This is the sermon I delivered at the 8:00am & 9:30am Eucharist at St. Andrew's this morning. The readings were Genesis 28:10-19a, Romans 8:12-25 and Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.
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Brothers
and sisters, I feel I should begin with a confession – I am a very
poor gardener!
This
mainly comes from not being a big fan of weeding.
The
house we were in at college had a steep bank that led up to the road
– too steep for the kids to play on, hard work to climb, and not
really much use for any kind of garden without major re-sculpting
work. When we moved in it was completely covered in weeds,
which we attempted to hack back. This became an ongoing battle –
one we couldn’t win, as we could never give it the time it
required. Eventually, as the weeds got higher, the landlords brought
in a gardener. This ‘kind gentleman’ turned up, cast his ‘expert’
eye over the scene…then got out a strimmer, chopped the weeds back
to ground level & departed. Now, anyone with any knowledge of
weeds will immediately spot the problem – about 3 months later the
weeds were back, bigger & stronger thanks to the weather over the
summer. Eventually, we organised a gardener of our own to come out.
This one dug the weeds out by their roots, turned over the soil &
planted good plants to help keep them at bay – in the words of our
neighbour, this one “knew what he was doing!”
In
our Gospel reading today we find Jesus taking part in the earliest
recorded episode of Gardener’s Question Time. Just before this, as
Junior Church explained so brilliantly last week, he’s spoken of a
farmer scattering seed with varying degrees of success, and here
Jesus talks about weeds entangled in an important crop of wheat. He
explains the weeds are the children of the evil one, and it appears
they have been sent to stunt the growth, hold back, and endanger the
children of the kingdom.
This
got me thinking about how much time I spend tending the garden of my
life. When I look at the soil of my heart, I hope I’m doing the
right things to make it good and fertile. I try to give it the right
nutrients – time spent in church listening to teaching, and
engaging in fellowship. I try to plant good seed in it – the word
of God through the scriptures. But, as those in the gospel reading
discovered, sometimes weeds begin to grow unbidden and, apparently,
unaided. The slaves of the householder appear truly shocked that this
has happened – they expected only good crops to grow.
All
the right precautions had been taken - the ground ploughed up and
prepared, only the best seed sown; and yet here come the weeds,
tightly bound to the crop.
Possibly
fearing blame, they look to quickly rectify the problem, but the
householder is good & wise – he knows the only way to remove
the weeds completely is to pull them out at the root, and at this
point that would damage the crop as well. He casts his expert eye
over the situation and urges patience, knowing that when the time is
right the weeds can be destroyed and the crop gathered in.
Now,
some might say it’s easy to avoid weeds – just don’t plant them
in the first place! We all probably feel we have a good grasp of
right and wrong, and try to avoid ‘sinning.’ I doubt any of us go
‘looking’ for trouble; we avoid the usual suspects of sin –
murder, theft, adultery. We may try even harder, attempting to live
out the things Jesus highlighted in the sermon on the mount –
seeking reconciliation instead of anger, avoiding lust, turning the
other cheek. But it isn’t just about the big things. What else
holds us back from our relationship with Jesus?
Weeds
come in all shapes & sizes. Some are deep rooted and tough to
shift. Some even flower, and externally don’t look too out of place
or wrong. But these are habitual weeds, the things we do often and
without thinking, that stifle the growth of the seed God plants in us
by using up the goodness it needs to flourish.
Just
as a weed blocks light and consumes nutrients, these habits block our
vision of the light of Christ and steal the precious time we need to
nurture that which God has given us. Now, I’m not saying we
shouldn’t have hobbies, pastimes, fun! But when these things
detract from our relationship with the risen Lord they become a
problem. All around us are things that can help us pass the time, but
can become overwhelming. If I claim I haven’t got time to read the
Bible every day, but spend a couple of hours doing the crossword or
looking at Facebook, I may need to do some pruning. If I don’t have
time to pray, but know the latest plot twist in Eastenders, I may
need to find my trowel and gloves. Lets take a few moments now and
ask ourselves - When did I last take a good look around my garden and
ask, “what weeds have I left to grow recently?”
Some
weeds are smaller - so less of a problem, right? But think of the
dandelion – one strong gust of wind and it’s seeds scatter far
and wide, and in no time more dandelions spring up all over the
place. When we look at our own lives, what are the little things we
do that affect other people’s growth in God?
Paul,
in his first letter to the Corinthians, was quite keen on our actions
not damaging the relationship others had with the Lord. There are
things we probably don’t see any harm in. Things we do that we can
happily hold alongside our Christian walk. But just because we
don’t think they harm us, that doesn’t let us off the hook
when it comes to others. Lets think again for a moment. What seeds
blow from my garden into others? Will these seeds bear fruit…or
choke the life from those around me?
My
biggest problem in the garden is I find it hard to tell the weeds
from the plants. The slaves in the story appear to have had a similar
concern. But help is at hand.
Unlike
the bloke who strimmed my slopes, we have access to the expert in
tending our particular garden – one who can advise us on what is
best because he managed to tend his own garden perfectly, and wants
ours to thrive and produce an abundant crop. When did we last ask the
expert gardener, the one witnesses believe “knew what he was
doing,” the Lord, the giver of life to help us to remove those
things that are getting in the way of our relationship with those who
we love, and with him?
We’ll
pause again for a few moments. Let’s take some time to wander
around the garden of our lives, our hearts, and ask Jesus to help us
check for weeds.
One
thing about a good garden – people stop and look at it. People ask
how it got to be like that; what we did differently to make it so
attractive; why is it so abundant, so full of life? Friends,
neighbours, complete strangers see something special and want to know
how to get it for themselves.
We
all know the best way for any gardener to find new work is word of
mouth – the recommendation of a friend, who has experienced their
work, means more than any fancy advert or promotion! Are we ready to
tell those who ask how our garden got to look so good!?
As
we come to the communion table, to remember Jesus life and death for
our salvation, we use the produce of good human gardening; maybe we
should take the opportunity to ask him to clear out the weeds, dig
over the soil, and fertilize our hearts with his body and his blood.
Are we prepared to work with him, tend the good seed he has planted
in us, and let the Holy Spirit blow the seed of that crop far and
wide? Are we ready to let him loose with his trowel?
Amen.
A
wise man, when asked how to eat an elephant, replied “one bite at a
time.” So we need to start small: praying the Spirit will help us
to pray, meditating on the passage from Romans (and others that the
Lord places on our hearts), giving what we can to charities who
directly help those caught up in these situations, like Christian Aid
working in Gaza, or Tearfund's “No Child Taken” campaign. And
those questions that keep running around our heads? Maybe consider
joining the Alpha course that will start in October, where we'll
explore together our Christian faith & get to know the Lord, and
each other, that bit better.