What Am I? -- Wheat & Weeds Zombie Style

"Jell-o Brains"
Photo by Trista Wynne

It's a question that every zombie asks themselves as they become self-aware.  What am I?  Am I living or am I dead?  The answer is neither and both.  It's a strange identity to have, that of living-dead.

This, however, is exactly what Martin Luther means when he says we are both saint and sinner.  Long before him, the apostle Paul talked about the two parts of himself that battle one another.  Flesh and spirit are the terms Paul used.

No matter whether we use terms of flesh and spirit, saint and sinner, wheat and weeds, or living and dead, we are all referring to the same phenomenon.  At the church we attended this morning, we looked at the parable of the wheat and the weeds.  In this parable, Jesus talks about the harvest fruit growing up right alongside of the weeds in His garden.  The wheat was sown by the Lord and the weeds were sown by the adversary, and both are growing together until the day of the Great Harvest.

If we think that we are only wheat, we're likely reading the parable wrongly.  If we think we are only a weed, the same is also true.  At the present time, we are both, and we are neither, just like a zombie.  The day will come when all of the parts of us that resemble weeds will be blown away like chaff in the wind.  All that remains will shine like the sun and we will be a glorious sight for our Lord and God.

We look forward to that day because we know that all things will be made new and there will be no more suffering, death, tears or war.  We will not have the desires to trample or maul one another in order to reach the top of the mountain.  We won't bite and claw one another to feed an insatiable appetite.  Peace, justice and mercy will abound.  Until that day comes, dear ones, we simply wrestle with the fact that both life and death abide within us.  We do not wrestle alone.  Our Lord is working with us, and those who have fought this fight before us are encouraging us along the way.

Be strong, dear ones, and know that the Spirit is breathing new life into you even as you read this.  The day of the Lord will be very good, and that day is coming quickly.  May God bless you and hold us all close as do what we can to become signs of life in a living-dead world.

Amen.