Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode
of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla. I'm Melissa.
And I'm Ben. And we are here to unpack. some
of the teaching that has been happening recently
here at Trinity. We've been going through this
sort of teaching series called Growing Season,
where we're looking at what farming can teach
us about faith. And we're actually going to go
back to last week's sermon, where Rob talked
to us about the parable of the weeds. And so
just as we get going, I'm going to read that
parable for us. So this is from Matthew chapter
13, starting at verse 24. Jesus told them a parable.
The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed
good seed in his field. But while everyone was
sleeping, the enemy came and sowed weeds among
the wheat and then went away. When the wheat
sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also
appeared. The owner's servants came to him and
said, sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field?
Where then did these weeds come from? An enemy
did this, he said. And the servants asked him,
do you want us to go and pull them up? No, he
answered, because while you are pulling the weeds,
you may root up the wheat with them. Let both
grow until the harvest, and at that time I will
tell the harvesters, first collect the weeds
and throw them into bundles to be burned, then
gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. This
is the parable that Jesus tells. There's all
kinds of stuff happening in these verses. It's
partly, I think, about dealing with evil. I think
it's partly about, you know, what do we do when
bad things happen in the world? Where did these
weeds come from? Why are there bad things in
the world? You know, but then also questions
about how do we deal with the bad things that
happen in the world, right? Like, are we supposed
to just rip them out? Are we supposed to just
let it be? Like, there's a lot happening here.
Yeah. Yeah. So as you think about that passage
and maybe think about some of the stuff that
Rob talked about in his sermon, like, are there
any pieces that like really stand out to you
that you're like, this is like really interesting
or like really confusing? Yeah. You want to start
us out? Sorry. So, I mean, even just from the
sermon from last week, I think something that
really stood out to me and it is related to the
parable, but it was when Rob said like. as Christians,
we have kind of like permission to say like there
is evil in the world. And, you know, I think
a lot of times like in the secular world, it's
a lot of like, oh, we don't know why this happened,
et cetera, et cetera. But I think that was powerful
for me because sometimes I feel like, oh, like,
you know, that's not really something that's
normalized to say like, well, there are evil
forces in the world. Right. And then I think
even just with this parable, too, it's like.
there's always questions of like well why does
evil happen why does god let this happen why
not just stop all the evil in the world and it
is a good point where it's like if you do that
like what are the repercussions afterwards sure
yeah yeah yeah like christianity gives us permission
to say that there is evil in the world but then
also gives us the like reason right jesus is
like very directly like there is an enemy this
is what's happening especially in the secular
world a lot of times like evil is not a concrete
answer it's like sure cool evil's here how why
what yeah but it just says hey this is an actual
thing that's in here and that we have to deal
with right so it's grappling with okay if evil's
a thing it's not just that some physics in the
process failed there is a process here right
yeah yeah even if it's like a spiritual process
that we can't quite grasp yeah it's like there
there is a thing there is a reason this is happening
something's out there it's not just you yeah
yeah what about for you ben any bits that sort
of stood out the biggest thing that always stands
out to me is not judging people sure the biggest
things is that we are not here to judge yep we
can see that there's evil we can have discernment
of trying to point things out yeah but it's never
our place to truly judge someone or something
yeah yeah yeah so like the the bit about like
the weeds and and the farmer sort of saying don't
pull those out yet like wait till the end wait
even if it looks bad right now even with no that
is there there's also some good there too sure
whether that's uh rob talking about within ourselves
or within others sure hard to discern so let
things go for now and let god work through the
good sure yeah okay so i think in all of that
like one of the questions that sort of comes
out for me is like therefore like what should
our response be to like bad things in the world
right are we just supposed to like sit back and
like let it happen i think you know what i I
feel like that's probably a question that Christians
have wrestled with probably for like centuries
just because like, yeah, like, what do you do?
Like, do we go out and we try to tackle it and
find the people or do we kind of sit back and
just let it go? And I've in my head, I think
maybe kind of like. middle ground where I think
Christians have to be focused on social justice
if we do see that there are social injustices
being done Christians we are the ones who should
speak out we need to speak out for the vulnerable
right we need to speak out for the poor for the
people who are being systematically oppressed
and at the same time having that compassionate
lens right which I think this parable shows and
Ben you articulated so amazingly it's like don't
don't judge right because you never know who's
like what people are going to be in a couple
of years and I think it's just that's a very
compassionate empathetic approach to have and
of course god is going to have that empathy because
and compassion just as he has with all of us
yeah yeah yeah yeah his non -changing like constant
persistence and just being patient and loving
is amazing yeah that's one of the things i find
actually does the most good in people is just
being there with them sure and seeing them slowly
change around if they have ways that are evil
say they're doing something that isn't great
One of the fun things is time actually gets to
change a lot. Sure. They do stuff and like, you
know, I feel like this isn't working the way
I want it to. Sure. A lot of times they have
ways to help out. Sure. That's not to say we
need to just stand back forever. Sure. One of
the big things as well is if we see things that
are wrong, God gives us permission to name it.
Right. Call it out and say, hey, this is wrong.
Right. what he doesn't give us permission is
to say you are evil. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like that
reminds me there's a scripture passage somewhere.
I think in one of Paul's letters where he says
like, our battle is not against flesh and blood,
but it's a bit like the evil powers and principalities
in the world. Right. So like, if I see someone
doing something wrong, my problem is not. actually
really with that person as a person it's with
their behavior or it's with their their attitude
or like whatever is happening like i need to
find a way to like respect the humanity of that
person and say this is not okay it's you're still
a person you're still loved and made by god in
his image And also, you have a bad opinion. Yes.
Yeah. I also feel, too, it's like even just like
for ourselves, like looking inward and being
like, where were we so long ago and how far has
God brought us? Like I can say right now that
maybe a couple of years ago, there were probably
people who were just like, she's a weed. We need
to get her out of here. Right. But. God sanctifies
and he changes hearts. And it's like the last
person that you would ever expect to maybe change,
like God, he can do it, right? So I think it's
like, it's, you know, it's like if God was just
going to pull out all the weeds, it's like, well,
I would have been pulled out too, right? And
I think it's just sitting and being like, actually,
no, like don't pull out all the weeds. I'm thankful
I wasn't pulled out. Let them, you know, kind
of be there and just. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I like to think about team sports or especially
growing up, like tons of team sports. Sure. But
if you always looked at like the worst person
air quotes on the team, they would always be
the person who you don't trust them to always
have the ball or do the best thing or score whatever
they have the moment. But at the same time, it's
some of those matches where they're the ones
who have the ball and get that shot in. You can't
just throw them out. And this week we talked
about everyone is needed. Right. they're still
a person that can still do amazing things. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Okay. So then, um,
I think sort of around the same theme, often
when something goes wrong, we're looking for
who to blame. We're like, this is their fault,
or this is my fault, or this is the fault of
these circumstances that I'm sort of facing.
Um, so why do you think we often do that? And
like, what does this parable sort of have to
say to us about? that sort of process. I think
one of the things that I, or comes to my mind
immediately is the concept of cognitive dissonance.
Okay. Which if you haven't heard of it, it's
basically when you do an action that is very
separate from your beliefs. Sure. Like I believe
in charity and then also I never give to charity
ever. Right. It's something where it's like that
might eat away you a little bit, but if you do
things that really you don't actually believe
in or don't think you're right, that eats away
at you. Sure. And so one of the ways that our
brain. easily tries to just delineate and say,
hey, no, I'm still a good person, is to immediately
find where is the blame? Where's the thing that
I can pinpoint this onto? Sure. If it's me, okay,
it's me, but you can have a different spot where
you can pinpoint and say, oh, it's this action.
Oh, it's just this. Or it's, oh, it was me, but
I'm just tired. I just need to sleep more. Right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. If it's someone else, it's
way easier to pass the buck. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's just not me at all. It's just, it's not
me. Oh, it's this guy. Oh, man. Right. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. So in some ways, our, like, brain
and our like desire to maintain a positive self
-image like yeah sort of motivates us to look
for blame and it's self -image but it's also
just not feel bad when you do something you don't
even your brain tells you yeah it's always the
classic like listen to your body but it does
give you a lot of good information so when it's
tell you like hey i feel really bad about this
sometimes it's good to sit with that for a second
yeah yeah yeah and i think even just whether
that's like blaming ourselves or like the world
or like whatever it's like i think When we don't
have an answer to it's like I feel like our brains
is just like, well, I have to find the reason
for this. I have to find a solution. I can't
just let it be empty. So we're like, we're going
to blame that and blame that. And I think that's
something humans struggle with, too, is just
not having an answer, you know. Sure. And just
exactly having control. And ultimately, there's
a lot of things that we're just not going to
have answers to until we see Jesus face to face.
how do we accept that? Right. And yeah, it's
a lot for sure. Yeah. Yeah. So then like, if
we think, go back to like, what does this parable
have to tell us about this? Like, you know, looking
for someone to blame. One of the things that
Rob mentioned in the sermon was like the. the
servants immediately are like, well, obviously
this farmer is to blame. He sowed some bad seed.
He did something wrong here. Something went bad.
That there's weeds there. But the farmer's just
like not playing that game. No. He's very much
taking that step back saying, I did things right,
which is good self -defense when you actually
did everything right. Yeah. Yeah. And but then
he says, I didn't do this. There is a reason
there is an enemy who's present there. And in
some ways, like, Maybe that still feels like
playing the blame game, but at least the blame
seems correct. Yes. I don't know. There is something
like blame isn't always negative. Sure. I get
blamed for donating to charity. I'm OK with that.
Yeah. Yeah. But it's what we do with that. I
think that's where it comes to like that judgment
comes back for my mind. Sure. Even if we blame
it correctly, we can blame it. Judgment, though,
is not my place. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And
I think also it's like when we do like recognize
that there is an enemy, that there is evil in
this world. I think it also reminds us not to
blame like humans. It reminds us not to divide
each other. I think it's. it's super easy. And
we see this a lot, even just like socially, right?
Like where some communities are kind of like
systematically made to blame another community.
And by doing that, you're not actually blaming
the ones who are in control. Um, but even just
like on this plane too, it's like, if humans
are like, well, that denomination is bad and
I'm the good denomination and that denomination
is bad. And then the enemy is like, yes, according
to my plan, blame each other, but don't blame
me. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. It's even in, like,
funny things that I've seen online where people
keep telling me this week that there are memes
of Americans blaming Canadians for all the smoke.
Yeah. Right. You're right. We do have the smoke.
It is coming there. But we didn't set these fires
intentionally. Right. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So
then sort of related to that, one of the other
things that Rob said was that the presence of
weeds in the garden or in the field doesn't mean
that the farmer has failed. Yes. That there there
is an enemy at work. So like, yeah. What do you
think about that? Like, how does that impact
the way that we think about failure or about
challenges or hard things in the world? I get
to bring my knowledge of just me. I like to play
a lot of team -based games. Yeah. And so whether
it's online is where you get to see the most
blame and everything going around. But one of
the fun things is you can do everything right
and then still lose the game. Yeah. 100%. Yep.
But it's a nice way of saying, okay, even if
I do everything right, when there's still things
that I can work on, even if I did things right,
I can always improve. Sure. But having something
else that's out there saying, I don't need to
blame my teammates. I don't need to blame this
person or this thing. Yeah. But saying, OK, we
can actually collectively group up and say, hey,
there's evil out here. We can actually try and
work against this in whatever way we fits. Sure.
We lost it this way. OK, how can we better like
shore up our weaknesses? Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So
it gives us like an opportunity to like build
on our skills to like grow and develop a little
bit without that judgment. Exactly. Yeah. Because
if there was no challenge ever, we would not
really need to grow. We just have to stay a little
bit more stagnant. Yeah. And it would feel kind
of boring, I would think. Very. Yeah. Very. I'm
already good at everything. My life is perfect.
Just too good. Yes, yes. I think that is like
a really, it kind of addresses like perfectionism,
right? And that's, I think, something that plagues
many, many people. And then, you know, not even
just like giving up on a team, not giving up
on yourself too, right? Saying that, hey, like,
yes, there are flaws. I do have weeds inside
of me, but God hasn't given up on me, so I won't
give up on me either. And it doesn't, and I think
just... a lot of times we can maybe get into
like self -blame too right sure um but i really
like how the yeah and i like how the farmer was
like no this it just happens right like don't
i'm not blaming myself don't blame me um there
is even the world there's just because sin has
entered the world um and because we are in these
fleshly bodies it's something that is just part
of our reality until we see Jesus again. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I think it also really speaks to
that, like fix it mentality that we sometimes
have, or at least I sometimes have where I'm
like, ah, this thing has gone wrong in my life
or in someone else's life. Like who, how do I
fix it? How do I make this better? Like what,
what went wrong here? Um, and like, that's not
always bad. Like it's good to reflect on those
things, but I think just noticing, okay. The
fact that something went that something bad happens,
something unexpected happened. Doesn't mean that,
that, yeah, that there is a thing to fix always.
Right. Um, or that, like, I think sometimes the
other piece that sort of comes to mind for me
around this is like, Sometimes I think especially
in Christian circles, when something bad is happening
in somebody's life, we're like, oh, just just
like pray more about that. Or just like, you
know, if you were more connected to God or like
if you did, it's because you did this bad thing
that one time 10 years ago. And now this other
bad thing is happening in your life. Right. Like
try to make those connections. But this parable
sort of slaps us in the face and says, no. That's
not how this works. Yeah. Which is big. I think
even in my experience of doing a BA in psychology,
one of the things we always just come back to
is like, oh, everything's fully connected. Right.
And it's right. And a lot of the main answers
that we have for a lot of solutions for the biggest
problems are the simplest ones of like, oh, get
more sleep, pray more, read more. And those are
good, but you can't just blame someone like,
ah, you didn't sleep eight hours a day. Ah, that's
why you failed. Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, I feel
like that's, So important. I had a train of thought.
It's gone now. But if you just blame people,
oh, you didn't pray more. Well, how much is more?
How much is enough? Right. That's the one with
the power. Right. If I ask him once, we have
the faith that he's listening to us and he has
heard us. Yeah. He's not deaf. Yeah. It's a very
handy thing. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think it again, it kind of
like. I know there's going to be a lot of people
out there who are being blamed by maybe family
members, right, who are saying, like, you know,
why are you like this? You know, if you just
did this, then you wouldn't be like that anymore.
And I think that really is ingrained in a lot
of, like, Christian circles of, like, he did
this and this. Like, Job's own friends were like,
it's because you did this, and this is why God's
punishing you. And it's like, Job's like, I did
my part. And I think it's just really cool that
a parable like this exists in the Bible and that
God essentially like obviously he knows, but
like he knew that there are going to be people
who are going to go who are going to struggle
with that self -blame, with being blamed by other
people and just saying like, well, no, like you're
not the one to blame. There are things in this
world that are outside of our control and you
just kind of have to trust. you know, God's way,
God's purpose. And, um, I think in a way it can
bring peace to people as well. Sure. Very much
can go back to basics. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. So to like, flip this a little bit i think
we're saying okay there's sometimes things that
happen that are beyond our control it's nobody's
to blame it's not our fault okay this is sometimes
true sometimes it is our fault yes this is very
true right okay so how do we balance this message
that we've just been saying with like responsibility
Absolutely. I get to go back to, thank you, Rob,
for discernment. One of the big things that he
was pointing out is discernment is always key
of understanding, okay, what is good? What is
bad? Even though we're not the final judges,
we can also still look at things and say, hey,
I don't think this was right. And so being able
to try and use that in our daily lives, say,
okay, go back to the readings, go back and say,
okay, like what would Jesus do in many scenarios?
Sure. Is this something where I would be loving
my neighbors or is this something that maybe?
is a little bit more selfish to me sure yeah
that's something we can use for sure yeah um
no i think you you hit it right on the nail and
i think it's discernment and then also just like
sorry guys i don't know why i'm struggling a
little bit to form some thoughts today um but
also i think accepting that we don't i think
i think sometimes like We don't want to take
the blame because of cognitive dissonance, like
you said. Yeah. And then at the same and along
those lines, it's like we don't want to think
of ourselves as like capable of doing bad. Right.
We don't want to think of ourselves as capable
of hurting someone or doing things. And I think
it's just accepting that you're not perfect and
that it's OK to take accountability and it's
OK to say sorry. It's OK to still keep growing.
Sure. And then. you know just balancing like
you know you're not the reason that the world
is falling apart and at the same time you're
also not a perfect person and you're gonna hurt
people you already have hurt people because we're
all humans and just um accepting that and being
okay with that yeah it's like taking that like
right leveled perspective of ourselves like i
think often Humans are really good at going to
extremes of binaries and being like, okay, in
this situation, either I'm definitely the victim
and have no blame at all, or I'm the worst and
it's all entirely my fault. And I think often
the truth is somewhere more in the middle. Oh,
grayers are big. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And
so having that right level perspective of ourselves,
of saying, okay, I... I'm not the cause of all
the world's problems, but also sometimes I'm
the cause of the problems in my own world. Yeah,
absolutely. Right. And, but approaching that
with a level of like grace, right? Like I think
one of the things, um, about, we don't really
love talking about like conviction, but like
this idea that like from the Holy spirit, like
sometimes we get this sense that like, I'm not
doing the right thing. I think the Holy spirit's
conviction is always covered in grace. Right.
It's never like you are a bad person. You did
a bad thing. Like all of that. It's like, no,
no, this thing that's happening is not good.
And so like, how do we take that to transform
me into a more Christlike person? Right. It's
never like tearing one down. It's like, it's
building you up. Right. Right. And so like when
we say, Hey, I need to take responsibility for
that. to to say that like our internal narrative
to be like okay i need to take responsibility
for that because i value this value i value honesty
i value love i value this relationship like whatever
it is right working towards building up rather
than i need to fix this because i'm a bad person
absolutely yeah i think the big thing for me
that i always get to come back to is not taking
things as personally sure there's a hundred percent
things that you can take personally if someone
just says you suck that's pretty personal yeah
sure but when you try and take it out of context
and take it less personally you suck doesn't
do anything. Like, what do I do with that? Great,
I suck. And what if someone says, hey, could
you try and like show up on time? Oh, OK, I can
do something with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it's taking that step back of trying not to
take things personally and then going, OK, this
didn't feel right. Let's take this. Let's go
back to the word or let's go back to friends,
especially like groups. Yeah, it's really handy.
Just say, hey, what do you think about this?
Yeah, this I didn't feel like went well. I'm
not sure why. bring it back to some form of basis.
Okay. Is it loving my neighbor? Is this like,
does this show the fruits of the spirit? Stuff
like that. And just knowing that like, as you,
as God is sanctifying you, but as you're also
like working this out and like learning, learning,
you're not going to be pulled out. You know,
you're still going to be in the farm, the farmer's
hands. And you're still going to be taken care
of. And I think it's just when God. gives us
that grace, reminding us to give that grace to
other people too, right? Because we all have
the power of pulling out the weeds, just pulling
people out and disregarding them and just showing
that grace to everyone. Yeah. One of the quotes
I like, he's from a guy called John Green, but
he has one quote, which is, treat yourself like
you're on a team that you're cheering for. If
you're cheering for your team, you don't want
them to just give up if they make a mistake.
You're like, no, get back out there. Keep going.
So it's trying to help knowing that both you
are on your own team, but also that God on your
team he's actually cheering for you right yeah
even if god is there cheering for you and he
says hey that that wasn't great that didn't go
so good right he's there to help not to say you're
bad but to say hey this didn't work let's fix
this a little bit right we've got room to go
yeah yeah that was powerful that was really cool
yeah i'm glad i'm glad yeah um okay so we have
all just kind of said um evil exists in the world
there is an enemy at work okay do you think that
like people actually believe that i don't know
okay right does that like does that sound crazy
or like superstitious or i i do think maybe you
would have to kind of come from more of like
a spiritual lens, right? If you are part of a
religion, if you believe in a certain spirituality,
like Christians, I guess that might fit a little
bit more in our worldviews. Sure. I think as
Christians, you know, we understand that, you
know, God is good, good, and there is an evil.
I think that might be a little bit hard sometimes
to explain to folks who might not be part of
a church, who might not be Christian or part
of a religion. Sometimes when I look at the things
that happen in the world that kind of come out
and I'm like. This is evil. You know, there's
really no other way to look at it. It's like
this is pure evil. And then there are some things
where I'm just like, well, actually, humans also
suck, which is from sin, from the original sin.
But at the same time, it's, you know, I think
people are also capable of doing really bad things,
too. And whether or not that was influenced by
the enemy or if it's just they are just going
through something very difficult right now. I
don't know, that might be something up to God.
Yeah, for sure. Even going off the human suck
narrative, it's very common to be like, oh man,
we are terrible at these things. Yeah, yeah.
But we're also made in God's image, so it's fun
to grapple with the two of going, okay, we're
made in God's image, and also, we don't do things
right. But that's also where the parable of the
weeds helps us give us more time to grow. It
doesn't just cut us down the moment something
is bad, it's... give room, and then hopefully
we can actually, especially the weeds inside
ourselves, we can try and sort a little bit out
on our own and try and grow the proper fruit.
Sure, yeah. Yeah, I think, like, if you were
to, like, just, I don't know, walk up to somebody
on the street, I wouldn't recommend this. If
you did, you would just walk up to a random person
and be like, yeah, yeah, there's evil out in
the world. Like, people would maybe be like,
well, there's bad things in the world. Yes. I
think we all have this, like, innate sense. that
the world is not as it should be right yes right
like and and people will name that differently
and like have different language for that but
i think generally we're all on the same page
that like things are not always good no right
um just look at the news yeah yeah yeah exactly
right um just go breathe the air outside in ontario
this week um right like it's not good um But
I think what Christianity does and like other
religious systems sometimes do this as well is
like gives us a name for that. Yes. Right. And
says, yeah, evil exists because there is an enemy,
because Satan rebelled against God and is now
on this mission to destroy God's world. Yes.
Right. So do you think that that. is helpful
like in what ways is is that sort of narrative
something that is encouraging or something that
gives is useful in some way i think it's pretty
handy for me okay one of the nice things about
having that narrative is if i were to tell like
a friend oh there's evil in the world they probably
would go okay but that's a lot of my friends
at university who aren't necessarily religious
they go okay evil sure they might pinpoint and
really like to pinpoint and blame things like
oh it's a corporate greed or oh it's sin in some
aspect sure whatever the sin may be yeah But
for us to say, OK, evil is out there, I can pinpoint
it more on evil and less on specific people or
actions. Sure. And then I can try and reroute
it and say, OK, we can work with everyone here.
Whoever is nearby, try to be a blessing to whoever
you're around. Yeah. And work together, not having
the blame on specifically something. Sure. Someone
specific. Yeah. Saying, OK, there's a forces
process. how can we collectively work against
it? And then through God's grace and wisdom,
hopefully we can come up with some ways to try
to keep ourselves accountable and growing rather
than just forcing it onto the more tangible aspects.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think something like...
when when we hear like you know there's evil
in the world and there is an enemy i think that's
something that should bring people together kind
of like you said but so i wasn't speaking to
mike i'm speaking to mike now that's something
should that should kind of bring people together
especially um christians right like we should
be coming together to bring as much light and
love in the world because we know that evil does
exist and it does impact people and then at the
same time um you know there there are folks who
may have experienced like being told like you
have the devil inside of you and that's why you
do this this this this this right and it's just
being like um I don't think that's the direction
we should be taking this. We shouldn't be using
the fact that there is an enemy to then blame
one another. Right. To be like, you are part
of the enemy or whatever. Like, right. You know,
I think it's really just being like, OK, so there
is this evil there. We just have to be together
and we have to have each other's backs and we
have to approach each other with grace and compassion.
And even if there's going to be people who. don't
believe in what we believe we still extend that
grace and compassion to them as well because
we want the best for them and we don't want them
to be hurt by the evil that is there and um i
think it i think there really is so much power
when christians come together in light and in
love and just pray and are just like you know
like we just want good things for the world we
want people to be blessed we want people to be
safe and protected and um and just as christians
reminding that A lot of things are in God's hands.
And at the same time, it's not like we're completely
powerless, right? Like there are things that,
you know, prayer, speaking to God, reading the
word, getting involved in community, fighting
the systemic injustices we see because we live
in Canada, we're Christians, we don't face the
same persecution as maybe other groups. So using
those privileges to then help those who cannot
speak for themselves, that is a way we can fight
against evil. We're called to stewardship. We're
called to help those in need. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
For sure. Yeah. And I think one of the important
pieces for me in like at least sort of framing
all of this is that like we all come together
as Christians, as humanity, ideally, right, to
fight against evil in the world. But actually
we. Can't win. If it was just all of the people
getting together, mission failed. It's not going
to go well, folks. But the Christian narrative,
the story of hope that we have is that Jesus
has actually already defeated evil. Yes. Right.
We know the end of the story and we're just like
not quite living there yet. Right. And so all
of this, this coming together, this doing good
work, this loving our neighbor, like all comes
under the umbrella of Christ's love and power.
Right. That works in and through us to confront
the evil powers in the world. Absolutely. Right.
That. Yeah. And I think we just need to remember
that in all of this, that like the servants aren't
just like out there doing their own thing. They're
doing their own thing under the direction of
the farmer, under the direction of God. Yeah.
All things are possible through God. Yeah. He's
not just passive standing by and just watching
everything. You can pray to the same guy who
has the power to help you through in defeating.
the mythical force of evil that's out there yeah
we can name it and also have the guy who knows
how to beat it on our side yeah it's great yeah
it's very helpful it's very handy yeah yeah so
i think just that reminder that yeah there is
evil in the world there are things that will
go wrong and we don't need to waste our time
trying to find the blame right that we can say
you know there's an enemy yep and and that enemy
Sometimes is at work in people, but that's not
because the people are bad. It's because the
enemy is sneaky. Exactly. Absolutely. Right.
But God wins. God wins. And God's like, here,
come join my team. Thank you. Yeah. Pretty cool
stuff. That's my coach. I think it's like then
it just kind of reminds us because when we do
see evil in the world, we can get really hopeless,
right? Sure. But just from this whole conversation,
since God is on our team, Jesus has already like
won. He has already defeated evil. Just turning
this into like a story of hope and trying to
turning it into something of like, we know what's
going to happen. So let's just try to do as much
as we can to help people and to be love and light
in the world as we can and not let. evil or weeds
or anything divide us yeah yeah for sure takes
a lot of the pressure off of us as individuals
we don't have to find the blame and go into chaos
and going no it was your fault that was this
fault that was yeah we could just sit back say
no god's got this god's got this my job is to
walk the path that god has laid out for me exactly
yeah whether i need to take responsibility or
wasn't me entirely doesn't necessarily have to
matter we get a lot of times mess or lost in
trying to place the blame when we just focus
on the issues okay was this part wrong sure go
with it and work towards the solution yeah yeah
that sounds great yeah yeah thank you so much
folks i think this has been a really helpful
to sort of unpack what's happening in this parable
and give us permission to name what's wrong yes
um but then to move on from that and to say OK,
things are wrong. Maybe there's wrong in me,
but I can still do good. God is still working.
God is here. God is in me. Exactly. Even as I'm
doing wrong things sometimes. Sometimes. I think
it's really messy, but I think it's also really
hopeful. It is. Yeah. Yeah. And thank you for
tuning in to this week's episode of Trinity Talks.
I pray that whatever challenging circumstances
you are facing, that you're able to find some
ways through, that you are able to find ways
to extend grace to yourself, to extend love to
your neighbor, and of course, to rely on God
to get you through it all. And we'll see you
again next week.