Jesus told them another story: “The
kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. While
everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went
away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds
also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow
good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him,
‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while
you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow
together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First
collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat
and bring it into my barn.’” Then
he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the realm of God. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
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Years ago I heard a story from a friend, as we discussed our various gardening methods. “I know a woman” she said “who every year just goes into her back yard and throws all kinds of seed all over the place. Tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, carrots, onions, whatever, she just throws them everywhere. And wherever they come up is where they grow – amongst the grass and weeds in the back yard. And somehow, she manages to reap a respectable harvest. I’ve always wanted to try that,’ said my friend “but I’m too much of an order and control freak to do it.”
I remember as a child, growing up in rural Saskatchewan, not long after the Depression, everyone had a garden. My mother, a city girl from Rosedale in Toronto, learned from the neighbours around how to dig the plot, clear the soil, and plant the seeds in orderly rows – tall plants like corn down at the back, short things like carrots at the front, climbers like peas up the fence – and everything had to be weeded regularly.
Yet the farmers, then and now, know that no matter how clearly and cleanly the seed is sown, somehow the weeds get in there. As I drive home from here each day, past fields looking really good and healthy, and then interspersed with the crop, those weeds. I’ve passed a couple of fields of what looks like wheat, golden and clean – and right in the middle as if tweaking the farmer’s nose, a big clump of weeds.
Now, I like gardening, and I like to think I know a bit about gardens and plants. I grew up in farming communities, and think I have a reasonable grasp of farming. But I really don't think I’m a good gardener. I have, however reached the same point as the old farmer who was asked by the extension agent why he didn't come to any of his classes to learn new farming methods, so that he could improve his farming. The old fellow replied, "Naw - I already know more than I do!" The garden or the field is in fact a microcosm of life, and sometimes there's more Gospel in planting and harvesting that there is in most seminaries!
Jesus tells another story about seeds and soil. A farmer goes out to his field. He goes out with intent - to plant crops which will feed and nourish people. Well nowadays the fields and the seeding and harvesting are done with machines – but the picture Jesus paints is back when everything was done the hard old-fashioned way – by hand.
Now, there are several ways to ensure seed gets into the soil. Seed was usually saved out for the last year’s crop, to ensure there’s enough to plant each subsequent year. And we carefully make drills - little holes in the soil - and carefully place the seed at precisely the right depth and distance to ensure the best crop. That is one way to plant, when the seed is precious and scarce.
Then there’s another way. In truth, one plant can generally produce more seed than can be used. So, aiming those seeds in the general direction of where they would go, let them grow, and when they go to seed, there are what are called volunteers. And just as there are volunteer crops, there are volunteer weeds – seeds which live through the winter, and pop up in the middle of that lovely field.
Then there’s what we call "broadcast sowing." Like the woman in my friend’s story, casting the seed broadly everywhere, and letting it come up. I like to think of that as ‘broadcast sowing’. And I believe God is a broadcast sower. God doesn’t prepare everything carefully and then plant the seeds in little rows, and carefully weed. That’s what Jesus says. The seed sown, the word, rich and full of life, full of the possibility of even more growing. The seed is sowed everywhere - scattered abundantly throughout creation by a God who loves to bring good fruit from the ground, not limited to any one group or race. The word springs up from a welcoming smile, caring without limit, hospitality and generosity, reaching out into community without thought of reward or repayment - in the sunshine and the rain, in holy words and sacraments, in music and prayer.
We’ve got so used to listening to the word, though, that we don’t really hear it – and in between the places where the good seed grows, the weeds also creep in. Yet the seed is the very stuff of life which God scatters wherever the Spirit wind will carry it. If it does not take root or produce good fruit, it isn't the seed's fault or the sower's - neither is it for lack of seed. The fault lies in the kind of soil where it lands.
So, what is a weed? One of the things I’ve learned as I travel, is that some things we call weeds are actually valuable plants with health benefits. Are they weeds? Dandelions, purslane, lamb’s quarters, grape leaves. I have all of those in my back yard. Lamb’s quarters can be cooked like spinach, but have much more nutrition. Purslane is used in salad. And when I go home today I’m making stuffed grape leaves using the wild grapes in the back yard. There’s a plant we often buy here at the nurseries called strawberry geranium. In our garden in Japan, we knock ourselves silly pulling it out – it’s considered a weed. Then there’s one we have no hope of defeating called dokudami – no English equivalent – we pull, mow and whack. But it’s also known as the poison-blocking plant – that’s what it was often used for – and in fact is excellent at detoxifying the system. It’s an anti-oxidant, and often is useful in blocking histamine production in allergies. We see it as a weed in the garden though. So what are weeds really?
Gardening is more than breaking a hole in the ground and sticking something in. We in the west tend to be impatient gardeners, pushing to ensure things grow fast and large, instantly. If that doesn’t work, chemicals get thrown on: fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides. We’re a society that believes in better living through chemistry, and not waiting for things in their due time. Anyone who can read a label can be a gardener.
But there is another lesson here that may not be as clear to us, although at least as important - that God is the good farmer - patient and wise. God is the broadcast farmer, knowing that as the seed is sown, wherever there is kindness, charity, forbearance, compassion – the seed has grown. We don’t need fancy treatments, intensive working of the ground, planting in straight rows – the seed grows where it will. It’s a hard lesson to learn – that we can do all kinds of things to plant the seeds – there isn’t any one way, and that God is working through everything. May it be so.
Sources:
1.
“Sowing Seeds” Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Rev. Fran Ota July 2011
2.
"Of
Seed and Soils" Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Rev. Gary Roth
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