So
here we are with the second of seven in this series of Jesus' parables
according to St Matthew the Evangelist! Aren't we glad that this week's primary
character, the landowner and farmer, is so much more... well, stable than
the extravagant sower from last week? He was weird, right?
Except, we don't get that. We get instead another parable of some weird, kookie
guy. He's nameless, and sows good seed, and isn't too perturbed when weeds
sprout up.
So,
for those of us with our pretty gardens, we may think this is just a bit
eccentric. LEAVE the weeds in? Ignore the weeds? Yikes. That's just not our
style - there are umpteen products we buy to prevent and destroy weeds. I have
neighbours who seem to patrol their gardens daily - if not more often - to make
sure that as soon as the first hint of a weed pops up, it can be suitably dealt
with.
These
are our pretty flowerbeds - we don't depend on them for food. And *when* those
weeds do have the nerve to try and grow, we see them for what they are - weeds.
The growth from a seed that happened to be in that place at that time, under
the right conditions to grow. It's a weed - it's what they do.
Yet
our character today says that the weeds aren't just happenstance; they've been
intentionally and maliciously placed among the wheat. And, dear gardeners, just
leave them there - it'll be fine.
In
today's common language, we might refer to this person as a conspiracy
theorist. An enemy secretly planting weeds at night. Suuuurre.
So
here's where it gets even stranger for the workers, those 'slaves' who are out
standing in the field: this is not a flowerbed, it’s the place where the
primary sustenance for the entire household - family, workers, friends who
visit - for all those people for the year and beyond. This is not to be taken
lightly; there is no convenience store up the road should the crop fail.
But -
the master says, it'll be fine.
And
let's take our wheaty learning one step further. The weeds in question are
dandrels. Tares. Nasty plants that look an awful lot like wheat – and propogate
quickly as they’re camouflaged in the wheat, and they produce a seed that is poisonous
to humans. So mix in a few of these things with the wheat through the mill, and
the whole batch of flour is useless.
But,
Jesus says, the Master has indicated that he's okay with that.
I
suspect at this point of the story, the field workers were raising their
eyebrows to one another, wondering about the boss' sanity. I suspect at this
point that those who were wishy-washy about the whole “let’s follow Jesus”
notion left off, ignored his comments, and went back to their previous way of
life.
Yet the disciples, in their commitment, refuse to
accept the shock and confusion of the parable, and they ponder what the
learning was meant to be from this.
But even in the clear(er) description that Jesus
gives, the implications of which remind us that God's kingdom is not as
black-and-white as we might like it to be.
There are some unexpected parts in that. The devil,
for example – this parable reminds us that as much as God is sending goodness
into the world, the devil sends badness into it.
(And today's sidebar is just a reminder that
"the devil" wasn't necessarily referring to any one personified
being, but instead to a nebulous concept of sin and temptation. And that just
as we can see God's actions in the regular, small, ordinary stuff of life, so
too we need to be aware that the devil will work through small, regular,
ordinary ways too. It's not always BIG drama and trauma.)
So -
back to the parable: the harvest is the end of the age, the eschaton, when God’s
messengers (angels just means messenger, not some greeting-card kind of cute
little floating-with-a-harp things) – they’ll judge who is wheat and who is
weed.
Ah yes, there’s the
underlying message for us all here. The judgement: it’s not ours to do. It’s up
to God, in God’s time, in God’s way.
And that means that it’s
not up to us to judge. It’s not up to us to decide when judgement should be.
And it’s not up to us to decide what that judgement will look like.
Ouch. THAT is a strong
message. Because that’s exactly what we do, isn’t it? We are judgey people.
Always have been, always will be – it’s part of the reality of being a human
being in the world, where sin and temptation can pervade everything.
In fact, that sinfulness is
part of the judgement, if we listened closely. Jesus says that part of the
winnowing of the devil’s work will be to cast out the cause of sins… the
systems and structures and influences, be they large or small. They will be
held to account, Jesus tells us. So we can’t get away with “but everyone else
was doing it” or “I was only following orders” or any other excuse.
In fact, we’re meant to work against that. God
gives us an inquiring mind and discerning heart so we can respond faithfully to
the world: God challenges us to work against the structures in which sin
flourishes: for ourselves, for our families, for the world.
The weeds are going to go, Jesus tells us. But until they do, just be
aware that they’re their. So let’s instead think about the wheat. The good
stuff. The source of nourishment and nutrition. The good stuff. It’s where we want to be; who we think we are. Righteous
people shining like the sun in the kingdom of our Father! PHEW!
Except. (Yes, there is always a 'except' moment.) Except the reality too is
that after leaving these two plants together, there's bound to be some
cross-pollination. Some natural genetic shift-up happening as the wheat and
weeds comingle and jockey for the earth's nutrients to grow, as these plants exert
influence over each other. We'd have some pretty nifty weedy-wheat growing;
some of its seed poisonous, some of it nutritious and necessary.
This
would make it even harder to split the weeds from the wheat, the good from the
bad. And that too is a learning from Jesus today: there exists within each of
us good and bad, humble and proud, positive and negative.
This is a hard lesson.
For the disciples then, for us now. It’s Jesus teaching that the spiritual
journey can be a difficult one. It's not a simple thing, to grow in the
relationship with God, to remain steadfast in the faith. It takes effort to
continue to grow, and make sure that we're not overpowered by the evil in the
world. To make sure that we're not dissuaded from our faith and allow it to
succumb to external pressures. To make sure that we're not distracted from our
journey by some temporally and temporarily thing that is ungodly. And that we're not
so blended that we need to be careful and prayerful to discern what is wheat
and what is weed within ourselves.
The lesson continues with encouragement though.
Jesus wants us to know that our growth is wanted by the Father. We are assured
that we will have as many chances as we need to be as much wheat as we can be.
This parable reassures us to be gentle with
ourselves as we strive to be strong in our faith. It's not going to be easy,
but it is going to be worth it. It's not going to be all good or all bad - sin
and temptation will always be creeping around. And yet, we are also to remember
that God’s infinite patience with us is overpowering any earthly ways. In our
weedy days, we’re given the chance to be wheaty. In our wheaty ways, we’re
given the chance to grow stronger.
What a
wonderful, illogical, unlikely reality that God gives us for our journey. What
a blessing to us all. What a spiritual gift to know that no matter how sinful
we can be, we are never beyond God’s grace and care. And no matter how
righteous we are, we are never beyond God’s grace and care.
Let
everyone who has ears truly hear this Good news of God.
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