The Wheat and the Weeds

I am preaching again this week - this time on the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds.  So, right now I am doing alot of chewing on the text.

Yesterday I did two Bible studies on this parable and took copious notes as people shared their wonderings and their insights.  Now I don't know quite where to go with it - but I know that it really is a profound parable.  Here is is:

²⁴He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.

²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.

²⁷And 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?’

²⁸He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’

The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’

²⁹But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.

³⁰Let 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.’”

It is about the reality of evil in the midst of the goodness of life.  Because the commentators tell us that the weed that is mentioned is "darnel" we learn that it looks - until fruiting - very much like wheat.  This speaks to the confusion and the ambiguity that we live in - what is good and what is bad; what is real and what is fake, what is true and what is false?  Sometimes it is hard to tell.  Kay McGlinchey, who is a gardener said "a weed is a plant growing where you don't want it."  Just an example of the discernment that is necessary in life.

At this point, there are so many times I just don't know what to believe.  Whether you are talking about fake news or not; or what science is saying about Covid, or about the legacy of racism in our country - there is much that confuses me about what to do.

In the text the slaves suggest weeding and the master says - No - you don't want to disturb the good wheat. And so part of the message of this parable may be to concentrate on your own fruitfulness and not get distracted by the weeds around us.

Another insight someone gave me  was that because of the Pandemic - much of what gives some of us life - like volunteering, worshiping and connecting with others is unavailable to us.  No wonder so many feel like we are living "in the weeds."

And finally someone said - "you will always find what you look for."  It left me with the understanding that we all need to look up, look around, look within - for God's activity.  That sounds trite maybe - but it is always a challenge not to get distracted by the negative and the unholy aspects of this world we live in.

So, this may be a preview of my sermon for Sunday - I haven't started writing it yet.  But for this day - in the middle of the week - it is reminder to me to look for God  and trust that growth, healing and new life is happening.

Here is a blessing for today by Maxine Shonk

May the God of GROWING THINGS call you to ever more wonderful growth and wholeness.

May the horizons of your life stretch far to the east and west, to the north and south....

and in the stretching may you know the wonder fo God's universe within and aorund you.

Through this awareness may you plant seeds of hope in all you meet.

May the God of    GROWING THINGS be with you.