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9 Pentecost
July 17, 2005 Sermon by Rev. Peggy Tuttle, Interim Rector
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If I was going to title this sermon it would be, “The Devil Made Me Do It!”

Children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, "take only one, God is watching."

Moving through the line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. Little Johnny wrote a note, "Take all you want, God is watching the apples."

Truth is most often expressed in humor and that little joke is full of both truth and humor. We as human beings often wrestle with what is the right choice and what is the one that is most pleasing to our senses, our needs, or our pleasure. “Maybe God isn’t looking this time and I can take more than my share.” I’ve thought it so many times. Besides, what makes something wrong? Where does evil come from?

That’s pretty much the point of this parable about the weeds and wheat. It comes up in the question asked by the servants: “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?”

By using familiar terms, Jesus challenges our minds with stories about mustard seeds, weeds and wheat. Good seeds planted in the field, the farmer has high expectations until he wakes up one morning and finds someone has sown weeds among the wheat! Wait a minute. I thought we were going to hear about the kingdom of God! Now he tells us there are weeds in the wheat! Well, we aren’t the only ones confused. So are the disciples.

God calls us out to be the people of God in this place. To live in a world full of distractions is not easy. God knows that. We are tempted at every corner, hurt by people we trust, ones we consider our friends, family members we love. How can we possibly be God’s people? Or maybe the better question is, “where is God when we need God the most?” Isn’t it fair to ask God, “Where are you when people are killed and children kidnapped? Where are you when bombs explode in train stations or on double-decker buses? Where are you when our loved ones die from painful diseases? Where are you when we feel abandoned, alone, frightened, hungry and homeless? Where are you when you tell us parables about the Kingdom of God? Where is this so-called Kingdom of God?” Why is there evil in the world?

This is the age-old question. If God is good, and He created everything to begin with, then where did evil come from? If God is not responsible for the origin of wickedness, then who is? Did God create evil? Did God sow both good and bad seed in His field?
No! God did not! God has sowed only good seed. Let me be clear about that right now. But let’s go on and explore the question. If God did not sow the bad seed, where did it come from? The householder said, “An enemy has done this.” Jesus goes further in his explanation to the disciples. Jesus says, “The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil…”
That’s right, the devil.

Now we’re getting down to real stuff – the devil, that evil person that has been responsible for all my misdeeds in life. That one that misleads me every time I think I’ve just about figured out how to live in the kingdom of God. Finally, we’re going to talk about the devil!

So, who is this devil and where did he come from? There is a supernatural source of evil, one that we can only dimly see or understand. There is a spiritual enemy of God, who belongs to a different order of creation than we do. He is mentioned many times in the Bible, and his most common names are Satan or the devil. He, and not God, sowed the weeds. From him, and not from God, comes the origin of all the evil in the world. Therefore, the Kingdom of God does not contain any moral inconsistency, because God is not the source of both good and evil, but only good. As I John says, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”

So you ask, “Where did the devil come from? Didn’t God create him?” The answer is, “Yes”; but when God created him, he was good, not evil. He rebelled against God and became evil, by his own choice, on his own initiative. He did this because he wanted to be God, or even be more powerful than God.

Now let’s go back to the heart of the story. When the parable speaks of the devil sowing bad seed, this does not mean that the devil actually creates bad people and puts them into the world in the same way that God does with good people. The devil cannot create anything or anyone. The most he can do is to corrupt those whom God has already created, and he can’t even do that without their consent and cooperation. He usually obtains this by deceit, as he did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; for without it, the devil can only create illusions.

So, here is the big picture: God creates all beings completely innocent and good, without evil or corruption, just as the Bible says in Genesis. However, after the beginning of creation, Satan on his own initiative rebelled against God, and became evil. After God created Adam and Eve, evil plied them with deceptions and lies, and seduced them into disobedience to God. As a result, we live outside the Garden of Eden. And in living outside that garden, I find myself tempted and lured to be and do things that separate me from the love of God. At those times I feel estranged and alienated from God. But that isn’t God’s doing. I occurs when I choose not to listen or not to walk the path that God has provided for me.

But both God and evil continue to sow. God sows only goodness and love. God offers us the greatest gift of love in the life of Jesus Christ, the one who died for the sins of the world, the one who sets us free from the weeds that are sown around us.

God has always wanted us to know His goodness and grace. Over and over, God has reached into this creation to give us guidance, encouragement, lighting the way in a dark world, beckoning us to make this world a better place. Teaching us to love one another as he has loved us. Teaching us to value life and all living creatures. Calling us back into relationship through Christ, the redeemer of the world.

This parable is not about judgment. It is about opportunity. Last week we had the parable about the different kinds of soil. Next week is the mustard seed and the pearl of great value. How are we to understand the deliberate use by Jesus of the unclean and insignificant as images of his kingdom? It suggests that God’s greatest works are not done on a grandiose level. Not in cathedrals, big buildings, or large mausoleums. Cathedrals can become museums rather than sources of inspiration. The kingdom is in everyday life with its ups and downs, and above all, in its insignificance. Such is where most people actually live their lives. The kingdom is thus readily accessible to everyone.

The point of these parables is that each of us has the opportunity to choose what kind of environmental conditions exists in our hearts.

God’s love for us is so deep, so strong and it is free.

Let’s go back to the school lunchroom with the stack of apples. The well-meaning nun was right when she wrote, “God is watching.” Because the truth of the matter is that when it comes to forgiveness, acceptance, encouragement, love, and grace, the sign reads, “God is watching and wants to see you take all you want. It is free.” The choice is ours!

It isn’t always easy. What makes us worthy to receive such a gift? What must we do to be so blessed? Not much. Just say the word and the work is done. And once we’ve accepted this free gift, we become sowers in the field. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we have the opportunity to sew good seeds. Seeds of God’s love that produce an abundance for the encouragement of the coming of the Kingdom of God.


* The discussion about the nature of the Devil is from William Venerables’s “God’s Kingdom is Like…” (Rivertree Christian Ministries, 1993).
 

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