Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on July 20, 2008
(Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Wisdom 12:13,16-19
Psalm 86:11-17
Romans 8:18-25
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

No, it’s not déjà vu all over again. This is another parable about a guy sowing seed only this time it’s about the seed not the soil. But before we get into that let’s test your memories.

Some of you may remember me telling a story about how I had a Bible in pictures when I was a young boy. These pictures were not of comic book quality but very artfully done. And in the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness they depict the devil as a shadowy figure that is always standing behind Jesus, mimicking his gestures and movements and even somewhat resembling his facial features although in a generic way. And how at a tender age I came to think that because of this pictorial resemblance maybe, just maybe, there was a little bit of the devil in each of us, or at least we all have the capacity for doing evil. The devil deceptively manipulates our God-given gifts of reason and choice in order to convince us that what we are about to do is right even though in our heart we know that it is wrong.

Even though that’s a very youthful and incomplete theological concept, it may very well be close to what today’s Gospel is about.

As mentioned before, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is still following an agricultural motif. Last week the sower cast seed which fell onto different types of soil and this week the sower is casting good seed into his field of presumably good soil. But during the darkness when everyone is asleep, an enemy has sown weeds amongst the wheat where they will grow together. When the hired hands notice the predicament they ask whether or not they should gather up the weeds right there and then to which the sower responds in the negative because they may damage the wheat while gathering the weeds. He tells them to let them grow together until harvest and then the reapers can take out the weeds first followed by the wheat.

Now you may ask what difference does it make as to when they separate the weeds from the wheat. Why later and not now?

Well this is another example of a bad translation into English. In fact, the King James Version is the best in this case. The word translated as weeds is batter translated as tares. Tares are a kind of darnel, which resembles wheat except the grains are black when ripe. In other words, they look just like wheat as they are growing and don’t differentiate themselves until they bear their own fruit.

So with that in mind, it makes more sense when the sower tells his slave not to gather up the tares because they wouldn’t know one from another, and would undoubtedly ruin some perfectly good wheat in the process. The point being that there are times when evil deceptively looks good, which strengthens my childhood theological position of the devil and our capacity for doing evil!

Besides the explanation that Jesus gives for the parable, which is undoubtedly true since it was his parable, there are other ways to interpret it. And I only suggest doing this once we’ve understood the context of the passage. But remember last week, I mentioned that Jesus has this knack for taking the everyday stuff of life and giving it a new purpose by transforming it. Consequently, instead of asking myself the obvious question, “What kind of soil am I,” I turned the question into myself for introspection, asking, “When have I been these different types of soil?”

Well the same principle applies here, too. Normally when I read this parable, I am inclined to say, “Thank God I’m a wheat seed and not a weed.” But perhaps the better question would be, “What kind of seed am I and when have I been a weed in my life?” How many times have I put on an outward appearance of something other than who I am? How many times did I display an outward façade of being a big teddy bear of a husband or father when in the confines of my home I acted more like a recently awakened Grizzly? How many times in my life have I deceptively played the Christian, looking wholesome and good when in reality, by my words and deeds, my true fruit defined me as a prickly thistle?

The fact remains that throughout our lives we alternate between the wheat and tare. Because of the deceptive nature of the evil one we are capable of inwardly being a tare while outwardly appearing as wheat. But it’s not until the harvest before we show our true colors. For when we bear fruit, instead of the soft golden hue of wheat we will display blackened grains to match our hearts. For those of you who are familiar with agriculture, it would be similar to driving down a country road in late summer and seeing the dark russet color of sour dock in the midst of a golden field of oats. It’s a stark contrast!

Perhaps another way of looking at this parable is that we may even begin our lives as weeds and through the regenerative power of Holy Baptism with the nurturing sustenance of the Sacraments we are purged of our outward appearance of deception in order to be revealed as the first fruits of the Spirit, the righteous who will shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father.

Regardless of how we interpret this parable the point is that with Jesus in our lives we can be transformed. We can rid ourselves of the evil one when he appears by our side just as Jesus rebuked him in the wilderness. By placing God first in our lives and subjecting ourselves, our souls and bodies to His will we have an opportunity and the freedom to grow as whole wheat in order to bring forth good fruit. And let’s face it, science tells us that whole wheat is good for us!

Now there will be times when it may be difficult to tell whether we are weeds or wheat but each time we acknowledge the error of our ways, and amend our lives accordingly, we are given the promise of forgiveness by God the Father who will no longer remember our sinfulness.

Many times in life, it appears that we have been randomly sown in a soil other than our choosing and many times we’re not quite sure which type of seed we are. And constantly we are shadowed by the devil who by clever deception entices us to follow him in the ways of the world and to become his children. But in hearing the Gospel we have been given a clear choice to follow another way by listening to and obeying God’s commandments. As Jesus said, “Let anyone with ears listen!” In today’s Psalm, we prayed that God would teach us His way so that we may walk in His truth and glorify His Name for evermore. Now I can’t speak for others but to these ears, in that prayer, I hear the prophetic words from the Gospel of John where Jesus says, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no come comes to the Father except through me.” Again, let anyone with ears listen! The answer is clear!

So let’s give thanks and praise to God for answering our prayer, and let us follow his Way, and walk in his Truth so that we may live eternally with our Father as children of the kingdom. Gloria Patri