Relax and leave the weeding to me

For those of us who have been brought up to believe that weeding is an honourable duty, an absolute necessity and that a weed free garden is a virtue, such a statement seems almost sacrilegious, if not insane.  Surely the sensible thing to do is to get rid of weeds as soon as possible. They rob the soil, smother the legitimate plants and harbor pests. 

It comes as a surprise to us to hear that we may do better with those we don’t want in our midst than we would do if we tried to get rid of them.  Those we regard as mere weeds in society may be important companion plants in God’s gracious judgement, as precious as wheat.  It is made quite clear in the story that we are not in the position to judge the insiders from the outsiders, those who belong and those who do not, those who have a worth and those who are worthless, a fact that we are reminded of in the story of Jacob. It is not good to assume we are the wheat and the others are the weeds. God may see it differently.

Sometimes it feels a risk to let all things grow together, but God appears to like risks.  Why else did God choose Noah, Abraham, Sarah Jacob, Moses David, etc.  How do you allow those whom you believe to be wrong to grow along side you and those whom you love?  When my older son was fourteen, we were asked to take a fifteen year old boy who had been in trouble with the police, into our home. The request felt like we had been asked to transplant a weed into our crop. It took us so long to decide that by the time we said yes, they had found somewhere else for him.

We are just beginning to appreciate the benefits of diversity in bioculture and becoming aware of the dangers of monoculture. Today, in the Uniting Church around Australia, multiculturalism is being celebrated. May we, too, give thanks for diversity, enjoy being part of it and encourage others to be true to themselves as they grow around us. May God bless you all as Jacob was blessed by God’s words, “Know that I am with you and will keep you safe wherever you go.” In line with the parable, Christ has added to this, “Relax, and leave the weeding to me!”

Rev Julianne Parker (full sermon n sermons page)

It's a gift

   "In the epistle this week Paul calls us to a better way of dealing with our differences. He compares the church to the human body; although it's made up of many different parts, it forms one body. And so it is with us. Despite our obvious and many differences, God calls us to a unity that's not bland uniformity, and to a diversity without division. To three different churches Paul writes, "There is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, Scythian, slave or free, male or female, but Christ is all, and is in all."

           Paul draws some practical conclusions about our unity in diversity. I need you. And you need me. "The eye cannot say to the hands, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you.'" Paul subverts our normal human tendencies: "Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor." Despite our differences, we should have "equal concern for each other."

            Schwartz tells how he was helped by a gay friend who related his own story about a college experience. One day Brian was talking about a writing project with his professor, Betty Sue Flowers (who later ran the LBJ Library and Museum), and happened to mention that he was gay. He was shocked by her response: "It's a gift," said Flowers.

           "I would have never thought of that as a possible reply," said Brian. "Yet I immediately knew exactly what she meant. Because I was different, I would see things differently than everyone else, and that would be valuable to me in ways that I would only discover over time. I don't think it's too much to say that her words changed how I looked at my life.""

http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20130121JJ.shtml