Proper 11A + Beloved, discernment + 7.23.23

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Genesis 28:10–19ª; Ps. 139:1–11, 22–23; Romans 8:12–25; Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43)

“Lord, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.”

Alene and I have been watching the show “The Chosen” by Dallas Jenkins about Jesus’ formation of his band of disciples. As with any religious related show, parts of it are not the way I would have planned them, but other parts bring new insights. But at one point the very mathematical Matthew, who does not know the scriptures, asks to learn about the scriptures. He has lived his whole life in his head and wants to learn about God in his heart via the Jewish teachings.  And the wild, wooly and philosophical Phillip, who in the show knows the scriptures well and has been traveling with John the Baptist, gives Matthew verse 7 from Psalm 139.
They are a version of this:

7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.”

I love Psalm 139. It tells me I am fearfully and wonderfully made. It tells me that God knew me before I was born. However we express in this world, God knew us first and loves us, just the way we are. We cannot think our way out of God’s presence, nor can we separate ourselves from the love of God.

We are truly God’s children. Paul says here in Romans: “When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

We are God’s children. This is reaffirmed in our baptism and every time we renew our baptismal vows. And yet, there are things in this world. Things that would hurt God’s children. Things that we denounce as we express our baptism wishes, as we will do in the Spanish service today for Jostin. Things that look a lot like something good but are not good for us.

And that is what Jesus is talking about in this passage today. The wheat is sown. And then an enemy comes in and sows other seeds, seeds from the darnel plant, which is a plant that often has a poisonous fungus on it and, apart from being bad to eat, can be harmful. But the trouble is, it looks just like wheat for a long time while it is growing. Somewhere I heard that until it is a foot high, you can’t tell the difference.

First, the enemy. Many people might wonder. This unknown enemy that wanders into the field and wreaks havoc, just to disappear. There is something so mysterious and theatrical about it. I tend to think Jesus is talking about the world here. We have such a good and beautiful earth, with many wonderful people of good will. But underneath the surface, there are forces that would seek our harm. That would try to trick us by serving us poison weeds rather than good hearty wheat. Those who would seem like friends but lead us down another path, one that leads to our destruction. People that purport to love us but can’t love everything about us and mess us up.

The problem is, how can you determine between the good seed and the bad seed? So many horror movies seem to be all about this distinction. They are not my cup of tea. But they speak to a part of the human psyche that knows that there are forces in this world that might wish us harm, and of which we need to take care. Think of the vampire movies that talk about “not inviting in” the vampires. It may seem silly to bring up such things in a sermon, but I think that the human experience is such that there are unseen forces and we must try to discern and take care.

But Jesus reminds us in today’s passage that we cannot fully know. Just as the darnel looks like the wheat, we might in our limited human way think someone in our lives is doing harm when they have the potential to bear great fruit, they just don’t do things the way we do. Jesus cautions us not to be so quick to judge. I would note as an aside that if someone is doing something actively harmful, we of course must take action. That is not what this passage is about. Note that the weeds do not choke the wheat, but instead grow alongside.

But the discernment comes at judgment time. I would suggest that we don’t prejudge others, but imagine ourselves as striving to grow in righteousness, sometimes alongside other plants that may be weeds or wheat. We don’t have to judge others but we must judge for ourselves what is right and how to follow the best path that we can follow.

A last word here- a parsing out of weeds and wheat that I find helpful is to discern between people and actions. We can’t judge people but we can note actions that are harmful. Here is a funny example. As you know, I am a white cisgender woman. I recently transported two small girls who happened to be people of color to camp. In their online videos, they see a lot of vilification of so called “Karens” – basically racist white women who act out their privilege in harmful ways. My apologies to anyone named Karen present! I totally get why people focus on them. It is inexcusable not only to be unaware of one’s white privilege but in fact to use it to abuse others. But when one of the girls asked if I had seen a “Karen,” the other noting that she “hated Karens,” I said- I probably have. And I privately thought, I hope I have never been one! But I know that as a white woman I may still have areas of unconscious privilege and may not have been my best self at all times. So I tried to point out that perhaps we should talk about hating racist actions and not hating people.

Writer Brene Brown’s work on shame and how we can avoid it and lean into other motivating factors is important here. She points out that we must separate our actions from our personhood. When we speak about other people as if they are inherently bad, we cause shame. But when we call people in to better actions when their actions are harmful, we invite folks to move beyond shame and into growth. I strive to live as wheat, but all of us potentially could get caught in the weeds at times. So we must not wrongly judge ourselves or others for making bad choices, as long as we course-correct and seek God’s forgiveness and strive to get back in line with God’s will.

The simple point here is that we are all growing. And striving. And trying to do better. And at the end of the age, God will judge, but I believe will do so with love, knowing our struggles and our striving. God will look upon us with eyes of love. God will be the one to separate good and bad actions, and to call us in as needed. Let us feel God’s love and let God’s love shine through us.

And seeing this love, that is how others will know we are God’s children. That we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That we are part of God’s family, just as we claim in our baptism. And who knows? Others who see this may wish to join us! Amen.