Sunday, July 23, 2017

Weeds and Wheat

                          It is sometimes amazing to listen to the political debate in this country.  I am thinking about the healthcare legislation proposed by both parties in our congress.  After the Affordable Care Act was passed, the congress tried unsuccessfully over fifty times to repeal it.  Finally, they have proposed a different kind of healthcare act that will curtail many of the provisions of the original act and provide better tax conditions for the wealthy. 

            I am thinking about all of this in light of Matthew’s Gospel and the story of the farmer who sows good seed, but the devil comes right behind him and sows weeds.  His workers come to him and want to know if he wants them to clean out the weeds.  The farmer says, “No, let them alone.  When we reap these fields, we will separate the weeds from the grain and destroy it and keep the grain.” 

            Jesus’ disciples ask him to explain the parable and he tells them that the sower of the good seed is the Son of Man and the devil is the one who sows the weeds.  It will all grow up together and at the end of the age, the grain will be separated from the weeds and the weeds will be destroyed.  He also says that at this end time, the righteous will shine like the sun.  Jesus ends his explanation with the words:  Let anyone with ears listen!   What this story suggests to me is to relax to all of the turmoil around us and to understand that it is God who is charge of this world.  We need to do the best that we can to take care of the people who are hurting whom we have around us; but that we also need to expect opposition to what we are trying to do.  This is a world full of greed, egotism and a tremendous amount of selfishness.  All of this comes into play when we try to make our society a better place for people to live. 

            When we try to do good things, we usually mix in other things that aren’t really helpful.  We offer aid to people living in poverty, but then require them to meet criteria that is sometimes impossible for them.  The issue is usually the same, we want to control those to whom we give help.  Jesus always gave his help without condition.  I remember the woman at the well in Samaria, who had five husbands and the man that she was living with wasn’t her husband.  Jesus gave her living water to drink anyway and sent her back into her Samaritan community to tell people what had happened to her.  This resulted in an outpouring of people to come to hear what Jesus was preaching and a giant inclusion of people who had heard the Gospel. 

            Reaping the wheat and the weeds together is an excellent idea.  When the harvest is completed, it is much easier to separate the weeds from the wheat.  The problem with a lot of the rules that we make for other people is that it isn’t always easy to separate the two.  Jesus is asking us to be faithful to what God has created in this world; to not restrict the goodness that God provides with weeds of our own making.  We need to understand that it is our selfishness that undermines goodness in this world.  When we give freely, without conditions, that which we give can help those who are in critical need.  When we try to make sure that what we give is used properly, we sometimes make it impossible for those who are in need to solve their problems.

            Yes, there are those who misuse the good things that they are given.  When we create rules to stop that from happening, we are simply sowing weeds among the grain.  But sometimes it isn’t easy to see the weeds.  What Jesus is trying to get us to understand is that even when we think we are doing good things, some of the turn out not to be so good.  Instead of plucking up what we think are the weeds, maybe we need to leave it all alone and let God help us to know what is weeds and what is grain.  The most helpful part of this parable is the promise by our Lord that all will be made right at the last judgement.  The weeds will vanish and the grain will all survive.  What we need to do is to continue in our work on behalf of the Gospel; to do good for those who need it and to let God be in charge of where it all winds up.

                                

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