Pentecost 10 Garden time July 20, 2008

Matthew 13:24-43
24He 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.’” 31He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 33He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” 34Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. 35This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” 36Then 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!
1weed
1 a (1): a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially: one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants
I have spent my week reflecting on weeds. Ironically so has Dan Koehane one of our parish members who hearing our Junior warden Cliff Perkins plea for help to pull some weeds if a person had a half an hour. Dan said he would come out and pull the weeds on Sunday. Figuring he would in a couple hours be done. Well 3 or 4 hours on Sunday and Monday and Tues and Wed got Dan all the way around the church. Let’s not mention the sign which Bruce Smallwood kindly mowed before the Bishop came.
I was also reminded of The Bures kids on the dairy farm in Antigo who while their mom and dad were away were told to pull thistles from a 40 acre patch of wheat. They told me they left the Canadian thistles because they really didn’t do much harm. It took them two 6 hour days.
So I, being the curious type, did some research on weeds. It seems Jesus knew his weeds because a Tare is a wheat field weed that comes from the rye family and looks just like wheat until it bears the ear of wheat. Almost impossible to tell the difference until almost harvest time.
Weeds have to be treated with knowledge or your hard work can not only be in vain it can make your problems worse. You have to pull thistles if you cut them they come back and may even spread you got to get the root. Milkweed needs to be cut and once the sap is gone it dies.
One young man I know up in Antigo is a potato field spotter. He goes in the field and looks for bugs.

The definition of a weed is plant not valued where it is growing and usually of vigorous stock.
All this made me think about Jesus’ parable for our lives. Where are the weeds in your garden? Is attention being paid to the garden? Are we looking out for each other’s gardens? What’s a weed and what’s wheat? What just needs to grow somewhere else? Am I being a weed or wheat? Who or what is a weed or wheat in my garden?
I encourage you to take some time this week to think about your life and soul and our common life as a garden and look at what’s growing there.

Finally I would leave you with a gardener’s secret. Patience. It takes love, time, attention to detail and patience to have a great garden. Some weeds are beautiful they just need to be in the right place. Some weeds are noxious and need to be dealt with. Great gardens are built over time. They are a series of successes and failures that gather knowledge and experience and that should also be shared. My prayer for you and us is that together we grow the most beautiful garden for the honor and glory of God Amen