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PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017.
From the Minister's Study
Bad weeds have always been a problem: Livingstone
By Archdeacon Allan Livingstone
Trinity Anglican, Blyth
St. John's Anglican, Brussels
Let anyone with ears listen!
I will open my mouth to speak
in parables;
I will proclaim what has
been hidden from the foundation
of the world.
These are the words of the prophet
Isaiah. They are the words Jesus
repeated to capture his listeners.
I can imagine the ears of farmers
and folks from rural villages in first
century Palestine perking up when
Jesus began telling them the parable
of the weeds in the wheat. Here was
a dilemma that really happened in
their fields. But the trick of the tale
was Jesus' masterful ability to use it
to teach about them about an age-old
human dilemma - what to do about
the bad weeds among us.
Palestinian farmers worried that if
their wheat became infested with an
ancient weed we call darnel or tares,
their crop would become useless.
You see, as darnel grew alongside
the wheat, it was virtually
undetectable. Even at harvest time,
its seeds, though smaller than the
wheat grain, looked similar. The
problem occurred when it was
ground up with the wheat to make
flour. These weed seeds were
infected with a fungus that was
highly poisonous, purported to cause
blindness and even death. So farmers
were anxious not to have their fields
infiltrated with this insidious,
devious, even evil, weed.
Was the solution to uproot it
during the growing season? Well, the
danger was that the roots of this
weed would be intertwined with the
wheat and so the wheat could be lost
along with the weeds when they
were pulled out.
Bad weeds have been a problem
throughout history. In my time as a
school principal, I met my share of
kids that society would classify as
bad weeds. Often we didn't notice
them mixed in with the good kids
until the worst happened - drugs,
police charges for break and entry,
even physical violence.
Sadly these kids would say that
they had little reason to be good
seedlings. Family life had been
abusive or at least neglectful. Why
not break the law? At least it got
them some attention. As they got
their roots intertwined with the roots
of other kids, teachers and parents
struggled. How should they be
separated and punished? Should
they be separated at all? Should they
have been recognized as potential
bad weeds in time to save them? The
problem continues even today.
Over the last year or so I have read
about good Muslim parents
lamenting how their good sons got
mixed up with the bad weeds and
ended up as suicide bombers.
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July 16: Rom. 8:26-30
"Get with the Program! God's Shaping,
Supporting, & Shining Through Us"
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Evangelical Missionary Church
10:30 a.m. - Worship & Sunday School
at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God)
Pastor: Ernest Dow - 519-523-4848
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Jesus talks about their dilemma.
He knew that if parents, teachers and
authorities started pulling the bad
weeds, using extreme measures to
punish them, they risked turning
them into martyrs in the eyes of
impressionable kids still searching
for the way.
Weeding or eliminating, pruning
or punishing, these are tactics we
find easy to contemplate. They are
the quick fix and, to be honest,
sometimes the only fix. Give us a
hoe, a weed eater or maybe a boot
camp and we can clean things up in
a hurry. The problem is that we then
have to keep weeding and pruning
and judging and we never seem to
get ahead.
Jesus teaches the long-term
solution. Build healthy communities
by caring for everyone and by
teaching everyone how to survive
among the devious evil influences of
this world.
Be good community citizens who
spend time, not judging the
prostitutes, the beggars, the lepers,
people somehow believed to be evil,
but promoting a healthy, clean living
environment in which tender young
seedlings would thrive.
That's the challenge He presents
to us. Our challenge is to be good
planters. Our challenge is to create
in society a garden or a field in
which everyone thrives and no one
would ever build up the resentment
and anger that nurtures weeds.
The world has had a wake-up call
in the last few months. We are now
faced with an endless cycle of
weeding and pruning and judging.
Now we have no choice but to
uproot the terrorists who produce the
kind of atrocities committed in
London and other cities in Europe.
We must.
But Jesus tells us that we must
look beyond the tragedy and search
for ways to plant and nourish
communities where any culture can
take root and raise its young in an
environment of respect and
acceptance. That's the promise and
the hope of Christian love.
Wouldn't this be a better world if
we could get to a time when we need
fewer police and more teachers,
fewer jails and more schools, fewer
courts and more colleges, fewer
judges and more doctors, fewer
soldiers and more social workers,
fewer bomb craters and more
gardens. Wouldn't this be a better
world if we could encourage and
nurture the creative abilities of
people, rather than letting them
huddle in ghettos where they are no
more than menial servants for the
expensive tastes of society?
In the service of Holy Baptism, we
are asked two questions that echo
Jesus' teaching: "Will you seek and
serve Christ in all persons, loving
your neighbour as yourself?" and
"Will you strive for justice and peace
among all people, and respect the
dignity of every human
being?"
We will, with God's help!
Jesus tells us it's the only way we
can turn this world into the kingdom
of heaven.
ANGLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS
New friends
Huron Chapel held its annual Vacation Bible School last
week, entitled "Passport to Peru" and it featured a petting
zoo, which, from left, Ava, Kyrah and Nathan, took time to
visit. (Denny Scott photo)
F.
You re cnviteJ ajoin �s c9n WorsI ip ow
SUNDAYS
Morning Service
Evening Service
10:00 am
7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
'Exu44e14 eomotItifitv ell e%aftet
(-YouYou're Invited
're
worsh p
with us
Sunday, July 16 - 10:30 a.m.
650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School)
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
Evening Services July 9 to Sept. 3
6:30 p.m. at various homes
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
BLYTH
Trinity
( 9:15 am
Church Office
519-357-4883
BRUSSELS
St. John's
No service
for month
of July
Everyone Welcome!
COME WORSHIP WITH US!
7 BRUSSELS
\Q United Church
July is vacation time at Brussels United
worship with Melville Presbyterian at 11:00 a.m.
See you at Brussels United on August 6 at 11:00 a.m.
To reach Hillary MacDonald during July
Call: 905-246-7386
Email: macdonald.hillary@gmail.com
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, JULY 16
We invite you to join our church family in:
Worship & Sunday School - 11 am
Coffee & Snacks following the service
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
Blyth United Church
Est. 1875
Visitation Sundays
for the month of July
please worship
at a church near you
Regular weekly services resume
August 7th at 9:30 am
All are welcome
OFFICE: 519-523-4224