Good Seed, Weediness and Weedy Deeds: Not Really an Homily for the Sixth/Seventh Sunday after Trinity/Pentecost—with reference to Romans 8.12-25 and Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43

By on July 19, 2020.

Source: GENEralities
Good Seed, Weediness and Weedy Deeds: Not Really an Homily for the Sixth/Seventh Sunday after Trinity/Pentecost—with reference to Romans 8.12-25 and Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43
Jesus,crucified, risen from the dead and present with us by his Spirit is The One I must remember to remember (1Cor2.2, 2Tim2.8) whenever I look for what God might be saying you us through the Bible readings of the day. I’ll begin with some blunt things Jesus says in the Parable of the Wheat and Tares in today’s gospel on the dangers we face and must resist in the world: there are weeds—sons (and, I presume, daughters) of the evil one—along with the devil and other enemies. One day there will also be a burning fire and a fiery furnace to dispose of those weeds with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Sobering words. On the other hand, on a happier note, there is good seed in this world, too—the sons (and, daughters) of the kingdom—and Jesus, the Son of Man, sows it (Mt13.38-42).St Paul gives us some ways to be good daughters and sons of the kingdom by resisting the weeds around us and our own weediness within in his letter to the Romans—chapter 8:if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (vv13-14)If the sinful deeds of the weedy body are ever to be put to death, it must be by the Holy Spirit. That is the only way in which they can be killed off. And killed off they must be just as Jesus says in Matthew 13, The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (vv41-42)Neither a cause of sin or a law-breaker be says Jesus. Avoid weediness and weedy deeds. In order to put causes of sin and law-breaking in our lives to death, we must continuously ask the Holy Spirit to point them out to us, so we can confess, repent and be forgiven. Inviting and following the Spirit’s leading in this regard will secure our status as divinely adopted daughters and sons of God (Ro8.15) with all the privileges pertaining to that blessing. And, as Paul, assures us, “The Spirit himself” will then bear witness with our spirits, that we are children of God (v16)—in other words, we will know it in our knowers supernaturally as the Spirit leads us (v14). At the same time, the Holy Spirit “helps us in our weakness” and “intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words” (v26) so that as “good seed” that Jesus himself has sown, we can properly germinate, take root and bear much fruit. Being such good seed, free of weediness and weedy deeds, will cause us to shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father for the sake of Jesus. 

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