Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the reflection sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church regarding this Sunday's gospel. Any thoughts? Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 24 [Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, b...

Yesterday's gospel abo ut the wheat and the weeds and letting both grow up together until the end lent itself to several interesting applications of the Lutheran understanding of faith. First there is the similarity in appearance of wheat and tares or weeds. They are nearly indistinguishable. The good and the bad, those following Christ and those who aren't, saints and sinners can be difficult to distinguish from each other. Luther spoke of Christians as being simultaneously saints and sinners. Ahhh how very Lutheran this illustration is. We often like to pigeonh ole people as Christian or not, in or out of God's kingdom. There are various varieties of the true litmus test. Only God knows the depth of one's heart. Today's sinner may be tomorrow's saint. This parable demonstrates that it is God who will be the judge of one's faith and commitment or lack thereof. Each of us falls and gets back up in our Christian walk. There are times when I am grateful th...

I am among those who too easily judge others, especially if they break the rules. Matthew 12:1-14 is a classic passage pitting humans against God, rules and laws against mercy and needs . Jesus responds to the Pharisees' protest of the disciples plucking grains to eat on the sabbath by countering with examples of David eating the bread of Presence and the temple priests guiltlessly breaking the sabbath. "...something greater than the temple is here." God was among them in Christ and they didn't recognize him. He who is "Lord of the sabbath" was greater than the sabbath, greater than the temple, greater than the rules of men. Verse 7, lying right in the middle of the passage, holds the key to that which should motivate our relationships, that which motivated Christ--mercy! This is further illustrated by Jesus healing on the sabbath. He just never learned did he? He kept ob eying his heavenly father despite the religious hierarchy's opposition. Just ...