jim henson

Today's Gospel reading is the parable of the sower. The sower (God) sows the good seed but when harvest time comes, weeds have grown up among the plants, sowed by the enemy. The servants want to separate the weeds from the good plants, but the owner refuses, not wanting to throw away good with the bad. He tells them to wait until the harvest time.

God always gives us a second chance. He wants to give us enough time to grow. Only at harvest time will God see whether or not we have yielded a crop of good or bad. In this parable, Jesus is counseling us to be patient with ourselves and with others--with the evil that is in the world. The fact that both good and evil grow together is all part of what this transient world is all about. We are to have patience with others and with ourselves.

Also, sometimes, what we may think is a weed, may not be. It is for God to judge, at the end of time, not for us. As Romans 8:28 reminds us, "All things work together for good." God uses the weeds in our lives for the greater good.

Brother Charles at Praise and Bless tells us that this parable can go even deeper than that. God sees both our good and our selfish intentions and will harvest out the good and forgive the bad.

Also in today's Gospel is the parable of the mustard seed. The mustard seed, in ancient Palestine, grows into an invasive, weedy plant. How is the Kingdom of Heaven like that? God does not work in organized little boxes. Jesus came to shake up the status quo, both then and now. His love is a radical love--stopping at no one, no race, creed, gender or status. God has no ulterior motive--he is love.

This even further, illustrates the point of the first parable. What we think may be something to be weeded out of our lives, may have been planted there on purpose.

 Our weed may indeed be a mustard seed.