A, Post-Pentecost 8 Proper 11 - Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 "Without Weeds Within"
Those who grow things yearn to have gardens without
weeds. But alas! Weeds appear year after year much to the
disgust of those who work the soil to remove them.
There’s a saying, “If one can’t grow weeds, one can’t grow
anything.” So that means all have green
thumbs, even if the green is obscene and disordered.
Weeds are a sign of disorder in creation. All who bend their knees and back to pull out
a weed are reminded we live in a fallen world.
Just as we bow to dig out what we did not plant, generations before us have
done the same. All who suffer from the
pain of removing prickles from their patch are reminded they are children of
Adam.
We are reminded of what God said to Eve and Adam in the
garden at Eden.
To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring
forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall
rule over you.” And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground
because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for
you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the
ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall
return.” The man called his wife’s name
Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (Genesis 3:16–20 ESV)
Because of this we live with weeds. They cause suffering in our daily existence,
as we produce product to eat, clothe ourselves, and provide places of
protection over our heads.
But we also struggle with weeds within. We suffer producing progeny! Procreating is fraught with failure and
fatality, from the womb to the tomb.
Sexual productivity is under siege from original sin.
Wanting children, not wanting children, children born with
birth defects, not wanting to care for the elderly or those with disabilities, fighting
against sickness, disease and death, along with all the variants of sexual
irresponsibility and brokenness are humanity’s experience. This is the reality because
Adam and Eve chose to pleasure themselves rather than please God by heeding his
word.
Having heard this, Jesus calls us with ears to hear, to
hear what he says about the other end of creation. He compares the kingdom of heaven to a field
planted with good seed only to have the enemy plant weeds in the crop.
We are given a picture of the coming of God’s kingdom when
God will finally weed his garden and restore it to its ordered beauty.
The frustration we have with weeds is akin to the workers
in the parable asking the master if they should go out and remove the weeds
from the wheat. But the master says, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up
the wheat along with them. Let both grow
together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,
“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the
wheat into my barn.” (Matthew
13:29-30)
Pulling out weeds is a dangerous task. What’s worse than weeds in the garden, is
accidentally removing what one thought was a weed, but was a healthy good
plant. No matter how careful one
scratches around plants, closer and closer to remove the weeds, it’s too late
once there’s the “oops!”
As sad and frustrating as it is when one weeds out what is
good in the garden, things become a whole lot more critical when we turn our
focus from the garden and the curse of the ground to what’s within each of us,
knowing a time is coming when all will be judged by the Master of creation.
We, the workers of God, may
yearn for a creation of perfection and pleasure that’s pleasing to God. But we’re also acutely aware we’re far from
perfect creations ourselves!
“For we know that the
whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until
now. And not only the creation, but we
ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:22–23 ESV)
Our bodies groan because of what is within us and from what
we’re subjected to, from without. We
suffer and struggle with the physical realities of the fall. We have been separated from God, so we suffer
and struggle spiritually too. What we
produce within is done without fear and without trust in God! This is
humanity’s reality having been recreated recreators of life from our procreative
father and mother, Adam and Eve.
As much as we yearn to have a yard without weeds, we also
yearn to be without weeds within. The
physical weeds we can view in the mirror, but the social weeds become obvious
when our pride has had the garden fork plunged into it from someone else. These spike the spiritual weeds one does not
even know about buried deep within.
These are the weeds often mistaken for good plants and nurtured as such.
This is why God does not allow the pulling out of weeds in
our time. If he did allow for this to
occur, we just might be the weeds being pulled out and cast into the fire!
Therefore, God calls for patience because he is patient
with you and me. He is waiting for your
full frustration. We longingly groan
with creation, but he patiently waits!
He seeks the full function of first fruits of the Holy Spirit within you,
over against your human spirit which yearns for the fatal fruits of Adam and
Eve. These are weeds of slavery within
and they bind one without God!
God the Father is waiting for the law of sin and death and
the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ to work us. The Holy Spirit works to bring each of us to
full realisation that, “Our help is in
the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth”.
Like a young child who says, “help me daddy!” Our father waits for us to believe we are completely
helpless without him. He waits for us to
realise we are blessedly helpless, so we cry out, “Abba Father!”
You and I are works in motion. We are works of the Holy Spirit. He works to put to death your deeds of the
flesh. He works to sow in you the seeds
of faith, growing them into productive fruit.
He works to make us Sons of God, so we allow Jesus Christ to be our Rescuer
and our New Identity. Through you,
others will hear and receive the good news of salvation, as the Spirit works
his fruit within.
Like Jesus, who put his divinity aside, we put trust in ourselves aside, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in humility, like the Son of God. We also learn to lean on the Holy Spirit, in our blessed human helplessness, just as Jesus did, for his ability to be the servant Son of Man.
So, like Jesus we too willingly pray, Abba Father, be holy, come, do your will, give, forgive, lead, and deliver us.
In the Holy Spirit, God the Father calls you to patiently
wait with full hope, for the final deliverance, to be without weeds within, in
the eternal garden without weeds.
God has the kingdom, the power, and the glory!
Those who have ears, let them hear! Amen.
