The Tribune

By Rev Angela C

Bosfield Palacious

EACH one of us will have to answer this question for ourselves, 'Am I wheat or weed? Am I a child of the King or of the evil one?'

In Matthew 13: 36-43 NIV we find the story of the weeds that are secretly sown in a wheat field. Here is the Lord's explanation: "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom.

The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels."

If we are serious about being good seed, then we have to allow the Holy Spirit to help us to become more like Christ.

As God's children we are expected to bear the family resemblance in such a way that others will see Christ in us: "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption" (Romans 8: 14-15 NIV).

The glory of God in us and in creation will be fully revealed when Christ comes again, but in the meantime we are called to represent God well: For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God." (Romans 8:19-21 NIV).

All of creation is in this with us. There is a much bigger picture than just human existence. This is a matter of total redemption when Christ comes again.

When in Genesis 28:10-19 Jacob dreams of the ladder from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending, he concludes that he is in an awesome place where God is present:

"When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. (vv 16-18).

We, who have the Spirit of God within, are able to take this one step further, recognising that we are this awesome place where God dwells; we are the house of God and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ opens the gate of heaven for us to enter.

Lest this responsibility seem too heavy, we are led to pray in such a way that God responds to our making the Kingdom a spiritual priority by equipping us for the task of christian leadership: "Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking.

Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not or in our blindness, we cannot ask, through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord."

(Collect for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, CPWI).

We have everything we need to be good seed. May this be our desire.