In the Garden [Proper 11A - Matthew 13:24-30, 36-42]

The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-42

 

In the Garden

St. Mark’s, Malone

 

In the Spring of 2020, I planted a garden.  Property-bound by a mysterious pandemic, my ministry suddenly became work from home.  Screens are inevitable, even in the healthiest of times, but during the earliest days of COVID there was little else.  Morning Prayer and Bible Studies were livestreamed from my living room.  Sermons were recorded for digital upload.  Pastoral care was done by actually talking on the phone.  Everything else, and there was a lot of else, was a seemingly inexhaustible series of Zoom meetings.  The garden became my excuse to disconnect and go outside.

 

The first thing I planted in my garden was spinach.  I don’t remember why.  Maybe because it can be planted early in the growing season.  Maybe because I was told it is easier to grow than some other veggies.  Maybe because everyone in the family can actually tolerate its flavor.  Regardless, that is what I planted.

 

Not too long after the seeds went into the ground, little green sprouts started to appear.  And they looked nothing like the bagged spinach at the store.  Skinny little arms emerged, like discolored zombies in tiny rows.  I was unsure what I was looking at.  But I kept watering and waiting. 

 

At the same time, other little green things emerged.  Not because I have nefarious late-night seedbearing enemies but because birds drop berries and squirrels bury nuts and wind carries all kinds of stuff and because the compost is full of surprises.  And some of the surprises looked a lot like my spinach seedlings – too similar for a novice to know the difference.

 

Eventually many of those little greens started forming tiny leaves that actually looked like spinach.  Those leaves came to resemble the bagged leaves in the store.  Other seedlings started looking more like little trees or like the stuff that stubbornly infiltrated the yard.   It just took time and patience.  Eventually each plant identifies itself.

 

Each season, and I have been gardening for a while now, is the same.  Tiny things pop up and at first they all basically look the same and they never look like the plant they will become.  And the only thing I can do is water and wait for the good seeds to mature or bear fruit. 

 

But sometimes I do forget to wait.  And instead I start pulling.  During our first spring in our house, we recognized that the flower beds were going to be a lot to keep up with.  And so, without waiting, we got a jump on them and started pulling what we thought were weeds.  We had some weird looking hostas that year.  Even this year, I planted some flower seeds in the pots that frame our front door.  For some reason those pots always need weeding; there are always unwanted plants popping up.  And so, one day, without thinking, I pulled out a bunch of little plants – forgetting that I had recently planted good seeds in those pots.  The pulling was followed by a sad moment of realization; that day I regretted that hasty plucking reflex.

 

As Jesus knows, gardening lessons apply well to Kingdom work.  Work in the kingdom of God requires a slow hand and a slower judgement.  Because the will of God can be difficult to discern.  And the immensity of the love of God is difficult to comprehend. 

 

Our history bears this out.  Each new generation of the Church has suffered from the hasty plucking reflex.  In the Middle Ages, the Church condemned redheads and left-handed people.  Church leaders have drowned women to prove their innocence, and burned women because they floated.  Encouraged by popes and bishops, pastors and priests, Christians violently crusaded and shamelessly inquisitioned.  Often using the Bible as a justification, church people have enslaved and dehumanized, have justified slaughter and covered up abuse.  There were Christians who sided with the Nazis and erected flaming crosses on front lawns.  There are Christians today who are so sure they are in the weeds that they schism and condemn and seethe in comment sections.

 

History reminds us that when we trust our own righteousness, rather than place our trust in God, everyone suffers – and good wheat is ravaged. 

 

There is a sin in self-righteous certainty.  Now we know there is evil in this world; Jesus does not deny that.  But rather than simply hand us the sickle, he asks us to do good and trust his judgment.  This parable is a reminder that no one can perfectly know the mind of God.  We should always approach the mysteries of God with reverent humility.  In the face of so many things we cannot know, it is always best to err on the side of love and trust in the mercy and grace of God.  

 

We water and we wait.  We trust the sower and we invest our energies in bearing the good fruits of the kingdom: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  It is not our job to pluck up or cut down others.  The Church has a spotty history in that endeavor. 

 

It is our job to be the good God wants for this world – to live like Jesus, to be known by the good fruits of the Spirit bursting forth from our lives and our churches.  It is our work to overwhelm this wild world with the beauty of love.  It is our responsibility to faithfully work the fields and trust the gracious God of the Harvest.