Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the 7th Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'. If you are unable to be with us in person, you can find today's Gospel Reading, a reflection and prayers below.
Our first hymn this morning is "Now the Green Blade Riseth"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 The Parable of the Weeds
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!”
Reflection
I think I can fairly confidently say that I do not consider myself to be a great gardener. I did once have green fingers, but that was only when I spilled some green paint on them. If someone asked me to weed a garden, I would probably end up pulling out some valuable good seedlings and leaving most of the weeds behind. Some of this might be due to my ignorance and some because it is so hard to separate the good from the bad when the roots are closely linked together in the soil.
For many folk it is easy to focus on the end of the happy ending where the angels come and sort out the righteous from the evil. But that is to miss the whole point because the main thrust of the parable is about patience and forgiveness. The farmer knows that the weeds and the wheat can live side by side and that by letting them grow to maturity they will be a lot easier to separate. He will still end up with a good crop and the undesirable weeds can be burned. And so it is with the world. There is a mix of good and bad in us all. There is lots of suffering and sadness in the world and at times it is easy to ask, “where is God in all this?” But we need to remind ourselves that we are all sinners to an extent and we rely on God’s grace that we can grow and flourish. He will be patient with us.
Unlike plants, we are not born evil or good. There is goodness in everyone and those who are considered evil may have been misled by evil influences or people, but still have the capacity to change. As St. Augustine wrote about this parable: “Sometimes we are wheat and sometimes we are weeds. There is this difference between people and real grain and real weeds, for what was grain in the field is grain and what were weeds are weeds. But in the Lord’s field, which is the church, at times what was grain turns into weeds and at times what were weeds turn into grain; and no one knows what they will be tomorrow.” So let us forgive, be tolerant, and generous. Because, we can’t change ourselves from weeds to wheat, only Jesus can. Paul
Our Prayers
Father creator,
Thank you that you love us and are always willing to forgive us.
Through your abundant grace and mercy,
we can be healed when we have sinned.
Help us to not to judge others but to support those in need.
Amen
Our final hymn this morning is "Jesus Shall Reign, Where'er the Sun"
