Weed Control

We continue to marvel about the beautiful spring here in the South. Days are pleasant and nights are cool.  But the forecast is for a heatwave this weekend and with it will come the weeds.  Funny how weeds take off when the temperature rises.

A recent date night at home “reran” the weed conversation we have every year.  As little green shoots start to emerge along a stone wall, he says to me “we have got to get these weeds out of here.” I make a mental note to hide the weed spray, and say,” Just give it a few more weeks and you will see they are not all weeds, but my perennials.” 

 For a while you hardly notice the weeds. They appear overnight, it seems, and grow right there along with the grass and the perennials. Then there they are - shooting up with an attitude and spreading like wildfire, creeping around and between the blades of grass, and in the blink of an eye, they have choked out all the good.

A gardener must take swift action to save the good. The directions on the container of weed control say to treat weeds during the growing season. Spray the weeds while they are growing to stop them. I do that. I spray with a vengeance— nutgrass, crabgrass, and a multitude of "other" grasses that do not belong in my lawn and each day I celebrate a little more of the death of the “bad guys”.

By contrast, there is a parable in the Bible where Jesus talks to the disciples about weeds and wheat. The farmer sows the wheat and while he is sleeping, a villain comes in and sows weeds along with the wheat. The workers ask the farmer if they should pull up the weeds, but the farmer says to let the weeds grow with the wheat, that he will separate the two when it is time for the harvest, keeping the wheat and burning the weeds forever. (Matthew 13)

Reading through the Parables might be helpful these days.  You can find 50-60 in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. What are they? Parables are stories about everyday people and situations that are designed to teach a lesson about God and His will for life today.  And there is timelessness to the parables as well as a haunting beauty and mystery. But as humans, we want the explanation. Just what does the story mean?

This comparative gardening lesson from the parable teaches me that for this moment in time, I am the wheat – the believer in Christ. I am not a weed – the non-believer. And gratefully, I am not to judge, but I am to be discerning. I should be able to distinguish between weeds and wheat—the good and the bad, the godly and the ungodly for we are all in this life together. I am to control the “invasive and harmful weeds” that want to choke out the good in me. Destroy me. I have to be on the lookout for them. And I am to cultivate the good with nourishment and attention. Remaining faithful when we don’t understand  life is one of our daily challenges as believers. Especially now. We live in a world where right and wrong, wheat and weeds have gotten diluted – there is a lot of gray.

Can we tell the difference? 

Oh, it's hard work. We get weary and just want to ignore those things in our lives that seek to invade and destroy. We cave and allow darkness to overwhelm our souls. Until that final harvest comes that is spoken of in Matthew, we must work the fields—whatever crops up -  and wait—and trust. We must educate ourselves and know the difference between good and bad -weeds and wheat, truth and lies. We must know what to stand for, and where to draw the line.

 As gardeners, we must know our plants. As Christians, we must know our beliefs – what is right and wrong.

In the reading the sower said to let the wheat and the weeds grow together. And we are called to Love one another; bear one another’s burdens; speak the truth in love. Matthew 5:44-45 says "For he causes the sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike."

 So if we are called to live with the weeds, how do we do it?  Henri Nouwen says the wisdom of the cross is the descending pathway that is concealed in each person’s heart.  But because it (the descending pathway) is so seldom walked on it is often overgrown with weeds – our very own.  He says the way we live with weeds is to identify our very own. 

Ouch.

Hard to admit, isn’t it?