The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost --- 20 July 2014

(This was the congregation's annual "Indoor/outdoor picnic service." The service was rather informal and held in the fellowship hall. We discovered that the service and picnic held outdoors was uncomfortable, especially when/in the mayonnaise began to "turn" in the potato salad.)

GOSPEL: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
24 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' 28 He answered, "An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, "Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he replied, "No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.' " 
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

Let both of them grow together until the harvest

• Maybe we should have a discussion today rather than a sermon. The picnic lends itself to it.
• A few points -
• This is not how to take care of crops, is it? Letting the weeds grow with the main crop would damage the crop. So we're not talking about advice on agriculture. This was probably obvious to Jesus' listeners.
• Jesus points his parable to groups of people – evil doers go to the furnace of fire while the righteous shine like the sun in the Kingdom of God. Could this be applied to each one of us individually as well as to the world at large? We all have within us the good and the bad since we are simultaneously saint and sinner. The weeds and the wheat grow within us all our lives long until the harvest. Only then will they be separated.
• We may be tempted to apply this parable to the future, looking forward to a time when all wrongs will be made right. However the parable most likely applies to us and to the church NOW. It offers the challenge to us now not to take matters into our own hands, to up-root all we consider wrong or sinful. This challenge reminds us that judgement is ultimately God's and God's alone.
• There is an arrogance involved in deciding which plant is the wheat and which is the weed. In the parable, the weed is said to look a lot like the wheat. As the landowner says: "No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.” Leaving things alone is hard, especially if what we're leaving alone is annoying or disturbing.
• It may be surprising to us (I know it is to me.) that what we consider a fault or a hindrance to our growth in the Lord might be just the opposite. Paul had received special insight and even revelation from God for use in his ministry and for himself personally. He also received other gifts he was not comfortable with, ones he did not want. He spoke about it in this way in his second Corinthian letter: Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
• Now this may be an extreme case but it illustrates what I said. What Paul asked to be rid of – and we don't know what that was – is revealed to him the way God' power would be made manifest to him and through him, to us. What we might consider a trouble or a fault just might be a way of allowing God's power and grace into our lives. The Canadian song writer, Leonard Cohen, wrote “There's a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in.” (“Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light.” - Groucho Marx)
• This sermon might be more than a little bit disjointed. I found that there was more meaning to this parable than simply asking God why there are the good and the bad in the same place. The question we might be asking is why there are both the good and the bad in THIS place, meaning our heart.
• One last thing: a commentator on this passage noted that the primary word, “let”, used in the phrase “Let both of them grow together until the harvest” in the original language is the same word used in Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer. Only there is is translated “forgive.” As always, it is the grace and forgiveness of God that makes the difference.