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A Sermon Preached at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL
on the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20, 2008 (Year A, Proper 11, RCL)
by the Rev. J. Paris Coffey

Readings: Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 86:11-17; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

One Saturday morning, when my daughter Sarah was about four years old, I decided it would be nice if the two of us had a little time alone together. I didn't have anything particular in my mind, but thought she might need time to chat without her two-year-old brother butting in. Michael agreed, and so while he and Sam had breakfast at home, Sarah and I set off to share pancakes at the Parkmoor. I envisioned nothing more than a bit of girl-talk, but as soon as we had ordered Sarah looked me squarely in the eye and asked with great intensity, "Mama, do you believe in the devil?"

I was taken aback. Where had such a question come from? Certainly not from the nice Episcopal preschool she attended. Perhaps, I reasoned, she's been watching cartoons where conscience is depicted by a cute little devil on one side sparring with an angel on the other. Assuming this must be the case, I began, "Well, Sarah, it depends on what you mean by the devil . . ." to which she replied indignantly, "I mean the devil in the Bible. THAT'S the devil I mean!"

I don't remember exactly how I answered, but I do know that I was as uncomfortable then talking about the devil as I am now. Oh, I don't mean I'm uncomfortable with the idea of evil, or even the reality of it. All you have to do is pick up a newspaper or turn on TV to see that evil is alive and well in the world. I DO mean, though, that the personification of evil makes me uneasy with its accompanying idea that some people belong to the devil's domain. This idea colors the interpretation that follows Jesus' parable in today's Gospel, although it is not part of the parable itself.

In fact, the parable seems simple enough until Jesus' obtuse disciples say, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." Perhaps irritated with their obtuseness, Jesus offers an explanation that makes less sense than the parable. Indeed, from the perspective of the loving, merciful God portrayed in the reading from Wisdom and the Psalm it makes so little sense that scholars suggest the interpretation belongs to Matthew, not Jesus. After all, what loving God could abandon his or her child to an eternal furnace of fire without becoming the very evil God abhors.

It's a strange interpretation of a parable, which only Matthew records, as scholars are quick to point out, noting that only the author of Matthew - believed by some to be a Jewish scribe who's arguably the most polemic of the evangelists - offers this interpretation, which seems to attack learned opponents with exaggerated language and violent imagery. "Your time will come and it won't be pretty," Matthew seems to say to scribes and Pharisees who refuse to follow Jesus, adding, "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," an oft repeated phrase that only Matthew uses.

Likely Jesus did say something apocalyptic, warning - as he does in all of the Gospels - that the end times are for God to judge, not men. One wonders, though, if Matthew makes the error Jesus warns against, trying to weed out evil from his midst. It's a mistake many have made over the ages - religions, nations, neighbors, families even - thinking that they're the righteous ones who need to rid their group of evil. The trouble is, it's tough if not impossible to rid one's group of evil without creating new evils or becoming evil ourselves.

For example, a great evil befell our country with Pearl Harbor, but did not we succumb to a new level of evil at Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Evil descended on us in cowardly acts of terrorism on 9/11, but did not our own military yield to acts of evil also in brutalizing prisoners at Abu Ghraib? In the crusades, Christians in the grip of malevolent zeal not only slaughtered adherents of other religions but Arab Christians as well, blind to the crosses around their dark-skinned necks. And even today people - in the name of God - still senselessly kill, run off or "weed out" from their neighborhoods Blacks, Muslims, Gays or others they deem an evil presence in the midst of righteous people.

Such errant "weeding" has plagued humankind since the beginning of time, and so in today's parable Jesus says, "Let the weeds go. Let them grow together with the wheat until the harvest, for weeds are not as easy to distinguish as you think." Without doubt, we think we can discern good from evil, having thought so since the Garden of Eden. The truth is, we often can't, especially in a Middle Eastern wheat field where darnel is common. This weed, closely resembling wheat in appearance, has poisonous seeds and tenacious roots that wrap themselves around the wheat so that an experienced farmer can't tell where one ends and the other begins. Certainly the two must be separated sooner or later or the farmer will end up with a case of food poisoning on his hands. Now, though, is not the time, and we are not the ones to do the separating.

Indeed, we are the ones called to, "Let both weeds and wheat grow together." The word translated here as "Let" is the Greek word aphete, which also means "forgive." Forgive is the other major New Testament meaning of this word, putting a whole new spin on letting the weeds be. It's similar to Matthew's unique version of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, "Do not resist evildoers" (Matt. 5:39a) or literally, "Do not stand against evil." Forgiveness alone can stand against evil, as Jesus understands when he says we should let the weeds stand with the wheat until both have had time and opportunity to mature.

Muslim father Azim Khamisa (Kahmeesa) understood this, too, when his only son - 20 year old Tariq (Tar'ik)- was murdered by 14-year-old Tony Hicks. At the time Tony was obeying orders for initiation into a gang, while Tariq was a college student delivering pizza. It was a senseless act of evil, for which Hicks was tried as an adult for murder and given life in prison. He is the youngest person ever to be so tried and sentenced in California, but his sentence brought no peace to Tariq's father. Rather, burdened with grief, Tariq's father forgave his son's murderer and the grandfather who had raised the fatherless boy.

"It changed my life," Tony's grandfather told NBC news, just as it did Azim's. Both men were set free from despair and together started TKF, the Tariq Khamisa Foundation dedicated to empowering kids, saving lives and teaching peace. "TKF is about planting seeds of hope," said Azim Khamisa who hopes the foundation will soon include Tony Hicks if he's able to secure the early release of the young man Azim has not only forgiven, but now calls his son.

Planting seeds of hope? Without doubt. Indeed, it may be about planting good seed among the weeds. After all, who can tell the difference? Sometimes only time can tell, and so says Jesus, "Let them grow together side by side," which at the very least will thwart the Devil's plan. By this I mean the Devil in the Bible who grows in strength when we try to rid the world of evil, but loses power when we let go and let God. "Forget about weeding," says Jesus. "Weeding's more dangerous than weeds. So let go, let be, let live" . . . or put another way, forgive, diminishing the devil's domain in the process and giving life to God's life in the world.

Amen.