(Homily presented at the marriage of Kathleen and Sandy during the weekly service)
Ever notice how at this time of the year, when we have had an over abundance of rain and now sunshine, that the flowers begin to bloom and fill up in the garden?
As it does each year, our back yard flower garden is filling up with an array of colours from various flowers. We even have an abundance of milkweed that attracts Monarch butterflies each year. Right now we are awaiting the return of the butterflies after a large hatching of eggs into the transformation process.
We have other plants with a lot of foliage, tall and some stretching our like the hostas. Brenda and I have collected a few “religious” plants as well, like the “Bishop’s Hat” that we enjoy each year. Well, as much as we enjoy our garden, it isn’t quite as simple as just letting the flowers and plants grow unto themselves. Left unchecked the way some of the garden is this year, inevitably you are going to get he weeds. This year I was smart. I hired Weed Man to take care of the dandelions, and while there are still a few hanging about, for the most part they are gone.
Unfortunately, in the back yard flower bed, the weeds grow strong especially with each rain. Have you ever noticed that the weeds are able to grow up right alongside the healthy plant and camouflage themselves? This is what drives me nuts. I have to get Brenda in just to peek at the flowers and educate me as to what is a weed and what is a plant.
Again, in today’s Gospel we have yet another parable that has an agricultural theme as we hear about the parable of the weeds and the wheat. Just like what happened in our flower beds, the same is happening in this story. If I were to simply pluck up the weeds without care, I could actually pluck up a healthy plant at the same time.
This is the same with the human condition. No matter what we try, we cannot escape a human nature that is more comfortable getting its own way, of a human nature that is tempted and can easily give in to sin, or those things that draw us from the love of God and neighbour. Perhaps it is the temptation to gain wealth at the expense of the poor, or perhaps the temptation to sexual sin that can lead to adultery. Or perhaps it is a temptation that simply pits person against person in an argument that distances us from others. The temptation and sin that follow does not have to be great. Sin is sin.
We are reminded in The Bible that God so loved the world, so loved you and me, that He gave His only begotten Son, to the end that all who believe would not perish in sin but have eternal life. This promise is ours, that God will not pluck up the weeds that grow up alongside us, that cause us to fall. Instead, God allows us to live with the temptations and of course the consequences and disasters that may follow. We have free will and can make independent decisions. Obviously, not all decisions we make will be pleasing to God or others.
The promise of Jesus was that He would not leave us alone to struggle in life. On our own it is hard enough. Jesus said He would send to us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be with us forever. That promise is for you and for me. We know that when, not if, we sin, we are forgiven by God. That was why Jesus shed His blood and died for you and for me.
In return, we need to take care of ourselves. Just as we need to carefully examine the weeds in the garden and pluck them when safe, we need to be conscious of what tempts us in this life and to be cautious not to fall into sin. Eventually, as the parable states, the weeds and whatnot will grow up and be harvested. In the end, we all will be judged by God. Yet, while we have breath, it is our task to come to faith and to believe, to forgive and to accept forgiveness, to love as we are loved by God.
Brothers and sisters, if we can do this, we have a blueprint that will take us through this life in hope. As we give of ourselves in time, talent and treasure to God, we will be blessed. Therefore, let us be conscious of the seed planted within and of the weeds that grow within us and others. And, may that knowledge lead us to offer ourselves in love. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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