Lessons From Nature: When You Can't Tell the Wheat From the Weeds
David C. Myers
July 20, 2008
Matthew 13:24 - 30
Text: "No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them." . . . Matthew 13:29
If you were here last week perhaps you will recognize that the sermon title bears some resemblance. Last week we talked about the Parable of the Sower and how it might help us have a new understanding of God's abundant, extravagant love and how it so often seems wasted - like why does God insist that every snowflake be different. Because of this we saw "failure" in a different light. Because God's love is sooo extravagant, it makes sure that even the most unlikely people and places have abundant exposure to the possibility of God's forgiving love.
This parable follows the Parable of the Sower and uses images of wheat and weeds to speak of those things in life which are good and of God (that's the wheat) and those things in life which are evil and are causes of sin (those are the weeds).
But, as the parable tells us - these weeds are tricky and ornery things! Sometimes you can distinguish the wheat of life from the weeds of life as surely as you can distinguish the weeds from the wheat when you're driving down a country road at wheat harvest and you see those huge burly green weeds among the golden strands of wheat.
Racial prejudice - that's weed. Terrorism - wherever it occurs throughout the world - definitely that's a weed. Selling drugs to children or beating your spouse, or cheating on your income tax - those are weeds.
On the other hand, you stand for justice between the races - that's wheat. You learn how to be a better listener so your family life improves, or make a special gift to the church mission fund - that's wheat! Those are examples of when it is fairly easy to tell wheat from weeds.
However, other times, as the parable will tell us, it's not that clear-cut. Often times in our lives it is hard to tell the weeds from the wheat. Albert Einstein, we are told, didn't talk until he was 5, and almost flunked out of high school. An evaluation of Einstein up to age 18 might have designated him as a weed. We have seen in public life where trusted and revered public figures known for their integrity suddenly and apparently inexplicably falter and commit serious indisgressions that tumble their careers.
Stereotypes? Sure. But even as stereotypes, these situations point to the ambiguity which is common in life. And while hindsight, along with discerning yesterday's will of God, reveals true character, there also can be deception at the beginning - the point, as we shall see, of today's parable. When you cannot make the distinction between the weeds and the wheat, what should you do?
I am reminded of the wisdom of two colleagues of mine, Blaine Taylor, who once said to another colleague, "I wish I could b4e as sure as one thing, as you are of all things." Or Shep Johnson who said, "there are very few things in this world of which I can fully say, 'thus saith the Lord.'" The story from Jesus this morning addresses just such a question in the form of a parable.
In the story we have a farmer sowing the wheat seed, and then, at night, the enemy comes and sows weeds among the wheat. The enemy is very crafty; for the Greek text uses the word zizania for the types of weeds which the enemy sows. Zizania looks almost exactly like wheat when it sprouts and during the first several weeks of its life. So, who can tell that weeds are growing in the midst of the wheat?
But there are a couple of twists in this story. You may remember from your Bible studies that Jesus loves these twists - He begins with a very common experience and then - either in the doing or the telling of the story - throws us a curve, as if to say - the Kingdom of Heaven will be very much as you know it; . . . except for some very radical differences.
The first twist in this story is that the farmer himself sows the seed. That is almost unheard of in middle east culture. Sowing is not the job of the owner or farmer - it is for the hired hands. Another twist is that twice it is said that the farmer sowed "good seed." Well, what other kind would he sow? And finally, if the zizania looks like the wheat and is almost indistinguishable from the wheat, how did the farmer or his hired hands know that there were weeds out there? The clue to all this is, is that we are being prepared to anticipate a day of reckoning.
And this comes through in the imagery of the harvest. It is then that the weeds (those manifestations of sin in our midst) will be gathered and burned. The wheat (the righteous) will be gathered into the barn. It is the twists in today's parable, I think, that Jesus uses to prepare us for life. You can assume that there is evil out there - even in the midst of goodness. The question for us is, what do we do in the meanwhile?
So what do you do when you can't tell whether a person or a situation is weeds or wheat? According to Matthew, be patient. Be patient with the ambiguities of life and situations and even with history itself. When you can't tell the weeds from the wheat, let them grow together to maturity.
Matthew's Gospel was very concerned about the nature of the early church. Biblical scholars down through the ages concur that this story is a plea for making the church as inclusive as possible. There is a story about a young minister was particularly bent on clearing all the inactive members from the church records. But then he read St. Augustine's comments on this parable that moved Augustine to make the church as inclusive as he could. Augustine reasoned if everybody was part of the church, God would take care of the harvest.
But if that's Matthew's purpose - well, was it Jesus' purpose? Don't forget the Gospel's weren't written until 40 - 50 years after Jesus died. Jesus was not concerned with the early Christian Church. So, how does this parable apply to everyday life aside from the institutional issues of the church? What happens when in the course of life we don't have the benefit of a full growing season? Sometimes we simply must make a decision when we don't know what is what and what is weeds.
The examples are many: should mothers work or stay at home? - that is another wheat or weeds issue of our time.
But in this parable we are warned not to try to separate the wheat from the weeds. As Emil Brunner wrote, "We are warned not to presume knowing for sure who belongs to the community of Christ and who does not. . . . Let us beware of judging! God alone knows our hearts. God alone knows whether your zeal for the Gospel is holy or unholy, whether the silence and hesitation of your neighbor is really unbelief and indifference against1 the gospel."
Or, take another example: a parent grows old, loses mental reliability and physical powers but refuses to leave the family home. "If you take me away from here, I'll never speak to you again," threatens the parent. To which the child can only think, "But if I leave you there, you may burn yourself fooling with the stove or wander out of the house naked when its below freezing, or you may fall down the satirs and die conscious unable to get up."
What to do? Which alternative is wheat and which is weed: the dignity of choice for the elderly parent?, or to look after the overall welfare of that incapacitated person in light of the family of the child?
On first glance the parable doesn't seem to be much help in such situations. But perhaps this is just the point at which the parable can be more helpful to us than we ever dreamed. The parable will not make our day-to-day decisions for us; but it does give perspective within which to make those decisions. You see, while the parable reminds us to be patient in making our judgments, it also reminds us that you and I are not the final judge.
The parable as much as says to us: "You are finite. Your field of vision is not infinite. You cannot always tell the difference between the wheat and the weeds. Only God - the one, true living fountain of wisdom - only God can be trusted as the final arbiter." And if we learn nothing else from the Bible and Christian tradition, we learn this: God is pure, unbounded love.
You and me? We live in this world (field) where the wheat and the weeds grow together.
• How should we serve our coffee? Should we use Fair Trade that we cannot not be sure of it's certifiability? What kind of vessel should we serve it in? The cheapest is polystyrene, and while it incincerates well, it does not biodegrade well. The so-called "paper" cups are the most expensive option - but they have a layer of plastic on each side that does not biodegrade. And as for china cups - there is energy required in the making, the hot water for washing and phosphates in the detergent.
• As a church blessed with an endowment we have, I think, a wheat and weeds dilemma. While we are bent on preserving the principal, other churches experience shows that doing such impedes stewardship. There are many unspoken, perhaps untouchable options: Investing our endowment in ways to save energy (now and forever) might provide a bigger return. What would be wheat, what would be weeds?
Sometimes all we can do is make the best decisions that we can. In any given situation we try to do what is most loving, most just, most merciful, most compassionate. Frankly, agonizingly, all we can do sometimes is to work to make the decision that will cause the least pain.
We make the best decisions that we can. And then we kneel down in the dust of the great threshing floor of history and weep. We weep in sorrow and contrition because some of our best decisions turn out to be shades of evil and causes of sin. We weep in relief because sometimes our patience lets a few stalks of wheat bear grain to the glory of God. And we weep for joy that in the midst of making decisions, we can count on God to accept us, and to act toward us- and toward all - in love, justice, mercy and compassion.
In his book Wishful Thinking Frederick Buechner writes about this parable:
"In these frightening days it is important to know that the final wrap-up will be decided by God rather than [humanity]."
"The New Testament proclaims that at some unforeseeable time in the future God will ring down the final curtain of history, and there will come a Day on which all our days and all the judgments upon us and all our judgments on each other will themselves be judged. The judge will be Christ. In other words, the One Who loves us most finally will be the One Who loves us most fully."