The Parable of the Weeds reminds us God is God and we are not. We are disciples of Christ because we had an experience which transformed us and showed us how to be in community with one another. “Our presence in the world as Christians is not about a full-blown plan to get rid of evil at every turn.” Rather instead, we are called to share God’s love and grace with one and all. And let God handle the rest.
July 19, 2026
“The Parable of the Weeds”
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
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, 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!
The Parable of the Weeds Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
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
Now there’s a let God be God statement if I have ever heard one. It is a statement of mercy. It is a statement of grace. It is a statement that reminds us it is not up to us to judge. That’s God’s job. Our job, our calling as disciples of Christ is to share the good news, to show how God’s love changes everything. Our job, our calling as disciples of Christ is sharing how God’s grace opened our eyes to the Beloved Community in our midst.
I know this is a surprising text for us. Not because it is especially revelatory in its details. It is actually pretty simple to understand even without Jesus’ explanation to the disciples. I say it is a surprising text for us because we don’t usually talk about judgment at this church, in this church. Nine times out of ten what is being preached, shared, and taught at this particular church, from this particular church is love and grace. Not judgement and I’m realizing that is to our detriment. Not because I believe we are awful hateful people. It is to our detriment because by not talking about judgment, we have abdicated the larger narrative to others who have used this idea of judgment to use and abuse, to hurt more than heal, to add more division to the Body of Christ rather than wholeness.
Now let me be clear, when I use the word “judgment” I am not talking about fire and brimstone although Matthew does mention weeping and gnashing of teeth. When I’m talking about judgment in regard to faith, I am talking more about accountability, responsibility. I’m talking about that for God to be God there has to be a Come to Jesus moment for all of us because of our actions or lack of action in some cases. This accountability is how we know when our actions, our words hurt others. This acknowledging of all the times when we missed the mark of being the person of love and grace is how we name that we don’t want to do so again. This confessing of how our words and actions created more brokenness than healing is how we show we are going to put in the hard, transforming work of becoming the person God created us and calls us to be.
That’s what I mean when it comes to judgement in regard to our faith. It is accountability. It is confession. It is acknowledging. And all of these things calls us to speak up when we see things that do not line up with the Beloved Community of God, but they do not, DO NOT give us permission to go around acting like we know everything when it comes to the Bible, faith, or Jesus. It is not up to you, It is not up to me, It is not up to a particular church or denomination to determine or to judge whether grace is given or grace is withheld, regardless of the person, place or situation.
Yes, this makes us mad. Yes, that is unfair. And yes, there should be justice for people’s actions and words. Completely agree with all these statements AND I also know I am not; we are not the ones who will hand out justice in the end. Because I’m going to let you in on something…our sacred text tells that God lets the rain fall on the just and the unjust. And in the end, God is God and we are not.
And I’m going to let you in on something else… the majority of our sacred text is filled with stories about how humanity is offended when God offers God’s grace to anyone but us. And that being offended by God’s grace when extended to anyone but us is exactly what the Parable of the Weeds is all about. It reminds us that as disciples of Christ, as the people of God, as the ones who are doing the work of Building up God’s Beloved Community here on Earth, what we are called to do is plant the seeds…you know live lives grounded in the wisdom and word of God, share God’s love with one and all, shine a little light so that healing and wholeness happens, make justice for all of God’s people.
While also realizing that some things are beyond our control, things like corrupt systems, things like powers that be who care more for money and status than the people, things like wars started for no other reason than postering. These are some of the weeds which grow in the midst of our community, our nation and our world, weeds which often try to take away our hope, weeds which often try to diminish the vision of God’s Peaceable Kingdom coming to fruition here on Earth for all people, weeds which make us angry, weeds which make us wonder where God is in all this mess.
And these are the same weeds that if we let them, will make us so harsh, so hard, so militant that it soon becomes hard to distinguish. We become the very thing we want to uproot. And in doing so, we begin to justify our actions by saying we are sacrificing a few for the good of all. When in reality all we are doing is creating a cycle of death and destruction, hurt and hate, very things which go against the very nature and heart of the Beloved Community of God. As people of faith, when we begin to look like the weeds of our world, when we begin to speak like the weeds of the world, all we are doing is destroying ourselves and choking out the Beloved Community of God in our midst.
The Parable of the Weeds invites us to stop and pause. It invites us to have ears to listen, eyes to see, and hearts to remain open to where God is at work in the world. The Parable of the Weeds reminds us God is God and we are not. The Parable of the Weeds reminds us that as disciples of Christ, we are called to plant good seeds, to trust that God is in the process, and remember that love and light will always have the last word. The Parable of the Weeds reminds us that “our presence in the world as Christians is not about enacting a full-blown plan to get rid of evil at every turn.” Rather instead, our presence as Christians is to live out our calling to share God’s love and grace with one and all. And let God handle the rest. May those with ears hear the telling of this word. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, July 19, 2026 – The Parable of the Weeds Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.
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