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Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Gospel:
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Living Amongst
the Weeds
Highlighted
Verses: Matthew
13:24-30, 36-43
He
put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven
may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25but
while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the
wheat, and
then went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore
grain, then
the weeds appeared as well. 27And 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?’ 28He answered, ‘An enemy has
done this.’
The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But
he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat
along
with them. 30Let 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.” 37He answered, “The one who sows the good seed
is the
Son of Man; 38the field is the world, and the good seed are
the
children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39and
the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the
age, and
the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds are collected
and burned
up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41The
Son of Man
will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all
causes of
sin and all evildoers, 42and they will throw them into the
furnace
of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then
the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Let
anyone with ears listen!
My
garden is a mess. Last week we talked about how important it is to
plant seeds in good soil - and I've done that - but even though my
seeds are growing, they are not alone.
Other plants are growing in my garden and
I didn't even plant them! There's a name for those plants. Do
you know what we call them?
Weeds.
A weed isn't really a kind of plant - it's just a plant that's growing
where you don't want it to. Some of them can be very pretty. But
if you have a garden or a flower bed where you've planted things you
want to grow, then weeds can be a big
problem. Not only do they make things look messy, but they use up the
same water and food that your good plants do. So letting too many weeds hang around can
actually make it harder for the things you planted to grow.
In last week's gospel Jesus told us a parable about seeds to teach us a
lesson about keeping our hearts and our minds focused on God. He told
us that we need to make ourselves "good soil" by really listening to
God's word and leading good lives.
But that can be hard - and this week he tells us about weeds.
In the same way that Jesus was talking about seeds - but really talking about us, this
week's story isn't about real weeds in a garden. Jesus is telling us that sometimes being a
Christian is hard.
It would be easy to do all the right things in life if everyone around
us was doing them too. But they're not. People lie and steal and fight.
They can be greedy and mean and selfish.
People can be weeds. Sometimes they can be doing the wrong things in
our lives - our "gardens." They set bad examples and make it just that
much harder to for us to do
the right things.
That's why being a Christian can be so hard. It's something we have to
do even when so many people around us seems to be setting the wrong
examples - and pulling us in the wrong direction.
Are you a seed or a weed? (A seed) Good - keep it up!
Let's pray.
Dear God,
Doing your work can be hard when we live in a world full of weeds. Give
us the strength and the courage to bloom and flower in you.
Amen.
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