A sermon preached at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Mason, TX.
The lectionary readings for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost are here.
In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus introduces this parable with the statement “The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to …”. It’s the first in a list of “The Kingdom of Heaven” parables that includes comparison to a mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, fine pearls, and a diverse catch of fish. You’ll get those next week.
Before we talk about today’s part of Jesus’ story telling episode, let’s first talk about how those who were listening to Jesus tell this parable live would have heard the word ‘heaven’. The greek word used literally means “the sky” and it comes from the root word that means ‘to cover or encompass’ so God’s covering of or surrounding all that is known as the earth, understood both literally and figuratively. They had no knowledge at the time of the universe or cosmos beyond what they could see with the naked eye, yet without all the light pollution of our current world, they could see the full grandeur of God’s creative beauty covering of the earth.
In the Judean culture of first century, Roman occupied Palestine, they would not have understood this to be some ethereal place where we go when we die but the actual world they lived in as God’s people. Heaven for them meant the realm of God, in their here and now, among the kingdoms of this world, visible to those who seek to live in it as God’s people. So when Jesus tells a story of a farmer planting good seed and then the farm workers find weeds among the wheat, it isn’t a story to teach us about who’s in and who’s out of God’s Kingdom but how to live in the reality of God’s Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven, in our here and now.
This parable of the weeds and wheat show both our place in God’s purposes and God’s grace and mercy for all people, not just a select few. In some circles of Christian history and interpretation, this parable has been used to say that God has predetermined who is wheat and who is weed. But this is not in line with the freewill God has granted us to choose for ourselves whether to love God or not. The mindset of pre-determinism eliminates human responsibility and accountability for the harm done in this world. God does not cause harm but God does allow us to face the consequences of our actions. For some folks, sometimes it may feel easier to put the responsibility of the harm on God instead of facing the consequences of our own behaviors.
And like all good metaphors this one doesn’t quite make it to the finish line. Weeds can’t change into wheat, which could be part of the reason for occasional misinterpretation, but people can change if they choose to. Our ‘success’ as God’s people is measured in the fruit we bear: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is what Paul is preaching in his letter to the Romans – are we living by the flesh to serve ourselves at the expense of others, or are we living by the Spirit and building up the Kingdom of God by loving God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves.
Jesus makes it plain that God in all of God’s wisdom leaves the separation of wheat and weeds for later, not now. Our purpose as the wheat in God’s Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-Heaven is to bear the fruit of the Kingdom. It is God’s gift of grace and God’s unfailing wisdom that identifies who are wheat and who are weeds in the time when God chooses to bring the Kingdom fully to earth. But even when God decides the time is right to bring about the new heaven and new earth, even then it will not be our job to decide who’s in and who’s out. Jesus says he will send angels to do this work based on God’s judgment in God’s timing. Because unlike plants, people can and do change if they want to. We are to model for others what life in God’s Kingdom looks like, which includes those moments in our own lives when we act more like the weeds than the wheat, accept responsibility and accountability, and face the consequences.
But this doesn’t mean that we ignore those who are weeds or their behaviors. We follow Jesus’ example of being willing to call out the injustices in the world and the people who perpetuate them, hold them accountable while working to heal the harm done and prevent further harm. We are never to define someone by the last worst thing they did when they are repentant and willing to do the very hard and self-denying work of reconciliation. Reconciliation requires us to change when we are the one who caused harm so that trust can be restored. We are to remember that others, too, are created in God’s image and then we work towards justice and the well being of all.
Like with the parable of the extravagant sower from last week, we have to look within ourselves to determine whether we are living as weeds or wheat. We can’t only imagine we are the good in Jesus’ parables. That’s not why Jesus uses them. Jesus tells these stories they way he does to enable us to see the various sides of a situation and imagine ourselves in the various roles so that we can get to know ourselves better. Our growing to be more like Jesus happens when we are open to being the one in the wrong and learning to do and be better.
If we want to claim that God is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and full of kindness and truth with us, we must be willing to let God be this same God with others. Amen.
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