The kingdom of heaven may be likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
Everything that comes from God is good, as we see in the constant refrain of the story of creation that, "God saw that it was good" (see Genesis 1:10). So too his work of tending the field, the ways of his providence that make the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust (see Matthew 5:45). So too his work of sowing the seed of his word, the good news of his Kingdom.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
The question of evil in the world makes us come to householder and say with the slaves "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?", and if so, whence evil? To be sure, we slept and our guard was down. But we expected an eternal vigilance from the Lord who never slumbers nor sleeps (see Psalm 121:4). So even if this intrusion of the enemy does in some measure represent our own lack of wariness we are still tempted to doubt the master whom we rightly believe does not share our limitations. Yet his slumber seemed to be a little like that of Jesus in the boat during the storm. He was unconcerned about the storm because he was more the able to protect the boat and guarantee the peace of those within. So too this householder did not fear for the wheat even in the presence of the weeds. They represented a blight and an eyesore, something repulsive to the perfectionist spirit many of us tend to possess. But the actual level of threat to the wheat, we can tell from the master's response, was zero.
'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
The slaves had a short term view based on appearances. They were impatient with those appearances and ready to go in aggressively and in ways that would damage that which is hidden beneath the surface. It is against this overreaction that we are chiefly cautioned. Yet carrying this response of the master to the extreme would seem to mean that evil would never be addressed, that there would be no excommunications within the Church, no just wars to defend the weak and the innocent in the world. It would seem that we were never to forcibly separate the bad from the good in the world. But we know that this cannot be the precise meaning of Jesus because.
And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (see Matthew 18:17).
We know that the Church is in fact a vine the is pruned in order that it might bear fruit. The problem against which Jesus warned was an aggressive overreaction based on superficial appearances. We need to hear this because, more often than not, even our best efforts at weeding the fields will be mostly unsuccessful. Yes, sometimes such efforts may be necessary to address something particularly toxic. But if we try to purify the whole field in this way that is when we run the great risk of ruining much where our master is still at work.
First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.
A much better approach for us when we see the blight of evil is to focus insofar as we are able on nourishing the good seed planted by the master. This will force us to learn humility as we contend with the imperfections present in the field, the appearance of weeds that chafes against our need to be in perfect control. But maybe this was a part of why the master's sleep was not disturbed by the enemy, part of the goodness he knew he himself would bring from it. Dealing with weeds is any case, more often than not, above our paygrade. And so spending attention on them that could be used to nourish good seeds is playing into the enemies hands. Rather than the attitude of fear, doubt, and urgency that the enemy wished to sow along with his weeds, we would do better to trust in our master, to have peace because we see that his peace is undisturbed, and because we trust in him and his goodness.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.
We aren't going to achieve perfection until the harvest. It is then that God himself, and not our meager efforts will crown the goodness of the work which has all along been his own. His seeds will bear rich fruit and his children will shine like the sun. As slaves tasked with diligence in the field, with not neglecting our duties, this wait may seem long and difficult to bear. But clearly, it is worth it.
And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
God waits with mercy to until the harvest because he "is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (see Second Peter 3:9). But we have trouble waiting as God waits, as pain seems to make our sense of time slow and grind to halt, seeming unable to advance toward that harvest. At such times we may not know what to do, unable to take any helpful action to address our duties in the field. But at such times we can pray. And though we may not have the words, nevertheless, we can pray.
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
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