While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
What is the endgame of the enemy in this plot of planting weeds? Certainly an aspect of it was to sow the doubt which the slaves of the household did in fact experience, saying, "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?" and leaving them to wonder at the presence of weeds in the field just as we often wonder about the presence of evil in a world created to be good, and of the presence of sinners in the Church that was meant to be holy.
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'
The man himself did not sow the weeds in the garden. In some sense his sleep that allowed this may reflect God giving his creatures space for freedom of will. But at a deeper level we know that God "will neither slumber nor sleep" (see Psalm 121:4). If God allowed weeds among the wheat, it must have been because he could make a greater good result therefrom.
He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Until the harvest there would not be sufficient clarity to distinguish the weeds from the wheat. Human attempts at inquisitions to completely purify the field of all weeds would have leave it scorched, with many weeds remaining, and many genuine plants destroyed. While they were yet growing it was as though wheat plants might yet even become weeds and so too weeds become plants of wheat. Only God could see the final destiny of the field. The slaves were not in a position to know exactly what good or damage they might do in attempts to remove all weeds from the garden. For his part the master chose not to act immediately, but to reserve time for mercy, to ensure a bountiful harvest.
Let them grow together until harvest;
In growing together in a world also containing weeds we experience opportunities to exercise virtues like patience and courage. Weeds, when patiently and loving endured, sometimes experience conversion that makes them wheat. This sort of thing doesn't happen in the fields of farmers. But it is common in the Kingdom for those who were once sinners to become saints. The saints in turn grow to rely on their roots in God himself, and become hardy and resilient in ways in which, untested, they might never have reached.
Do you want us to go and pull them up?
What about outright heresy and public scandal in the Church? Does she have nothing to say in such circumstances? Must all be allowed on account of this parable? It would seem that the problem in the parable is one of similarity, of the fact that our judgment is often insufficient to tell weed from wheat. This is often the case with people, since we can't see into their hearts. But it is not often the case with heretical teaching itself which must be immediately contradicted and condemned. Heretics and other instances of public scandal are extreme examples that bear little resemblance to the wheat and may therefore be extracted without as much risk. Although even in this example where the sin is obvious and evident the disruption may confuse and cause anxiety for those who witness it, especially those who did not know better but were charmed by the words of the offender. So the risk is not nothing. And even heretics, although they appear to be weeds, may yet turn out to be wheat before the end. But at a certain point the risk to the wheat is so great that the stewards of the field must act. Yet because it is not yet the time for harvest even here the destiny of the plants is not yet set in stone. Hence even in her discipline, even in excommunication, the goal is always that they might repent and return.
This is the temple of the LORD!
The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!
It would seem that there have always been sinners mixed in with the saints. Even among the disciples there was Judas the traitor. Jesus chose his disciples intentionally, knowing that it would somehow mysteriously result in the optimal harvest if the grew together. Hence for us we should not be surprised in our Church and in our world if we encounter those who appear to be weeds. We should not therefore long for a Church or a world that is tyrannical in its opposition to the weeds. After all, their destiny is not yet set. Neither, more too it, is our own. We ourselves may sometimes very much resemble weeds more than wheat. Let us be grateful, then, that we still have until the harvest to change. Let us put our roots down more deeply into the stream of life, for only God himself can make us bear good fruit.
No comments:
Post a Comment