Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”
Matthew 13:24-30

Dear God, this can be a hard parable, but I heard someone talking about it on a podcast today, and one of his statements struck me so much I stopped to write it down as soon as I heard it. Here it is:

“Instead of trying to get rid of the root of evil—because evil will corrupt every instrument designed to remove it—why don’t you work instead for the good of the field.” Mike Erre, Voxology Podcast: Episode 441, 57:00

Another thing he pointed out was that the weeds were not the enemy. I’d never thought about that before. The evil growing around me isn’t the true enemy. It’s Satan. It’s the powers and principalities that I cannot see. The evil or mean person around me isn’t the enemy. She or he is my sister or brother going through life and, most of the time (just like me), making the best decisions they know how to make. I might see their work as evil, but what I need to be about doing is “work[ing] instead for the good of the field.” That’s a powerful thought to me. I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about that statement, but it certainly provoked something within me.

They said they have an entire podcast they did a few years ago dedicated completely to this parable. I’ve downloaded it and I’ll listen to it later tonight. But in the meantime, I want to really see this physical world with the eyes Jesus would see it with if he were here with me (which, of course, he is). I’m having dinner with someone tonight after work. Help me to see him completely with your eyes. I have a job to do today with people to work with and help. Help me to look at them and think of them as Jesus would think of them. As I pray for my friends, my enemies, my family, and strangers I don’t even know, help me to think of all of them as sojourners with me in this field of wheat and weeds. Help me to be the best wheat I can be so that the evil in them might be choked out and they can become your wheat as well. And thank you for the weeds that grow in this field. Who knows? Without them, I might never have found you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen