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Scripture: Jeremiah 7:1-11; Psalm 84:3-6; 8, 11; Matthew 13:24-30
Scroll to the end to read the referenced scriptures
Life-long planning and goal-setting are important for living life fully and meaningfully. As believers in God and in His Son Jesus, we are fortunate to hear their voice through the sacred scriptures and especially through the prophets and the evangelists. They speak about the final goal and what it takes to achieve it. Jesus does this by speaking of the kingdom of God. He uses many parables in this section of Matthew. All of the parables are about the kingdom of God. These are helpful for us in thinking about the important goals in our life, especially entering into the kingdom of God both now and in the afterlife. Chapter thirteen contains these parables and is the third of the five discourses presented in Matthew.
We hear of the kingdom of God or heaven, as Matthew calls it, out of reverence for God's name. The comparison is with seeds and the fields. In today's parable, an "enemy" sows tares (weeds) among the good wheat that has been sown. We all know weeds are an "enemy" in the field of wheat and they are tough to tear out. Jesus tells the laborers to let the weeds grow with the wheat, then at harvest time, both will be reaped and separated.
This is a new way of handling such a problem, but Jesus does these creative things in the parables in order to catch our attention. Most likely, he is smiling as he hits the audience with his colorful little stories called parables. What is good about them is that they have proved the test of time; only Jesus survives as the parable teller par excellence in our minds. They are meant however, to reach our hearts and to help us direct our attention to the things that really matter in life.
Our parable is unique to Matthew. Kirster Stendahl tells us "it could be a parallel tradition with its reference to what happens while the farmer sleeps and with its urging of patience." This waiting till harvest time shows us that the gift of perseverance depends on our patience. We make progress toward the kingdom by our patience of taking each day as it comes and not living in the past or the future. Patience is a very sacramental-like virtue that demands us to live out the present moment for all it is worth. Surely, we are living in the kingdom of God today and also in the future by our patience and perseverance. At the end, the messengers or angels of God will bring us to the ultimate goal, the kingdom of God that is eternal life with God. Amen.
Scripture:
Jeremiah 7:1-11
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message:
" 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. 3 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
9 " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, [a] burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"-safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.
Psalm 84:3-6; 8, 11
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. [a]
8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Selah
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
Matthew 13:24-30
24 Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
28 " 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29 " 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "
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