Wheat and the Weeds

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like someone who has planted a wheat field with good seed. And an enemy farmer comes along and sows weeds right in the mix. And both wheat and weeds begin to grow together. So some of the crop is good and will nourish hungry people, and some of it is questionable.

In this story, some servants notice the problem. They go to the master: “This field is not pure,” they say. “How did this happen? Do you want us to go out and pull the weeds?” But the Master in this parable says no. In trying to pull out the weeds, we very well might also uproot the crop.

I remember years ago, in another church I served, I was in the sanctuary one day when a homeless man wandered in off the street. I was able to help him, and at the end of our conversation, he said, “Thank you, pastor. I’ll see you on Sunday.

I hate to admit this but my first thought was, there’s no way he’ll be back. He just wanted our money. He doesn’t want to be a part of our community. My second thought though was even worse: What if he does come back? Will he feel welcome? Maybe I should have sent him to that inner-city church…

Sure enough, he showed up. And then he showed up the next Sunday and the next. As I got to know him, I learned that he struggled with mental illness and was rough around the edges. But one day in our contemporary service, I stood next to him, and I heard him singing. He had this voice that was nothing less than soul-stirring.

By the time I left that congregation, he was regularly offering solos at both our contemporary and traditional worship services – singing these old gospel hymns with so much soul. Needless to say, he became deeply loved and valued by that church family. What a loss that would have been for us, if I had prematurely weeded him out, or if he had not felt welcome.

All of this is just a reminder to me that on this journey through life, it is not our job to determine who is worthy of our fellowship and love. It is rather our job to love everyone and imagine everyone as belonging to God.

Let us pray: Holy God, help us to trust your holy and mysterious workings. And grant us the sureness that one day you will sort out the good from the bad, the right from the wrong – even from within our own hearts; through Jesus Christ. Amen.