Jacob May: "The Case of the Wheat and the Weeds" (Sermon for July 19, 2026)

“He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field’” – Matthew 13:24This week, Jesus tells us another parable about sowing and reaping—but something’s different. Something’s off. The wheat and the weeds look exactly alike! Can you tell them apart? Can you judge which is which? Is that your decision to make?Jesus wasn’t in the business of reinforcing our binaries but disturbing them. We can see all around us the dangers of dividing the world into us versus them, the guilty and the innocent. Jesus knows that humans aren’t so simple. The wheat and the weeds are mixed in our fields. As our church and our community try to embody the justice and compassion of the kin-dom of God, our path will not be free of obstacles. It will not be free of ambiguity or uncertainty. So we must rely on the gracious and liberating God who knows us and loves us deeply.And that is good news!Peace,Jacob