July 19, 2020 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost - Growing Together

Pastor Janell started her sermon with a personal story and ended quoting another person's story. Both powerful stories that were evoked by today's Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

She preached about the impatience we can have in trying to discover who is right and wrong in our lives. Obviously our impulse is to want to be on the "right" side and we feel hurt if we immediately don't understand why part of our task is to wait for God's answer and judgement at the proper time.

My wife always wants me to turn my attention back to what Jesus initially intended to communicate to those listening and how they would have understood the message. I suspect for people with an agrarian knowledge of the world this parable mainly would underscore in their minds that the "kingdom of heaven" does not conform to, nor can it be explained by, our earthly understanding.

Leaving the weeds to grow with the wheat would choke out the wheat (as is pointed out in the Parable of the Sower) and would allow the weed seeds to spread. This is not how a sensible farmer would respond. Jesus is not providing advice here to farmers on is needed to bring about a good harvest in this world.

When the servants ask if they should pull out the tares that Jesus offers; with farmer's unexpected, impractical answer; what the kingdom of heaven is like.

No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest."

This answer leads to most of the important insights and promises of this parable:

1)  The seed for the kingdom is already sewn. The good harvest happens regardless of the existence of the weeds.

2)  The farmer's response to the servant's question as to why there are weeds and evil, "An enemy has done this", confirms the weeds are not part of God's will simply because they are in the field. This is as explicit an answer as scripture provides about why evil appears in the world.

3)  Trying to "root out"evil will not, in itself, help the harvest and, perhaps, will do more damage. This uprooting is not prohibited or wrong but it will not, in the end, achieve the eradication of evil.

4)  We are not obliged to do something about the evil in the world. Too often this becomes the justification for retribution. This also defuses an argument that often leads us away from our internal, moral compass. How often are we told, "We must do something to fight evil, we have no choice or the evil will flourish. What else can we do?" What Then Must We Do? is a non-fiction work by Leo Tolstoy completed the book in 1886 where he addresses the justice issues of his time. Jesus has an answer in the Wheat and Tares parable.

5)  God's justice does not easily translate to what we know as earthly justice. Consider what Jesus teaches by saying the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. In our experience is someone born bad or good? Can we look at someone and know this is a son of the kingdom while someone else is the son of the evil one? Jesus, mercifully, shows us the hubris of this thinking and suggests we do not need to do this as a response to evil.

Another insight Pastor Janell stressed, accentuating with her arm, was that a way to tell the wheat from the tares. The tares will grow straight up, unladen with grain. The wheat bends at harvest time. So much for the phrase growing straight and true.

Thankfully, for many who are rule followers, this parable simply presents the opportunity we have to trust and have faith in a justice that is not easily understood.  We are left with the answer that we are to grow together.