, but whose thumbs are anything but green, there is perhaps something hopeful about today’s Scripture lesson. For those of us lately who have faced the prospect of being carried off by mosquitoes as we attempt to pick a few tomatoes and zucchinis from our gardens, and especially for those of us who, at this point in the summer, consider just giving our gardens up to the weeds, that there’s something encouraging in today’s parable. “Let the weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest!” Finally some gardening advice I can live with, even if my petunias can’t.
You see the weeds in my garden have come to think of themselves as Ben’s primary crop. Many of them are second and third generation now at least, and these weed families regard the flats of marigolds I import as unwanted intruders to be surrounded and cut off from circulation. At the rate they’re growing these days, my weeds must have decided that my feeble attempts to pull them are actually part of my pruning program, a regimen I employ every month or so to help them come in stronger and more lustfully than before. So I appreciate the master’s advice—leave those weeds alone! Worry about them later! Let them grow! Strange advice, I know, but when you come to think about it, the entire thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel reads like a bizarre issue of Better Homes and Gardens.
There’s a sower sowing seeds in the good soil, but also on the path, the rocky ground, and among thorns. Then there’s the mustard seed section with the tiniest seed becoming an enormous tree. And finally we have Jesus’ gardening corner where we find out that the weeds are to remain where they’re planted.
Perhaps we’re simply reminded here of something we found out in Genesis: God likes gardens. Even, apparently, problematic ones—even gardens where watering the wheat means watering the weeds as well. And by the way, we’re not just talking about any weeds here. The ancient plant Matthew refers to is called darnel. It is a weed that, as a seedling, looks a lot like wheat. And as darnel grows its roots entangle the wheat around it and these two plants become so intertwined that pulling up one will undoubtedly uproot the other. Making matters worse, darnel is poisonous.
The servants receive their master’s orders: “Let both of them grow together until the harvest.” And so all through the season they can only watch as these plants grow side by side, tangled together. Wheat and weeds.
This story is mindful of another that I first heard from Peter Gomes, a celebrated preacher and theologian. The setting was the World’s Fair during the late 19th Century. Russia arrived with a curious exhibition entitled “World Peace.” Front and center in the display was a large cage containing a wolf and a lamb, hopefully bearing witness to that prophetic vision in which the wolf and lamb lie peaceably together in the kingdom of God. Such a striking exhibit drew large crowds and finally prompted someone to ask the curator, “How do you do it?” The curator replied, “Oh, it is really very simple. We replace the lamb every morning.”
Wolves and lambs… In theory it was a good idea. In practice the pursuit of “world peace” seems to use up more lambs than wolves.
Weeds and wheat… In theory they’re to await the harvest together. In practice they do, but we know what happens. The weeds choke out the wheat. War threatens peace. Violence shatters trust. Ignorance belittles understanding. Intolerance decays community.
Intensity has grown around the decision of whether or not to build an Islamic community center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City. A recent poll suggests that close to 68 percent of Americans object to the project. My sense has been that the weeds of mistrust and fear in this nation have been choking out the seedling of a possibility that this Islamic center could represent our country’s very best response to terrorism. It would send a message to the world that here in the United States, we refuse to be bullied and to allow a few violent extremists to cloud our judgment when it comes to the Muslim world. Moreover, I would love to be a fly on the wall in the cave when Osama Bin Laden found out that America celebrated the presence of an Islamic center in the very heart of the city he tried to destroy. But that won’t happen, I’m afraid. Those who have demonized Muslims are choking out other possibilities here. The weeds choke out the wheat.
So what are we to make of this parable where wheat and weeds live side by side at the master gardener’s insistence? Matthew provides an explanation. With the crowds gone, Jesus meets with the disciples and deciphers his parable. The sower is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seeds are the children of the kingdom, the weeds are the children of the evil one, the enemy is the devil, the harvest is the end, and the reapers are the angels. There you have it folks!
Personally I read this and I can’t help but think that telling the truth about a parable is sort of like telling the truth about Santa Claus. Truth may be true, but some things get lost in the explanation. And sooner or later we realize that the deepest currents of truth in our lives are ones we cannot tame.
Which puts us back in the garden, the untamed garden of our own lives. With that in mind, I’d like to make an invitation. I’d like to invite you to think of your life right now as a garden. Pretend it’s spring, and you’re the gardener standing there before the soil, and you’ve got seeds in your pockets—all kinds of seeds.
When you are kind to someone, you plant a seed—a seed of kindness. When you are patient with someone who requires patience, you plant a seed—a seed of compassion. When you encourage someone, you plant a seed of strength. When you cry with someone, you plant a seed of mercy. When you forgive someone, you plant a seed of grace.
We’ve all got these seeds, filling up our pockets—good seeds that need planting—seeds of hope and peace and light and love… And with every good thought and every good act, and with every purposeful move we make in the love of Christ, we drop another seed to the ground.
But here’s the problem. Sometimes we’re good farmers, and sometimes we’re not. Sometimes we’re the evil ones in our own gardens. And when we hurt someone, we plant a seed of unkindness. When we’re quick to point out what’s wrong, we plant seeds of despair. When we gossip, we plant seeds of separation. When we refuse to love others, we plant seeds of mistrust. When we refuse to love ourselves, we plant seeds of insecurity.
Sometimes we plant these bad seeds intentionally. A lot of times they just fall out. And so the gardens of our lives fill up with good crops and with weeds. Just like in the parable, it all grows together.
Now it’s easy in this life to get overwhelmed with the weeds. It’s easy to look at a field of thistles and just forget about planting anything new. It’s easy to read about poverty and violence and unemployment here in Racine and elsewhere and throw up our hands. But the kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field. And it doesn’t matter how many weeds there are out there—you and I are called to do something with the good seeds we’ve been given. So our task as Christians? Keep planting!
Are the weeds overwhelming? Keep planting. Is someone telling you it won’t make a difference? It will. Keep planting. Are you afraid you’ll run out of good seeds? You won’t. Keep planting. Keep planting, especially where you find weeds of hatred and greed. Work that soil and keep planting.
Think once again about your life as a garden. And I want you to bring to mind all those weedy spots in that garden—the broken relationships, the apologies that were never given, the trust that was broken, the words that have been left unsaid, the work that’s left undone, the anxiety that keeps you up at night… Picture the weeds in your garden, and then picture yourself walking right into the midst of those weeds and dropping some good seeds. Here and there, seeds of hope and possibility, willful seeds of love and grace.
Jesus said that “the kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field,” and in God’s untamed garden, those good seeds will bear much fruit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment