“Another parable he put before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy-person (ἐχθρὸς ἄνθρωπος) has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Mt 13: 24-30)
I’m grateful for the Lord reminding me, this morning, as I read this passage, of the humbling fact that He lets the “weeds” in our fields (i.e., our communal and individual defects/shortcomings) grow together with our “wheat” (i.e., our good parts, or the fruits of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us), in His patience and wisdom. Of course, it is not “only” patience/tolerance that is needed with regard to my own sins and those of others, – but sometimes, in the cases of our long-standing defects, which seem already to be rooted in our very identity (as individuals and/or as a community), we can but hand them over to God, trusting that He will take care of them in His time.
Lord, let me have Your patience and wisdom with regard to the “weeds” You see fit to leave in my “field,” and in the “fields” of others. I don’t quite understand it, why or how You allow certain shortcomings/defects to be “sown” by “an enemy,” but I am grateful for the patience and wisdom I can learn from the humble acceptance of both the good and the bad in me and others. “Help us, save us, have mercy on us” today, as we are, with our strengths and weaknesses, “and keep us, O God, by Your grace!”
