"God's Field"
Sermon Presented July 20, 2008
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Maybe it's because I was working on this text, but last week I became obsessed with the weeds growing beside the back door of the church. All I could think was: "That huge dandelion or thistle or crabgrass will make it impossible for the seed Roy and Bruce planted to grow" so I tried to pull them. Some came up easily and others were rooted deeply and I only broke off the top of the plant. I then ventured to the other side of the door and pulled some weeds there. I'm sure I have some of my dad in me because Dad couldn't stand the sight of weeds in his yard and would attack them with a vengeance!
To me, weeds are a nuisance, but they don't affect me economically. However, if I were a farmer with weeds in my field that were higher than my grain or vegetables or strawberry plants, I would be negatively affected. That's why Jesus' parable that is our text for this morning just doesn't make sense to me! I will read it and you can see what you think! Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Let's look at the parable more closely as we remember that Jesus is speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven, which he compares to a person who sows good seed in his field. However, the landowner has an enemy, and while the farmer and his household sleep, the enemy invades the field and sows bad seed.
There are no eye witnesses or surveillance cameras, so the deed goes undetected until the weeds begin to sprout. When the slaves notice the weeds, they approach the landowner questioning the quality of the seed planted and volunteering to begin the arduous task of pulling the weeds. The landowner knows his seed was good, and that these weeds aren't the result of thistle seed that blew into the field. This was a deliberate act by an enemy to ruin his crop! The surprise of the parable is that the landowner tells the servants to let the weeds grow, because to pull them would uproot the wheat. They are to let the grain and weeds grow together and at harvest, they can be separated - gathering and destroying the weeds first, and then gathering the wheat into the barn.
Douglas Oakman writes in his book Jesus and the Economic Questions of His Day (p. 114), that pulling the darnel was the standard practice because the seed of this weed is toxic. Letting it grow together with the wheat risked ruining the crop, and any flour made from that grain would be tainted. But the landowner of the parable chooses a path that is different from the wisdom of the day. He decides to let the wheat and darnel grow together.
According to this parable, the compassion of God isn't modeled after human wisdom. Jesus says that God does what is foolish by human standards. Conventional wisdom tells us to uproot whatever stands in the way of God's salvation. But the kingdom that Jesus describes isn't built on that kind of wisdom. It foolishly refuses to weed out the evildoers and advises patience and mercy. It portrays God as being compassionate toward sinners.
Yesterday in the Journal Sentinel, there was an interview between Tom Heinen, the religion editor, and Marek Bozek, a 33 year-old Polish-born priest who "butted heads with Archbishop Raymond Burke and the Vatican by leaving his assignment in one Missouri diocese to become the pastor of a rebellious parish in St. Louis." You may recall that Bozek was the priest who was excommunicated for being a celebrant when a group advocating female priests held an ordination ceremony for two women. (July 19, 2008, p. 5B) While the Vatican, Burke and many Catholics world-wide consider Bozek a rebel who should be silenced - a weed in the words of the parable, other Catholics consider him a spokesperson for reform and justice in the Church. The parable indicates that God will determine the status of those facing judgment.
This parable also affirms that God has enemies, and the enemy is sneaky and vicious. No one saw the villain come into the field - so he is unidentifiable to the slaves. It is the result of his evil deed that is visible. I immediately thought of the slick thief who stole my wallet from my handbag in Barcelona. I had no idea it was gone until the next morning. The theft was done in secret, and the act - when I discovered it - caused grief.
During this life, there will always be good and evil. They coexist! Jesus is speaking of the kingdom of heaven, and even though he brought God's kingdom to earth, God's children will always be affected by the sin that sneaks up on us. We aren't always perceptive to the warnings of God or the activities of the enemy. Our soil is receptive to both good and bad seed, and we allow both to take root! If we could see the label SIN attached to a temptation, we might be better able to make the right choices, but we might also choose to ignore the sign! We are human! We deal with sin, and when we succumb to the enemy, we are called to uproot the sin from our lives - before the harvest. We are called to seek forgiveness!
The master knew the source of the bad seed but the slaves did not. And if we're honest, we can't always recognize the enemy either! Wheat and darnel look alike! Enemies tend to be sneaky and act under cover of darkness, or they may be nice to our face and stab us in the back when we aren't looking. When we realize what is happening we often become angry and irrational. But if we're patient, we may find that our enemies can teach us something we need to learn about ourselves! Sometimes our enemies even become friends. Sometimes we are the ones at fault in the relationship. That's why it is important to be sensitive to God's input. If the bad seed is causing us physical, spiritual or emotional suffering, we may need to separate ourselves from the enemy immediately.
This parable isn't a call to passively ignore evil. It's not a command to ignore injustice and violence in the world or wrong in the church. However, the master says to leave the weeds alone because sometimes when we pull the weeds, we harm the good.
This parable presents a conflict of kingdoms. The bottom line is that separating authentic members of the covenant from false members is God's business and must await judgment. Patience and tolerance are required. Because we live in an imperfect world, no human effort can eradicate all of the evil. Our task is to live as faithfully and obediently as possible - confident that the harvest is sure. Evil is temporary and only the good endures to eternity.
Our book club is reading Memoirs of a Geisha, a novel by Arthur Golden. The novel shows how the jealousy of an older geisha toward a young apprentice causes monumental grief for the one being tormented. It isn't until the apprentice becomes a geisha and is adopted by the woman who owns the house where both live that the younger woman can halt the evil that the other is sowing. Until that time, the evil and the good grew together, and it wasn't a pretty picture.
Sometimes we can't see the goodness in a person or a group of people because of the preponderance of weeds. But the goodness is there. Weeds grow much faster than good plants. Although the one who sowed the weeds desired to harm the landowner, the intended purpose was not accomplished. Patience was part of God's plan.
Some good things cause people to sin: drinking a glass of wine can be sin for an alcoholic; a beautiful work of art may become sin for the one who lusts after it; the beauty of the human body can become the object of sin to one who is addicted to sex or child pornography. The one who is adversely affected by something that is innately good, should consider it a weed and stay away from it. We have a choice as to what we do with our temptations.
A leopard can't change its spots, but sinners can change their ways. And that is why we need to allow God to deal with the sinner - and we are included in that category. We need to care for ourselves and not judge others. Weeds will always be present in God's Kingdom on earth.
At the end of the interpretation of the parable, we read that after the evil has been destroyed, "the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." When weeds overshadow the righteous, we don't see the sun. My sister lives in Sacramento, CA. Because of the wildfires that are raging all around that city, she hasn't seen the sun for weeks because of the layer of hazy smoke that blankets the area. When the haze is gone, the sun can shine through. When sin is gone, the righteous will shine like the sun in God's kingdom! We don't even need to wait for judgment for that to happen!
Waiting for the in-breaking of God's kingdom is like no other kind of waiting. It's not waiting in dread, but waiting in hope for something we can't see and yet yearn for. It's yearning for God. As we wait, let's look at our personal weeds that we can eliminate from our lives so that we might draw nearer to God. The parable says that God will take care of the rest!
07/20/2008
