Small towns and dandelions.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Ahh that Jesus, he is a sneaky one. He gives us parables that seem to be so black and white in meaning, when in fact they are far from it. And actually this parable is probably more green than black and white anyway.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.  26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.

First of all, the word translated as wheat is not a word that is that specific. It is a word that can mean grain, corn, wheat, fruits or who knows what else. Strong’s Dictionary says that it is a word of uncertain origin. This is important because it is so like us to want absolutes and we simply can’t have one here.

So, someone goes out and sows good seed. What that seed is we do not know. It is one that will produce a crop according to what the sower is looking to reap. And in the midst of that crop, the servants of the one who has sown the seed, see things growing that they are certain are weeds. And in service to their master they want to rip those suckers out.

Have you ever attempted to weed a garden as things are just beginning to sprout? It is nearly impossible. Everything looks like little green plants, which of course they are. And if you are not careful you are pulling out “good” plants and leaving the “bad.” I have learned to wait until everything has grown up a little so that they are more easily identified. This is one easy way of understanding Jesus’ parable. While not wrong, I believe it is a seriously truncated version.

The process of determining what is a weed and what is “good seed” has left our creation in a grim state. For instance, the milkweed is a weed to some but to the monarch butterfly it is life. The dandelion is a weed to some but to the pollinators of our world it is the first sustenance of the season. And now that we have become so accomplished at poisoning and eliminating these “weeds” we are finding that they are in fact good seed because we need our pollinators and our souls rely on the beauty that is nearly gone.

Jesus knows that our point of view is severely limited and he knows that we must rely on the wisdom of the Creator, the Sower, for better discernment. 

So what's your opinion? Is Jesus simply teaching us the better way to garden? Is he only telling us about seeds and wheat and corn and dandelions and such? My best guess is that he probably has something more to say than “save the dandelions.” (By the way, I like dandelions!)

I need to confess that I am a little nervous about taking this next step in this message but I just can’t help it. This all came together for me in one big bang if you will. So I feel compelled to talk it through with you.

A dear friend posted something on facebook that I was curious about. It read “I stand with Jason Aldean. Try that in a small town.” My initial response will tell you how out of the loop I am. I replied “Who?” She responded with “Who is Jason Aldean?” I’m guessing she couldn’t believe there was anyone who didn’t know. So I googled it. Yes, that is correct, I had no idea. And when I read the song lyrics I realized that somewhere along the lines I had in fact heard the song. I just hadn’t paid any attention to it. 

I also gathered there is some controversy over the lyrics. And that’s probably why I get a little nervous bringing it up. 

For those who might be out of touch like me, here are a couple lines out of the song:

Well, try that in a small town

See how far ya make it down the road

Around here, we take care of our own

Of course robbing and carjacking and the like are wrong. (These are things mentioned at the beginning of the song.) I am not arguing with his desire for protecting one another. But I need to ask Jason who exactly is the “our own” that  we take care of? That is the part that makes me nervous.  Are we trying to sort out the weeds according to our own perceptions and protect the crops we prefer? 

Perhaps Jason’s intent is not as limiting as I fear but it is, nonetheless, what came to mind. We have become so attuned to the “us and them” mindset that we lose the whole concept that it is actually all us. 

Peter Mayer (a singer I listen to) has a song called All the Word Is One. Here is a sampling of the lyrics.

You can say that you stand apart

Put a fence around your yard

You can build a tall rampart

And guard it with a gun.

You can dig yourself a moat

Burn the bridge and burn the boat

It won’t matter much you know

Because all the world is one.

You can march in a big parade

Every independence day

You can raise up your own flag

And sing your own anthem.

It will ring out in the air

With all the other anthems there

Till the winds of the earth declare

All the world is one.

What if we stop trying to sort out the “us" from the “them” and begin to understand that it really is all “us"? 

Now back to the good seeds. What are the good seeds that the Lord of the Universe would plant? What is the crop our creator would most want to grow? Do we know what it might be called? In my mind it is pretty easy to discern if we listen to all that Jesus lives to teach us. The seeds of love are the good seeds that are the kingdom of God. And the reason we can’t go out there pulling out what we don’t understand is because love looks so different to each person in each situation. 

A very simple example: at different times of life love will look like reading a book to someone and other times it will look like letting them read that book on their own.First as a child and later when one grows older and unable to read. Or perhaps it looks like teaching someone to dance and then later giving them the ability to dance as they hear the music. Even if they dance differently than what we taught.  The trouble is, that it isn’t always easy to discern. That is why we must learn to listen to the master planter of love to weed out our misconceptions. And wait for the revelation of love.

We are all one. We are all good seeds planted for love.  So maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we do in fact live in a small town called the world. In another song Peter Mayer writes:

Now, it’s feeling like a small town

With seven billion people downtown

At a little sidewalk fair

In Earth Town Square

Maybe we need to learn to take care of our own. And maybe we need to learn that “our own” includes everyone who lives and breathes. Every race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, political party, hair color etc.  It is ultimately not for us to weed out the “bad seeds” because they may not be as bad as we had been taught to believe. They might in fact be love in a different genus.

Let’s be a really big small town that takes care of our own, even the dandelions.