|
Thought for the
Week 20 July 2008 – Ninth Sunday after Trinity
As I sit preparing this homily I can see the
harvester in a nearby field cutting the wheat. Apart from the odd sunflower and
weed, the field is predominately wheat and the harvester is not driven by an
angel. This contrasts with the picture given in the parable given by Jesus,
where the wheat is mixed with weeds
and the harvesters will be his angels. Jesus loves to use everyday examples
in life to help explain what his kingdom is like. Last week's "parable of the sower and the
seed" and today's "parable of the weeds" are parables
about the church - about the field that God plants in the hope of gaining a
rich harvest of blessing for himself and for the world that he
has made. The parables are parables about us - about you
here in the church, as much as they are about God and
what he does. We are the field of God - we are the ground he
works - the plants he nurtures - the people he rests his hopes upon
- the folk he plants his seed in, the congregation he anoints
with his Spirit. Today’s parable is quite difficult to understand.
It seems that there is a plan, that God does have a system, but still - when you
look at it with only the dim light of human wisdom, or the closed eyes of
human doubt and human pride, there is almost no explaining why God allows the
devil to cast his horrid seed in his field. But the word that God gives his servants about
this is very clear - "Do
not disturb it! Do not try to pluck it
out - because if you
do - you're going to wreck the whole place; you're going to
end up pulling up wheat as well. No matter how careful
you are, you're going to develop an eye of judgement
- and while you may be right in that judgement - you may
end up doing wrong. Leave it to
me. The weeds will be
burned at the time of harvest - and all of you will
have a hand in it - you will see justice done. The weed
will perish - and the wheat stored in the granary of
heaven." We hear Jesus saying, “No. I do not want you to pull up the weeds. I know how messy that can get. I want you to leave it to me.”
Leave it to me.
Wait for the time I have set.... It's hard to wait, but when it comes to dealing
with other people - with other folk - both in the church and out of it, God
calls us mainly to plant and not to pluck up - at least for a while. We are
to be extra careful in looking after the good seed. To not do anything to
harm it’s growth. It is a lesson in patience for us. -
patience in the face of situations that seem bad to us, -
patience in the face of attacks by the devil, -
patience in the midst of our urge to go out and fix things and make them
right. -
patience in the face of our desire to make judgements about others and
to act on those judgements. We are to resist evil of course - in ourselves and in others - through his power. We are called to recognise evil and to name it -
and to pray to God that he will take care of it, much as the
farmer told his servants in the parable that he would take care of it. I am glad that God waits a while before the weeds
are pulled up and that he tells his servants to hold back. You see - every now and then I get this idea into
my head that perhaps I'm being a weed. And I know for sure that I've been a
weed in the past - that some things I have done or failed to do - were more
of the devil than they were of the Lord. And knowing that - and knowing what God has done
and can do with me and for me - when I let him; I'm rather
content to have the weeding put off to the end! I am in good company. Consider Moses - a murderer, Consider David - an adulterer, Consider the Apostle Paul - a religious
vigilante, Consider the disciple Peter - a hypocrite and a
coward. Who would think that God would work with them? that God would be present with them? that God would love them? that God would make them great? that God would grant unto them the blessings of
his kingdom?. How about you??? How often have you been a weed in the field of
the Lord? Would you - with what you know now - fancy being
plucked up at those times? God is so merciful that he allows evil to exist
so that what is good might grow. He
allows it to exist because so many times he can turn it to the good. However, it is extremely important that we let the Holy Spirit fill and empower our lives. In Romans 8 v 14 we are called to be led by the spirit and then we will become the sons of God. Being led by the spirit means doing good instead
of evil - to
bless instead of curse - to
praise instead of criticize - to
help instead of stand off - to
love instead of hate - to forgive
instead of resent -
to
tell truth instead of lies. Being a son of God is about letting God use you
for His purposes, not you using Him for your own purposes. We do not know what is going to come next in our
lives nor can we pin down just where God is and what he
is about. In fact we can't even be sure that the weeds
about us will remain weeds and that the wheat will remain wheat. But if we wait - if we let God do whatever it is
God does - if we let God move in his mysterious ways - his
wonders to perform we will find ourselves surprised in the most
wonderful of ways - Closing prayer: Father guide us by Your Spirit to understand what you are saying to each one of us today. Grant us humility to change our ways and faith to trust you, we pray in Jesus name.Amen
Adrian Wilson: Reader, Anglican Chaplaincy of
Midi-Pyrénées & Aude To return to main Thought for the Week page, click X at top right to close this window. |