Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 13:24-33
MY WIFE AND I HAVE DIFFERENT ATTITUDES ABOUT WEEDS. SHE THINKS THAT IF YOU GO OUT AND RIP THEM UP ALL SUMMER LONG, YOUR YARD WILL LOOK A LOT BETTER. SO WHEN THE WEATHER IS JUST RIGHT SHE LIKES TO GO OUT, USUALLY RECRUITING MY DAUGHTER AND EVEN ME IF I CAN'T FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO, AND RIP UP WEEDS. SHE FEELS VERY VIRTUOUS DOING THIS.
I ON THE OTHER HAND THINK THAT WHEN YOU HAVE A LAWN FULL OF WEEDS AND YOU MOW IT, IT LOOKS ENOUGH LIKE REGULAR GRASS TO PASS, AND THE TRICK IS TO MOW IT JUST OFTEN ENOUGH SO IT DOESN'T GET TOO SHABBY. AND IF YOU HAVE BUSHES WITH WEEDS GROWING IN THEM, A HEDGE TRIMMER SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM. ONCE IN A WHILE YOU HAVE TO REMOVE THE TOP OF A WEED, BUT THAT'S EASILY DONE WITH SHEARS AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO WRESTLE WITH THE ROOT. BECAUSE IN MY EXPERIENCE YOU CAN PULL UP ALL THE ROOTS YOU WANT, AND THE WEEDS WILL KEEP COMING BACK.
SO I AM ON THE SIDE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER. LET THE WEEDS AND WHEAT GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE VERY LAST MINUTE, THEN SEPARATE THEM.
WHEN JESUS TOLD THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS, HIS HEARERS HAD A SPECIFIC IMAGE IN MIND. FIRST OF ALL, ENEMIES DID DO THIS SORT OF THING. THEY WOULD SEW A SPECIFIC WEED, CALLED DARNEL, WHICH WAS REALLY HARD TO TELL FROM WHEAT UNTIL IT MATURED. IT EVEN BORE SEEDS, WHICH MADE PEOPLE SICK OF SOME OF IT GOT MILLED ALONG WITH THE WHEAT. AND THE DARNEL HAD A STRONGER ROOT SYSTEM THAN WHEAT, SO IF YOU PULLED IT UP, YOU WOULD MOST LIKELY PULL UP THE WHEAT PLANT GROWING NEXT TO IT. IF YOU WERE IMPATIENT, YOU COULD GET OUT THERE AND WORK AT IT, ONE WEED AT A TIME, AND AS YOU COLLECTED THE WEEDS, YOU WOULD PROBABLY FEEL VIRTUOUS; OR YOU COULD WAIT UNTIL THE DIFFERENCE WAS OBVIOUS, HARVEST IT ALL, AND THEN SEPARATE THE DARNEL FROM THE WHEAT IN A MUCH EASIER EFFORT.
SO ONE LESSON, PERHAPS, IS THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE PATIENCE. THERE ARE THOSE WHO WANT TO WEED, THEY ARE HAPPIEST WHEN SEPARATING THE GOOD FROM THE BAD, FIGURATIVELY OR LITERALLY. MAYBE IT IS IN CONVERSATION, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT “US” AND “THEM”. MAYBE IT IS IN ACTION, WHEN WE CLOSE THE DOORS OF FRIENDSHIP TO THOSE WHO WE SEE AS MORALLY QUESTIONABLE. MAYBE IT IS JUST IN OUR MINDS, WHEN WE JUDGE. BUT JESUS TELLS US THAT DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THOSE WHO ARE GOOD AND THOSE WHO ARE EVIL IS A JOB FOR THE FATHER AND HIS ANGELS, NOT FOR US; AND IT WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL ALL THE EVIDENCE IS IN, AT THE END OF TIME.
AND ANOTHER LESSON, PERHAPS, IS THAT THERE IS A GODLY PURPOSE IN HAVING THE GOOD AND THE EVIL GROWING TOGETHER. WE KNOW THAT WHEN YOU PLANT DIFFERENT SPECIES IN THE SAME GARDEN, THERE IS COMPETION FOR LIGHT AND WATER, AND WHILE SOME PLANTS DIE, THOSE THAT REMAIN ARE STRONGER. THE GOOD ARE MADE BETTER BY GROWING ALONGSIDE THE EVIL ONES, ALTHOUGH THERE ARE DANGERS, THERE ARE TEMPATIONS, AND WE NEED GOD'S GRACE TO AVOID LOSING GROUND. BUT THE EVIL ONES ARE INFLUENCED BY THE GOOD AS WELL, AND BECAUSE EVIL AND GOOD GROW TOGETHER, THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF REDEMPTION FOR THE WEEDS, THE CHANCE TO BECOME WHEAT AND BE PART OF THE HARVEST.
AND A THIRD LESSON MAY BE THAT ALTHOUGH YOU AND I BELIEVE WE ARE WHEAT, AND WILL SOME DAY BE GATHERED INTO THE HARVEST OF OUR LORD, WE MAY NOT BE. WE MAY TURN OUT TO BE WEEDS. YOU CAN'T REALLY TELL THE DIFFERENCE UNTIL THE PLANT HAS MATURED AND BORN FRUIT. THE FRUIT MAY BE A HEAD OF WHEAT, WHICH CAN BE GROUND INTO FLOUR AND MADE INTO BREAD, OR IT MAY BE A HEAD OF DARNEL, WHICH CAN MAKE PEOPLE SICK. IN A REAL GARDEN, THE WEED AND THE WHEAT HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO GROW UP TO BE WHAT THEY ARE DESTINED TO BE. IN THE GARDEN OF OUR LORD, THERE ARE CHOICES TO BE MADE WHILE HE ALLOWS THE WHEAT AND WEEDS TO GROW ALONGSIDE OF EACH OTHER.
WE MUST CONTINUALLY TRANSFORM OURSELVES, WHICH IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING WE MUST CONTINUALLY REPENT, REPOSITION OURSELVES, CHANGE DIRECTION WHEN NEED BE, SO THAT WE CAN RECEIVE AND RESPOND TO ALL THE GRACES GOD GIVES US. HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? WE NEED SOME SORT OF PLAN TO FOLLOW, JUST LIKE WE DO WITH EVERYTHING ELSE WE TRY TO ACCOMPLISH. THAT PLAN, OF COURSE, IS THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST. AND WE FIND THAT BEST REFLECTED IN THE CHURCH. OUR ANCESTORS IN THE FAITH KNEW THIS. ST. FRANCIS AND MANY OTHER SAINTS SET OUT CONSCIOUSLY TO IMITATE THE LIFE OF JESUS, AND MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS TRY TO LIVE THEIR LIVES IN SOME SENSE TO REFLECT THEIR FOUNDER AND HIS OR HER SPECIAL GIFTS, BECAUSE THE FOUNDER WAS AN IMITATOR OF CHRIST.
BUT THE OTHER TWO PARABLES TELL US THAT SECOND ONLY TO THIS TASK IS THE TASK OF TRANSFORMING THE WORLD. THE PARABLE OF THE YEAST TELLS US THAT THIS TRANSFORMATION ISN'T ABOUT NUMBERS, ABOUT FORCE; IT IS THAT WITH GOD'S POWER, WE CHRISTIANS CAN ACCOMPLISH ENORMOUS AMOUNTS JUST BY BEING CHRISTIANS IN SOCIETY. IF YOU'VE EVER MADE BREAD, YOU KNOW HOW YEAST CAN TRANSFORM FLOUR, OIL AND WATER INTO SOMETHING THAT IS ALMOST A LIVING ORGANISM, AND THE YEAST BECOMES THE CATALYST THAT TURNS WHAT IS ALMOST INDIGESTIBLE INTO SOMETHING THAT TASTES AND SMELLS DELIGHTFUL.
AND IF YOU THINK YOU AREN'T UP TO THE TASK OF BECOMING WHEAT, OR BEING YEAST, THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED TELLS US THAT NO MATTER HOW UNIMPORTANT OR INCONSEQUENTIAL WE MAY FEEL ABOUT OURSELVES, GOD CAN STILL TURN US INTO SPIRITUAL GIANTS.
SO CARRY THESE THREE PARABLES WITH YOU THIS WEEK. THINK ABOUT THEM, PRAY ABOUT THEM, AND EXAMINE YOUR OWN LIVES IN THEIR REFLECTION. THAT'S THE REASON JESUS TOLD THEM TO THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED HIM THEN AND TELLS THEM TO THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIM NOW.