Let Them Grow Together
12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!" (Genesis 28:12-16)
After deceiving his father, Jacob was now on the run because when Esau discovered that, with their mother's encouragement and assistance, Jacob had stolen his blessing, along with the birthright that Esau had negotiated away, Esau threatened to kill his brother. Rebeka continued to lie to and deceive her husband in order to arrange for Jacob to escape and stay with her brother, Laban, under the guise of finding an appropriate wife. At sundown Jacob stopped to rest. As he slept, he dreamt of a ladder with angles ascending and descending, and he heard the voice of God promising God's presence, protection, provision, and eventual progeny. When Jacob woke up he was in awe, but didn't completely trust his dream. In true Jacob-fashion, he made a deal with God - that if God would do all that God told him in the dream, then God would be Jacob's God.
In the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus' story of the wheat and tares (or weeds) is recounted. In the story servants report that weeds have been planted among the good seed that had been sown, and they ask if they should pull the weeds. But the master of the house tells them to allow the wheat and weeds to grow together rather than to risk uprooting some of the wheat while trying to remove the weeds. While this is a good reminder that it's not our job - or even our right - to deem anyone as invaluable, unworthy, or beyond saving, we should also be reminded that present circumstance and future promise, faith and distrust, awe and skepticism dwell simultaneously in each of us just as they did in Jacob. What may seem, in us, to be plain or unimportant may in fact be the nourishing seeds of our future. And what seem to be attractive and colorful aspects of ourselves might be unnecessary weeds within. Only time and our faithful, gracious God will tell. May we be patient with each other and with ourselves, trusting that God is doing great things.
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, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" (Matthew 13:27-30)
