Proper 11A + Don't believe the lie + 7.20.14

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Genesis 28:10-19a; Ps. 139:1-11, 22-23; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:23-30, 36-43)

Don’t believe the lie.

In today's gospel, we encounter something completely unexpected. I understand from farm folk I know that there is a danger that weeds can grow alongside with wheat. But usually the seed is cleaned before planting, and thereby farmers control their crop. In fact, a nun I know said that one of her favorite memories of her farm-girl childhood was when the workers came to clean the seed. They set up camp in the back yard and cooked and everything out there, a self-contained unit. She loved to watch them. If they neglected to clean the seed, it would grow up alongside kinds of weeds and mustard. Which is interesting because the parable we skipped in the middle of today's passage and hear next week is about how faith is like a mustard seed. 

But today the gospel is not about cleaning the seed to avoid having weeds grow in with your wheat, but instead about an enemy who sows weeds after the wheat has already been planted. This makes no sense. This enemy would have to be either crazy or a very malevolent person. This conscious sowing of bad seeds doesn’t seem to really happen in farming (most farmers are too busy to go around sowing complicated havoc). So we are reminded that this is a parable. Jesus is speaking of something known to his listeners, or agriculture, to describe something not known to them, that is, the kingdom of God. And as it usually does, his example is something that doesn’t typically happen the way it is described, but it points up how different the kingdom of God is to the world in which we live.

But another thing is that the weed is not just a dandelion, or other annoying but not harmful weed, but it is darnel, a poisonous weed. ^[1] The darnel resembles wheat, so this guy sowing it risks not only sickening the farmer but also will eat of the wheat harvest.

Jesus tells us that our spiritual world is not as orderly (although at times changeable) as the world of the farmer. There are things that we cannot prevent or control, such as the fact that there is evil in the world. And notice that it is not for us to root out. It's our job to trust God. Thus in our lives, there are times when something seems wrong. And we can notice it. But we may not be able to uproot that evil entirely from our lives without uprooting the good along with it. We do what we can but sometimes there are times when we have to wait on God for action.

If you are paying attention to the passage, you will notice that my explanation is a bit different from the explanation in the second half. This is we have come to understand that these explanations in the gospels were a way for the people of the time that the gospel was being written, or about fifty years after Jesus, to understand this part of what Jesus said. So we can have our own explanation.

What I take from this passage is that in there will be times when good wheat grows up in our lives right alongside something that resembles wheat. But exactly this fact, that the weeds resemble the wheat, can distract us from the good. And thus what seems to be good or at least neutral is actually more harmful, more poisonous.

Take, for example, the examples of violence in our world. What happened to the plane in Ukraine? Did the shooters not know they were people on the plane who were in the process of eradicating AIDS? Of course not. They were afraid, most likely, or angry. Or take the people in our part of the world who do not want to accept the migrant children, explaining that we as a nation have far too limited resources. And we could say that they are right from a certain angle. But it is a different story if we are willing to be creative. We have much violence and fear in today’s world, and we need to hear the words of Paul to the Romans. "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption." The people Paul speaks to in Rome were probably suffering persecution for being Christians. They were not in power. They had very few resources. But Paul says you are the sons and daughters of God by adoption. You have all the rights of the honored child of the household. When you think about it, a slave cannot offer hospitality; it is not his or her place, but a child can always share everything that is of his or her Father. And what do we have that is not really of God?

Yes, we are living in times of great distress. There is violence in Israel and Palestine, in Central America and Mexico, and the Ukraine. But Paul tells us that, just like a woman in labor, we will see something entirely new. "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us," he says. And then, "For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." He says we have to be open to what comes next, what God has in mind.

So it's key not to believe the lie. We have to trust God. We cannot just trust any thought-weed that would say that it is not our duty to share love; we do not have enough resources. Not any weeds growing around us that tell us we cannot dream for a world of peace.

Psalm 139 reminds us that we trust God precisely because God created us and knows us more intimately than anyone else could ever know us. Who knows you how God does? No one. He created us in the womb of our mother, as it mentions in a part we don’t read today of this same psalm. God is the one who knows us and loves us. God’s guidance is always for our good.

So let’s ask ourselves, “Do we trust God completely?” Although there may seem to be scarcity at times, we can trust that the harvest is for everyone. And we’re not talking about a harvest of weeds, but the good, nutritious wheat!

Lord, give us this day our daily bread. And help us to place our trust in you, you who created us and always care for us, that we would remain confident in you in everything we encounter, every moment, today and always. Amen.

---

[1] Dan González Ortega, “Comentario del San Mateo 13:24-30, 36-43”, de  http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2118 (Julio 20, 2014).