Tolerating The Weeds

16^th Sunday Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19; Romans 8: 26-27; 

Matthew 13: 24-43

I consider myself a good person. I try to be honest, I try to do the right thing, I try to live as Jesus teaches. However, if you were to ask my wife, she would tell you that I that I have some issues – some character flaws that drive her absolutely bonkers. One of the biggest is that I am a pack rat. I never throw anything away. If you were to look at my desk on any given day, you would wonder how anyone could find anything in the mess. And you would be right. I have piles of stuff everywhere. The problem is that when the piles get too big, they fall over and knock down the other piles.

Every so often, when I can't stand the mess anymore, I grab the nearest garbage can and start filling it. The newspaper article that I never got around to reading – gone. The rebate offer that I forgot to mail – gone. The programs from graduations and ordinations – gone and gone. When I'm finished, I have a clean desk again.

There is great joy and satisfaction in ridding ourselves of the clutter that burdens our lives. There is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment when things are neat and organized.

When I read today's gospel, I'll admit that I share a certain affinity with the workers who wanted get rid of the weeds right away. The weeds are unwanted and, if left unchecked, they can damage and possibly even destroy the wheat before the harvest. But the master told them to wait. Pulling the weeds might also uproot some of the wheat. 

 

There is a danger here. While it's good to get rid of the useless stuff cluttering our lives, we run the risk of treating other people as weeds. Those who have a different set of values, those who do not share our social status, those who speak a different language or have a different skin color – can be seen as weeds, infesting the nice neat little garden that we've planted for ourselves.

In our nation today, some would have us treat the flow of immigrants into our country as an influx of weeds – especially if they are here illegally.

Weeding has been played out time and again on the world stage in what is called ethnic cleansing – this group decides that that group is not fit, not worthy, not good enough to live.

Sometimes the weeding is done more subtly. Not too long ago, the Southern Baptist Conference chose to boycott Disney because that corporation was offering insurance benefits to the partners of it's gay employees.

So what is the point of this parable? It is a story about what our response should be when we find evil within. The immediate reaction might be to tear it out. But here is where the master of the parable is instructive. There are three things that are interesting about the master here:

First he is more pro-wheat than anti-weeds. “If you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat along with them.” He will protect his wheat any any cost. He will not sacrifice a single grain – even if it means that the weeds flourish.

Second, he takes the long viewpoint. He sees what is before him – recognizes the enemy's handiwork – that the weeds are among the wheat. The time will come when the weeds will be dealt with – but that time is not here yet.

Finally, in the master's approach, the present is a time for patience and tolerance. The wheat has not finished growing yet. It has not ripened. Acting hastily now will bring about a future that holds no promise.

It is easy to see the God of Creation in this story: The God who waits for each of us to come to full growth. The God whose future includes a day of reckoning. But, most of all, the God whose present is marked by mercy. Our God so loves the world that – when the original gardeners didn't work out – God gave his own Son the job of cultivating a new creation. And this Son, even though rejected and seemingly overwhelmed by the weeds of his time, was not conquered by death, but raised to new life. This Son is now the source and summit of life for all who believe in him.

How does this gospel message speak to us today? The funny thing about this parable is how people identify themselves within the story. I'm willing to bet that if we took a show of hands, everyone here would identify themselves as wheat and identify someone else as weed. We all want to believe that we are good and that we try to please God. But we also know, if we are brutally honest with ourselves, that there are times in our lives when we more closely resemble the weeds. Thankfully, the master is patient with his crops. Through the sacraments the Lord has provided us with the tools necessary to be wheat again.

One final thought – I don't usually give advise – but you already know this – so let it serve as a reminder. There is evil in the world. It's out there, and sometimes it can creep in here as well. It is unavoidable. Use the Eucharist, the finest wheat, to find a clear path through the weeds. Use the confessional on those occasions when the weeds get too close. And finally pray – pray that those who routinely dwell in the weeds will have a change of heart and seek out the goodness of the wheat before the harvest.

Deacon Darryl J. Diemer

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 17, 2011