PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen
Tuesday 17th Week in Ordinary Time
Retreat and Conference Center at Bon Secours
July 30, 2019
WEEDING +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø Many of us in these days of summer sun and warm rain are doing some weeding of our gardens
Ø Weeds messing up the looks of a nicely planned garden, after a while they’re embarrassing
Ø And of course weeds unchecked will overtake and damage vegetables or flowering plants
WEEDING IN PALESTINE ++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø Well, it was usually much the same in Jesus’ day
Ø His statement about letting the wheat and the weeds grow together was not the usual practice
Ø The practice was to pull up weeds so they wouldn’t compete for water and nutrients in the soil
Ø So, we might say that Jesus is in effect calling us to go against normal practice
REFRAIN FROM WEEDING ++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø In effect, he’s calling us to go against a rather human or social tendency
Ø He’s calling us not to judge or label or classify one another as good or bad
Ø For when we do that, we can often make mistakes
Ø Oftentimes our judging, labeling, or classifying hurt people and freezes them in an unfortunate stereotype, preventing growth in them
LEAVE IT TO God ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø The parable does say there will be a judgment some day and we will each have to be ready for it
Ø That is also a lesson in this parable
Ø But the important thing is that I get ready for my judgment by God and not exercise God’s judgment over others
Ø The important thing is to leave that judging to God
CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø So, it’s true, in telling us not to pull up the weeds, Jesus is calling us to go against a human tendency
Ø He is calling us to go against the tendency of judging, labeling, and classifying, with its results of excluding and throwing others aside as we would with weeds
Ø That separating good and bad is to be left to God
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-->
No comments:
Post a Comment