Jesus put before the crowd another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 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?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 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.’” Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!” Matthew 13:24-30,36-43
Weeds are an ongoing problem for gardeners of all varieties. When I planted seeds and plants this spring, we first put down weed preventing fabric and then put hay on top of that. And still , there are weeds. Oh, they're not as prevalent as they might have been, but we still have weeds. When the plants were tender, with shallow roots, we had to be careful not to pull up the weeds and the plant as well. Jesus is telling this parable about how we are to live. There is both good, producing seed and nasty weeds in all our gardens. Yes, we have to deal with the weeds we can but also we want to be careful with the tender ones. The Creator invites us to be patient with the tender ones and keep the weeds at bay so all of us can grow.
Wondrous Creator, you sow good seeds over all
our world is verdant and lively because of your love.
Lord Jesus, help us to tend your garden here with love and compassion.
We try to keep the worst weeds away from our lives
and we often demonize those who are always good seed.
Lord Jesus, help us to tend your garden here with love and compassion.
We let fear and isolation cloud our view of our lives
and defend our lives from all the illness around us.
Lord Jesus, help us to tend your garden here with love and compassion.
You, Lord, call us to grow abundantly side by side
and stay close to even those who are different from us.
Lord Jesus, help us to tend your garden here with love and compassion.
Your kingdom is rich with diversity, blessings and troubles
and we are surrounded daily by your fierce love for us.
Lord Jesus, help us to tend your garden here with love and compassion.
Make us your people, dear Lord, and help us to love
despite the weeds in our world and the terror on our streets.
Lord Jesus, help us to tend your garden here with love and compassion. Amen.
