Burning My Lawn

I am not very handy. I try to fix things around the house, but I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

Often, when I try to fix things I make them worse. An example of this is when I tried to care for my own lawn. In the past, I have used a lawn service to help my lawn to grow and to remain healthy, but then more recently I tried to do it myself. I thought this would save me money and be better for the creation. Maybe it achieved these goals, but it certainly did nothing for my lawn. My lawn became riddled with weeds. 

As I contemplated how to address this growing problem in my lawn, I made a decision that proved somewhat disastrous. I purchased some brand name lawn fertilizer and weed killer, all in one bag, and thought to myself, “If this stuff kills weeds and makes grass grow, then the more I apply the better.” With this thought in mind, I applied an extra portion of the fertilizer to areas where the weeds were most prevalent. My hope, of course, was that I would end up with no weeds and healthy grass in these areas. Instead, I ended up with this:

I killed not only the weeds, but I killed the grass as well. I burned my lawn. I now have several patches like this throughout my yard and I think about them everyday. I think to myself, “Look at what you did.”

I also keep thinking about the parables and other teachings of Jesus. Sometimes I have felt that Jesus was speaking to me through what I had done to my lawn, the metaphor of my folly. As if Jesus was saying to me, “Look at what you did.” I’ve tried to fix these patches of burned lawn. I put down some new topsoil seed — to no avail. Sometimes when you kill things they simply don’t come back, at least not quickly.

As a pastor, everything that happens in my life becomes a potential sermon illustration. I have been keeping this photo of my burned lawn for the moment when inspiration hits me. It is a photo looking for a text.

I first thought about the parable of the wheat among the weeds (Matthew 13:23-40). There Jesus warns against trying to pull up the weeds because you might just mistakenly kill the wheat as well. Jesus tells us it is sometimes better to let things grow together for a time and let him sort them out in the end. But I am not quite sure that my burning of my lawn is really about that. I

think a better option might be Matthew 12:20 where Jesus says, “He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory” (NRSV) or maybe Paul’s warning in Galatians 5:15, “If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another” (NRSV). I think my burned lawn reminds me of the dangers of causing collateral damage and the human penchant for overreach, particularly when we are convinced we are right.

I expect my grass will grow again. I also expect the weeds will return. I just hope I have learned something so I can be wiser next time. I don’t want to burn my lawn again.