Pentecost 10 (Year A) Proper 11

In today’s parable, Jesus declares that the Kingdom of Christ in this world and within each person, is like a man who sowed wheat seed in his field [Luke 17:20-21]. One night when everyone was asleep, an enemy planted tares in that field. It was only when the plants grew and began to mature that his servants realized tares were growing among the good wheat. 

The servants wanted the farmer to give them permission to pull up the tares immediately. Realizing that the roots of the wheat and tares were deeply entangled, the farmer suggested they let them grow together until the harvest.  Then harvesters would destroy the tares first and then gather in the good wheat and put it in barns.

Jesus uses this parable to show how wheat and tares will grow together in the believer's heart. He assures us that Christ is the universal midwife, forever birthing the kingdom of God and kingdom living, in the midst of the normal spiritual warfare, which take place in every human heart [Matthew 13:36-37, John 1:1-5, Luke 17:21]. By God's design and plan, the indwelling and incarnate Christ in the spiritual core of each person, is forever, the only and final judge in the human heart and life [Matthew 13:40-43].

In Matthew 13:28-30, Jesus therefore admonishes the people of God to avoid premature classifying, categorizing and rejecting members of their believing community, when they are being temporarily deceived by the devil, the mind of the flesh [Romans 8:1-11]. With God’s help, Jesus recommends patience, kindness, compassion, hope and long suffering during times of spiritual warfare. Attitudes, emotions, words and actions in the body of Christ should be full of Christ-centered love, grace and truth, as we spiritually companion each other in our quest and hope to find the will of God for our personal lives within our faith communities.

Today's Gospel and Epistle readings make it clear that spiritually awake believers allow, permit and encourage the indwelling Christ, the image and likeness of God in the spiritual core of every human being, to be the only sower of good seed in human hearts [Genesis 1:26-27, Matthew 13:37, Romans 13:18-19]. They choose to be Christ-centered, spiritually minded, spiritually alert, spiritually awake and empowered by the Holy Spirit at all times [Romans 8:12-17]. With God's help, they choose to follow Jesus and are therefore progressively manifesting the same kingdom living, which Jesus taught and modeled in our midst [Genesis 1:28-31, Matthew 13:37, John 14:6]

Today's text warns that spiritually blind, spiritually asleep and spiritually dead believers in faith communities provide the most ideal soil for Satan's kingdom to grow and flourish within us and in our midst. Satan as the mind of the flesh, specializes in planting erroneous and destructive weeds in believers and unbeliever's hearts. These weeds create havoc in the body of Christ [Matthew 13:38-39].

The believer's steadfast faith and hope are based on the fact that each person can choose to repent, at any time and return to the indwelling Christ as Savior, Lord and Master, within one's own spiritual core. With God's help, every person can choose to follow Jesus Christ. We can all choose to live and dwell in the liberty, grace, truth, love and light of the risen Christ, the image and likeness of God, in one's own spiritual core [Romans 8:14-17].

The sower of the wheat is symbolic of the invisible Christ, whom Jesus discerned always dwelt within himself and in the spiritual core of all people [Matthew 13:37]. The good seed is God's eternal love, grace and truth which Jesus proclaimed throughout his earthly ministry.  The field is the human soul, heart and mind, where we each choose the positive, negative or indifferent responses to Jesus and the principles and practices of kingdom living which he taught and modeled [John 17:2-3, 20-26]. 

The night is symbolic of the spiritual darkness and distortion of the mind of the flesh. They blocks true spiritual discernment and spiritual understanding. Sleep is symbolic of temporary spiritual blindness, lack of awareness and rejection of the indwelling Christ and the Holy Spirit in the spiritual core of all people The enemy is symbolic mankind's Adversary, the Devil, our fleeting thought, ideas and attitudes which fight against and are in opposition to the indwelling love, grace and truth of Christ, within each of us and in our midst [John 1:9, 14-18].

Tares are those damaging patterns of thought and the stumbling blocks of the mind of the flesh which many believers choose to accept, embrace and dwell on [Romans 8:1-11]. They postpone our greater good. These strongholds keep us in bondage and useless unnecessary suffering.  They cause us to live and dwell lawlessly outside of the spiritual kingdom of heaven, which God has prepared for us since the beginning of creation. Intertwined roots are symbolic of the sin, confusion and distorted ideas, teachings and beliefs about humankind's divine and human natures and our relationships with God, our neighbors and all creation, in faith all our communties. 

In today’s lessons, Jesus and the apostle Paul teach that the mind of the flesh distorts, misuses and destroys our creative mental / spiritual powers through misinformation and not discerning of our eternal at-one-ment with God and each other in Christ [Matthew 13:36-43, Romans 8:12-25].  With Christ-centered spiritual perception and empowerment by the Holy Spirit, Jesus emptied himself of the mind of the flesh [Matthew 4:1-10, Philippians 2:5-8].

With God's help, Jesus demonstrated the full spiritual realization of humankind’s true union with God and each other in Christ [John 1:14]. Jesus' life manifested the fruit of the Spirit. They include love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. By embracing the Christ-centered spiritual mindedness which Jesus modeled and walking in his footsteps, believers can also manifest the fruit of the spirit, within their faith communities [Galatians 5:22-26].

Angels are the virtues, gifts, faculties and messengers of the word, grace and truth proceeding from the indwelling Christ and the Holy Spirit in our spiritual cores. Christ sustains and gives believers these power to overcome all limited beliefs and conditions of the mind of the flesh. The love, grace and truth of the indwelling Christ burn all dross, error and anything unlike God's image and likeness. Christ cleanses and purifies the human heart and bring the realization of eternal life [John 1:17]. 

Are you allowing Christ to midwife and manifest the birthing of the kingdom living within you and in your midst?  With God’s help, are you patient, compassionate, full of grace and truth, as you spiritually companion those in your faith community who seek to find the will of God for their lives? Do you believe the indwelling and incarnate Christ is forever the final judge of the attitudes, emotions, thoughts and actions in every human heart?

Virtue of the week: Discernment

Prayer of the week: I am illumined by spiritual understanding