Growing Together, Pentecost 7, July 23, 2017

Seventh Sunday of Pentecost (Year A)

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Jesus' parable makes clear that any attempt to root out the weeds will only do more damage to the crop. This has played out far too many times in congregations and denominations, with some determined to root out anyone who does not agree with the "right" interpretation of Scripture, liturgical practice, or stand on a particular issue. There are also those who pronounce judgment on people outside the church -- on people of other faiths, for instance -- declaring them to be destined for eternal damnation. Whether judgment is focused within the church or without, it does serious damage to the church and its mission.

– Elisabeth Johnson,

Lutheran Institute of Theology, Meiganga, Cameroon

Theme: Growing Together

Reflection: If ever there was a text for a fire and brimstone sermon, this would be the day.

Jesus ends the parable of the weeds among wheat like this: “…at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Be wheat, the parable seems to suggest. Because the weeds will end up in hell, gathered together and burned. You don’t want that to be your destination, so shape up now.

There’s only one problem with that line of thinking – Jesus’ parables didn’t mess with the facts of life. Wheat is wheat, and weeds are weeds. Weeds do not magically become wheat, and wheat does not transform into weeds. So if you were born a weed, into the burn pile with you, no matter if you are plucked as soon as you sprout, or at harvest time.

So, if I was born into the wrong family, raised among atheists, never had the chance to hear about this God who loves me, I’m going to that pile.

Nope, no way that fits into what author and theologian Richard Rohr calls the “Golden Thread.” Rohr’s point is that there are great themes running through the entire Bible. Any passage, or even any one book of the Bible, isn’t a very good representation of The Way.

“The fact is, if we simply go searching after "proof texts," we can assert anything we want from the Scriptures,” Rohr said. “In order to interpret each passage properly, the whole trajectory of the Bible must be honored. And surely this takes time, study, and experience.”

I wouldn’t dare claim I have put in the time, or had the training or ministry experience to map that trajectory. No one gets to claim that, least of all, this seeker who was overtaken by a hunger to go deeper just a few years ago. I’ve had no seminary experience and clung for decades to my early faith story.

But I am beginning to find traces of this faint golden thread that connects Creation with the End of the Age, woven through 66 books, most clearly seen in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. And love is in each fiber. If Jesus wasn’t saying “to save the wheat, we must ignore the weeds that will be cast into the eternal fire later,” what is the point of this passage?

Back to another one of my childhood gardening experiences (read more about gardens last week) …

I have no idea how young I was when I started helping my mother in the garden. But I wanted to be a big girl helper and pull weeds like Mom and my big sister Lucy. So I knelt down in the moist earth of the garden to do my little-sister share.

Weeds were easy: there were the broad-leafed ones, the crabgrass, the vines that mom called creeping jenny, and the ones with the feathery green tops. I pulled and pulled, until Mom came over to check my work.

“Gail!” she said. “These are carrots!”

Unbeknownst to me, those “ones with the feathery green tops” were a row of tiny carrots, mixed in with the weeds. Mom tried to replant what she could, but I don’t recall any bumper crop of carrots.

It wouldn’t be my gardening rule to let the weeds and wheat grow together in my garden, but I think Jesus had a point. We are too interconnected to all of God’s people to separate weeds from wheat. Dividing them up before the end of the age would be a disaster. Who would we be to judge, anyway?

We who are on our faith journeys are a lot like children of the Master Gardener. We’d be pulling up carrots and onions, potatoes and turnips, because they don’t look anything like wheat. We can’t see any of those crops as they grow.

Here in the garden, the Master Gardener tends all of it. Some folks bear different fruit, and some mature later than others.

“Wait and let them grow together,” Jesus said. “Then I’ll send my reapers to collect the harvest.”

And, in the end, may we be astounded at the abundance of the harvest in God’s barn.

Going back to the parable, I had a wild thought: Perhaps what the enemy planted – not in the field but in the field hands’ minds – was the disruptive, inflammatory notion that the Master’s wheat field was chock-full of weeds.

(You always are welcome to respond with your thoughts and reflections in the comments section at the bottom of this post.) 

Faith App:  Plant and propagate a garden full of peas (P’s):

• Provide presence – observe and listen to what is happening around you now.
• Practice patience – everyone doesn’t mature in the Spirit together.
•  Pray persistently – stay rooted in relationship with God.
• Proclaim praise – worship regularly and live with gratitude.
• Ponder peace – live with compassion, seeing the possibilities in everyone.

HYMN/SONG SUGGESTIONS

God the Sculptor of the Mountains, ELW 736

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come, ELW 693

As the Grains of Wheat, ELW 465

Praise and Thanksgiving, ELW 689

Father, We Thank You, ELW 478

Lord, Let My Heart Be Good Soil, ELW 512

You Are the Seed, WOV 753

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy, ELW 587/588

Sent Forth by God’s Blessing, ELW 330

On What Has Now Been Sown, ELW 550

The Way, Jeremy Camp

Children of God, Third Day

Before the Morning, Josh Wilson

Do you wonder why you have to,

Feel the things that hurt you,

If there's a God who loves you,

Where is he now?

Or maybe, there are things you can't see

And all those things are happening

To bring a better ending

Someday, somehow, you'll see, you'll see

Would you dare, would you dare, to believe,

That you still have a reason to sing,

'Cause the pain that you've been feeling,

It can't compare to the joy that's coming

So hold on, you gotta wait for the light

Press on, and just fight the good fight

'Cause the pain that you've been feeling,

It's just the dark before the morning

Love Come to Life, Big Daddy Weave

Fearless, Jasmine Murray

Good, Good Father, Chris Tomlin

LESSONS

Isaiah 44:6-8 Isaiah proclaims there is no god besides the one true God.

Psalm 86:11-17 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.

Romans 8:12-25 As we are children of God, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 An enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat. 

Summary: From God’s instruction book … grow together. Be rooted among all God’s children with grace, waiting with patience for what God has in store for us. It is not up to us to identify and rid the world of weeds, just to learn our Lord’s lessons of truth and love, to mature and bear our own fruit.

OPENING LITANY based on Psalm 86:11-17

L:  I have a lot to learn, O Lord, to understand your ways,

C:  How you accept me where I am, in your unfailing love,

L:  I’ll always give you thanks and praise your holy name,

C:  For you rescue me from danger, baseless are my fears.

L:  Not too long ago, bullies plotted to take my life,

C:  Took me for an easy mark – they didn’t know my God.

L:  Terrible and tough they were, but I could be fearless,

C:  Because my God is faithful, I could face every peril.

L:  Stand with me and keep caring for me, Lord,

C:  Empower me, for I want to follow you forever;

L:  Smile on me so everyone knows I belong to you,

C:  Your everlasting love protects me day after day.

CONFESSION

L:  Over and over, God’s messengers tell us “Do not fear,”

C:  But every day we find new things to grow anxious about:

L:  We worry about school, jobs, kids, health and retiring –

C:  Spirit of God, lead us to trust in your provision and timing.

L:  We try to put you first, loving you with all that is in us,

C:  But we keep failing to seek you with undivided hearts;

L:  We disappoint you so often we’re sure you’ll reject us –

C:  Spirit of adoption, assure us we are God’s children forever.

L:  We want to live in a world without evil, where no one hurts,

C:  But creation groans as it labors, as God’s vision comes alive;

L:  We should be midwives, birthing a world of peace and justice –

C:  Spirit of joy, move us to speak and act as your kingdom now.

(Silent reflection)

L:  In our confession, we pray together,

C:  Most Merciful God … we can get so focused on the challenges of today and the evil in our world that we lose hope in your promises. Plant in us a taste of your glory that will be revealed as your kingdom comes to us and through us. Reassure us of our place in your kingdom, as your children, your heirs, and use us to lead others into a relationship with you.

Here is Good News: You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. You are the children of our Mothering God’s womb, the first fruits of the harvest, heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven. Each of us is our Lord’s beloved, and nothing, NOTHING can separate us from Love itself. You are forgiven and set free from your divisions with each other and with God.

In the name of…

Amen

PRAYER OF THE DAY

L:  We pray together, 

C:  God of Wisdom … we thank you for the way you see the possibilities in every living thing. You nourish us, encouraging us to grow together, our roots intertwined in the garden of this earth. Tend us with your Spirit and water us with your word, that we would flourish and bear the fruit of joy and understanding, until the goodness of this harvest spreads over your world. Amen.

COMMUNION BLESSING

L:  We pray together,

C:  We give you thanks, most gracious God, for this community of hope joining all your family everywhere around this simple meal. We thank you for every beloved person, tangled together like wheat and weeds, inseparable from our roots in this place, growing toward the Son. Produce in us a rich harvest of your love and compassion, that we would show this world the glory of your kingdom.  Amen. 

SENDING

L:  God, we are at once both sinners and saints,

C:  Yes, we are the weeds and wheat of your fields,

L:  Rooted deeply together, maturing in your word,

C:  Becoming the harvest you are raising us to be.

L:  Go now, growing in grace, to love and to serve the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God!

First Reading Isaiah 44:6-8 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: The Israelites, in exile, were surrounded by nations that worshiped idols. This second writer of Isaiah reminds them they have one God, the Lord. Today’s lesson sounds like those parents today who tell their children: Remember who you are, and whose you are.

⁶ Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
    and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first and I am the last;
    besides me there is no god.
⁷ Who is like me? Let them proclaim it,
    let them declare and set it forth before me.
Who has announced from of old the things to come?
    Let them tell us what is yet to be.
⁸ Do not fear, or be afraid;
    have I not told you from of old and declared it?
    You are my witnesses!
Is there any god besides me?
    There is no other rock; I know not one.

Second Reading Romans 8:12-25 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: If Paul were alive today, his slogan might be “Less is More.” Paul was attacked for not doing enough miracles, not having enough to show for his ministry. Paul didn’t try to pull the spotlight on himself.

¹² So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Gospel Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: The writer of the book of Matthew no doubt had overzealous members who wanted to quickly remove members who weren’t bearing the right fruit. Jesus, however, says it isn’t up to us to discern who is “in” or “out.” It’s our job to follow Christ and live the Good News.

²⁴ He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. ²⁷ And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ ²⁸ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸ the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, ⁴² and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!