[Author's note: This is a very analogy-laden piece. I'm sure you would discover that. What I want to mention is that I hope you take careful not of the parallels I'm talking about here. I wrote this at about the same time as hierarchy. It's another example of my "evolved literature" style. No, it doesn't mean it's getting better, but what I do is hand-write everything first. When I begin typing (a day or two, even a week later) many new ideas, themes, and considerations enter my head and it expands the piece by 2-3x. I always try and keep the continuity in mind, but I may have failed in that respect. This was originally intended to be very simple and gentle but I hoped for a stronger tone in the middle. I hope you like it! ~ M]
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“You are God’s field” (1 Cor 3:9).
As I considered these words and the many comparisons made
between the faithful and seeds, plants, and wheat I thought to myself, “How
difficult it is to be the wheat!” Indeed, as the wheat we are dependant upon
others and God for our own growth. But if the planter was wise and the
cultivator good then the wheat flourishes. For “I [Paul] planted, Apollos
watered, but God caused the growth. … [Neither of us is anything], but only
God, who causes the growth. [But], the one who plants and the one who waters
are equal, and reach will receive wages in proportion to his labor” (1 Cor
3:6-8).
Indeed, when the wheat flourishes it is kept and the
laborers are honored. But if the wheat is sickly it is burned and the laborers
rebuked for producing a weak crop. So too there are those who have given us our
faith, those who have cultivated it, and those who safeguard it.
Children, do you not see how fickle your faith is? Yes, many
of you and even me are like children who need “milk, not solid food, because
[we are] unable to take it.” (1 Cor 3:2). Do you not see the gift you were
given, and how easily it could have been taken away? How easily it could yet
still be taken away? Your faith is not only an affirmation of God the almighty
Father and thereafter you flourish. Your faith is a seed that needs careful
cultivation and only in due time will it flourish.
The laborers deserve their wages. Whom have you paid?
Some of us were planted and cared for by words, deeds, and
other examples. Parents, priests, and friends lived in a manner that did not
make us lose heart. Truly they were like “a lamp shining in a dark place, until
… the morning star [dawned] in your hearts” (2 Pet 2:19). But some of you, having been raised like this, left
their example behind and refused cultivation. Does the wheat grow and care for
itself or is it not at the mercy storms, pestilence, and other harms? Who will
protect your faith? Certainly God protects His children, but does the wheat’s
desire for life and flourishing guarantee it?
Others among you were sickly, living a life of pride, sloth,
and many other vices. A laborer who had pity on your plight rescued you. Do you
realize that your conversion was an act of grace on your behalf and grace
working in the other as well? Or was not Paul converted by the grace of God
acting on both him and Ananias? Many had to cooperate with God’s grace so you
might experience it yourself. But many of us, like thoughtless wheat, did not
know how our soil was prepared or who prepared it. When we reaped the many
benefits of grace and revelation we thought ourselves initiated into a personal
relationship and that this was all we needed. The wheat thought itself as existing (in its current state) by its
faith and by the grace of God alone. Truly nothing grows toward God without
Him, but the wheat here did not count himself as the fruit of many unseen
labors. For recall that even the Enemy has sown weeds among us and the workers,
picked by God, toil tirelessly and often unseen so you won’t be bundled among
the weeds.
The laborers deserve their wages. Whom have you paid?
Who has God appointed as laborers? The seeds are not all men
but “the good seed [are] the children of the kingdom” (Mt 13:38). The seeds sown are faith inspired and given freely
by the Son of Man. But God also sent us laborers. He selected them from among
the people to cultivate and harvest.
I do not say all these words to discourage you, but I say
them so you might reflect more deeply on how great a gift the present moment
is. For even if there are tempests in our own life, are not the love, memory,
and example of good laborers (and the Good Shepherd Himself) who help us to
persevere? And do we not have a history of good laborers in the saints (now) in
heaven and our loved ones here on earth?
My friends, persevere when times are difficult and rejoice
with God and His laborers when you flourish.
Truly, there are times when we must be laborers and we must
emulate them by their tireless and quiet efforts to produce good crops. Other
times we must be as the wheat, perfectly willing to be cultivated—humble,
steadfast, obedient, and wholly dependent on the laborer. It is when we start
growing (i.e., discovering our own calling and gifts) that we can often neglect
cultivation. Do not lead yourselves to ruin.
Do not be deceived that either the laborer or the wheat is
perfect. Do not both have faults within? Do not both face dangers on the
outside too? All the same, both are honored when one cares for the wheat and
that same wheat produces a great yield. Therefore when we neglect our own
labors we are shamed by lack of a fruitful yield. When we reject cultivation
(as living wheat) we produce little or nothing at all. Recall that even the one
who works hard but sees little fruit grows himself by virtue of his hard
work—do not be discouraged by proximate and immediate failures!
Sometimes we must work with rough soil and other times
unsure hands guide us—but what benefit is it to not toil? What benefit is it to
refuse growth?
