Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Weeds in my Wheat (Wigmore) – Bible study

Sermon Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Weeds in My Wheat!

By Fr. Bill Wigmore

(This sermon was delivered to a group recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.)

Well again Good evening, and welcome Hows everyone doin tonight?

If you were here with us last week,
you might remember we talked a bit about Jesus the Storyteller.

Jesus didnt leave his followers with a neat little stack of Baltimore Catechisms –
or with a set of creeds that say:
Youve gotta believe this about me and youd better believe that about God.
That wasnt his way – thats not the kind of Teacher he was.

Jesus never wrote any books either.
As a matter of fact, the only thing we know that Jesus did write,
he wrote in the sand and we never got to know what it said.
The wind blew it away before the sun went down that day.

But we know what Jesus did do when he taught:
Jesus told stories.
He told beautiful stories powerful, & evocative stories.
Stories that told his listeners about a God unlike any theyd ever known
or dared to imagine.

And in some of his stories he tried to tell what a human life would be like if it were lived in a wholly new
and in a wholly right-relationship with that God
of Jesus understanding.

Jesus called that new relationship with God: Living in the Kingdom.
The kingdom is a place inside us a place where God is King
where the Great Reality (as the Big book calls him)
becomes the Ruler of our hearts & minds.Jesus says:

Form a personal relationship with God in such a way
that its crystal clear who gets to be God and who does not.

It sounds like such a simple distinction
but like the Program its deceptively simple
and its a distinction that seems to escape most of us
rather complicated alcoholics & addicts.

God is God I am not God.
Thats the formula to start living in the kingdom
and its the formula for staying sober too.

And so, some of my favorite lines in the Big Book are the ones where they try to give us some examples of what a right-relationship with God ought to look like.

The Big Book says, All good ideas are simple
so here are some of the simple ones that worked for us
and led us to that new freedom and new happiness:

God is the Principal we are his agents

That means we work for him and we try to do what he asks of us.
And if thats too hard a concept for us to grasp, then the Book says,
Well, try thinking about your life as if it were a play”
And, of course, being addicts, its play filled with lots & lots of drama!
And being self-centered as we are, we get to be the star of our play –

But the Book says: God gets to be our Director
Hes the One directing the play were in
Were his actors & we ought to be looking to him for our direction.
God, what would You have me do?
Thats the kind of question we might think to ask a director.

But then, if even thats too complicated
the Book puts it more simply still when it suggests that:
God is our Father – — and we are his children.
All good ideas are simple but not always easy!

For the next several Sundays, were going to hear stories of what that relationship

the one Jesus called living in the kingdom could be like.

And one thing I hope we can get clear from the start

is that Jesus isnt talking about some world we go to when we die
Jesus is talking about a kingdom thats right here & now.

So tonights story starts off by Jesus warning us
that the kingdom of God isnt always gonna feel happy, joyous and free.
He says: Be prepared for some pretty bad bumps along the way.
This is a broken world we live in
and bad stuff is gonna happen to good people even if they live in the kingdom.

Bad stuffs happened to me and itll happen to you too
and tonight it happens to a farmer in Jesus story.

Jesus says: This farmer sends his men out to plant some seed.
And while theyre sleeping, an enemy comes and he mixes weeds
in with the new seed that his men have just planted.

At first, nobodys aware of whats happened.
But then, as the seeds begin to sprout & grow
the men look close and they see thousands & thousands of weeds all mixed in
and growing right along with their masters new crop.

They tell me the word for weed that Jesus uses in his story
is actually for a particular kind of weed
(not the kind we used to smoke!)
but a weed, that when it first blooms, it looks exactly like wheat.
Its almost impossible to tell which young shoot is which.

And this weed also has a way of wrapping its roots
all around the tender roots of the good seed,
so if you pull out the one, youll surely destroy the other.

Now the first thing weve got to remember here
is that Jesus is telling us a story about God
and what its like to be in that right-relationship with him.

See its pretty clear that its God himself
who plays the role of the Master-Farmer in Jesus story
And the whole point of his story
is to tell us something about the God and Father Jesus knows and how he works.

Now the Book says that our biggest spiritual problem
is that weve stepped in and taken over the role of God in our own lives.
We may not actually think were God
& we probably dont go around telling people that we are God.

If we did that, theyd give us a free ride to the state hospital!

But the truth is: we act as if were God
and thats what gets us in a world of trouble.
And so, imagine now if would, that its one of us addicts
whos playing the role of the Master- Farmer in Jesus story –
And if we can wrap our minds & imaginations around that,
then we all know good & well how this scene would go down
if those hired-hands brought us the bad news about weeds
showing up our beautiful-wheat-field.

First of all, those poor farm-hands would probably be terrified even to come tell us, cause wed explode all over them!
Why were you idiots sleeping on the job?
What do you think I pay you for?
You dumb-ass-weed-watchers!
Whyd you go and let this happen to me? Its all your fault!

Self-centered in the extreme the Book says –
we often take our wrath out on those closest to us!

Before I came into AA, Id developed a real skill for spotting the faults in others.
I thought it was a genuine gift that Id practiced & perfected
till Id gotten to be really good at it.

If you wanted to know what was wrong with you
all you had to do was come and ask me!

And as fate would have it, I was always at the peak of my powers late at night –
when I was drunk!

Now, for whatever reason,
most people didnt come and ask me to share my great insights
into their character defects
But that never stopped me. I told them anyway!

But then when I landed in the Program
I got handed a whole new script from the Director
And one of the first things I got told was:

Around here, its Take your own, damn inventory!
I went stone silent for about two years!
I hardly had anything to say
cause I had no experience telling folks what was wrong with me.

For me, happiness was always finding someone else to blame my troubles on!
And that particular weed can still grow and tangle-up this alcoholics sick, little mind!

(But now to get back to our playing the role of the Master-Farmer here in this story:)

After weve blasted a few verbal-shot-gun-holes in our farmhands
for being so dumb,
then, wed probably spend the next few weeks nursing a good strong resentment
and planning to get even with the SOB who planted those weeds.
Some of us still working on our anger issues,
would probably get so mad wed start pulling those weeds out of that field anyway.
Wed ruin our whole crop and chalk it up to justifiable anger.

But Jesus says: This is why God gets to be God
and this is why we werent given that job.
Things really work out a whole lot better in our lives
if well just let Him do what Hes supposed to do
and if well just stick to doing our part.

The Master-Farmer calmly says, Some enemy has done this.
Notice: The Master doesnt explode but he isnt nave either.
He knows there are enemies outside of us;
and he knows there are enemies inside of us too.
God knows this a broken world we live in.

So he says in the story,
Let the good and the bad both grow up together
Let them grow side by side and when it comes time for the harvest
well separate em out and put the wheat in the barn
and the weeds, well throw into the fire.

Now Id be willing to bet that in a lot of churches today,
some of the so-called saints are sittin in their pews
and theyre hearing this story and thinking rather smugly to themselves:

Lucky us, Gladys, were the wheat!
And all those rotten, lousy, people out there, theyre the weeds.

And some of em likely have fire & brimstone preachers telling em:
Just hang in there you good wheat-people
cause the time of reckoning will come.
Gods justice is gonna prevail
and hes gonna get even with those Sons of Weed-Wackers
when it comes harvest time.

Praise the Lord!

Picture Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell in over-alls
sittin on a John Deere with a shotgun!

But as addicts, if weve learned anything from our time out-there in the fields
we know were full of weeds.

And Jesus is telling us here: God knows theres a lot thats wrong in us
but he knows theres a lot thats right in us too. God dont make junk!

This Master says to us:
Theres value in each one of you and I dont want to lose you not a one.

The God of Jesus understanding says:
I am the Father and you really are my child.
So heres what Im gonna do
Im gonna let the wheat and the weeds that are in you grow together for a time.
Im gonna be patient with you
and I want you to learn how to be patient with yourself
& patient with one another too.

Dont think your gonna get well & weedless overnight
cause those weeds grow deep and this recovery
thing is gonna take you and Me
a whole life- time to work itself out.

Centuries ago, St. Augustine wrote a sermon on this story
and he makes a point about the weeds & the wheat thats maybe worth repeating.
He said that in our fields the wheat will always be wheat
& the weeds will always remain weeds

But thats not how it is in Gods field.
Gods ways are not our ways
And in His fields and in His kingdom somehow
our weeds have a way of turning themselves into wheat

Whats wrong inside each one of us put in Gods hands –
can become one of our greatest gifts.
Our alcoholism and our drug addictions a gift!
Our defeats in life a gift –
and even our defects – put in Gods hands gifts!

Were people who know or people who ought to know
that were dependent on God for our recovery.
Were sober- and its all truly by his grace.
Ive watched a lot of weeds choke out the spiritual life of many a friend in this program.
They tried to fight their addiction and their defects all by themselves
they all lost.

And Ive watched some people who I thought were hopelessly full of weeds –
and in the Master-Farmers good time,
the Programs turned into some of Gods most beautiful wheat.

What we have is a daily reprieve and its all based upon our spiritual condition.
Are we trying to live a new sober-life in Gods kingdom?
Are we letting God direct our lives?
Turning to him when the weeds start choking us
Or when we miss our Rageaholics Anonymous meeting
& we want to choke one of his hired hands!

Jesus doesnt promise that weeds wont turn up in our fields they will.
But if we stay the course – and if we keep on growing (weeds & all)

God promises hell be faithful.

He says hell show us that ladder that leads up to Him
just like it did in Jacobs dream

And if well look real careful sometimes
maybe especially during the times of our greatest pain
we too might see a whole other side to Gods kingdom We might get a glimpse of his angels ascending & descending
carrying our pain & our prayers up to him and bringing his love, and his mercy,
and his grace down to us.

My own alcoholism and my own character defects when they get painful enough
they cause me to turn to God for help.
If I didnt have problems I probably wouldnt ever turn.

Life is hard and doing life sober isnt easy.
Weve got enemies both outside and in –
Enemies planting weeds in our fields or in our minds.
(For me, just like in the story,
those enemies like to come visit me especially at night.)

But if well learn to live life in His kingdom –
Get ourselves into a new and a right relationship with the Master- Farmer
Jesus says Hell stay with us through it all
and he promises at the end of the season hell bring in one hell-u-va harvest.
Unlike us hes always been a man of his word!

And thats why He gets to be the Master
and why we get to go to work in His fields

He gets to be the Director – and if were wise, well look to Him daily for our direction.

Hes the Loving-Father-God that Jesus knew & trusted & told stories about.

Hes the God that Jesus wants us to come to know too.

His message tonight?
Trust God & grow where youre planted.
Leave all the worrying about self –
and the judging of others to Him

He got the God job because He knows how to do it.

Gods kingdom in a nutshell:
I cant He can This time: I think Ill let him. Amen.

Copyright 2008 Bill Wigmore. Used by permission.