When I read the parable from Matthew’s gospel for today I usually worry about where I stand between the weeds and the wheat. But what if I’m really one of the slaves who is in a rush to get rid of bad plants?
We know the story. A farmer sows good seed in his field, but later an enemy comes and sows weeds as well. “The slaves said to (the farmer), ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them” (Matthew 13:28b-29). That’s the part that grabbed my attention today. Pulling up the weeds is not the prerogative of the slaves. That job belongs to someone else. We may feel qualified to make the distinction, to rid the field of undesirable types, but the farmer says, “No.”
I often find myself ready to “pull weeds,” to decide which of the folks around me are unworthy of God’s love. I may feel qualified to make the distinction (I am a minister), but the truth is that it doesn’t matter. That is God’s call, and has been all along. When I judge others I risk harming the community as a whole. And what if I’m wrong? What if God, the Creator of weeds and wheat alike, decides on a transformative act, shaping “good” plants out of “bad” ones? What if I’ve got it all wrong and what I thought were weeds really are the wheat? God says “no” to our judgment. God tells us to care for the field, to prepare for the harvest, and to let God decide who is in and who is out. And since it is God’s field, I guess we’d better listen.
Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I judge others based on my own ideas and my own prejudices. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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