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Obscenity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. With words to that effect more than two decades ago the Supreme Court of the United States of America left the decisions regarding pornography in the hands of local communities. During the intervening years states and cities have struggled with the issue, desiring to uphold the basic rights of freedom of speech and expression, and at the same time attempting to establish and maintain what is decent and acceptable to the majority. The latest entry to invade this debate and garner headlines is music. Now, it seems, obscenity may also be in the ear of the beholder.

Not long ago I was invited to participate in a radio talk show dealing with this controversial issue. The topic was sparked by an album of "rap" music, but we participants quickly agreed that the issue of censorship was nothing new. Dating back to the early days of rock-and-roll, through heavy metal, and into the current foray, some people have been in the forefront of wanting to ban certain types of music. Many of us on the panel agreed that the lyrics were not acceptable according to our personal standards and views of decency. However, the question debated centered on whether to ban the music in order to protect young, innocent ears. At the end of the program we had arrived at a proposal that ratings, or at least information regarding the content of the material on the album cover was one possible solution.

But the issue goes much deeper than "X-ratings" and warning labels on album covers or motion picture posters. If anything, it is symptomatic of a more pervasive problem than simply pornography in theatres or music. In the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick's "God of Grace and God of Glory," one of the great hymns of the church: "Lo! the hosts of evil round us scorn thy Christ, assail his ways!" For those of us who name Christ as Lord and Savior, our understanding of life and of what God intended are assaulted and insulted when appeal is made to the base desires of human nature. We name as "evil" that which destroys, dehumanizes and denigrates God's good creation of life.

So, then, what do we do about the presence of the various expressions of evil in our world? Shall we name them and forget about them? Shall we ignore their presence and deny their power? Realistically, we know that we do not live in a perfect society and that human beings have the inclination to make a general mess of the created order. Whether it takes the form of dehumanizing depictions of sexual violence on the screen, of suggestive lyrics, of environmental pollution, or of the tragedies of greed and self-serving possessiveness, the presence of evil rears its head seemingly at every turn. So what are we to do?

With such questions and thoughts in mind, I listened again to the rhythm and lyrics of one of the parables of Jesus. This story of the wheat and the weeds sang a lesson I was not prepared to hear. But like a melody that lingers long after the record has been played, this one would not leave me.

The plot of the parable is simple. An absentee landlord prepares the land and sows the best seed that is available. With the weather cooperating, the land in good condition, and the extra expense for a higher quality of seed, the landlord believes this will be a good year with a bumper crop. After the planting had been completed, one who is described simply as an enemy goes to work under the cover of darkness. Who knows what would have happened in the past to turn this person into such a conniving enemy, intent on destroying not only this year's crop but the very well-being of the landlord. Perhaps this one was a disgruntled employee, or one who felt on the short end of the stick in some business dealing, or one who was "on something" (as we say) and acted out of sheer meanness. For whatever reason, the enemy sneaks into the field and sows strains of weeds amid the good wheat seeds.

Some weeks later, when the weeds begin to sprout and one can't tell which is which, the field hands make a frantic phone call to the landlord: "What are we to do? The weeds are growing rampant in the field and may cut your yield significantly." The landlord proposes a fascinating solution: leave everything alone; let the weeds and the wheat grow together. The danger, of course, was that in pulling up the weeds, the field hands might also destroy some of the good wheat, thus lowering the harvest by more than a few weeds growing along with them. At the harvest, the landlord suggests, you will be able to easily separate the weeds from the wheat.

On first hearing of such a parable, it does not sound like much. Today those weeds would have been eliminated early in the growing process. In fact, most farmers mount substantial efforts to be rid of all types of weeds in order to insure better results at the harvest season. Herbicides and the various weed-control products would have taken care of those pesky weeds and spelled an end to the plotting of this enemy. I wonder what the other farmers around the coffee shop tables would have been saying about the landlord of this story? His crop would have grown up "messy" and they would have had a good laugh on the poor farming techniques. "Just letting that field go to waste," they would have howled! Not even considering the potential of losing valuable harvest yield, such a field would have been ugly next to the well-groomed, well-tended crops of the others.

To the church of Matthew's day, the parable would have been quite clear. They were living in difficult times, and saw themselves as the wheat of the world; they were the fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But all around them were weeds! There were rival religions, pagan practices, people with no faith and heathen philosophies and lifestyles. Even within their fellowship as they gathered in houses or in secret gardens, there were people of mature faith, and those who were just taking their first halting steps. They could easily recognize those of their number who were kind and merciful, generous and gracious, as well as those who were contentious in spirit. What do we do with all these weeds -- both those inside and those outside the church?

It is not difficult for us in these days to look around us and recognize the weeds. We can name them and point our fingers. The weeds today come in all shapes and sizes. The weeds comprise all that is contrary to the spirit and work of Christ, of what is good and decent and upright -- in our eyes and to our ears! What are we going to do about them? Can we do anything at all?

Historically, the church has attempted to be a weed-puller, zealously trying to eliminate all that is perceived as rotten and wrong in society. The world has, unfortunately, had to face the onslaught of the wrath of well-meaning Christians. It has endured the violence of the Crusades of the Middle Ages and the Salem witch hunts in colonial America. The church has conspired to commit numerous acts of violence and has violated the lives and livelihoods of countless numbers of persons in an attempt to convert sinners and purge society. In the name of pulling weeds and eliminating evil, great harm has been inflicted on humanity. At the other extreme, and just as frightening -- perhaps more so -- the church has also been quiet when someone rises to power with a message of hate for those who are different. It has remained on the sidelines while misguided ideas have taken over and wrecked lives and societies.

Today, there are those voices across the church, in all corners of the world, that would want to become very proactive by pulling up all the weeds. Of course, the weeds that are visible are those things or persons or concepts, which do not adhere to the proper standards, nor pass some litmus tests of acceptance. Like human weed-eaters, some want to take to the fields and wipe out all that is seen as ugly, harmful and against their well-defined, one-issue agenda.

Now before we all rush out and sign up to trash society of its "trashiness," we would do well to stop and listen again to the sound of this parable of wheat and weeds. Whether or not it fits our ideal of zealous crusading, it is an important word. What Jesus is suggesting goes against the grain of common sense, and certainly against the advice of most country agents: let the weeds grow! Leave the weeds alone for now, for in due time, they will be destroyed by the one who is in a better position to judge than are any of us. God plays by a different set of rules than our human standards and emotional zeal might prefer. Leave the weeds alone!

But why? Why not purge society and our community of all the evils that surround us and make light of the ways of Christ? Is not the church supposed to be just a little bit militant? As Christians, are we not called to be against some things? The parable gives us at least three reasons why we are not to rush out and engage in open warfare on the weeds.

First, such an engagement would be a premature effort, undertaken with short-sighted wisdom. In chopping off the tops, you do nothing about the roots and nothing is accomplished. Secondly, you would disturb the good wheat. The landlord's advice was well-taken: in pulling up the weeds, you might also destroy some of the wheat. In the days of Jesus, the wheat and the weeds sown looked the same in the beginning. In the process you exert negative energy which could be going to positive ends much more productively. And finally, as the end note of the parable sounds, judgment belongs to God. At the final harvest (Matthew's image of the judgment), God has the final say: in God's time, in God's way!

So, then, what are we to do? If we take this parable with these notes, are we simply to sit back and do nothing? If this is all we have to go on, then "go with the flow." So what? Why should we even bother? Is that what Jesus has in mind? No! No! No! No! A hundred times "No!" For Matthew has not stopped with just the telling of this parable. The following three verses contain two more parables, and are, in their way, commentary on this wheat and weeds story, and the answer Jesus gives to us and for us. Listen carefully:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seed, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches…

"… The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened (Matthew 13:31-33, NRSV)."

The point is that we are not to spend all of our time and energy rooting out all of the perceived evils, and burning up iniquity in the name of Christianity. Rather, we are to patiently go about the work of God's reign in our own lives and within our own communities of faith. Where we are and with what we have, we are to plant seeds of God's grace and peace rather than seeking to destroy some perceived enemy. Even in small ways, with small beginnings, we work the work of God. And like a small mustard seed, and a pinch of yeast, the small beginning affects the whole.

One of the things that impresses me a great deal about the story of the work and ministry of the apostles recorded in the Acts of the Apostles is the way they went about their labors. Peter, James, John, Paul and the others did not go around smashing idols in public view, throwing over the statues of bronze and gold, and ripping up the hymnals of the synagogues. They did not organize letter writing campaigns nor stage mass demonstrations~ Instead they went about showing people Jesus, telling the good news, and planting the seeds of the gospel in the hearts of people. Then, they stood back and watched what God could do with such faithful people. And in the end, the fruits of their labors have stood the test of time.

Again, Harry Emerson Fosdick has suggested our method of ministry: "save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore." We are not to give up, and we are to be very much aware of what the evils are, recognizing them when they appear. But, rather "let the search for thy salvation be our glory evermore." Engage in the work of planting the seeds, living under the eternal reign of God and seek to live out the good news daily.

In some of my reading recently I ran across a fascinating statistic compiled by someone using their computer knowledge, no doubt. There are more than 346,100 local congregations with various names on their front yard signs across this country. My mind began calculating what would happen if each week, or even each month, every one of those congregations planted just one seed of the gospel in their community. What a radical difference such positive efforts could make in our society and in our world. The parables of the 13th chapter of Matthew are a clear call for such faithful planting and trusting in God to make the most of the seeds sown. We are called to be faithful disciples planting seeds that bring goodness, which, in the end, will triumph over evil. We are called to start practicing the faith rather than pouncing on the faithless.

That wonderful prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, from the 13th century, captures the essence of our ministry.

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.