Soil and seed – becoming the word of God
Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A): Lectionary 106
Last week, we Jesus told a parable about the sower and the seed. When his disciples asked about the meaning, Jesus explained that the seed is the word of God, and the soil represents us: hard, rocky, weedy, or good. If we allow the word of God to take root in our hearts, then we will bear fruit. The seed is the word of God, and we are the soil.
This week, Jesus again tells a parable of sowing and seed, but Jesus explains that the children of God are the seed, the field is the world, and the weeds are the servants of our enemy.
Now, wait a minute. Is Jesus confused? Is he mixing his metaphors? First, Jesus says that the seed is the word of God, now he says that we are the seed. The first time, the soil represents our hearts; now the soil represents the world. What’s going on?
Both are true. We are soil and seed. We receive and become the word of God.
The seed is the word of God, which is sowed and nurtured in our hearts through the words of the Gospel and the grace of the sacraments. The word of God takes root in our hearts, consumes them, then sends out tillers, and bears fruit. That fruit is the word of God. We receive the word of God, and we become the word of God… This is no surprise to anyone who’s planted anything – that which is sown is the same as what is reaped.
The living word and Word (capital W, Christ) of God transform us into the living word and the body of Christ in the world.
We are the word – we are the way that God most often chooses to speak to the world. What does God say to us, and to the world through us? What does it sound like to be the word of God to the world?
Our first reading from Wisdom tells us quite a bit about God.
God’s might is the source of justice.
This is often untrue in our world, isn’t it? When we say “might makes right,” we mean exactly the opposite, don’t we? All too often, human might leads to injustice. The powerful guilty go free, and powerless innocents are punished or even killed. Human might is very often the source of injustice, and rarely the source of justice, despite what the propagandists would have us believe.
How is God’s might the source of justice? I think perhaps in two ways.
First, when we look at God, we see what justice is, and our awareness of God’s might and righteousness can help us see injustice, and motivate us to create justice in the world. Second, God is not mocked. What we sow is what we reap. We like that when it applies to others. We… don’t like it so much when it applies to us.
Thankfully, we do not always get what we deserve, because God’s mastery over everyone leads to leniency, mercy, and clemency. How about us? When we have power over others, when we catch someone in the wrong… do we demonstrate leniency, mercy and clemency? Do we feed others’ anger, or do we encourage others to show mercy?
God shows might in the face of disbelief, and teaches the people of God by these deeds of leniency, mercy, and clemency that those who are just must be kind. Do we? Do we not just speak justice and kindness, but show by our deeds that those who are just must be kind?
God rebukes temerity (which means being reckless or rash) in those who already know God, and God permits repentance. This one is for us, too. Do we repent when rebuked? Do we go along when our brothers and sisters act foolishly, as if God is only merciful, and not just? Or, do we call them to do better – to repentance? This, too, is mercy and kindness. Because, remember, what they sow is what they reap, but for the mercy of God. If we stand by while our sisters and brothers behave with temerity, or worse, if we cheer them on, then we are failing to love them as we should, because we are failing to desire and act for their good.
The psalmist sums it up: Our God is good and forgiving.
God is also patient – in today’s parable, the owner of the field instructs his servants to leave the weeds to grow so that the wheat is not damaged by removing the weeds. These are not just random careless weeds – but very specifically Darnel, or Tares. Darnel looks just like wheat while growing, but the seed head has a different shape and the seeds are purple and black instead of gold. You can eat Darnel, but it will make you dizzy, then drunk, then paralyzed.
It also doesn’t show up accidentally. Darnel has no natural lifecycle – it requires human threshing and planting to reproduce. This represents not accidents or errors, but true evils in the world and in the Church that are introduced maliciously by our enemy. Like the angels, sometimes we grow impatient with God’s patience.
So, what do we do? Place it in God’s hands. Sometimes, we don’t even know what to say. In that case, the best thing we can do is to allow the Spirit to intercede for us, because we don’t even know how to pray as we ought. Create justice. Speak mercy. Be kind. Repent and encourage the best in others. And remember that our patient, good, merciful, kind and just God is in control.
