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To Weed or Not To Weed by the Rev. Carol M. Simpson, Associate Pastor July 18, 1999-- Ordinary 16 TEXT: Genesis 25:19-34, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 © 1999 Carol M. Simpson

This parable of the wheat and the tares, or the wheat and the weeds, is one of many parables which Jesus told based on agricultural images. He chose themes to which his audience could easily relate. Often at the heart of the story was some teaching about good and evil. Most of us have little experience with wheat fields, and I suspect that few of us come from agricultural communities, but I bet that many of us have had a garden or flower bed invaded by weeds. I love it when the Master in this story tells his servants that they should not go pull the weeds. I wished someone would have told me that as I fought a constant losing battle to stay ahead of their invasion of our flower beds. And often I simply ignored them.....but later paid a high price, for they relentlessly continued their progress. I remember one particularly insidious weed that resembled a morning-glory type of leaf. It sprouted up in a bed in front of the house and wound its way around everything in its path. No amount of pulling or tugging, and no quantity of weed killer seemed effective against it. Years of benign neglect had allowed its root system to become so extensive that no mere mortal gardener would ever prevail against it.

While I was never an enthusiastic gardener, and certainly never enjoyed weeding, I did at least periodically recognize that a certain amount of weeding was necessary if the yard was not to resemble a jungle. So every few weeks, I'd devote an hour or so to a frontal attack on the weeds and for a couple of weeks, the yard would look pretty good. Last month when we went home, we discovered just how important even that limited weeding was. Prior to moving to France, and to putting our home on the market, we had invested a substantial sum in new landscaping. In our absence, the people renting our home, had apparently done NO weeding, and the new ornamental plants were all but choked and lost among the enormous weeds that had sprung up. It was a depressing and discouraging sight, to say the least. But perhaps that experience brings this parable into sharper focus. What can we learn from it when we look at it more closely?

First, there will always be weeds. No matter how diligent we are in our gardening and weeding, some airborne seeds from a neighbor's yard will always land and take root. If you've ever lived in or visited an American suburb, you may have seen those neighborhoods where almost everyone has a perfectly manicured lawn but there's usually one homeowner that lets weeds sprout and dandelions go to seed, and in the right season, even the most perfect lawn will have a dandelion or two poking up its bright yellow head.

In this parable, the weeds represent the evil in our world, and just like weeds, there will always be evil. When asked to explain the parable, Jesus said to his disciples, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil." No matter how hard we try to sow only good seeds in our lives and in our world, someone else will always be out there sowing bad seeds. No matter how hard we try to teach our children right from wrong, to instill in them values like kindness, tolerance, love of neighbor, honesty, etc, one day they will encounter the opposing values and meet people who live by different standards. The "bad" seeds will be sown among the good seeds which we have tried so hard to plant and nurture, and then our children will have to do some weeding themselves. Good and evil co-exist in our world, and one of our our tasks as Christians is to learn to distinguish between the two.

The servants in our parable recognized quickly that bad seed had been sown among the good. They realized that weeds had sprouted in abundance in the wheat field, and they were, of course, duly concerned. They were eager to set about uprooting the weeds to please their master, but he cautioned them saying, "No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them." In the early stages of growth, it is often difficult to distinguish one plant from another. The master knew that not until the wheat was fully mature would it be easy to separate out the weeds.

If we liken ourselves to the wheat and tares growing in God's garden, how grateful we can be that God chooses not to uproot us and throw us into the fire at the first sign of weakness. As children of God, we are each created in the image of God, each born with the innate capacity for good, but also with the freedom to choose evil. Of course, God wills for us to always choose good, but God also recognizes that in our frailty and in our humanity, we will not always make the best choices. Rather than wipe us out at the first sign of evil: at the first lie told, or the first intolerant thought, or the first candy bar stolen, or the first act of aggression, God forgives and allows us to take corrective action in our own lives.

The reality is that good and evil often co-exist side-by-side, even within us. Many people who live less than perfect lives, accomplish enormous good. That is one reason why Jesus tells this parable. The servants are cautioned against being too hasty to uproot the weeds. In the same way, we are cautioned against being too quick to judge. Judgment, Jesus reminds his disciples, is to be left to God. In his explanation of the parable, Jesus tells us that the harvest spoken of is the end of the age and the reapers are angels. He says, "Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of the kingdom all the causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the fire." Judgment and condemnation are not ours to mete out. God will take care of the ultimate weeding.

Think back to the story of Jacob and Esau to which Larry alluded last week, and which we read as our Old Testament lesson this morning. From the moment of their birth, these two brothers are in conflict. We are told that even as he was born, Jacob was holding onto the heal of Esau, signifying Esau's weakness and Jacob's desire for supremacy. From the beginning, the two brothers have very different personalities, Esau became a skillful hunter and man of the field, while Jacob preferred the quiet gentle life and stayed close to home. We are told that Isaac preferred Esau while Rebekah doted on Jacob. The stage is set for sibling rivalry at its best.

One day, when Esau returns home from a long hunting trip, exhausted and famished, he discovers that Jacob has prepared a delicious stew which has his mouth watering even as he approaches the tent, for he is very hungry. Jacob, recognizing the desperation of his brother, instead of quickly preparing a heaping bowlful of stew and welcoming him home, demands that Esau first sell his birthright, in return for the promised bowl of stew. Jacob has not the slightest qualm about cheating his brother, and certainly shows neither love nor compassion for his twin. And that is not the end of the story. Later, when their father Isaac, is advanced in years and nearly blind, Jacob plays another dirty trick. At his mother's urging, he pretends to be his brother in order to deceive his father and receive the much coveted paternal blessing. His deception works, and once again, Jacob receives something which rightfully belonged to Esau. And then he is forced to flee from his brother's wrath.

We might think that God should have stricken Jacob down instantly for his deception, for his lies and his cheating, and his lack of brotherly love. Some would surely see Jacob as one of those weeds, and be tempted to uproot him and throw him into the fire, yet God has other plans for Jacob. God sees Jacob's strength and persistence and determination, and it is through Jacob's line that God's promise to Abraham will ultimately be fulfilled. God's ways are not our ways, and they are not always ours to understand either.

Take God's promise to Abraham. Abraham was 100 years old before his wife, Sarah, finally gave birth to Isaac. Isaac was 40 when he married Rebekah and 60 by the time Jacob and Esau were born. We often grow impatient with God, wondering when he will answer our prayers. These stories serve to remind us that God is clearly and fully in control, that this business of nation-building is God's doing and not some human accomplishment. Abraham prayed for Sarah to bear children; Isaac prayed for Rebekah when she also was barren; Jacob built an altar to the Lord after his vision at Bethel. God works through servants who are flawed and imperfect but very faithful. As our Psalm this morning reminds us, God knows us better even than we know ourselves. God knows the condition of our hearts and God can see the good in us, even when we allow weeds to spring up in our lives.

But that in no way eliminates our responsibility to recognize evil and to fight against letting it take root in our lives. We know that even Jesus was tempted, and we have plenty of experience with temptation in our own lives. One might be tempted to cheat on taxes or to pad an expense account, to let prejudice affect our hiring or firing practices, to show favoritism, or to be unfaithful to a spouse. We might speak hurtful words which damage a relationship, or fail to help a friend in need. We might engage in unhealthy or illegal habits or give in to addictive behaviors. We live in a world where bad choices are options for us every day, where weeds threaten to creep into our lives and choke out the good. But we are not without resources for overcoming evil and resisting temptation.

Faith is the greatest resource we can draw on. If we develop a strong relationship with God, and choose to let the Holy Spirit lead in that all we do, then we have a good chance of winning the battle of the weeds. If we are firmly grounded in Christ's teachings, conscious of God's mandate to love our neighbor and to forgive as we are forgiven, then those tough decisions become much less difficult. If we remember to think of ourselves as created in the image of God, as sons and daughters of the God whom we love and worship, then we will have a healthier self-image and we will be less tempted to tarnish that image.

The best way to keep weeds out of a garden is to tend it regularly and to know it well. If our life is a garden, and evil is the weeds that threaten to undo us or lead us astray, then the lesson in this parable is clear. We need to regularly tend to our spiritual lives if we want to nurture the good and leave no room for evil. We need to know the tenets and precepts that God wants us to live by and we need an intimate relationship with God that encourages us to turn to Him for advice and guidance. We need a prayer life that leaves the channels of communication wide open day and night, each and every day.

To weed or not to weed...that is the question. Certainly, we need to be vigilant in our own lives. We need to do everything we can to recognize evil and seek to deny it a place our lives. We also need to recognize it when it does creep in, and through confession, seek God's forgiveness and a new path to follow. But we also need to remember the cautionary words of this parable. Judgment is the Lord's and needs to stay that way. We ought not kick our kids out and pronounce them "no good" when they make a bad choice. We ought not repeat stories or rumors which speak ill of someone. We ought not condemn an individual based on incomplete knowledge. When tempted to do so, we would do well to remember that that individual is also created in the image of God, with just as much potential for good inside as we have.

And we ought not be too harsh on ourselves, either. The story of Jacob and Esau serves to remind us that we need not be perfect to be used by God. God's capacity to forgive exceeds our wildest dreams, and God's capacity to love knows no bounds. If we examine our lives closely and honestly, we will surely recognize that some weeds have sprouted among the wheat in our fields. That is cause for concern but not for despair. Weeding is possible right up until the time of the harvest, right until our last day. It is never too late to renounce sin, never too late to accept Christ, never too late to run joyfully into God's open and loving arms.

It is unlikely that the world will ever be completely free from evil. Wheat and weeds will grow side by side as long as humans inhabit the earth. If we carefully tend our own garden, learning to recognize the weeds and choosing not to let them put down deep roots in our lives, then we will stand tall among the wheat when harvest time comes. Christ has shown us the way and called us to follow. Let us hear His words to us, and seek to follow in His footsteps. Amen.

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