Weeds and wheat in the Chapel

My turn came around on the Chapel rota again and the lectionary text this time was the 'weeds and wheat' parable from Matthew 13. Great passage. 

Here's what we did with it, including lyrics I wrote to the tune of Eddy Grant's 'Hope Jo'anna'. If you don't know the tune - and if not, why not, my friend? - click here!

So basically, this post contains a spot of bible reading followed by a smidgen of reflection, topped off by a swinging bit of parabolic reggae.

I spoil you.

Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43       The Parable of Weeds among the Wheat

24 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” 28 He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” 29 But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ 37 He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

Sermon

In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus preaches parables for the people. He goes to sit beside the sea and great crowds gather to hear the good news told in the language of the soil and the sea, the birds and the rocks, the sun and the rain – and in today’s case – the weeds and the wheat. Then having preached to the many, the pattern in this chapter is that Jesus meets with the few – the Teacher and his faithful Twelve – the ones who get the point; the ones who will grasp the truth. 13.11: To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. A lot of ‘us’ and ‘them’ here! And by the time we reach verse 51, Jesus the Teacher says to the Twelve, ‘Have you understood all this?’ and they all say, ‘Yes!’  

It must be wonderful, mustn’t it, to be so confident. Imagine, if that question was asked after every class lecture and every sermon at PTC; after every grand speech. Have you understood all this? Yes!  That would be amazing.

If we were doing in-depth study of Matthew’s wonderful Gospel, we would, of course, be asking much more complex questions about who the Gospel thinks is ‘in the know’ or ‘not in the know', and why? To whom are the hidden secrets of the kingdom given or revealed, and why? Although in other New Testament places we find disciples who are head-scratching, puzzled, asking, ‘What did he mean?’ here In Matthew 13, the disciples are elevated and praised for being the ones who get it. 13.16: Blessed are your eyes for they see. Your ears, for they hear.

So, when the disciples ask for an explanation of the parable of the weeds of the field (13.37-43) they get really straight answers to straight questions, in the assumption that they’ll get it and communicate it further. Sower = Son of Man. Field = World. Good seed = children of the kingdom. Weeds = children of the evil one. Enemy = the devil. Harvest = end of the age. Reapers = angels. Understand? Yep!

I wish, in Matthew 13, that we had a record of a disciple being brave enough to say to Jesus, ‘Lord, forgive me but – actually - I don’t quite get it’. I wish we had a record of a disciple being courageous enough to say, ‘But Lord, what about the slaves?’ In Kingdom terms, you’ve taught us how to understand the sower, the seed, the weeds, the enemy, the harvest, the reapers – but what about the slaves of the householder – did you forget them? Because in the parable, they saw things and they said things. And both were, I humbly suggest, very important.

Firstly, I applaud the slaves because they seem genuinely horrified that there are weeds among the wheat and they summon up the courage to tell the Master. There’s some self interest of course because if there’s a bad harvest, if the wheat fails, no-one in the household eats. The New Testament gives us different pictures of households with slaves. We imagine there may have been different levels of ease with which households communicated across the ‘higher-archy’ and the ‘lower-archy’, depending on the Master. The New Testament never questions slavery as a structure of the time. Nevertheless it offers, thankfully, occasional, breathtaking, outrageous, radical Kingdom alternatives about identity in Christ: see Colossians 3.11 and Galatians 3.28 for starters. 

We must applaud the slaves here who saw and spoke, who had vision and voice. It’s possible they stand trembling before the boss and speak in a whisper. It’s possible one of their company was on duty as night watchman but was asleep when the enemy came: maybe they’re trying to cover up for him? Maybe they’re expecting to be blamed, because if there’s a problem in the field or household, blame it on the slaves, right? But there isn’t blame. ‘An enemy has done this’, says the Master. It’s not one of us – not one of our household. How do you read that? Do you read it as a comforting word for the early Church? It comforts me to think so.

Secondly, I applaud the slaves because they seem genuinely keen to make things better. Can we go and do the weeding? So the crop won’t spoil? Why would you offer to do more work for your Master, unless, like our Lord Jesus, he’s the best, most merciful, most just, most loving Master anyone could ever work for. If the weeds were darnel, that looks almost identical to wheat as it grows. It would have been a back breaking task to identify and eliminate. Fijian friends tell me about co gadrogadro which is a spiky weed that invades the grass, and that a punishment in Fiji schools in their youth was to be told to weed it out! 

Can we make an effort to save the crop, say these slaves? And the answer comes, ‘No’. Vinaka, says the Master. Just leave it. You have many jobs to do but this isn’t one of them. And in your enthusiasm, you may do damage. There may be a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth in this household when we can’t make bread because you uprooted the wheat.

Have we ever met that kind of evangelism? Enthusiastic, well-intentioned, but damaging to the Kingdom ultimately. Leave it, is the word here. When it’s about separating wheat from weeds, the Master knows the time and the Master knows the method.

We thank the slaves of Matthew chapter 13 this morning, for being our teachers, to the glory of God. 

Amen

Song of the Weeds and Wheat 

(Tune: Hope Jo'anna - with respect to Eddy Grant)

Take a look at the world around you

Do you think that there’s an evil plan?

Are you waiting for the enemy to strike,

And to prove he’s got the upper hand?

Take a look at the field you planted,

Do you agonise in deep despair?

Are you staring at the weeds among the wheat,

And believing that the Lord don’t care?

Ohh – let them grow together let them grow together,

Let them grow together till the harvest time;

Let them grow together let them grow together,

Grow until the harvest time.

Take a look at the souls around you,

Do you welcome them as wheat or weeds?

Are you busy separating bad from good,

Never missing any evil deeds?

Take a look at the congregations,

The believers in community;

When the angels descend with pruning knives,

Do you think it will be you or me?

Ohh– let them grow together, let them grow together,

Let them grow together till the harvest time;

Let them grow together let them grow together,

Grow until the harvest time.

If you’re someone with ears, then listen,

If you’re someone with eyes, then look;

For the harvest belongs to God alone,

As we read it in the Holy Book.

Don’t be judging the crops too early,

So convinced about their final fate;

Mere mortals they lack a Kingdom view,

Can the Saviour ever say, ‘Too late!’

Caution - explicit content! But only to shine a light..

After a bit of umming and ahhing, I've decided to post about a shocking, high profile court case and sentencing that's been a big talking point here. 

It's always a difficult call about whether a mission partner should do this, because of proper, ethical concerns about how we portray the place in which we've been so graciously invited to serve. I mean, imagine.... if you're from the UK, for example, and happen upon a blog written by a Fijian minister based in the UK, would you want your homeland to be portrayed by him or her entirely through the worst UK news stories, issues of disgrace and bad Church practice s/he's happened upon? Of course not.

So let me be very clear. This post is not a sly attempt to portray Fiji or the wider Pacific negatively. Look back on almost three years of posts here and I think you'll be rapidly convinced about how much we have to admire and rejoice about. The point of the post is that the case relates very specifically to biblical interpretation and theological education; my world, largely, both of which feature in detail in the courtroom cross-examinations. That's quite unusual.

Let's start with a Fiji Times summary of events from 28th June which fills in the picture. Nothing that gives glory to God here, sadly.

'A breach of trust'

Aqela Susu
Wednesday, June 28, 2017

This was the comment by High Court judge Justice Salesi Temo while sentencing Jezreel Lion of Judah Ministry leader Jone Cokanauto at the High Court in Suva yesterday."YOU are really a wolf in sheep's clothing. You must not complain when your liberty is taken away."

Cokanauto was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for raping, attempting to rape and indecently assaulting four women from his ministry between 2005 and 2012.

Passing sentence, Justice Temo told Cokanauto what he did was a serious breach of trust. He said in iTaukei communities in Fiji the dominant religion was Christianity and its teachings were worshipped on most weekdays and Sundays year in and year out. He said moral values and standards were gained and followed as a result of the teachings from the Bible.

"You as the head of the Jezreel Lion of Judah Ministry had done the unthinkable," Justice Temo said.

"You have twisted and misinterpreted the woman of Samaria's story to entrap vulnerable young women. You have twisted the living water Jesus offered to mean your sperm.

"You reclassified the woman of Samaria not as an evangelist, but as a prostitute. You then taught that to be purified as the Temple of God, you need to have sex with them. By your web of deceit, you have committed various sexual offences against your own followers.

"In fact you have taught and practised in exactly the opposite ways that Saint John said in chapter 4 verses 1 to 42. You have seriously breached the trust your female complainants had in you."

In noting that the ministry had been in existence for the past 17 years, having being established in 2000, Justice Temo said Cokanauto's offending in totality showed he carefully planned his offences throughout the years.

"Through your offending you had shown no regard to the complainants' rights not to be harmed.

"You have violated their trust in you. You have cunningly used the Bible to further your evil deeds," he said.

Justice Temo sentenced Cokanauto to 16 years for each of the five counts of rape, two years each for four counts of indecent assault and five years for one count of attempted rape.

He ordered that the sentences in count one of rape (16 years), count four of indecent assault (two years) and count six also of indecent assault (two years) to be served consecutively bringing the total to 20 years imprisonment.

So that's what many in Fiji have been talking about; not least because the Gospel of John chapter 4. 1-30 and its interpretation by the convicted pastor took biblical centre stage in embarrassingly graphic detail. A reputed biblical scholar was called in, formerly on the staff of our neighbouring Catholic College, Pacific Regional Seminary, and his theological statements have been widely reported. The following extract is from the Fiji Sun newspaper.

Prosecution witness five:

Reverend Dr Donal McIlraith

Reverend McIlraith, who had been a lecturer in scripture at the Pacific Regional Seminary for 28 years, told the court that John Chapter 4 is about the Samaritan woman.

Reverend McIlraith, who has studied the Hebrew and Greek language in which the original Bible is written, told the court that John Chapter 4 is divided into three parts.

Mr Vosawale asked Rev McIlraith if the chapter involved sexual relations between Jesus and the Samaritan woman.

Reverend McIlraith said: “Absolutely not, it’s purely a dialogue Jesus tried, to interest her in faith and it’s not about giving or taking anything.

“There is nothing about sexuality in this passage and is merely a conversation about water.

“The water has two meanings; one is the ordinary water from the well and second is the living water which is probably the Holy Spirit that Jesus offers.”

He further confirmed to the court that the living water does not involve semen from a man.

During cross-examination Mr Valenitabua asked Reverend McIlraith how could one be redeemed of their sins of adultery. He replied saying that firstly the person needed to confess to God and have it forgiven and then they should move on with their lives.

“Confession means I am sorry and I promise to do my level best not to do it again with the Lord’s help,” the Reverend said.

“If you do it again then that means you’re not serious with your repentance.”

Reverend McIlraith told the court that the point of the whole story in John Chapter 4 is that a woman moves from no faith to faith in Jesus.

“The Gospel was written for somebody to have faith in Jesus,” he said.

He was further questioned by Justice Temo regarding the evidence given by the alleged victims that the water of life is equated with a sperm of a man.

“The phrase ‘water of everlasting life’ is not the same as the semen of a man and I have never come across that interpretation in my life,” said Reverend McIlraith.

Justice Temo also asked him if the women in that chapter were equated to the temple of God.

“In John’s gospel Chapter 2, Jesus is the new temple and in Saint Paul every Christian is the temple of God,” he said.

It was further stated by Justice Temo that some of the prosecution witnesses had said that they were told that they were the temple of God and that they needed to be purified and cleansed by a man’s semen.

“I have never in my life heard of that interpretation and the cleansing of a woman by a man’s semen has no basis in the scripture,” said Reverend McIlraith.

Edited by Karalaini Waqanidrola

Feedback:  jessica.gounder@fijisun.com.fj

So, you get the sordid picture? The explicit media coverage has also been a source of wounding to many culturally. 'We never used to hear of these things in this way'. 

An analysis of the factors that cause someone, in this case a trusted pastor, to stray so very, very far from the way of Jesus could fill up this blog for a lifetime. We're not even going to start on topics such as autocracy, psychology, deviancy, self-deception, addiction, victim vulnerability etc. And I'm merely sharing news from Government endorsed media already in the public domain, which has its advantages and disadvantages. When I share here about the 'accused', the 'victims', the 'church' , it's without personal encounter with any of them in flesh and blood.

Overall though, here's the sharpest nail in the cross for me, in Justice Temo's words:

You have cunningly used the Bible to further your evil deeds

Absolutely terrifying. 

So, here's a three-fold appeal. It's hardly new. And it's certainly not just meant for Fiji.

1. Can we please get real, yet again, about the holy and intelligent handling of precious, sacred texts? 

2. Can we remind ourselves, yet again, that sacred texts are divine gifts deserving of the best, not the worst, we can bring to them in terms of human reception, analysis and discernment? 

3. Can we stop pretending that vulgar, outlandish and abusive interpretations are somehow the work of the Holy Spirit?

Can we? 

Please?