“Worth the Effort?” (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52)

Indescribable . . . that is what “love” is.  It is indescribable.  No words can describe “love” once you have discovered it.  People have written books attempting to describe “love”, and yet those books often come up short in describing “love”.  Think about it . . . think about that moment you fell in love . . . how did you describe it to the person you “love”?  How did you describe that feeling?  You can’t do it.  What most of us, if not all of us, end up doing when we describe “love” is to talk about how we respond to it . . . what it makes us do, but we have a difficult time describing it.  “Love” is that big . . . that magnificent . . . that powerful . . . that overwhelming.  It is the most valuable possession any of us could ever have.

As a people of faith, the followers of Jesus, think about when you first fell in “love” with Jesus . . . that moment when you were overwhelmed and dedicated your life to following him . . . how did it feel?  How did it feel stepping into that intimate relationship with Jesus . . . with the Holy . . . into the realm of God’s Kingdom?  Pretty difficult isn’t it?

And, it is.  At the same time, it doesn’t stop us from trying.  In our reading this morning Jesus gives it a shot.  Jesus attempts to describe this wondrous gift and the feelings it smacks us with.  We heard him try to explain it using four parables.  The first is the mustard seed . . . the smallest of seeds, yet the largest of plants—big enough for birds to build nests in!  The second is yeast . . . mixed with flour it explodes in size.  The third is a treasure that is so valuable that the person discovering rushes off to sell everything in order to purchase the property and thus possession of the treasure.  In the fourth it is a pearl in which the individual sells everything in order to have it. 

In each parable the “gift” goes beyond expectation.  It goes beyond imagination.  And, in each parable—especially in the ones about treasure and pearls—we are told that the individuals are so overwhelmed that they go and sell everything in order to possess the “gift”.  The people are willing to do anything to have and experience the “gift”. That is how God’s love is . . . we desire and are willing to do anything to have it once we encounter it.

That is what Jesus is trying to describe in these four parables . . . and, we get the point because we have experienced such love in our own lives . . . and we would and have done just about anything to have it.

Early in my relationship with Dana, my wife, I was overwhelmed by the love I stumbled into.  It turned my whole world upside down.  Prior to us “falling in love” I had a pretty routine life . . . I went to my seminary classes during the week . . . Friday afternoon I would head to where my church was and stay the weekend . . . and, then I would return on Monday mornings and start all over again.  It was like clockwork.  But once Dana and I fell in “love” that all flew out the window with our common sense.

Soon we were spending as much time as possible with each other.  I was no longer heading to my church on Friday afternoons, but waiting until Saturday evening or even early on Sunday mornings.  There was less time with the church and more time with her.  We’d do anything to be together because we were in “love”.

One weekend we went out on a Saturday evening, which meant I would have to get up real early to get to the church an hour-and-a-half away for Sunday school and worship.  On that Sunday morning I got a call from Dana saying she was in a lot of pain . . . excruciating pain . . . and would I please come and take her to the emergency room.  Well, that was sure a conundrum . . .

It was such a last-minute request.  If I took her to the hospital, I would never make it to the church in time to fulfil my duties.  It could put my job with the church in jeopardy . . . I could lose it.  I couldn’t afford to lose my job.  On the other hand, it pained me to hear and know that the person I love more than anything else in the world was hurting.  I wanted to stop the hurt.  I wanted to comfort her.  And, if I didn’t, would it be like failing some sort of test of my “love” for her?  Would she quit loving me if I didn’t rush right over to her apartment and help her? 

Well, that is when I learned that our love for one another was the most valuable possession either of us had.  No sooner had I put the phone down, I was in my car and rushing over to help her.  She was in pain.  She needed my help.  There would be other jobs . . . and, knowing this—putting my job on the line, I knew I would pass the test if it were a test.  I’d do anything to keep that love.

Well, it turned out to be kidney stones.  The doctor told her they were uncomfortable and painful, but that they would pass.  In the meantime, he suggested that she drink more cranberry juice.  I didn’t lose my job.  The church was quite understanding of the situation.  Our “love” survived.  Within six months we were married.

So, was it worth it?  After 39 years . . . yeah, I would say it was worth it.

As we hear these parables, we discover that within life there are certain things that are worth gambling everything we have.  That there are things worthy of throwing caution to the wind and going for what we believe is the “greater” gift.  One of those things, at least as Jesus is equating it for us this morning, is that relationship with the Holy . . . with him . . . with God.  That relationship is indescribable . . . it is immense . . . and, over-powering.  It is awesome . . . filled with awe.  It is invaluable.  And, so struck are we by such a “love” and relationship that we will do anything to possess it and be in it . . . anything! That is how it is when we fall in love with Jesus . . . with God . . . with God’s kingdom.  It is worth the effort.

That is how it is with “love” . . . with being in “love”.  We are different people.  We feel different.  We see the world differently . . . the grass is greener, the sky is bluer, the sun shines brighter!  We are overwhelmed by what we are feeling and experiencing.  We act differently towards others and ourselves.  We cannot contain it all . . . we want to share it with others.  In the sixth parable Jesus tells us this morning, he tells his listeners that this is the response to such “love” . . . it has got to be shared.  Jesus says that such “love” “. . . is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

To put it another way, consider the hymn Pass It On.  In the hymn discovering, accepting, and living in love with God is overwhelming to the point that it just must be shared.  It is so powerful that the speaker declares that he or she must shout it from the mountaintop.  The individual states, “That’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it, you spread His love to everyone.  You want to pass it on.”  Or you go and sell everything you have in order to buy the property where the treasure is or to buy the pearls.  You do whatever it takes. . .

. . . and, yes, it is worth it.

Thus, it is that Jesus explains this “holy love” . . . how big it is, how filling and fulfilling it is, how impactful it is . . . how awesome it is.  It is unimaginable . . . indescribable!  And, it is worth risking everything to have and to be in.  He tells us that it is such a powerful force and factor in our lives that we cannot contain it . . . it just bursts out of us . . . we have to share it with others.  We want others to know what we are feeling . . . we want them to feel like we do.

To have such “love” are we willing to go to the extent that the people in the parables are willing to go?  Are we willing to sacrifice everything--physical and spiritual--to have such a “love”?  Is such love worth it?

Yes, it is.  Another church hymn, They’ll Know We Are Christians, tells us that is how others will know . . . by our “love”.  That is what will separate us from others . . . our “love” for God, our “love” for others, and our “love” for ourselves.   And, that is how God will know us . . . by our “love”.  Such “love” is worth the effort.  May such “love” overwhelm us and be our purpose as we journey through this world.  “Love” is always worth the effort.  Amen.

“Weeds” (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)

Unfortunately, as much as we would like it to be, life is not simple.  Life is not “black and white”.  Things are not neatly divided into “us” and “them”.  People are not either “saints” or “sinners”. “Right”.  “Wrong”.  Despite our inclination to simplify life into two distinguishable categories for the sake of ease, life is not simple.

Life is a lot more complicated than we ever imagined it would or could be.  Instead of being “black” or “white”, it is more gray . . . a mingling of all things instead of a separation.  Life is difficult.  Life is hard.  At least that is what M. Scott Peck alludes to in his book The Road Less Traveled. So important is this thought that it appears right at the start of his book.  He writes: “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.”

And . . . we know it.  We know that life is complicate, difficult, and hard.  Yet we continue to want to shove our understanding and experience of life into a neat little package that keeps the “good” from the “bad”, “us” from “them”, “right” from “wrong”.  In that division of “black” and “white” we always see ourselves on winning side . . . the right side.  It is just human nature. 

In his book, Peck says that life gets easier if people can just acknowledge and accept the fact that “life is difficult”.  He writes: “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”

Changing the way that we view life and the world is not easy.  Yet in learning to acknowledge and accept life and the world as it is makes it easier.  That is the key.

Last week I stated that nothing that Jesus says is as ever as simple as we think it is.  Reality shows us that there are many different levels of thoughts and ideas that play out in the words of Jesus . . . nothing is quite as it seems.  For example, this morning, our scripture reading sounds pretty simple. 

A crop is planted, but during the night someone comes, and plants weeds among the wheat.  Not just any weed, but weeds that look much like the wheat that is growing.  It is difficult to distinguish between the wheat and the weeds.  Of course, the solution to the problem is to remove the weeds from the wheat.  But the owner is afraid that the crop would be damaged in the removal of the wheat.  He tells the servants to let the weeds grow among the wheat.  When harvest comes, the weeds will be removed first and then destroyed.  Once this is accomplished the wheat will be harvested.

Sounds pretty “cut and dry” doesn’t it?  But then we get Jesus’ explanation of the story he told.  The owner or sower is God.  The field is the world.  The seed being sowed are God’s people.  The weeds are the evil ones.  The Harvest is the end time.  The weeds are burned.  The wheat will be saved. 

If only it were that simple.

I am not much of a gardener or even keeper of the yard.  This summer we have beautiful pink poppies in our garden.  Apparently, my wife, Dana, planted those years ago, but this is the first summer that they have blossomed and made their presence known.  Which made Dana wonder why this year and not the other years.  Well, it dawned on me one day a few weeks ago as I was reaching into the flower bed to pull some weeds what the problem was.  At some point in my life I had been told that weeds had jagged leaves.  What I was about to rip from the earth had jagged leaves.  Just as I was about to give the plant a yank, Dana stopped me.  She informed me that what I was holding in my grip was not a weed . . . it was a pink poppy. 

It has been said that confession is good for the soul.  So, I confess to you . . . and especially to Dana . . . that for several years I had been pulling out the pink poppies because I thought they were weeds.  They sure looked like weeds . . . jagged leaves and all.  But they weren’t.  I was the scourge that had been eliminating the poppies for years!  I couldn’t tell a weed from a flower.

Which was the problem facing those dealing with the field of wheat and weeds.  No one could tell the wheat from the weeds.  Which makes one think, if the weeds and the wheat look so much alike and there are so many weeds anyway, why bother at all?  Plow them the whole thing under.  Solves the whole problem, right?  Just start over from scratch.

The problem is that God doesn’t work that way.  God puts up with the wheat and the weeds . . . remember God says, “Let both grow together until the harvest.”  It is what it is . . . the weeds mingle in the midst of the weeds.  Sometimes it is hard to see the difference between the two.  Sometimes it is difficult to even know whether or not any of us is a “weed” or “wheat”.  We might see ourselves among the “wheat”, but others around us might see us as “weeds”.  Remember there really is no “black” and “white”, but lots of gray.  Life is lived in the gray.

Let me give you an example.  It has been said that “white” America has been “woken” since the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis a few months ago.  His wrongful death at the hands of that city’s police has woken the sleeping snake of racism.  Since that time white Americans have become more aware of racism towards people of color . . . more aware of what it means to have privileges that people of color are not afforded.  It has made all of us more aware of our own prejudices and references that are often just below our consciousness and are very subtle to us.

How many of us have said, since our nation has become “woke” to racism that we are not racist?  I know I have said it before . . . “I’m not racist.  I’m not prejudice.” But the truth of the matter is that I do have prejudices . . . I do have preferences.  For example, I could not tell you whether or not a person in a room full of people is from Montana or Wyoming . . . they all look the same to me.  But, put me on the highway between Laurel and Rockvale . . . well, I have a few choice words and opinions as I see cars with Wyoming license plates.  Trust me, rarely is what I am saying words of hospitality and welcome.

In those moments, when I catch myself acting like an idiot, I know in my mind and heart that I have shifted from being “wheat” to wallowing with the “weeds”.  I have moved from being unprejudiced to prejudiced.

We all do it. We wade back and forth between being “wheat” and “weeds” . . . between being “good” and “bad” . . . “right” and “wrong” . . . between “black” and “white”.  We fluctuate between the two, but probably spend the majority of our time standing around in the gray between the two.  Thankfully, God does not work that way.  God is willing to wait . . . to allow the crop to grow . . . to see how it all comes out before the harvest comes.  God is patient.  And, through it all, God is there . . . with us all.  And, in the end, it will be God who decides who is the “wheat” and who is the “weed”.  It is God’s choice.

So, here is the deal.  Life is not simple.  Life is difficult.  Life is hard.  And, all we can do is to live.  To live to the best of our abilities to emulate the words that Jesus spoke . . . to emulate the way that Jesus lived his life . . . to honor who God created us to be as we strive towards intimacy with the Holy.  This is the journey we have all been called to make as the followers of Jesus . . . towards God and others.  Thus, we must recognize and acknowledge that truth . . . life is not simple or easy.  Life is difficult and hard.

Through this parable Jesus wants us to not deceive ourselves into believing that life is simply between “right” and “wrong”, “good” and “bad”, “us” and “them”.  Life is made up of it all.  Our task is to travel through it all as we strive to grow closer to God and one another.  Some days we will be “wheat”, other days we will be “weeds”, but most days we will be somewhere in-between.  And, we are never going to be able to solve it . . . only experience it.  Some days we are going to win, other days we are going to lose.  Jesus wants us to know it is all a great big mystery that we can only live.

M. Scott Peck states it this way: “We must be willing to fail and to appreciate the truth that often ‘Life’ is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.”  It is what it is and it is God’s job to clean it up when the time comes.  In the meantime our job is to make the journey, work on being the best of who God created us to be, and to be open and willing to admit that at times we don’t always get it right . . . some days we are “wheat” and other days we are “weeds”.  We are to do our best and rely upon the mercy and grace of God that in the end we got more of it right than wrong.  God will decide.

Isn’t it great to know that it is not us who have to make the decision?  It is God.  Amen.