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Homilies by Rev. Andrew Collis unless indicated otherwise.

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Ordinary Sunday 16, Year A
South Sydney Uniting Church
July 23, 2017

Genesis 28:10-19a; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

‘Stay kind’ *

Jacob dreams of a ladder, a stairway to heaven with angelic beings, messengers, descending and ascending. When he wakes, he is amazed. Here in this dark place of loneliness, fear, guilt and an uncertain future (Jacob has deceived his blind father Isaac and stolen a blessing promised his brother Esau), the presence of the Holy One overwhelms him, and he is reassured of love. “Truly, YHWH is in this place, and I never knew it!” God be with you ...

This is a pivotal scene in the story of Jacob (“Heel-Grabber”) who will become Israel (“Overcomer of God”). He will grow in maturity and wisdom, from being a deceiver and runaway to this encounter with a gracious God whose messengers come and go, to a delightful love, to exchanging vows, then being himself deceived, long years of work, returning home, wrestling with a worthy opponent (angel, stranger, twin, God), limping/humbled, embraced by his long-suffering brother, still learning to repent and to share ... with Esau, with Esau's wives and with the children of Ishmael ...

The journey to wisdom begins here, in a dream, an epiphany, a vision, a new experience. “Truly, YHWH is in this place, and I never knew it! How awe-inspiring this place is! ... this is the gate of heaven!”

God is in the loneliness ... in the darkness ... in the stone Jacob used for a pillow ... in the Earth ... in the dream ... in the family promise ... in the journey to responsibility and freedom ... and Jacob never knew it. God’s presence is new, and renews hope and life.

Which phenomenon is most surprising for you today? Which is most life-giving? The God within loneliness (creative solitude)? The God within darkness (light of humanity)? The God in the stone, the Earth (Spirit of all things)? The God of dreams (imagination)? The God of the family promise (translation, repetition, redemption)? The God on the journey to maturity (Sophia, Wisdom)?

According to Matthew, Jesus addresses his teaching to Israel. The parable, we might say, is for Jacob, and holds the promise (for all with ears to hear) of a holy surprise.

The parable tells of a farmer’s decision not to uproot everything in an attempt to rid a field of weeds (most likely darnel, which in its early stages closely resembles wheat), but to allow both weed and wheat to grow until harvest time, when the difference between them will be clear and the weeds identified and disposed of without harm to the precious wheat.

The wheat – miraculously – is not prevented from growing.

The parable reassures Jacob/Israel/us of love. It teaches a wise patience – that grace might be given time to work its victory subtly, that what has been wounded and hindered by evil (how malicious to sow darnel seeds by night among the wheat!) might not be crushed, but rescued and transformed.

The Earth, humanity, imagination, family, freedom – these are good things, threatened by a pervasive malice … greed and violence.

The parable teaches a godly patience, not so much tolerance of evil as assurance that evil will be dealt with appropriately (by way of forgiveness? by way of letting the weeds be? by way of truth-telling? by way of more accountable structures/stairways/ladders?), that goodness will not be destroyed. It reassures us that God is not overcome by evil, and nor – finally – will God’s beloved (or lovers of God) be consumed by it.

The present time is emphasised. Jesus’ eschatology is one of imminence, stressing present action ... morality, practical religion, the radical transformation of the present world ...

There is also a caution to workers/believers that it is not their primary or ultimate responsibility to rid the world of evil. “Do you want us to go out and pull them up / teach them a lesson / punish the wrongdoers / threaten the bullies / avenge the abused / shame the corrupt / curse the cruel and careless? No ... forgive them, permit them, let them grow together until the harvest ..."

Of course, we realise it, we ourselves are wheat and weeds. An irascible person may have a passion for justice; a lazy person can be a good listener; Jacob can become Israel …

There are many harvests. The wheat will be harvested successfully.

Respond with love, in other words. Overcome evil with goodness. Stay kind. In a later parable Jesus will make it very clear: “Come, you blessed of my Abba God! Inherit the kindom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me; naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you comforted me; in prison [for shameful crimes] and you came to visit me” (25:34b-36).

Jacob is dazzled by a dream. He is amazed. He is confronted and called to change – to grow. Our God is not overcome by darkness and enfolds us, too, in an infinite love, in a wise and godly patience.

Is there a holy surprise here for you? Reassured of love (by way of dream or parable), what goodness, what good thing or activity might you attend to this week? ... Amen.

*The title of today’s homily honours the NRL’s Stay Kind Day, a campaign to raise awareness of youth suicide, and a special rugby league game between the late Stuart Kelly’s beloved Parramatta Eels and the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium this afternoon.

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