For Sunday, July 20, 2014 – Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
“God has planted good seed in the world, children,” my Sunday School teacher would say. “But an enemy has planted weeds. Keep yourself separate from the weeds!” Even then I knew this would be difficult. Out in the pastures and woods on our farm grew so many beautiful weeds. Even more than the zinnias and snapdragons and dahlias marching along in ordered rows at the edge of the garden, I loved the wildflower weeds that chose their own spaces, growing strong and free wherever they wished. Butterflies loved them, too, as they danced in the wind. I brought blossoming clusters into the house and displayed them in vases, and everyone in the family admired these renegade children.
We never would have deliberately planted weeds within the garden plot, but Mother Earth News validates the lowly weed even in that sacred space by saying, “Contrary to their reputation, beneficial weeds under certain circumstances can be helpful in the garden by holding top-soil, pulling up water and nutrients, providing food, controlling insects and more.” They suggest letting the weeds teach us about the garden. The weeds know about the soil in which we want our vegetables to grow.
Jesus, too, knows more than we know. He knows how easily we get distracted by ideas of good and evil. Trying to distinguish weeds from seeds can consume us, causing us to miss their unique beauty and benefits. Fighting outer enemies, we can be overtaken by inner weeds of perfectionism and pride. Searching for the best weed killers, we forget to dwell in the grace that gives us all we need. Jesus knows how fond we are of battle lines, how quickly we see ‘us’ and ‘them’ within and without. So he says, let them be. Let them grow together.
Your doubt and your certainty, your opinions and theirs, can dwell together in peace; let your rising anxiety and your rising hope embrace; let your favorite fears find rest among your best efforts. Whether seeds or weeds, let them grow together into their fullness, just being themselves, as they are, challenge and blessing.
