First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn

 Another parable He put forth to them, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.  But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?'  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'  The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'  But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ' "

- Matthew 13:24-30

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught His disciples about the Parable of the Sower, after explaining to them why He was speaking in parables to the crowds.  Jesus said, "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

Another parable He put forth to them, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.  But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?'  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'  The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'  But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ' "  Here Jesus builds on the previous parable of the Sower.  The good seeds are sown, but "while men slept," the enemy comes and sows seeds of his own.  Tares are weeds that closely resemble wheat; it takes effort and knowledge to tell the difference between them.  My study bible likens this to falsehood that comes after truth, and false prophets that come after true ones:  even so, the Antichrist will come after Christ.  The devil, it says, fashions his lies to resemble the truth.  We must take note that this happens while men are sleeping:  heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic.  My study bible tells us that this parable also explains why the Church does not condemn nominal members, nor judges those outside the Church (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).  It says, "Just as wheat would be destroyed in weeding out the tares, so also, many people who might ultimately find salvation would otherwise be lost if condemned before Christ's judgment."

There are times when everyone wonders why God allows evil people to do evil things.  Considering all the splits in the Church (if we consider Christ's Church a universal whole), we may wonder why there isn't some great revelation from above or why Judgment doesn't happen sooner to clear it all up!  How many people would wish for Christ's return into the world to deal with the messy problems of filtering out heresy from truth, true teachings from false, and to put an end to our questions?  Jesus answers an important anxiety here by telling this parable, about allowing the tares to grow side by side with the wheat.  Nothing happens until the final harvest, which is the Judgment.  Until that time, we "grow side by side," so to speak, with things that may be evil, that mislead, that aren't really good for the world.  And this is the state of things right now in the time we're in.  We await the harvest when everything will be "sorted."  It's important that we remember Christ has given us this parable.  I hear all too often questions about why God would allow one thing and another to happen, but here, right from the beginning and during Jesus' ministry, we are given a parable that explains and gives to us this picture of the authentic and true growing side by side with the false.  As such, it seems to me, our focus must be on our own growth, taking care to nurture those who also seek what is true.  The Judgment isn't up to us.   But we are given this parable in order to be aware, and in order to know the importance of discernment.  Not practicing judgment doesn't mean we don't evaluate the true from the false teachings.  It doesn't mean we're not on the watch for "false prophets" whom Jesus has likened to wolves in sheep's clothing.  Here in the parable, Jesus teaches that the enemy sowed the bad seed "while men slept."  And in His preaching, as in the Sermon on the Mount, He's taught us to be alert, awake, always watchful.  He taught, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:15-20).  We are encouraged to discernment, to watch the "fruits" so that we can understand the false from the true.  In these metaphors of growth in examples from nature -- plants and trees -- we're given a strong reason for patience, forbearance, and awareness.  The false and the true will grow side by side, and it's up to us to learn to tell the difference even as we are in the current time, the current circumstance.  Sophistry will give us many examples of words that sound good, but are misleading or falsely reasoned.  Whatever complaints we may have about the world in the times we live in, or even the difficulty of our faith, one thing we know is true:  this is the picture Christ has given us of His will for this time, and as such, it's up to us to do the discerning in our own lives and in our own choices.  We focus on the good growth, the true word, and we do our best to help nurture and grow others.  We work at discerning the true from the false.  We stay alert.  Christ tells us that the "bad" are not uprooted before their time is so that the good grain also takes hold and grows to harvest.  Jesus' teaching here fits with the instructions He's given His disciples to be "wise as serpents and gentle as doves."  So it is in our world, in this time as we await His Return, His harvest.