Jacob is one of the great figures of the Old Testament. He was the younger son of Isaac, his elder brother being Esau, and from the moment of his birth he was in trouble. He was called Jacob because he fought with Esau in his mother's womb, and was born clutching Esau's heel. Later he was given the name Israel because he wrestled with the angel of God. He was crafty, deceitful and clever, and he became the father of twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel.

Today we hear of one of his troubles. He has cheated Esau out of his father's blessing and has had to run away from home into the desert. Our reading says that "he came to a certain place and stayed there for the night." It was a nameless place in the desert, so he lay down and slept with his head on a stone for a pillow. He was alone, so anything could have happened to him - asleep, he could have been attacked by wild animals or enemies, and awake, he could have died of cold or starvation.

But while he was asleep, at his most defenceless, the LORD God came to him in a dream. First of all he saw a ladder stretching from earth to heaven, with angels, the messengers of God, coming and going. This was good news for him, because it told him that even in the nameless desert God was at work, even as he slept, God was awake and caring for him and for the world.

Secondly, God stood by him and spoke to him. This again was good news, because God was speaking to Jacob the thief, the cheat, the liar, the one who was running away from the righteous anger of his brother.

Thirdly, God gave to him a great promise of blessing - the promise of a land and offspring. Here is more good news, because Jacob, the dispossessed, the fugitive, was to be given a place to belong and a family to carry his name. God promised to be with Jacob while these promises came about.

Then Jacob awoke, and was afraid. Like Moses when he saw the burning bush, Jacob knew that he was on holy ground. He called the place Beth-el, which means the House of the Lord, and he set up a pillar, anointing it with oil as an offering of thanksgiving to God. It was a turning point in Jacob's life, and he knew it. It was the beginning of a change in his character from Jacob the trickster to Israel, the patriarch of the tribes of Israel, the chosen people of God.

The gospel reading is a parable of Jesus, the story of the weeds which grew among the wheat. It must have come as a surprise to some that the kingdom of God was not perfect from the beginning, how could there be unproductive weeds in the pure harvest of God?

The farm workers wanted to uproot the weeds and get rid of them. I suppose we could compare this with the Jacob story and say that if Jacob was the weed, then it was Esau, the farm worker, who wanted to dispose of him. But this was not to be. God appeared to Jacob and blessed him and his life changed and he became a blessing for the world. Not only that, if Esau had killed his brother, then that would have ruined Esau's life and future. Again, the comparison could be made with the wheat and the weeds - uprooting the weeds risks damaging the wheat.

It is only at the harvest when the judgement is made - only when the householder sees what fruit the plants bear does he decide to keep the wheat and burn the weeds. Until that time, the weeds grow with the wheat, sharing the goodness of the soil and the rain and the sunshine. God's blessing is poured out upon weeds and wheat alike and they grow together. Only at the end of the age will God "send his angels to collect out of the kingdom all causes of sin and all evil doers and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

As we read this we might feel glad that there will be a judgement, and that those who are evil and wicked will perish, while those whose lives bear good fruit will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of God. It is satisfying to think that our enemies will be overthrown.

But something else might happen instead. Look again and Jacob, the wily one, the one who tricked his brother out of his inheritance and his father's blessing. Here, surely, is an evildoer who is destined to perish! But we would be wrong to think that. The angels of God came not to throw Jacob into the furnace, but to give him blessings - the presence of God, belonging and a future.

Maybe, then, the weeds we see among the wheat may change like Jacob. Maybe if they are given the blessing of God their lives will change to something great and good. Maybe, do you say? I think we know better than that, we know and trust that God's love can work wonders. We declare our trust in God's love when we say that we try to share God's unconditional love and acceptance of all people. We know that God can work wonders in the lives of all people, Jacob and Israel, weeds and wheat. This is what we believe and this is what we declare, not only in our welcome of others, but in the confidence we have that our own lives are loved and precious to God.