Sermons for the Month
Weeding In God's Time
DATE: July 17th, 2005
SERVICE: 9th Sunday after Pentecost
TEXT: Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN That Good Soil song we sang last Sunday has been in my mind all week, that and the image of thorns growing out of my ears.
Please don't look so confused; I'll explain what I mean. Last week our focus was on the Parable of the Sower and we reflected on the fact that the four types of soil (which represent four types of people) and their response to receiving the seed (which is God's word) are simultaneously evident in all of us.
In other words, we deal with hard, closed hearts, ungrounded, too ready to run feet and thorn-infested preoccupied minds at the same time that the Spirit is cultivating faith in the Good Soil deep within us.
As I was describing this situation at the contemporary service, focusing on the fact that sometimes it feels as if our skulls are filled with weeds, I suddenly visualized thorns growing out of my ears. When I expressed that, one of the children proclaimed, "OUCH"! And indeed, that was a true assessment; it does hurt to be so worried and so preoccupied that the Word of God is overwhelmed. That's why our prayer is that the Good Soil within us will increase while the other types of soil decrease.
Well, today's Gospel lesson tells us another reason why it is so important that the Good Soil, along with the faith that grows in it, increases. It's because of the reality that in our world evil and good co-exist, and that's the way it will be until Jesus returns.
As he talks with the crowds Jesus paints another picture using farming images. He tells the story of someone who sows good seed in a field, but the field is desecrated when someone else sows weeds among the wheat.
I remember that the last time I preached on this text I spent some time describing the weed to you; let me offer a quick reminder about that today. The weed was called bearded darnel and in the early stages of growth it was impossible to distinguish it from the wheat. By the time farmers could tell one from the other it was too late to pull it out without damaging the wheat. But, because the weed was slightly poisonous, it had to be removed at some point. So, this was done by hand at the harvest.
The point Jesus is making in the parable is that while God does not put an end to evil now, one day the evil will be separated from the good, and justice will prevail. But, the timing of that harvest, and the sorting process, is in God's hands, not ours. As one commentator noted, God has not equipped us with the insight necessary to weed the garden. Unlike God, we cannot know people's hearts, or where their lives might take them, or the potential for redemption.
This is a situation, then, that calls for trust and for perseverance because our world is so fraught with injustice and suffering. In that midst of that reality we would like to see things as absolutes - good and evil, illegal and legal, right and wrong. The solution is, obviously is to punish the evil people - and we know who they are.
However, there is actually more gray area that we would like there to be, and an unsettling point that might not have occurred to us is this - they are us. Just as the four soils exist in us simultaneously, it also is true we are sometimes the wheat and other times the weeds.
When St. Augustine commented on this parable long ago, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. This is what he said, "There is this difference between people and real grain and real weeds, for what was grain in the field is grain, and what were weeds are weeds. But in the Lord's field, which is the church, at times what was grain turns into weeds and at times what were weeds turn into grain; and no one knows what they will be tomorrow." (1)
That's why it's so important to remember that we who hope to receive grace must also be willing to extend it. I had never realized this before, but there's a significant choice when it comes to translating the phrase from today's Gospel lesson, "Let both of them grow together until the harvest."
In a sermon I read on this text Robert Capon is sited; he points out the fact that the word we translate "let" can have two meanings. One is to allow or permit, which is how we usually understand the word in this text. But the other meaning is to pardon or forgive. The very same word that is translated "let" in this parable is used in the Lord's Prayer and is translated "forgive", as in "Forgive us our sins…."
What is implied, then, in the original language is offering forgiveness to a malicious enemy. So, instead of responding to evil with an attack of our own, which only adds to the harm, our response should be forgiveness and a willingness to trust in the timing and purposes of God. (2)
This certainly is consistent with the ministry of Jesus who told us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us and who himself asked God to forgive those who had betrayed and tormented him as he suffered and died on the cross.
Now I realize that what I'm saying is difficult to apply in a world filled with violence. The front page of the Akron Beacon Journal on Wednesday only began to convey the realty with stories of unimaginable domestic violence, terrorism in London that may have been perpetrated by people of British citizenship and murder in a neighborhood not far from where I live.
All of this forces we who follow Jesus to ask some tough questions about how to respond in ways that does not create further harm and loss. One of the bitter lessons of war - any war - is that the end comes only after innocent people have suffered and the desired goal often is far from being reached. No doubt that is why Jesus encourages us to consider another way to live as we wait for his return.
The clear message of today's Gospel lesson is that that day will come. And once the harvest is in - when Jesus returns - our Lord will act with both mercy and with justice. It's all in God's hands - as it should be - not ours. We have no ability or right to make determinations about who will receive mercy, and who will be judged, since we are unable to discern what is in people's hearts.
And, actually, that's a relief because it means that our focus can be on the hope that is ours, through Jesus, as we anticipate his return. And there certainly is hope because evil has no power to stop the bountiful harvest of the righteous. It is true that we now face an imperfect existence that is filled with inconsistencies and injustice. We co-exist with the weeds, and indeed there are times when they are growing within us.
But, remember, if we acknowledge the Holy Spirit's presence, the faith that is being cultivated in the Good Soil within us will always prevail. And on one great and glorious day the shadows will fade, all will come into the light of day, we will no longer be subject to sin - our own or that of other people. Then, we will shine bright like the life-giving sun in God's perfect kingdom. AMEN
Until that day, then, we must trust and persevere. (1) Sermon 73A.1, quoted in Manlio Simonetti, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, 1a, Matthew 1-13, (Intervarsity, 2001), p. 277.
(2) The Very Rev. Charles Hoffacker, used by permission, Let Both of Them Grow Together, materials for July 17, 2005, www.sermonwriter.com.