July 19, 2026 – The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. William Simerly
In nomine…
Good morning Good Sam! It is always a joy to be with you all. I have been Curate at St. E’s
down in Farragut the last two years with a son of this parish, the Rev. Brett Backus and now I
am the chaplain to Tyson House, the Episcopal and Lutheran Campus Ministry at UTK. I was a
student at Tyson House over 10 years ago and while there sang in the choir here at Good Sam.
Being the chaplain at Tyson House is a really a full circle moment for me. Thank you to this
parish for your ongoing support of our ministry at Tyson House. Following worship, please see
me at the Tyson House table for more information about Tyson House and how you can get
involved and support our ministry.
I have been dealing with a lot of weeds recently, so our gospel this morning is fitting for me at
least.
We had a huge workday at Tyson House at the end of June. There was a lot of weeding and
trimming, and mulching, and limb cutting that was done. The outside of the building looks so
much better than it did.
But, there are little weeds that are popping up. And I have tried to pull them out, pray that the
sun will scorch them, and even sprayed them but to no avail.
And they aren’t terrible, like they aren’t overtaking anything, but I notice them and it drives me
crazy. I have been gone for a week of vacation though, so this afternoon when I get to Tyson
House, maybe they will have overtaken and this sermon will be null. We shall see.
This morning Jesus shared another parable with us, this time not the parable of the sower like
we heard last week, but this time, the parable of the weeds.
On a first hearing, it is hard to digest. It’s easy to forget the first half of the parable and instead
dwell in the second half, where Jesus allegorizes the parable.
Parables and allegories are similar, but they are different. Parables, especially in their use by
Jesus, always have something to do with a ealized eschatology (the kingdom already and not
yet present).
1
And they often challenge the everyday expectations of the hearer.
2
2
Ibid
1 NIB pg 299
2
When Jesus used parables they were disturbing stories that threatened the hearer and the
secure idea of the world that they had always thought was true or the way things ought to be.
3
In this case, the parable is primary and the allegory is secondary. The allegory does help
understand the parable, but the parable is what we need to focus on and it is where the
teaching is to be found.
So what Jesus is saying in the parable is actually good news for us this morning.
He tells us that sower sowed good seed in a field, but at night someone came and sowed
weeds amongst his good seeds. And they both grew up alongside the other.
The sower’s workers were concerned about the weeds and wanted to do something about them,
but the sower said to wait until the harvest. Don’t disturb them because they could inadvertently
disturb the good seed. At the harvest, the reapers would dispose of the weeds and collect the
crop for harvest.
How many of us are full of good seeds but at the same time, full of weeds? We all have weeds
in our past and good seeds throughout our life. That is part of the human condition. Sin, evil,
injustice are all in the world. Sometimes we willingly participate in these things, and sometimes
we are just caught up in systems that are sinful or evil and there really is nothing we can do
about it.
This is a story as old as time.
In Romans chapter 8, Paul speaks that “the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains
until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves” creation itself has always cried out
because of the weeds, because of the bad things that have occurred throughout the history of
the world. Both human made and natural phenomena that cause death and destruction and
pain.
Perhaps even the good seed that the sower sowed joined in the groan of creation, this groan
asking for help, for release, for adoption, for the revealing of the Kingdom, for when all things
will be reconciled in Christ.
And Christ is our answer. Jesus is the one who does and will take care of the weediness of our
lives and our world.
In his birth at Bethlehem, in his life and teaching, and most assuredly in his death and
resurrection, Jesus inaugurated the start of the Kingdom, the beginning of the end. The
beginning of the end of the weediness that infects our lives and our world.
But, we still have weeds. So what are we to do?
3
Ibid.
3
The parables of the weeds teaches us that we can only do so much to get rid of the weeds. We
are human, not God. Some things God will take care of in God’s time.
Some of the weeds that may infect our hearts are things that we need to ask Jesus to come and
take away from us. Remember a few weeks ago Jesus said come to me all you that are weary
and carrying heavy burdens and I will refresh you. I think we could add to that, if you have
weeds in your life, Jesus will prune them, if we allow him to.
Evil, sin, the weeds are all temporary. God’s goodness is everlasting. The Kingdom has begin, it
has not ended. The kingdom that Jesus pronounced has begun and will never end and one day
all of the weeds, all of the evil, all of the sin, all of the pain, all of the death, all of these bad
things, will be wiped away. And the whole creation, each of us, every flower that blooms, every
crop that bears fruit in due season, every person we don’t like, will be made new.
That is our hope. That is the hope that the parable of the weeds should give us.
So my weeds at Tyson House, I may try a few more times to get rid of them, but after that, I may
just let them be. And let God who created them take care of them and allow Jesus who came
among us to love us and prune the weediness of our hearts do the same with me.
Amen.