In 2002 the Northern Snakehead fish was discovered in a nine acre pond in Crofton, Maryland. The snakehead fish is aggressive and carnivorous-it's diet consists of other fish, lots of other fish. It has the ability to drastically alter the eco-system in this pond and beyond if it moves out into the river shed area. The snakehead fish also has the ability to live three days out of water, can bury itself in mud when water conditions are lowered and can walk short distances on land. A biologist with the Department of Natural Resources said: "This is one tough customer, if I had to be a fish, this is the fish I'd be." Native to the Yangtze River region of China, it is thought that a breeding pair was purchased in New York and later released into the pond by a man who no longer wanted the fish. In China the fish is a delicacy, in some parts of Thailand and Burma people believe the snakeheads to be reincarnated sinners. Officials fear that the presence of the snakehead fish in this pond could have devastating consequences for all of Maryland's waterways.
Understandably these fish have the Maryland Department of Natural Resources worried. This is a "weed" fish, and it is threatening. They have considered removing them by trapping, netting and electroshock stunning. They've also thought of draining and filtering the pond. But none of these methods will ensure that every last snakehead fish will be eradicated. Their current best thinking is to poison the entire pond with rotenone. Rotenone works through the gills of the fish, disrupting the flow of oxygen. While they are sure it will kill all the other fish, they're not as sure it will work on the snakehead fish because of the fish's ability to also breathe through its mouth and survive out of water for three days. In spite of this there is a desire to take action and do it quickly before the problem spreads…even if it means destroying the whole pond in the process.
"Do not disturb it, do not try to pluck it out-because if you do-you're going to wreck the whole place." This we read in the gospel text. The early church of Matthew's community is dealing with threats to their community, presumably both from within and without. The climate for the early church was not exactly a welcoming one. The church of course, would see itself in the best light, and be the wheat Jesus speaks of. The tares or weeds were all around them-rival religions, pagan rituals, people with no faith, people with too many gods. Within their own community there were people of mature faith, and those who were newcomers. They could see people who were kind and merciful, generous and gracious; as well as those who were bitter and contentious, mean spirited and angry. The knee jerk reaction to the threats-pull up everything! The weeds and the wheat. They'd poison the whole pond in order to save it. It is to just that kind of reaction that our text says, "leave it along, it's not your job to worry about who's who and what's what. It's your job to work on yourself, to be the good seed.
When we feel threatened the natural reaction is to get rid of the threat, making sure it can never come back. Our inclination is to pull up the weeds. But God, again, for two weeks running now in our Gospel stories is the foolish farmer…sowing people wherever they land; and now saying "don't weed the garden!" It is a reminder to listen-to remember that in our attempts to eradicate a threat we can go way overboard and destroy everything. It is a reminder to let God deal with the weeding (Wouldn't it be nice if gardening worked that way!!) Our history as a church is all to full of stories of what happens when we try to cleanse the world. We know the stories of the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem Witch trials. Today the church seems ever more bent on becoming pure. The only problem is that as with beauty, rightness is often in the eyes of the beholder. Charles Cousar writes: "A zealousness to purify the church too easily presumes that the purifiers have perfect vision and neglects the fact that they will likely uproot the wheat along with the weeds."
It is an understatement to say that we live in confusing days. Religion has become a particularly polarized place right now. The Roman Catholic Church is reeling from abuse scandals and cover-ups; and trying to bring reconciliation and healing to a very difficult chapter in their history. Mainline Protestant denominations, including our own are going through divisive times. The hot buttons are the wedges driving us apart. There is an upsurge in heresy trials. We are divided between right and left; red and blue; conservative and liberal and yes, even north and south. The temptation is great to cleanse the church-but the gospel warns us-at what cost?
It is also an understatement to say we live in terrifying times. Things that we relied on, and felt safe in are no longer. Planes overhead have taken on new meaning. Riding trains and buses become acts of defiance-saying I'm not giving in to terrorists. At the same time the fear of attack has changed the way we do business. Episcopal laywoman, Katerina Whitely says: "Mention the word terrorism today and there is an immediate, visceral response. The news and we who consume the news have become obsessed with terrorism. And obsession leads to idolatry." We'll do anything to eradicate terrorism. We are willing to go through heightened security procedures, and that is understandable. What is less understandable to me is the willingness to give up some basic rights of privacy and speech and travel that we have long taken for granted. All one has to do is mention that the restriction is in the quest to eradicate terrorism and it is accepted. Again, the danger of throwing out the wheat with the weeds.
Matthew's gospel is a warning to us as we live in this church and go into the world. When threatened our natural inclination is to destroy the threat-but how far are we willing to go? We are reminded it is God's job to deal with punishment and reward; it is God's job to deal with judgment.
The Hebrew lectionary text this morning is the Jacob's dream of climbing the ladder after spending the night sleeping on a stone pillow. Upon waking he says "Surely God is in this place and I did not know it." I want to wake up and look around me and find God-even in the midst of life's fears and confusion. I'd like to hope, as Paul does in this morning's epistle lesson that, as he sees the labor pains of creation he can still see God at work. I never want to lose the ability to see even the most fragile sign of life blooming…that in the midst of the worst moments, I can still see a glimmer of hope.
Our job in this text is to work on ourselves-to be the good seeds. In this place we seek the good soil that God might find a place to take root in us. Here we know what it is to be nurtured and cared for. And in leaving the weeds to God, we are free to go out and sow in the world-to nurture the good soil and the good wheat (and hopefully even change the minds of some weeds in the process!). We go out so that "we might shine the like the sun in the kingdom of God!"