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There’s a famous but possibly apocryphal story about the Chinese Communist leader Zhou En Lai being asked in 1968 about the impact of the French Revolution which had begun 179 esrlier and replying: “It’s too early to tell.”           A perceptive answer and also a clue to what informed the thinking of the landowner in Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds. His slaves asked whether they should go into the field and uproot the weeds and he told them not to because it was too early to tell for sure what was a weed and what was wheat. If they intervened now they would uproot some of the wheat along with the weeds. 

I’ve done a little agricultural research on the internet and discovered that what the enemy in Jesus’ story sowed was a plant called darnel whose Latin name is Lolium Temulentum. In the early stages of its growth, it looks very like wheat. It is only as it approaches maturity that it becomes obvious that it isn’t. A wheat plant produces a crop of edible grain and, as the grain swells and ripens, its weight causes the wheat stalk to bend over. Lolium Temulentum produces small, bitter-tasting seeds. They are so light that the plant continues to remain upright, so that just before harvest time the weeds stick out from among the wheat and are easily identified. The seeds are mildly poisonous – and if you eat them you end up with symptoms very like a hangover. Hence the Latin name for this plant, because Temulentum means “drunk”. 

So the farmer in the parable understands the need to wait until it becomes clear which plants are wheat and which plants are weeds. This is a story which reminds us that if we make premature judgements about who or what is good or bad, we are likely to get it wrong and to injure and destroy the good as well as the bad. Ultimate judgement should be based on results, based on the fruits of each person’s life and the long-term consequences of their actions – and that this is a judgement which has to be left to God because it is beyond the moral and intellectual scope of human beings to make it and because, for us, it will always be too early to tell. And that applies to judgements about our own lives as well as judgements about the lives of others.

The parable is also reminding us that the pursuit of human justice (which is so often mixed up with the human desire for revenge) can have dangerous side effects, with the innocent suffering as well as the guilty. The French Revolution, on whose long-term impact Zhou En Lai refused to comment, offers an example of what happens when people think that they have a secure knowledge of who is virtuous and who is evil and believe that they can ensure the triumph of virtue by eradicating those whom they deem to be evil. The innocent suffering caused by the Bolshevik revolution in Russia or by extreme right-wing regimes in Germany, Italy and Spain also shows that this kind of Utopianism leads to appalling cruelty.  We still live with the consequences of those upheavals. 

As Christians we should be very wary of this kind of judgmental certainty precisely because we understand that we ourselves are a mixture of the good and the bad, the wheat and the weeds.  We understand also that God loves us and seeks to bring us to fruition. If that’s true of us, it is also true of the politician whose policies and actions we most deplore. If we’re tempted to think that the world would be a better place without…and I’ll leave you to choose your personal bête noire…we need to remember that our belief that God’s love for us is unconditional and that God’s grace can transform us applies also and equally to them and to the whole of humanity. At a time when our elected representatives experience frequent abuse and death threats and a few days after the tragic and violent death of Ann Widdecombe that is a perspective which we need to cultivate and to share.

When the landowner in Jesus’ parable tells his slaves: “Let both of them grow together” the Greek word that is translated as “let” can also mean forgive. It is as though the landowner is telling his slaves to reprieve the weeds. We are all in need of forgiveness. The thrust of this sermon was pithily expressed by the theologian Miroslav Volf when he wrote these words:

“Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans and myself from the community of sinners.”

I think that anyone who has ever gardened cannot fail to resonate with today’s readings. Jesus’ simple parable of the sower uses images and language his hearers would have easily understood. They would have known, as we do, that in order to grow fruitful crops you need to plant them in well cared for, fertile soil. They would also have fully understood Isaiah’s words where he talks about the weather watering the Earth and causing seeds to sprout and plants to grow. If you plant good seeds and care for your crops you will end up with the things you want and not the weeds you don’t want.

All well and good but as any gardener, reluctant or enthusiastic knows, gardening is not just about sticking the seeds in the ground or planting the plants to produce their harvest or flowers alone. You have to add a great deal of, often back breaking, garden maintenance. That regular checking for weeds that might choke the delicate seedlings or new shoots; the peering at leaves and buds for any pests needing to be controlled and choosing the right time to pick or harvest; this takes skill and patience and often many long hours of work.

We know the facts as Matthew says, the facts of how we are called by God, through Jesus to live our lives; to hear his Word and to respond to it in all we do. God’s Word is life-giving, it may not always be easy to understand or to follow but it is there to guide us and to encourage us to try and do the right thing. Pray that you are fertile soil for God’s Word and that all that he says to you will find the correct growing conditions to thrive in. Let God’s Word live and grow in you and put that Word into action as you in turn till the soil and plant it with your actions.

Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

   Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

   triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

That opening verse from Zachariah sounds very familiar to our ears as it echoes the readings we hear on Palm Sunday. Zachariah is predicting the coming of the promised Messiah centuries before Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that donkey. Zechariah also refers to the Messiah as ‘King’ - perhaps suggesting that the anointed one when he comes would be powerful and noticeably so. 

Reading Zechariah’s words this morning I can see why many doubted who Jesus said he was. If you have grown up knowing Zechariah’s prophesy then Jesus was certainly not the type of messiah you might have been expecting. A Kingly Messiah sounds grand and imposing and one who would be able to sweep all things aside that stood in his way. Jesus didn’t conform to this expectation as God’s interpretation of what a Messiah is, is very different to what we humans might think they should be. 

Jesus our Messiah is the ‘Servant King’ not a domineering dictator. Jesus came to serve and save us not to dominate and suppress our enemies. God’s ways are always far more subtle than humanity’s approach to things. 

Zechariah predicted that the King, the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem as a victorious champion on a donkey. Riding on a donkey, a humble beast of burden seems a strange steed for the promised one to appear in Jerusalem on. However, in formal processions it was always the King who rode the donkey at the back of the procession in the place of honour. The most important person in the parade on the least important mount. In doing so attention was drawn to that person as being ‘man enough’ to ride the donkey in spite of that beast's humble origins. Only a powerful man could seemingly debase himself without fear of being overthrown himself. 

Jesus appeared in Jerusalem on a donkey echoing that kingly position but he rode the donkey as an act of humility not dominance. He rode the donkey alone and not in a mighty procession. A humble man on a humble beast. A servant entering the city to save his people from themselves if they could truly recognise who he was. 

We all know how the story pans out from here on in, with Jesus dying on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for us, his friends and loved ones. He didn’t need any mighty fanfare or parade to win Jerusalem’s loyalty, it would be his life and his blood that would be gifted to us as an act of humble service in order to save us from ourselves. 

The Gospel reading from Matthew this morning ends with the words:

“28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.                                                      ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ ’’

in a way they tie today’s readings up very well. burdens are carried and rest promised in the love of Jesus. 

Jesus, in riding the beast of burden becomes the bearer of our burdens; the one who saves and helps us. His kingly yoke is freely offered and if accepted it will be found easy to bear because Jesus will always be there helping us to carry our woes and sins, our suffering and our joys. 

That’s the Messiah, the king I wish to follow and like St.Paul suggests, I will do it despite myself and my own failings because Jesus will help me. Just as he will help you too.

Sometimes, what we hear read to us on a Sunday morning from our Scriptures can be rather hard to hear. Today’s Gospel reading is one such difficult to hear passage and most especially: 

34 ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. ³⁷Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

These are hard words and portray Christ as some sort of disruptive influence bent on causing strife amongst those who follow him and those who do not. And, further to that between those we do follow him but interpret what he says in different ways. 

Yet, if one carefully reads what is written in our Christian texts one can often find, almost in the same passage or paragraph something that takes the hard edge off the hard sayings. And, that applies to today’s Gospel. In the midst of that difficult Gospel reading there are a couple of redeeming sentences that put it all into context:

“²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. ³⁰And even the hairs of your head are all counted. ³¹So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Despite everything we are reminded God loves us so much that even the hairs on our head. That’s how much we are cared for by our Creator. Even though millions of us human beings have lived and will live we are all unique and equally special to God. Just as our loved ones may love every inch of us so does God and God will never forget us even when we have left this mortal coil and gone to glory. 

Knowing that one is loved so much by God, I hope, gives you much joy. You are not anonymous or unimportant to God, in fact the reverse is true. YOU ARE so important to God that nothing about you will ever separate you from his love, even if you chose to reject it. God will always love us and even in the midst of any strife that some of the sayings of Jesus cause us we must not forget the ultimate heart of the Good News; that we are loved, acceptable and wanted by God, even when others might try to tell us otherwise. 

I wonder how you or I might feel if our Lord suddenly appeared to us and commanded us to go out into the World and to proclaim the Good News, without taking anything but ourselves? No luggage, no money no nothing! I think I might feel overwhelmed and under prepared for the task in hand. Yet that is what Jesus commanded his disciples to do and by all accounts they did it. We are told that some places welcomed them and others not but on the whole it seems to have been all right for the disciples. They didn’t need any excess baggage but relied on the kindness of strangers who in response to what the proclaimed fed and water them and gave them a bed. 

To our modern ears this may seem rather amazing but it was actually the culture of the time for strangers to be given a welcome and hospitality without the expectation of payment. There was a sort of ‘Clan’ mentality amongst the chosen people of God, where members were recognised and cared for. Much of this familial bond has gone today and we are more suspicious of each other and each other’s motives. I suspect the disciples would get short shrift in today’s society. This sense of being in a clan is residually remembered today but I think little practiced in reality. Perhaps, today’s Gospel is calling us to remember our origins and to care for each other be they friend or stranger.