The Patient Farmer

Sermon by Father Jonathan E Moore - LINK HERE

16th Sunday “Per Annum”                      The Patient Farmer

Patience is one of the “Fruits of the Holy Spirit”. It is important that a child learns early on that not everything can be had instantly. Some of us never finish learning that lesson. There is a famous story of a holy man praying: “God, give me patience … And PLEASE HURRY!”. Equally telling is the old proverb: “Patience is a virtue, find it where you can… Seldom in a woman, never in a man!” To be fair, I've heard that proverb reversed many times, and have met patient and impatient souls of both genders in pretty equal proportions! 

Today’s Gospel parable is usually known as “The Wheat and Tares”. It's important to remember that Our Lord Himself never gave these stories a title at all. Christians have come up with the titles over the centuries, and sometimes our understanding of the real depth of teaching in them can be limited by the titles themselves. The “Parable of the Prodigal Son” is one case of this - the story is about a Father with two sons, not one. It might better be called “The Father’s Forgiveness”, because that's really what the story is about.  

Today's parable also suffers from its title. At the heart of the Good News of Jesus Christ is the revelation of God as Loving Father. The story we have just heard doesn't focus on the weeds growing in a field of wheat, but on the patience of the farmer. His labourers want a “quick fix”, but the farmer is prepared to wait. We are often in a hurry, but God isn't - just like the farmer, (and the sower in last week’s Gospel). He has confidence in an abundant harvest. The sower was prepared to accept the wastage of three-quarters of the seed he sowed because the seeds which actually grew till harvest would yield many times more grains than had been lost. Today’s farmer is prepared to be patient and wait till harvest time. To be sure the weeds will take some of the nourishment from the soil, and will need careful separation at harvest time. Till then, however, patience is the best option: to wade into the field and try to rip out all of the weeds would do much more harm to the wheat than leaving the weeds in place. 

Here we have the heart of the parable. Again, Jesus invites us to try to lift our gaze from the ground immediately in front of us, and to try to see ourselves and our world as God sees it. 

The so-called “Problem of Evil” has unsettled many a Christian down the centuries. How can a good God allow such evil in the world? If the Creator looked at His work and “saw that it was very good”, where did that evil come from? Interestingly, Our Lord does not ask us to immerse ourselves in theological speculation as to the nature of evil. “An enemy has done this thing” is as much as He will say. From the point of view of the growing wheat, “up close and personal” with the weeds, their presence was both threatening and unwelcome. The farmer was not to blame - in the Book of Wisdom we read: “It is the wicked that have brought death on themselves, by word and deed of their own.” (Wis 1:16). A consequence of God’s wonderful gift of “Free Will” is that individuals can choose to be God’s enemies if they so wish - causing much suffering to those around them, and bringing their own selves to ultimate ruin. 

No, the presence of evil in the world is not the real focus of Our Lord’s teaching today. He wants us instead to concentrate on the Father’s patience, and to learn from it. Our human history shows countless examples of the disastrous consequences of trying to tear all the weeds out of the growing crops. So often the reformers and revolutionaries end up making things worse rather than better, failing even to tell the good plants from the bad. For just one recent example, think of Cambodia and the “Killing Fields” of the dictator Pol Pot. 

The Father, by contrast, is prepared to be patient. In the long term, the abundance of the harvest will more than compensate for any harm the weeds did. Yes, there will be a day of reckoning, with the weeds “tied into bundles to be burned”, and the grain stored safely away. In his Epistle, St. James warns against premature judgement. “There is only one Lawgiver and one Judge, and that is the One God” (James 4:12) Today’s Gospel also reminds us not to try to seek a quick solution by taking the law into our own hands. 

It is so easy to become completely focused upon the bad things in our lives, other people, and the world around us. There is a poem called “Desiderata” by Max Ehrlman which says: “With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.” 

The parable we have just heard is also an encouragement to that same positive mental attitude. Don't see only the ugly weeds, but also the beautiful harvest which is coming. There is a prayer from the Mass I often find myself saying during the day “Blessed are you, Lord God of all Creation”. Look at the world with hope, not despair. Another lovely Mass prayer prays that we might await the Lord’s coming “In joyful hope”. Pray for patient trust which rests on the firm conviction that evil will not prevail. In the end the weeds “go up in smoke” all that remains is the abundant harvest safe in God’s keeping.

One last thought: growing wheat and tares are quite hard to tell apart. In exactly the same way, we should never presume to judge who are the good and bad people in our world. Again, we must be patient and leave the judgement to God. I leave you with a little poem, both amusing and instructive:

I dreamt death came the other night

And Heaven’s gate swung wide.

An angel with a halo bright

Ushered me inside.

And there, to my astonishment

Stood folks I’d judged and labelled

As “quite unfit”, “of little worth”,

And “spiritually disabled”.

Indignant words rose to my lips

But never were set free,

For every face showed stunned surprise --

Not one expected me!