Galatians 6 (The Message)
1-3 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.4-5Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
7-8Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.9-10So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
A weed is a matter of opinion apparently. It is identified by what plants are undesirable to to the gardener. Some say that Queen Anne's lace is a weed, growing where it isn't planted and taking over flower beds of prize roses and petunias. It grows in abundance by the roadside waiting for the county road crews to mow it down in the fall. Others say that its pretty white lacy heads are an herb, a plant of value, suitable for eating if you really wanted to. So which is it? A weed or an herb?
St. Paul advises us to deal gently with others in matters of sin. We are all prone to sin, this much is true. We are captive to it and only through Christ can we be freed. This is good news for all of us!!
But the culture we live in today is puzzling to me. There seems to be no consensus on what is right and what is wrong. What's good for you may not be good for me but that's the way it is so deal with it. What's right for me may not be right for you but please do not trample on my fragile psyche by trying to point out my errant ways. That's just your opinion, we might say. Don't judge me, we cry.
Some of our actions are not life giving. Some of our responses are more hurtful than helpful. Some of our ways are selfish. Some things we do break the hearts of others and we are great at self-justifying.
What ever happened to objective truth? No longer does my truth have to be your truth and vice versa. Is Paul pointing to the subjectivity of truth in this passage from Galatians? "Save your criticisms for yourself." "Keep your mouth shut because you are not perfect." "Do you think you are better than another?" It gets very confusing sometimes.
Why have an opinion on anything at all? Why try to work it out and come to a conclusion for ourself if in the end "truth" is up to each individual? Why is everything so subjective these days? I want answers! (Do you?) Obviously I don't believe that there is no "real" truth. Obviously I deny that truth is subjective and individual and personal. "I am the way and the truth and the life," said our Savior.
Here's what I do know. . .
Each time we gather for worship we confess our sins and hear a much needed word of forgiveness. We take time to seriously consider our failings. We actually repent. We wait to see if we will be welcomed back into God's merciful fold-- an lo and behold, we hear those precious words uttered, "In the name of Christ, you are forgiven!" Hallelujah!
Do we take it to heart? Did we really think we had anything to repent of in the first place? Come on, be honest!! Maybe a few bad thoughts or a tinge of jealousy over our neighbor's new car (9th / 10th commandment kind of stuff). . . but have we anything to repent as far as living out the First Commandment? "You shall have no other gods before me!"
Isn't confession, I mean TRUE repentance, a part of taking responsibility for ourselves like St. Paul urged the Galatians to do? And then, once we've done that, or at least started to become aware of our need for forgiveness, don't we have to begin to see this God-given life in a new way? Can we simply carry on like we did before? Or is there a new truth, which is actually the same eternal truth, governing our lives?
Shouldn't we be planting and harvesting good seeds rather than weeds? Or are we so lost that we can no longer discern between what is a good plant and what is a nuisance for the flower bed? What is helpful and what it killing out the rest of the plants? If we can't then we are in sad shape I should say. Our gardens are likely a big tangled mess! As we grow in our gardening skills shouldn't we be better able to tell weeds from flowers? And are we allowed to say, "That is a weed; that is a flower," without inciting the wrath of the gardener next door who may have a different horticultural viewpoint?
Let us not grow weary in doing what is right Paul says. Is what is "right" a subjective thing? How will we know if something is "right?" Someone else might say that it is not right! Is there something deep inside of us, something that is God-planted that helps us to know right from wrong? I teach my children that there is. . . and it all starts with loving God and putting God first and that includes adherence to God's word and command.
Perhaps part of the journey of faith is learning to discern weeds from flowers and then repenting of the sowing of weeds rather than justifying that those weeds are flowers- what's wrong can't you see that this is a flower?
Sometimes speaking the truth in love is also the most loving thing to do when we live in Christian community and have made a commitment to one another to pray for each other, help each other AND admonish one another when needed. If we cannot trust one another with our weeds then how will we ever grow a garden of lovely flowers that honors our Lord? With his help we do this, for sure, for he is our master gardener!
So we continue to do good, sow flowers rather than weeds, and we do it tirelessly. . . BUT I think we ought not be afraid to identify weed versus flower when the opportunity happens to present itself. Courage is what is called for. . . and love so as not to turn anyone away from Christ. Our gardening requires serious consideration-- otherwise we may be reaping a bunch of stuff that is killing out the good plants.
Keep up the "good" work! Amen.
Image credits: ct-botanical-society.org, alchemy-works.com
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