The document is a sermon about the Gospel reading from Matthew which describes parables told by Jesus about the Kingdom of Heaven. The parables illustrate that God's love is unconditional, reaching all people including those considered "weeds" by society. God's love is like yeast that transforms lives from within, just as a little yeast can cause bread dough to rise. The sermon encourages accepting oneself as both "wheat and weed" and opening to God's love, which nourishes lives and calls people to share that love with others.

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19 July 2020 16th
Sunday in Ordinary Time Princeton, NJ
Today’s Gospel from Matthew picks up where we left off last Sunday and is probably one of the most
hopeful and consoling gospels written. If you remember, Jesus has pushed off in a boat enabling the large
crowd gathered to hear him teach using a series of parables that describe what the Kingdom of Heaven is
like.
But before I go further it is important to break open this term, “Kingdom of Heaven.” Remember, Matthew is
a Jew and is writing predominantly to a Jewish community, and thus instead of using the term penned by the
other gospel writers, ‘Kingdom of God’, he, alone, uses the term 'Kingdom of Heaven.' When modern
linguists and theologians look at the early text they say it translates to "Reign of God" or "God’s Domain" or
perhaps the best translation is simply "God’s Love" …a love God uses to equally guide everyone in life to be
more of God.
In the first parable, the sower of good seed finds his field has yielded weeds along with his wheat and he
tells his workers not to pull up the weeds, for fear of pulling up some of the good wheat… to not to focus on
separating the two – rather to allow them to grow together. So why leave the weeds? But, in this parable,
we know Christ was not describing how to tend our fields, but rather how we should live our lives. For, how
often do we find ourselves spending much of our time trying to identify the good wheat and the bad weeds?
Everyday our mental egos feed on identifying who is right and who is wrong, who is worthy and who is
not…and in actuality, who are we to be judging anyone – because we are ALL wheat and weeds. You can’t
have one without the other and so Christ instructs us to let them grow together. Christ encourages us to see
how we are different and can evolve to be more loving; no longer being labeled or seen as a mere weed. So
Christ calls for us to stop judging who or what is wheat and weed and to understand that we are all
recipients of God’s unconditional love. God takes our weeds, our faults, our imperfections and fills them with
God’s grace and holiness. If you look through the Gospels you will never find Jesus admonishing a sinner –
rather only offering forgiveness and compassion.
Next – we hear that God’s love is like a mustard seed – the smallest of all seeds – and, yet, a seed that
rapidly grows into a bush 10 to 12 feet tall. We will often hear a number of metaphors regarding this seed –
such as, how love and or faith can begin small and with nourishment can grow and grow…and all of that is
good. But we need to take a second look into this parable, for the crowd listening to this story knows all too
well that the mustard seed is an invasive weed! It is the last thing anyone wants in their field. A farmer
would not only want to get rid of such a plant, but also rid themselves of the birds that are hiding in the
bushes and eating all the good seed!
No one in their right mind would ever sow mustard seeds….well…no one, unless you are God. Remember,
in these parables Christ is describing God’s Love – and like the sower who casts the mustard seeds that are
rejected by most, this parable reminds us that God’s love encompasses all. That during our darkest
moments, divine love can change us from feeling rejected to feeling special; from feeling broken to feeling
mended; and from feeling abandoned to feeling united. God’s love reaches the divorced, the depressed, the
homeless, the jobless, the immigrants, the addicted and even those on death row.

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Thus our personal weeds grow together with our wheat where God’s love and forgiveness reaches each of
us. Love which is freely given by God to all of us…can’t be earned…all we have to do is surrender ourselves
to it. For there is nothing we can do more of, or less of in order to gain more favor or more love from God.
All we are called to do is to be open to this incredible gift of God and to, in turn, reach out to others with this
same love. But all too often, as we are reminded in the first parable, we allow our egos to take over control
of our life by focusing on “what I want” and “how I want things to be and to happen”… basing our life on our
own selfish wants causing us to personally judge individual worthiness and thus rejecting others…and worse
yet, rejecting God.
Which brings us to the third parable of today's gospel which tells us that God's love is like yeast. But the
gospel writer wasn't talking about that yellow and red packet of yeast granules that you get in the food store
and add to warm water to make your bread rise. What Christ was referring to is better translated as ‘leaven’.
Leven is the same as you may have used in those sour dough flour starters that you got from a friend or
perhaps started yourself? They can be kind of scary looking as they sit on your counter, doubling in size
each day.
What is most interesting is that to begin a starter you simply add water to flour…and it is through the baker’s
daily care and nurturing that the natural yeast found in the flour and the bacteria coming off the baker’s
hands all interact with each other and the mixture becomes leaven. All that you need is right there – flour,
water, germs and encouragement and you have life and growth. It is then the addition of a small portion of
this leaven that is kneaded into the bread/flour mixture that allows the dough to rise and to come to life and
when baked becomes the bread that nourishes our bodies.
That is the yeast that Christ talks about in his parable...and now, can you see why Christ described this
unconditional love God has for all of us, as leaven?
We all already carry that indwelling spark of the divine….we carry the yeast, the good seed and we also
carry the bacteria, the weeds and through the nurturing of God’s love we are transformed, like leaven.
God’s love is a source of growth and life…it is transformative…it changes us…it enlivens us...it hides in the
weeds and the raw flour of our lives…it is to be shared and passed on everyone in our lives…and to be
nourished by our desire.
As I said in the beginning, this is indeed a gospel filled with good news…a gospel that reminds us of a love
that consoles us when we are lost in the weeds…nurtures us when we are empty…comforts us when we are
lost...accepts us as we are, both wheat and weed. We keep trying to change God’s mind about us when it is
already made up – love without measure, love without regret. God does not love us for what we do or don’t
do, God loves us because God created us to be in relationship with God. Using the words of the theologian
Jim Finley, “We are here for one thing, ultimately: to learn how to love, because God is love. Love is our
origin, love is our ground and love is our destiny.”
And, as you go forward, may you be open and present to experience this great love God has for all of us…
May you discover God’s desire to be in relationship with you, with an abundant love that accepts you as you
are, both weed and wheat…And may you never forget, no matter what, that you are a cherished child of our
God – a God who is indeed, pure Love!