This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached Sunday, July 23, 2023. The gospel reading was Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. You can view a video of the sermon here.

I’m going to tell you a story. The two main characters in this story are Harvey and the Lord God. It’s a fanciful, kind of whimsical, story, as you’ll see. So put on your imagination and sit back and listen to the story of Harvey.

Harvey was running down a long corridor. He wasn’t used to running like this, but this was important. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it. It felt like he was running for hours, but he had to get there as soon as he could. The boss had to know what was happening.

Finally he could see his destination ahead. He made one last sprint, and reached a large crystal desk. He leaned on it, and tried to get his breath back. A tall person peered over the desk and saw Harvey there. “Can I help you?”

Harvey straightened up. “Yes, please. I’m Harvey. I have an appointment with…umm…the boss?”

The receptionist’s eyes narrowed a bit, and wandered over to a calendar. “Ah, I see. Yes. You’re expected. You can go ahead in and see…the boss.” A long finger pressed a green button on the desk, and two massive wooden doors on the left side slowly opened. A bright white light was shining through the door. Harvey could swear he heard the sound of angels singing in the distance. He gulped, and walked through the door.

The room was vast, and filled with more colors than Harvey had ever seen. It was like a pride fest at a stained glass factory. In the center was a single chair. “Have a seat, Harvey,” a voice said. Harvey looked around, and couldn’t see anyone. He walked to the chair nervously and sat down.

“Now,” the voice said, “What can I do for you today?”

Harvey stuttered. “Umm….s-s-s-sir, thank you for seeing me. Forgive me, but are you really…umm…”

“The Lord?” boomed the voice. “The Almighty? The creator of heaven and earth? The great I AM? El Shaddai? Indeed I am.” The voice chuckled a little, and then said, “And you are Harvey. I’m very pleased to see you today. Let’s talk.”

Harvey felt much more at ease. “Well, umm…God. Can I call you God?”

The voice said, “Sure. God. Lord. Father. Mother. Whatever works for you. Just don’t call me late for Passover!”

Harvey wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not. The Ultimate Dad Joke from the Ultimate Dad. He said, “Ha-ha, good one. Anyway, God, I’ve just come from the wheat field.”

God said, “Yes, my wheat field. Isn’t it marvelous? I’m going to feed the whole world from that field.”

Harvey said, “That’s just it, God. I’m very concerned that you won’t be able to. It’s not just wheat there anymore. There are weeds growing all throughout the field too.”

God said, “Are there?” Suddenly, a window appeared on one of the walls, and it opened. Through the window, Harvey could see the field he had left to come here. It had taken him hours to run here, yet it was just outside God’s window. God looked out, and said, “Let me see. Mmm. Well, there’s lots of wheat here, like I planted. But ah, yes, there’s also false wheat. Darnel, I think you call it. Bearded darnel, to be precise. Hmm. I didn’t plant that.”

Harvey said, “I didn’t think you would, God. I was wondering. I was wondering if I might have permission to do something about it.”

The window closed and disappeared. God looked at Harvey and asked, “Like what?”

“Well,” said Harvey, “Like pull out all those weeds. If we don’t do something about it, they’ll ruin the harvest. If I start pulling them out tomorrow, I think I can get them all out in time.”

“Hmm. Well, Harvey, the trouble with darnel is that it looks exactly like wheat in its young stage. You might pull out the wheat by mistake.”

Harvey said, “Surely, God, you have a book or something that would help me tell the difference. Or maybe a DNA tracker device or something?”

One of the walls of the room suddenly changed into an enormous bookcase. Books of every size and color were stacked to the ceiling. The Lord reached for one of the books, and peered at the cover. “Ah yes, here it is. A Visual Guide to Wheat and Bearded Darnel. Written by, oh, it was written by me!” God laughed again.

The book flew open in God’s hands, to a particular page. God said, “Ah. Says here that another trouble with darnel is its roots. They are incredibly twisty, and wrap around everything in their path. If you tried to pull them out, you’d end up damaging the wheat in the process.” The book closed, and went back on the shelf.

Harvey was starting to feel like God was just humoring him. But this was important, darn it! He said, “But God, we’ve got to do something about this! God, this is your world, you made it. And there are bad people in this world, I mean bad weeds. And if we don’t take care of it, all this badness will ruin everything. God, I thought you cared. I thought that if you really knew all the evil that was happening, you would do something.”

Harvey stood up, and continued, “Look, I understand if I can’t fix this. I’m just me. The world is too big and too confusing just for me. But surely you can fix it. Why won’t you? Why won’t you just cut out the evil? Just put an end to it. Destroy it. Rip it out. Just burn it in the fire.”

There was silence for just a moment, and then God said, “Oh, I will, Harvey, I will. That’s the plan. But not yet.”

Harvey’s head fell. “Okay. And I guess I just need to go back and just live there, right? Just accept it, and deal with it. Evil exists, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Thanks for your time.”

Just as Harvey was turning to leave, God said, “Wait. Harvey. Oh, Harvey. Don’t you know who you are? Look at yourself, Harvey.”

Harvey looked down, and he saw himself. A long, dark green stem. A few long leaves to sway in the breeze. And on the top, a head of grain that was still green, still not quite ripe. Still growing. Harvey saw himself, and he said to God, “I can see myself. I’m a stalk of wheat. I forgot that somehow.”

God replied, “Oh, I know. My wonderful child, I know. You are a stalk of wheat. It’s what I made you to be. It’s who you are. And it’s not your job to pull out the evil in the field. It’s not your job to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. Don’t worry, my child. I’ll take care of all that, in my own time, in my own way. But you, you, Harvey, have such an important job to do in the field. If it weren’t for you, there’d be no reason to even worry about the weeds. You are the one who grows. You are the one who brings my good into the world.

“Think about it this way, Harvey. When you walk into a dark room, what do you do? Do you turn off the dark?”

Harvey laughed. “No, of course not. You turn on the light.”

“Of course not. You turn on the light.”

“That’s right, Harvey! And that’s you. That’s who you are. You are the light of the world. You can’t light up the world by destroying evil. You’re not equipped to do that. But you can light up the world by growing. By growing as strong and as full as you can. By being my wheat in the world.”

Harvey felt a gentle pat on his head. “I love you, Harvey, very much. I made you. And I am so proud of you for wanting to do something about the evil in your world. You can’t solve it the way you thought you could, but you can make a difference. Abide in me, and grow. Grow, and bear fruit. Bear fruit, and be the good the world needs!”

Then God turned out of the story, and looked at you. And said, “Do you see as well? You are my wheat as well. Don’t focus on pulling out the weeds. Focus on growing. Instead of taking evil out of the world, add good to the world. I know you can, because that’s how I planted you.”

I never heard what happened to Harvey after this, but I like to imagine that he went back to the wheat field, and grew and grew, and produced an amazing harvest, in spite of the weeds. But I don’t know for sure. Maybe one day I’ll find out, but for now, well, I guess I’ve got some growing to do.

The end.

Image by Hans from Pixabay