...and the Harvest

But the seed that falls on fertile soil will bring forth enough and more than enough, and with the seed that fell in unpromising places, there might yet be a surprise.

So now in this second parable about seed and growth, the thought is developed in another direction from seed-time to harvest.

It is a message of consolation for those disciples who are soon to face every kind of obstacle, including death.

For a person in this situation, it is a great comfort to hear that there will be a harvest.

(1) Do not despair! God wins in the end.

That is a message that we need, especially when we face our deadly crisis times.

(2) It will be a good harvest; evil will be separated from good.

(3) It is God's harvest; he is in charge.

This is good news for someone who feels buffeted about by all kinds of uncontrollable forces.

One of those times is when one is being shuttled from here to there in the hospital for this test and that test, none of which we may understand fully, and tended by people who talk in medical shorthand to each other.

It is Good News to hear that God is ultimately in charge, especially when we are not sure at all about what is happening.

He is the one who sows,

he instructs the workers,

he directs the harvesters,

he gathers into the barns.

The harvest is his action,

from beginning to end.

It would be a misuse if we were to

turn this story into a club to beat up one another.

If we were to say “I'm good, you're bad; I'm the grain harvest and you are the weeds.”

In the allegorical explanation of the parable, Jesus says that “the field is the world.”

Let's use that as a clue and draw it a bit more tightly:

the field is your world, your individual life.

A regular question is where we see ourselves in the parable.

So, rather than seeing ourselves as the servants who ask not-such-sharp questions,

or the harvesters , who show up after all of the growing and care and otherwise have no part in the action,

or the wheat if we're feeling especially good about ourselves,

or the weeds if we're feeling especially bad about ourselves,

rather, you and I are in the story as the fields , the places where the action happens.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has started something very good within us in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, as we celebrate it today.

Over the next month we will be celebrating Baptism three times!, and each time emphasizing another aspect of this wonder.

Today we are seeing how this new beginning is moving toward a goal, with ultimate results, harvest-time.

Even now it is clear that evil will not give up easily or without a great battle.

It grows up twisted around us.

Will it smother God's intention for us in Holy Baptism?

No it won't, Jesus' story maintains!

You know how it goes in the garden.

One will not eradicate every single weed, no matter how hard one tries.

We will try to pull out as many as we can, enough to let the crops get ahead of the weeds and mature until harvest.

But the gardener knows that disturbing the soil in any way, even just pulling out weeds, may provide just enough action to provoke dormant weed seeds to germinate and grow in the spot left by the removed weed.

In the same way, Confession with which we most often begin our worship is a very realistic way to manage a difficult situation.

Since we cannot rid ourselves of evil, Jesus pulls out enough weeds in our lives so that we have room to live and grow and bear fruit

– and at the right time, in God's good time, our lives are being harvested and evil separated from the good that Jesus has been able to cultivate within us.

The parable uses the image of weeds being thrown into the fire.

When we hear that, we think usually of mere destruction, but I wonder if there is more going on there.

In the Middle East there is a continuing shortage of firewood.

Notice the detail in the story that says that the weeds are not just heaped up, but gathered into bundles.

Despite themselves, the weeds are going to serve a good purpose, as fuel for a cooking fire, and ashes for the next garden.

Even our less than stellar accomplishments will somehow be used by God for some good purpose, it appears!

What good news it is!

The burning of weeds in our lives can provide the opportunity and fertilizer for new growth and a later harvest.

The sin confessed and forgiven by God makes room in our hearts and lives for something to take its place.

Now God is taking a chance here:

it could be room for more sin to grow, or it could also be something God-pleasing.

Perhaps this is a bit confusing if we are thinking of the harvest as being only at the end of life;

or to use fancy language, that the eschatological crisis is when we die.

However, we already have died the important part of death in the waters of Baptism, Paul reminds us, so that this is now not only a time of growth but also a time of God's harvesting.

To continue the garden image, I suppose we should think of vegetables like lettuce that are cut and grow again.

That is the opportunity we celebrate each time we recall our Baptism:

by making the sign of the cross,

by engaging in confession and forgiveness,

by confessing the creed,

by sharing the peace,

by a life lived in thanksgiving,

by encouraging someone with the word of God in gentle conversation. etc.

by things in worship and opportunities throughout the week.

The harvest in us in these activities may be providing room for our additional growth and also become the fertilizer for growth in someone else.

You know the gloom and doom types who can see nothing good in individuals, church, community, or nation.

We are called to a different realism. one which claims that our lives are not to be shaped by the pressure of the evil that surely is in and around us,

but by the reality of the kingdom of God that is established by the resurrection of Jesus,

that is made present to us in Holy Baptism where we are made a part of the death and new life of Christ.

Hear it as Good News today:

there not only will be a harvest at the end, there is a harvest going on now;

it is a good harvest;

it is God's harvest;

and by the gift of Baptism,

God includes us in it!

Thanks be to God! Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.