The Great Farmer’s plan for the harvest of good in the creation is that in the end, all will be transformed into life-giving plants, healed and whole and good.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 16 A
Texts: Matthew 13:24-30 (also Matthew 5:44); Romans 8:12-25
Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Goodness is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate. Light is stronger than darkness. Life is stronger than death.[1]
Nine years ago on the Sunday today’s readings also appeared, I began and ended my sermon here with those powerful, hope-filled words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Each section within the sermon also began with those words. They were the bones that held together God’s promise to always be with us in the face of evil, hate, darkness, and death.
Nine years later, and three years after the last time we heard this parable while reeling from the death of George Floyd and separated from each other by COVID, now in the face of continuing evil, hate, and the shadows of death that pervade our world, now I hear something else in this parable.
I hear Jesus say to his beloved servant Desmond, “your words are grace and truth. But listen, and I will show you a deeper mystery beyond your imagining.”
And that mystery is this farmer’s idiotic plan.
If you’ve studied this parable, or heard sermons on it, you know the two plants Jesus refers to are virtually identical looking. It’s extremely hard to tell them apart, and anyone who tried to do the weeding might easily make mistakes. Of course you don’t want people who don’t know what they’re doing digging around when plants are first coming up.
But no gardener, no farmer in their right mind would let weeds grow up with the desired plants all the way to harvest. Weeds choke out the desired plants, and severely reduce the yield. Jesus knows this – he literally said it in the parable we heard last week.
Now, this isn’t the first or last parable Jesus told that sounds ridiculous. Jesus was a rural person, and spoke to lots of rural people. So, every farmer in his crowd would’ve said this parable’s solution was dumb. But every shepherd in his crowd would’ve said that risking the safety of 99 secure sheep in the wilderness to find one lost one was the dumbest thing you could do, too. And most parents in his crowd would’ve said that a father who lets his two sons walk all over him, giving them everything, loving them even when they reject him, was just foolish, and a bad parent.
But when Jesus tells you a parable that absolutely crosses the line into foolishness, that sounds ridiculous and naïve and wrong and you know it, that’s when you really need to pay attention. Because when you say to Jesus, “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” that’s when Jesus says, “now you’re getting it. Now you’re really listening.”
And now you’re ready to hear God’s deeper mystery.
If your grasp of God’s love doesn’t ever make you think God is naïve, unaware of reality, you aren’t ready for the truth of God’s love. If your awareness of God’s love doesn’t ever make you say, “I don’t see how this can work,” or, “that would just be foolish,” you aren’t ready for the truth of God’s love.
The farmer is completely non-anxious about the servants’ rightful fears at his foolishness. Because the farmer is banking on a deeper mystery: evil isn’t to be destroyed. It’s to be changed. This is the farmer’s plan: by the time of the harvest, there will be no weeds to burn. All will be ready to share goodness for the life of all.
So today Jesus says to our brother Desmond, how about this? “Goodness will heal evil. Love will transform hate. Light will open up darkness. Life will raise the dead.”
In the wisdom of the Triune God, who came as one of us into a world sown deeply with evil, it’s not a question of who’s stronger. It’s a question of restoring the whole creation. All of it.
Jesus is always absolutely clear about this. But we don’t want to hear it.
Because it’s so foolish. So we say things like: It doesn’t take into account the real world. Evil needs to be destroyed. Some people are just bad. You need to do whatever it takes to end the power of evil.
Unless you follow the Son of God. Who, as God-with-us, engaged evil and hate and darkness and death at their core, by loving them. Offered forgiveness as he was nailed to the cross. Refused violence and the tools of this world, refused to take power.
Who commanded this: love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. That prayer, that love, will heal evil. Transform hate. Open up darkness. Raise the dead.
Of course we stand against what evil does in this world.
It’s our job. We stand in solidarity with all who are crushed and oppressed by the evil and hate and darkness and death that has been planted in this world. We do whatever we can, with whomever we can, to dismantle the systems and structures that perpetuate evil and hate and darkness and death. We join hands in love and grace and witness to the healing power of God’s death-breaking love.
But we do not hate. We do not demonize any of God’s children. We do not ever use violence or authorize others to do violence for us. We do not relegate anyone to the scrap heap of the bad who need to be burned. We don’t overpower or try to win. We love our enemies and pray for them, and that will heal the world.
You don’t have to like the plan. But it’s the only one Jesus has. It’s God’s way.
And there’s more to this plan.
Years ago in a previous parish, I had a confirmation student who had serious attention problems. It’s not uncommon, lots of folks do. But over three years I would’ve said this one heard nothing that was taught. It was so hard for him to sit still, and his comments were often random.
But then in one class in eighth grade, this amazing kid asked a simple question: “Do you think Jesus is delaying his return hoping that even the devil might finally come back?”
This kid got the plan. He didn’t care if it sounded dumb or foolish. He had ears to listen.
Because if this Farmer’s plan comes to fruition, that’s exactly what will happen. Even the great Enemy who first planted the weeds will be healed. Even the great Enemy who first planted the weeds is welcome to the harvest. Even the great Enemy who first planted the weeds is beloved.
It’s not going to be easy.
Listen to Paul, who says it’ll involve a lot of sharing suffering with other people, that the whole creation is groaning in labor pains, waiting for the birth of this new thing. Listen to Jesus, who knew something about suffering and dying for love, knew what it was to set aside power and violence, knew what it was to love enemies and pray for them.
But it is a birth God is making, Paul’s right. And only goodness can give birth to goodness. Only love can give birth to love. Only light can give birth to light. Only life can give birth to life.
This is the plan that will heal all things. It’s absolutely foolish. So trust it with your life.
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
[1] Copyright 1995 Desmond Tutu, admin. Random House, Inc. and Lynn C. Franklin Associates, Ltd. Used in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, hymn no. 721.
