Mt 12:1-8 The Theology of Picking up Wheat

Mt 12:1-8  The Theology of Picking up Wheat

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Jesus was going through a field of grain on the Sabbath, His disciples were hungry and began to pick the beads of grain and eat them.  When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath.”  …He said to them, “If you knew what this meant, desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 

Atheism is a horrible disease.  It strips and starves the human person of real sacredness.  By all accounts, it is a disease that is affecting more and more Americans, just like heart disease.  The consequences are devastating.  Weren’t we supposed to be better off without faith, hope and love; without Christianity?  Weren’t we supposed to be more merciful by being more rational and practical?  Wasn’t education supposed to end all forms of discrimination and indiscriminate killing?

This morning I turned on the radio and heard about another massacre.  It happened in a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado.  I don’t want to sound alarmist, but Colorado seems to be a hotspot for homegrown terrorists and massacres.  Not far away from Aurora is a small town called Columbine.  Sound familiar? 

An anonymous writer left a comment this morning regarding this tragedy.  They said, "I guess God's the only one who knows why a man would massacre at least twelve people watching a batman movie." 

After taking two trips to Colorado, I'd like to give my two cents for what it's worth.   I swore I would never go back:  way too secular for me.  Not that every family is secular.  No.  But it’s become a Mecca where good secular couples go to raise small secular families.  That’s unfortunate, when you consider the space and natural air and beauty that surrounds that place.  Colorado has become the secularist’s idea of heaven on earth:  great skiing, amazing scenery, small families, lots of wealth, and lots of ways to enjoy the pleasures of life.  Paradise on earth. 

But something is terribly wrong in “paradise”.  For some reason, people feel like they need to pick up a gun to create holes to fill their own.  Call me crazy, but I have a hunch that the individual that carried out this atrocity was intelligent; not a "nutso" but a "sicko".  And this was his sick (diseased) way of doing it.  When the human body (heart, mind, body and soul) is stripped and starved of all sacredness, it will look at other means to fill the emptiness.

Secularism (Atheism) has brought three things to America:  A leaner, meaner and wealthier population.  Really!  I’m not kidding!  Families are “leaner” and “wealthier” than ever before:  “leaner” in the sense of fewer kids; “wealthier” in that they have more money to spend on them.  As a result, kids are “fatter” and “needier” than ever before:  “fatter” not only physically, but in the sense that they get all that they want; “needier” in the sense of never being satisfied with what they have!  That’s where the “meaner” part kicks in.  That’s when the disease strikes at the heart, mind, body and soul. 

Call me crazy, but this is what I see.  I see 10 million children in Africa starving to death.  I see 10 million children in America starving themselves to death.  The child in Africa can be cured with simple food.  The child in America requires a team of experts to be cured.  A bag of food costs pennies.  Therapy costs thousands of dollars.  Do we wish to replace a cheap problem with a very expensive problem?  Most third world nations don't.

Intelligence does not increase one’s worth.  Wealth does not make a life more valuable than another.  Atheism’s creed and mission is simple:  There is no God.  This world is an accident.  Man is an accident.  Man is an animal.  Man has no soul.  “Go throughout the country and spread the depressing news.”   And the news is getting through: LOUD and CLEAR.  Actually, it’s busting through the walls like bullies and bullets.

On the other hand, Christianity offers the world a creed that is vibrant and refreshing.  Life is sacred.  Why?  Because God is Life.  Man is sacred.  Why?   Because God became Man.  Material poverty is sacred.  Why?  Because the God-Man embraced poverty.  He, along with his followers, picked wheat.  Humility is uplifting.  Why?  Because God chose to be humble and chose the humble.  Forgiveness is not weakness.  Why?  Because God forgave and rose from the dead.     

The Lord taught his Apostles to live like Him:  to be honest, to be poor, to be humble, to be merciful; to pick wheat, share it with others, and never lose sight of the sacredness and dignity of life itself.