To begin this week’s readings, we have a 3 verse snippet of a slightly
longer chapter of Isaiah. Essentially we hear about the singularity of God: I
am the first, and I am the last. We’ve heard the connection between God and
God’s people elsewhere in the Bible and it is what we have all been taught for
generations beyond generations, yet, there’s a whole sermon waiting to be written
about how this concept of “one God” aka monotheism has been co-opted from the understanding of
early Judaism. In ancient times it was assumed that there were other deities who
had their own limited things to do and spheres of influence. Israel’s God,
however, was intended to be an exclusive relationship and commitment by Israel
as God’s chosen, as no other god equals Israel’s God. There’s much to consider
but in the interest of time and space, it was the onset of the 17th
century with world conquering and domination to be done by the West, whose
leaders determined cultures with multiple gods to be inferior, that the concept
of monotheism as the ONLY way it was developed and used as method of continuing colonial baggage and then spreading back to the conquerors' own lands. As Reed Carson writing for WorkingPreacher.com
says: Ironically, this naïve self-assurance places Christian theologians in
a similar position to what texts like Isaiah 44 sought to correct…Today a host
of rival gods contend for our affection and adoration…Among these rival deities
are the Christian Nationalist God, the spirits of Profit and Growth, and demons
like Patriarchy and White Supremacy. Each of these…has found ways to demand of
us sacrifices, oaths of loyalty, and (perhaps most ruinous) awestruck fear.
In a slight
departure, this Psalm gives us many quotations from the Torah, the first five
books of the Old/Hebrew Testament and some also appear in other psalms. The Psalmist doesn’t seem to worry at all about people with their other gods. The primary
affirmation is that God is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger
and abounding in love and kindness. These words are to give us the freedom
and conviction that we can appeal directly to God, as the Psalmist speaks to
his own trust and expectation that even those “others” will come to worship the
One.
Paul speaks to our inward groaning and mortal struggles to avoid
the deeds of the body as he exhorts us to hope for
what we do not see and wait for it with patience.
But it is this parable
of Jesus, often known as the wheat and the tares [noxious weeds that
resemble the wheat sprouts], that offers us a lesson in prudent personal
agronomy. It takes an experienced farmer/gardener to know the difference
between seedlings that grow into the desired plants and those that produce
invasive, destructive weeds. The Master of this field wisely leaves well enough
alone, as at maturity, the reapers will have no difficulty in distinguishing
the wheat from the weeds, knowing which to save and which to burn.
While the Master
of this story blames an enemy for the deliberate seeding of
tares in his field, we can look to ourselves for the crop of noxious weeds we ourselves
produce. One grows each time we point a finger in disgust or hate, however self-righteous
and correct we believe we are. Another shoots up each time we judge and belittle
those we believe to be the enemy of our personal agenda (even if they are). The
next grows tall every time we decide who is an undesirable and useless plant
growing where it isn't wanted. And half an acre at least rises up especially
when we believe we know who God will ~ or should ~
burn. It is so easy to sow another seed of soul-destroying rubbish in our own
spiritual ground, reducing it to an unholy dump.
The message is
pretty clear, and always difficult: it's not our job to reap the harvest and
separate the weeds from the wheat. We are called to be the good seeds, the
children of the kingdom, to be fruitful and nourish the fields of the Lord. In
growing strong in Christ together, we will crowd out temptation, resist and
lessen the impact of the noxious weeds sown in God's Creation. The true and fertile
seeds of the Spirit are ready to sprout. God is the true and only judge
of the hearts of others. As the most famous line in the old Walt Kelly cartoon Pogo
says: We have met the enemy and he is us. Jesus came to save the fallen,
not just the faithful. Let us not be the enemy. Only God is the One to tare things out of the wheat.
LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ O Lord our God, lead
us, Your children by Your Spirit, to labor with patience and hope in Your
fields to gather for ourselves and all Creation, the everlasting freedom of
Your Glory.
Merciful and Gracious God
RESPONSE:
Our Help and our Comfort
~ O Lord our God, impel the hearts
and souls of all who govern our World, our Country, and our Community, to tear
out the choking tendrils of the deadly contagion of inequity, injustice, and personal
greed, so to save and prosper the lives of all Your people. We pray especially
for: add your own petitions
Merciful and Gracious God
Our Help and our Comfort
~ O Lord our God, relieve the pain
and despair from those who suffer with illness, injury, or addiction, and
sustain the strength of those who give support. We now join our hearts together
to pray for those in need… add your own petitions
Merciful and Gracious God
Our Help and our Comfort
~ O Lord our God, We lift up and
release those we love into Your joyous welcome, to shine like the sun in Your
Eternal Kingdom. We pray especially for… add your own petitions
Merciful and Gracious God
Our Help and our Comfort
~ O Lord our God, We pause in this
moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions,
petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions
Merciful and Gracious God
Our Help and our Comfort
~ O Lord our God, We commend to
You, with gratitude, those who have committed their lives to us in Your
service. Bless, inspire, and uphold them, as they work with us in Your Creation,
to guide us always toward You. We pray especially for: add your own
petitions
Merciful and Gracious God
Our Help and our Comfort
The Celebrant adds: Abba! Father! Sow in us a longing to clear away
the weeds of sin and doubt within, and to prosper our spiritual ground with good
seed and great hope, that we may shine like the sun in Your Eternal Kingdom. We
ask through Jesus, our Strength and our Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit, our Soul
Guide and our Wisdom; who together with You reign as One God, now and
forever. Amen.
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