First, let me say that I need to leave behind Matthew's explanation of the parable (vv. 36-43). Just like last week, when he has Jesus explain his parable to the disciples, it seems that Matthew wants to head off the very work of wondering that Jesus' parables invite us into. By telling us what the parables mean, he makes them less parabolic, and therefore less fruitful. So, let's leave behind his little summary and just enjoy the parable.
In the parable, there is wheat and there are weeds. And, of course, no farmer wants weeds mixed in with their wheat. Jesus' audience would get an image of what he means. Let them grow together and sort it out later, lest pulling up the weeds also uproots the wheat. At the end, we will sort them out. OK, got that.
But here's where I've been wondering this week.
For the last month or two, we've been gathering the various grasses and wildflowers that grow on our lane and the pathway to the monastery and using them in place of flowers. We have lovely arrangements of - weeds.
In past years I would have just walked by those grasses. I might have appreciated them where they are, but I wouldn't bring them inside - I'd buy flowers, or cut flowers we had grown. I would not be making bouquets out of weeds. But this year, the beauty of the grasses overtook me. I haven't been settling for weeds - I've been appreciating what they bring, the "wheatness" of them.
So now, when I read this parable, I wonder: How can I be sure what is wheat and what is weeds? See, it's not just a matter of not uprooting the sprouts I know to be good and nourishing - it's also a question of knowing which is which. For all I know these weeds are wholesome in their own right! In uprooting them, I may be depriving myself and others of potential nourishment.
Of course, there is a place for discernment. Some things are clearly toxic - some plants, and some qualities of the soul. But some things are less clear. Is my impatience a weed, or is it a wild unruly flower? Is my obnoxious neighbor (pick your version of why they are intolerable) a weed to be thrown into the fire, or wheat that can teach me something or bring a gift if properly cultivated with patience and understanding? You get my drift.
This is not a prescription for paralysis. In fact, Matthew's explanation leaves us both judging and impotent: I know who is a weed, and I can trust that God will burn them. Yuck. No, this is an opening toward discernment, toward a more careful contemplative approach to myself and others. Knowing that I don't always know what God finds to be useful leads me to pray as the recovery programs teach us: I pray for God to remove every defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to God and to others. That may include some things I like (my "wheat") and leave some things I don't. Then I watch and notice, and make the best choices I can.
What's growing in your garden today?
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