Weekly Liturgy : July 13-19
- Cory
- Jul 13
- 4 min read
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
The Message
Jesus told another story.
“God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while the farmer’s servants slept, an enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the weeds showed up, too.
“The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Sir, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’
“He answered, ‘An enemy did this.’
“The farmhands asked, ‘Should we pull out the weeds?’
“He said, ‘No, if you root out the weeds, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’”
Note: the word for ‘weed’ in this passage is the word used for a plant called ‘darnel,’ which closely resembles wheat.
REFLECTION
from Cory
The weeds that Jesus mentions in this passage look almost identical to wheat plants. The most seasoned farmers have a hard time distinguishing between them.
Jesus is content to let the wheat and the weeds grow together. Western law is actually based on this idea. A core principle of our criminal justice system is this: "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."
Unfortunately, “statistics show that nationwide, one innocent person on death row has been exonerated for approximately every 8.2 executions carried out in the United States. This rate highlights a documented error rate where at least 4% of all death sentences handed down are wrongful convictions.”
Like the farmers, we are pretty bad about distinguishing good and evil, even in courts of law. Our zeal for safety and for purity frequently drive us to harm the most vulnerable.
The weeds are only there because someone intentionally planted them there. This was not an uncommon practice in that day. If you were a landowner wanting to expand your wealth, one way to do that would be to ruin your neighbor’s crop, which would drive them to financial distress and needing to sell their farm to survive.
How often do we blame people on the margins for their circumstances rather than the systems that produce the margins?
Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, works with people falsely convicted and on death row.
“Proximity,” he writes, “has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I’ve come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.”
PRACTICE:
Outward Mindset Application
We love using labels for people. “GenZers are all lazy and entitled!” “Boomers are out of touch and uncaring!” Our brains use these shortcuts all the time. The problem is when we mistake those labels for what is actually true. Reality is much more complicated than any labels that we use to describe.
What would change if you replaced assumptions with curiosity?
Non-Violent Communication Question of the Week
At the heart of NVC is moving from making judgments to making observations.
This week, work on stating the facts of what is happening without judgment, criticism, or evaluation. Stick only to what you can tangibly see or hear.
Pathway Toward Center
Sensation (Loving God through our senses):
Instead of trying to activate one or more of your senses, this week, find some time to do the opposite. Find a quiet and dark area - as quiet and dark as possible. Take 10 minutes to sit in the stillness. What do you notice? Do you hear God’s voice in any new way?
Questions for Reflection
What if we stopped treating people like weeds? What if the weeds in this story are just the outgrowths of systems of exploitation and injustice? What if what gets thrown into the fire is not people, but the systems that harm?
“Liturgy” refers to the habits and practices humans use to form community around shared values and meaning. At Church at the Park, we desire to be a community of practice, becoming people who see the world through the eyes of the marginalized, making meaning through the lens of pain and suffering, and committing ourselves to non-violence in a wounded world. This weekly email is intended to provide pathways of practice for becoming the type of people who embody these values.
Many of our reflections on each week's text come from other sources. If you're interested in reading more of what inspires us, here our our two favorite reflections.
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