An Excerpt of the Sermon of The Late Most Rev. John T. Cahoon, Jr.
Metropolitan of the Anglican Catholic Church,
Rector of St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland
Epiphany V, February 4, 2001
As far as I can remember, there are two hymns in our hymnal which refer to today's gospel, Christ's parable of the wheat and the tares. One of the hymns is "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come," always our processional at Thanksgiving. The other is "Come, Labor On," a hymn I like to sing, most perversely on the eve of Labor Day.
The parable describes a man who sows good seed in his field, but, while he and the men who work for him are asleep someone else sows weeds there. When the seed begins to grow, and weeds appear along with the good fruit, the farmer tells his laborers, "An enemy hath done this."
When the workers offer to weed the field, the farmer tells them not to, but, instead, to let everything grow until harvest time. Then the weeds will be bundled up to be burned, while the wheat will be stored in the barn for the Winter.
The hymn, "Come, Labor On," is a call to do one's Christian duty at all times. It focuses our attention upon the workers who slept – seemingly in all innocence. The relevant verse reads, "Come, labor on/ The enemy is watching night and day,/ To sow the tares, to snatch the seed away;/ While we in sleep our duty have forgot,/He slumbered not."
So the hymn calls us to vigilance -- to watchfulness. The devil wants to take advantage of every opportunity which will help him get our minds off of God. He wants to distract us from what St. Paul tells us in today's epistle -- that we should do everything we do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – concentrate always upon trying to do what Christ wants us to do.
When we sleep -- lose our concentration -- get distracted -- the devil moves into the vacuum. Neither the parable nor the hymn counsels literal sleeplessness or perpetual insomnia, but it does recall Jesus' words, "What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch."
"Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" is interested in the whole scope of the parable, rather than with just one detail. It begins by dealing with Jesus' saying that the story of the field tells us the way the kingdom of God is. The verse begins, "All the world is God's own field,/Fruit unto his praise to yield;/Wheat and tares together sown,/Unto joy or sorrow grown."
So the hymn tells us what the parable means overall. Life is a mixture of good things and bad things. The Articles of Religion say, "In the visible Church, the evil be ever mingled with the good." The mixed qualities we perceive in life are just part of how things are.
The verse continues, "First the blade, and then the ear,/Then the full corn shall appear." I need to digress here and tell you about a lovely older woman who was a member of my first parish. One thing that made her memorable was that she loved cats. She liked to reinterpret this verse to read, "First the whisker, then the ear/Then the full cat doth appear."
This last part of the stanza focuses on the ultimate point of the parable. It reads, "Grant, O harvest Lord, that we/Wholesome grain and pure may be." At the end there is going to be a separation between the bad and the good. The tares are going to be burned up, and the wheat is going to be gathered into the barn for safe keeping. We want to end up in the barn and not on the bonfire.
What neither hymn addresses is what seems to me to be the most arresting and curious aspect of the parable. That is that the farmer tells the workmen not to weed the field, but to let the wheat and the weeds grow together until the harvest. Commentaries tell us that the plants Jesus is describing look very much alike, so there is real danger, as the farmer suggests, of confusing the two, and pulling up things that ought to stay.
It seems to me that Jesus is telling us that we are not as good as we think we are when it comes to discerning what is really good and what is really bad. We tend to be very quick to judge – certain that we know what in life ought to be preserved and what deserves to be destroyed.
But the parable suggests that we should not be so certain -- and not be too hasty to act on our imagined certainties. God's overall plan and the working out of his purposes extend far beyond just what we can see in front of our noses.
Even the most rigid people among us will have to admit that life shows us vast areas of gray. We cannot be absolutely sure about the meaning of everything that happens, or the effect of every idea anyone holds, or the final destiny of everyone we butt heads with, and we can't even grasp the contents of our own hearts. The parable suggests, "When in doubt -- and we are more often in doubt than we might like to think – when in doubt, don't weed."
All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee
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Services & Events
This Saturday, February 8, Ladies of the parish Valentine Brunch, 12 noon, undercroft, please RSVP immediately if you haven't already to roddys at bellsouth.net
Sunday Services, 7:45 AM, 9:00 AM, & 11:15 AM (for online participation for the services go to: https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland)
Sunday School, 10:30 AM
Nursery 9:00 & 11:15 Services
Wednesday, 12 noon, Holy Communion and anointing for healing, (for online participation for the service go to: https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland)
Men's Group Breakfast, Saturday February 15, 8:30 AM, Breakfast by our chef extraordinaire Claude Crump, Bible study, and great fellowship
Vestry Meeting, Monday, February 24, 7:30 PM
Food Bank Needs
The food bank appreciates the generosity of our parish.Please help this month with a food donation if you are able. Those we help feed are very thankful for the food we provide to them each month. Please also buy low sugar cereals (and not the kid's types that have lots of sugar). Current needs include the following:
canned meats (chicken, corned beef, spam)
peanut butter
jelly
tuna
canned vegetables (corn, green beans - (regular and low sodium)
individual fruit cups (low sugar)
canned fruit (low sugar)
canola or vegetable oil (48 oz)
boxed cereal (low sugar) and instant or old fashioned oatmeal (18 oz or 42 oz)
pasta (regular and gluten-free):
instant potatoes
single serving fruit juice
macaroni & cheese
soups: Chunky or Progresso,noodle soup; chicken broth, cream of mushroom
coffee, cooking oil, flour, sugar
CURRENT LlST OF NEEDS FOR MaRIH CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER
Please help MaRIH Center now. The need is great and urgent this time of year. With its all volunteer staff the Center provides help to mothers-to-be and mothers in need. Please provide some of the items that are needed.. (You can leave the donations where the food for the food bank is collected on the pew in the undercorft.)
Especially Needed
In Bold and with an asterisk are a critical need.
Diapers (sizes newborn, *1, 2, 3, *4, *5, & *6)
*Lovies
*Baby wipes
*Diaper rash ointment
*Baby shampoo
*Baby blankets
*Baby bottles
*Bibs toddler
*Formula: *Simulac Advance Formula
Formula: other but not recalled
*Wash clothes
*Hooded towels
*Fall Winter clothing: 3-6 mo, 2T
*Winter coats 2T
*Grocery gift cards
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