In Praise of the Dandelion

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'. He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 'Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ (Matt 13:24-30 NKJ)

I spend a lot of time every spring and summer digging up weeds from my lawn and mulching them in my garden. The weed I dig up the most is the dandelion. It and its pretty yellow flowers just don’t belong in my front yard.

Still, the parable of the wheat and the tares reminds me of the dandelion. When God made the dandelion, he said it was good. When I see one, I can’t wait to yank it out, put it into a bucket, and turn it into fertilizer.

All because it’s growing where I don’t want it to grow. So let’s sing praises to the dandelion.

It’s bright, cheery flower brings variety to a drab, green lawn.

Its leaves are full of iron and other nutrients and in some quarters are considered a delicacy.

Its sap is a fool-proof anesthetic for mosquito bites, and its roots, when steeped, make a nutritious tea.

And you can even make dandelion wine.

I call the dandelion a weed because it grows where I don’t think it should grow. If I were to grow them in my garden on purpose, I would call them a crop. Growing where they grow, I change one letter in what I call them and treat them accordingly.

So when the man who sowed the good seed instructed his servants to let tares grow together with the wheat, it might be because you and I who are laboring in the fields cannot tell the good from the bad. We might think one is a tare because it is growing where we think it ought not. Or maybe it doesn’t look the way we think it should look.

Or maybe we don’t see the value and potential of one who is despised.

When God made the dandelion, he called it good. So to the Father who made the dandelion – and each one of us -- here’s a toast to you, offered with a glass of dandelion wine.

Guarding the Door to Your Mind

I dialed into the network news on the way home from work one day and heard something that sounded like this:

“Candidate A continued his attacks today on Candidate B’s health care proposals [this followed by a sound bite]. Candidate B campaigned in Ohio today.”

I couldn’t help but reflect on the words of one of the great propagandists of the 20th Century, one Adolph Hitler. From his book Mein Kampf:

“The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas.”

In other words, say the same thing over and over until people without thinking accept it. In newscast after newscast we hear how Candidate A “attacks”, while Candidate B “campaigns”. We need to be aware of these subtle innuendos which are intended to influence our votes. Every time you accept the underlying assumptions of such tactics, a little bit of your freedom erodes away, for it robs you of your ability to evaluate and think properly

“By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people,” wrote Paul to the Roman Christians. That’s a good warning for us today, as were his words to the Ephesians: “Let no one deceive you with empty words.”

Guard the door to your mind. Lots of people inhabit this earth who want to control you, and to control you they need to control your thinking. Learn their devices. Pursue the truth, for it is the truth that will set you free.

He Wouldn’t Reach Back

He is wrapped in an enigma. For thousands of years theologians have wondered how Judas could betray his friend and teacher for the price of a slave. The depth of evil is thankfully unfathomable to most of us, and the why’s and wherefore’s of Judas’ betrayal we may never understand. But think of the length to which Jesus went to save Judas from himself. Time and again Jesus both encouraged and warned Judas.

Along with the other apostles Judas received power and authority over demons and he cured diseases (Luke 9:1-2). Miracles were performed at his hands!

Jesus washed Judas’ feet as an example of humility and service at the Lord’s Last Supper (John 13:4-5).

Jesus warned him clearly about the direction he was going (“Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" as in John 6:70, and Matt 26:24, “Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.").

Jesus gave indirect warnings through many of his parables (the Parable of the Unjust Steward, the Parable of the True Vine, the Prodigal Son).

There were even gentle reprimands, such as in the loving anointing by Mary of Bethany, when Judas objected to what he perceived as waste ("Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always." -- John 12:7-8).

To the very end, Jesus reached out to Judas, offering him friendship and compassion. When Judas betrayed him with the most famous kiss in history, Jesus greeted him with the greeting, of “friend”. (Matthew 26:50)

Jesus never stopped reaching out to Judas, but for reasons beyond our ken, Judas refused to reach back. In fact, when he realized the error of his ways, he turned to the chief priests for absolution instead of the only One who could truly forgive him (“I have betrayed innocent blood” – Matthew 27:5).

We don’t know if Judas ever saw the big picture during his time with Jesus. We are told that it would have been better had he never been born, and that’s a frightful thing to contemplate. But it should be a comfort to us that Jesus never stopped reaching out to Judas, and regardless of the turns our lives might take, he will never stop reaching out to us. All we have to do is accept his forgiveness and turn our ways back to him no matter the crime. I am convinced Jesus would have accepted Judas back, even as he accepted back the other disciples, though they all fled and denied him. No sin is too great for his mercy. That’s the message of hope in the story of Judas.

Build It and They Might Not Come

“Build it and they will come.” Thus was the ringing line from the movie Field of Dreams. In some quarters it has become a byword for building a church: Simply declare yourself a congregation and people will find you.

While there is some truth that a healthy church will attract people, growing a church is more than just waiting around for someone to walk in the door. If the Scriptures liken evangelism to fishing, then the lesson Jesus taught to Peter should apply through the ages.

One time Peter had been casting his net all night, but failed to catch a single fish. The next morning Jesus said to him, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4), and as if on cue there were so many fish that his nets began to break and he had to yell out to his mates for help.

Here’s the point: Jesus could have had the fish just jump into the boat. After all, Peter had brought the boat, so the fish should just come. But God doesn't seem to work that way. Peter had to become involved personally. Peter had to cast the net and haul them in. God provided the fish, but Peter had to go out there, hook them, and reel them in.

It’s that way with evangelism. We can’t just sit around and wait. God expects us to go out to the fishing hole and cast in the line. Though “building it” is important, you must put out a sign for others to see.

Withhold Not Good

A year or so ago John Stossel produced one of his creative politically incorrect pieces on the homeless. In one interesting sequence a street beggar claimed she was stranded from home several states away and needed money to get home to Seattle. The camera followed her and discovered she was living in a modest but comfortable home two blocks away and had money to shop every morning.

Stossel discovered, after talking to people who had given her money, that she was easily panhandling $50 an hour, tax free of course.

That caused me to recall this from Proverbs 3: “Withhold not good to whom it is due when it is in the power of your hand to do it.” The operative phrase is “to whom it is due”. Clearly giving a couple of bucks is within the power of my hand. Clearly it’s good to help those in need. But is this type of help “due” to this woman?

At church I have the unpleasant job of being the point man when passersby visit our service for the purpose of requesting money. The assignment has been quite the education. One time a fellow in a beat up pickup truck came by with hat in hand, saying that he needed to get to Moberly, MO mighty quick, but his water pump had gone out. Could the church see fit to “lend” him some money to buy one. It only costs X number of dollars and he could install it himself.

I don’t remember what I told him, but a month or two later another fellow in a beat up pickup visited us with hat in hand saying, “I need to get to Moberly, MO real quick, but my water pump’s broke. Can you give me X number of dollars to buy one?”

Yeah. Right.

Another time a lady walked in during our before-service fellowship hour saying she was hungry and she needed some money to buy something to eat. We had all kinds of food out on the table, everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to the most calorie-laden cakes and pies imaginable. You know, the kind of things that make church especially enjoyable. “Feel free! Grab a plate! We’re glad to share!” Whereupon she says, “Honey, I need hot food.”

As I say, this has been an adventure.

Having said all that, there are in fact real people with real needs, and along with that a biblical mandate to care for the needy. But we don’t want to enable the fellow in the old joke who asks for money to pay the rent. He was asked, “If I give you money to pay the rent, how do I know you won’t just gamble it away?” He answers, “Well, I GOT gambling money.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan suggests a solution. It’s likely the best known of all Jesus’ parables, but this Samaritan carries out his kindness in a way that maybe has not been apparent to most. When he rescues the injured, beaten man and leaves him at the inn, he does something very curious. He takes out a few coins, gives them to the innkeeper for the man’s ongoing care, and promises to repay the innkeeper on his return trip for additional expenses that might come up.

Notice that he gives the cash to the innkeeper, not to the man in need.

Based on this, we have a rule that we will not give cash to a stranger. We’ll do what we can to take care of the needs. We’ll offer food if the person is hungry. We keep boxes of groceries filled with non-perishables if food is the problem. There are any number of creative ways to help people in need without doling out the greenbacks. You can even make an exception and respect the person's dignity by hiring him to do some chores in exchange for cash.

I suspect, though, that many of those offers to help will be somehow refused. That second fellow who came by with the bad water pump? I told him that I would meet him at the auto parts store, but I wouldn’t give him cash. Guess what? He never showed.

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