Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 on biblegateway.com
Verse 24He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; Verse 25but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. Verse 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. Verse 27And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' Verse 28He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' Verse 29But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Verse 30Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" Verse 36Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." Verse 37He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; Verse 38the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, Verse 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Verse 40Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. Verse 41The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, Verse 42and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Verse 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
Devotion
Wheat or weed, that is the question. Well, it's one possible question. Contemporary rhetoric—from casual conversation to "official" speechmaking—suggests that most people consider themselves to be wheat and others to be troublesome weeds. We may even be eager to eradicate the weeds. However, God's farming practices are unusual indeed. Thank God for that, for surely we are all likely someone else's weed on the verge of being uprooted by overeager weeders.
Our job seems to be to live into the kingdom that reflects God's gracious, if not unusual, farming practices by learning to live in the field in which wheat and weed grow together. The job of discerning who is wheat and who is weed is ultimately not ours anyway. When God determines it is harvest time, God will determine how we all will be gathered. I, for one, am grateful to take something off my "to do" list and to leave the tasks of harvest up to such a gracious God.
Prayer
God of wheat and weeds, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.