Tag Archives: weeds

Trump and the Boy Scouts

26 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by in Politics, Society, Theology

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Do I dare?  Do I touch this?  Sure, why not.  Everyone else seems to be commenting on this, so why not me.  Maybe I can offer a different perspective.

I know it’s dangerous to talk about partisan politics – so many people have their loyalties to one party or the other and hence have a cemented opinion about political leaders, including the President. I’m just as guilty.  But I’m wondering what we can learn from this latest episode of the President speaking in front of the Boy Scouts.

Before I go on, I have to say, I haven’t seen the speech, nor read it.  There’s a pretty good chance I never will.  What I’m more interested in is the reaction to his speech.

Trump doesn’t really interest me.  I think he’s pretty predictable.  Say something outlandish in order to get a response – that way everyone is talking about him.  Whoever controls the conversation, is the one with real power.  If we have learned anything it is that he’s really good as drawing attention to himself.  And many people feel the need to be sucked into whatever the latest tweet or thing he said is.

When I contemplate this episode, I can’t help but think of this past Sunday’s Gospel lesson in Matthew 13:24-30 – the parable of the wheat and the weeds.

“He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

I’m not interesting in determining if Trump is the sower of the weeds or the seeds (depending on your political leanings), or is a weed, or something else.

What I’m interested in is this – What are we called to?  How are we to relate and react to the President or any other politician we may disagree with, or as some believe, find to be a danger?  Remember, every President, since Washington was president, had an opposition that couldn’t stand them.  Every President has faced threats of impeachment – yes, even the “universally” loved Washington.  Every President has been viewed as evil by some and as a wonderful leader who can save the nation by others.

And in each case, the faith and hope in that person is misplaced.  Or rather, too much faith and hope is placed in that person.  It doesn’t matter if that person is Trump or if it was Obama.

Christians are called to be wheat in the world of weeds.  We are called to live differently.  To, dare I say it, have different loyalties – (sounds so un-American, doesn’t it?)

So what do we do with a politician who desires to be the center of the universe?  The same thing you do when you deal with a black hole – avoid being sucked in.  You live your life.  You stay in control of your emotional state.  You realize that you aren’t going to like what the person says or tweets and you determine the best way to stay informed without being controlled by the person.  You don’t allow this person to determine what you do each day or what your emotional state will be.

Most important – you live out your calling, no matter what.  To feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to house the homeless, to visit the imprisoned, to care for the sick, to acknowledge the humanity in others, to tap into the value of those that feel valueless.

In other words, to build up the kingdom of God, regardless of what happens in DC or who sits in the Oval Office. Yes, some people make that easier and some make it harder.  You don’t have control over that.  You have control over how you react and what you do going forward.

Our hope isn’t in the person of the President – regardless of who it is.  It’s in the person of Jesus.

Our future isn’t tied to the President, our future is in Jesus.

Our loyalty, dare I say it, isn’t to the President first, but to the kingdom of God first.

Whether you are thrilled that Trump is president or dismayed, this administration isn’t permanent – nothing here is.  At some point in time, his name will be forgotten to the ashes of history.  But God, and God’s kingdom, will not.  In the end, God’s kingdom prevails.  That is where our hope is – that is where our faith lies.

Responding to a politician with anger isn’t going to change the politician or how they act.  It certainly won’t make us feel better either.  You can’t change weeds into wheat.  You can only be wheat.  We need wheat in the world of weeds.  We need to be wheat in relation to politics.  There are plenty of weeds in the world.  Plucking the weeds is a never-ending battle that is exhausting.  Being wheat though is different.  Wheat actually feeds people and gives life to those around us.  It’s time to be wheat, and plant more seeds.

Wheat and weeds

24 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by in Humanity, Theology

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Are you tired of reading social media posts of “friends” that you are connected to who spend a great deal of time showing why they are right and their opposition is wrong?  I am.  Lately, as soon as I see what the post is, it just skip it and move on.  There are more important things to do, and frankly, I have enough stress in my life, I don’t need to add reading these kind of posts.

Tired of reading partisan political rants and posts about how (insert party or politician here) is just terrible, wrong, and yes, on the cusp of evil for the things that they supposedly say, do, or the policies they support?  Instead, (insert a more preferred party or politician) is so much better!  They have common sense of course with their common sense solutions.  They aren’t making (pick a group that can used for political gain) choose between (pick something that people need and/or makes their life better) and (pick something else). I am tired of this.  How do you all read all of these posts? Again, when I see that someone is posting something that becomes nothing more than an unsolicited ad for a political party or politician, it’s time for me to move on.

It’s the same stinking message, just change the players and the names.

It shows up in relationships where someone doesn’t like the fact that their (daughter, son, friend, coworker, etc) is (dating/seeing someone with a different skin color, speaks a different language, has a different religious faith, comes from a different country, is gay/lesbian/trans/bi/etc, etc., etc.)  It’s the same story, just the players in the story are different.  But the same arguments show up.

I’m right and you are wrong and you better conform your life to my way of living, being, doing, thinking, and believing – or else damn it!  Why don’t you see how clearly right I am?!?

Never mind that people’s lives are vastly different, that their histories are different, and there are innumerable other differences.  Clearly, I’m right and that’s all that matters.

Tired of this?  So am I.

So what to do about it?

Well, you could try to correct all the people who do this.  You’ll be exhausted and create tons of enemies.  You’ll get called names and threatened and all sorts of other fun things.  And you won’t change a single mind or heart – just like the folks who are doing this.  But hey, you’ll be right and they will be wrong.

Why on earth would you adopt the strategy of the people who supposedly upset you?  Why?  Yet, this seems to be the answer for so many people – do the exact same thing that you don’t like done to you.  That makes literally no sense what so ever.  Yet so many people do this.  Why?????

Want another option?  Try reading the parable of the wheat and the weeds from Matthew 13.  It was the Gospel reading from this past Sunday.

Matthew 13:24-30

The Parable of Weeds among the Wheat

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

In this parable, Jesus talks about the wheat and weeds and how they grow together.  The sower of the seeds doesn’t tell the wheat to go and try to change the weeds to become wheat.  He doesn’t go and scold the wheat for not changing the weeds.

Jesus doesn’t call on us to change the weeds that surround us to become wheat.  Instead, we are called to be wheat – live like the wheat among the weeds.  Not to judge the weeds, or hack down the weeds, or condemn the weeds, or sow something terrible among the weeds because that’s what happened to the wheat.

Instead the wheat and weeds are allowed to grow together.  The wheat grows with the weeds.  This is our life.  To be with those who are like weeds.  But to be wheat.  To be wheat among the weeds is to live your life differently – to be in the world, but not of the world.  To love those around us – even the weeds.  To care for people – even the weeds.  To show that our lives are different because Jesus has entered our life.

If Jesus has entered our life, then it’s got to be changed.  We don’t act like weeds or the sower of weeds if Jesus is a part of our life.  Instead, our lives are changed and the methods of the sower of the weeds make no more sense and we don’t do them.

We are either wheat or weeds.  Wheat acts like wheat.  Weeds act like weeds.

 

Seeds

21 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by in Theology

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Last Sunday the Gospel lesson was the parable of the Sower and the Seeds.  This Sunday the lesson is about the wheat and the weeds.  Both of these are in Matthew 13 and both are rather interesting.

You can read the typical commentary on these parables, but I want to point out something a bit different.  It’s an observation about the two parables.

I argue that these two parables aren’t primarily nice stories designed to teach a lesson.   Rather, I see these stories as Jesus telling about his own life.

Take the parable of the sower and the seeds.  The sower goes around and spreads seed and the seed falls on various ground – sometimes the birds pluck it up, sometimes the seed gets trampled on, sometimes the seed shoots up quick and dies right away.  And sometime the seed falls on good soil and produces more seed.

Isn’t this exactly what Jesus did.  He went around and spread the Good News about the kingdom of God far and wide – in lots of different places.  In some cases the message was trampled by those who didn’t like it.  In other places, the message grew quickly, but died off when the person understood that Jesus wanted their entire life.  And in other cases, the message found good soil and bore fruit in that person’s life and spread to others.

In this week’s message, Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the weeds and how they are allowed to grow together.  Again, I see Jesus’ story here.  Jesus doesn’t send down hellfire and condemnation to separate the weeds from the wheat – he allows both to grow together as he goes about his ministry.

And this is what we are called to also – to spread the Good News, to not be the culture police.  Our job isn’t to change the culture around us to our way of thinking and believing.  Rather it is to live differently and be an open invitation to a different way of living.