Mark 4: 26-34
Summertime and the livin’ is easy. We are almost there!
Summer preaching is the best! I
really love it. There is no pressure to distill any theological
significance of Jesus birth and death, no pressure to teach about Christmas,
Easter and Pentecost and the hidden meanings we might find in them.
Summertime preaching is about Jesus’ life and what he did with it day to day
and a chance for us to dream about the agrarian life in the Galilee.
What I also love is that summertime
preaching is organic. Jesus often relates his lessons to nature, his
parables revolve around farming, fishing, boating and so we can really settle
into the reality of Jesus’ existence, his everyday life and the quotidian
concerns that he and his friends and family faced.
Now most of us are light years away
from living an agrarian lifestyle; most of us don’t farm or fish for our
livelihood except for maybe the Smith’s who know all too well of agrarian
living.
But at the same time we are not so
different from those first century farmers because we share in the same
concerns and joys of life. We live, we love, we work for economic
sufficiency and we work hard to find meaning for our lives.
So let us listen to this morning’s
scripture as if our life depended upon it. From the fourth chapter of Mark…
He (Jesus) also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would
scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the
seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself,
first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the
grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has
come.’
He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what
parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon
the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it
grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able
to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained
everything in private to his disciples.
Jesus shares with his disciples’ two
parables about seeds and planting. He is never without a story, that’s
how Eugene Peterson introduces these passages, I think that is true.
Jesus always has a story. Then he
attaches a ‘PS’ almost an editorial note that tells us the purpose of parables
which ultimately summons the listener to hear the word of God and follow
Jesus.
by Carl Dixon
This parable, one has to laugh! What a sense of humor Jesus has!
The parable about the mustard seed is laughable really, ‘the kingdom of God is
like a scrubby, invasive bush’. That’s what Jesus is saying. Like
kudzu growing on a tree, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that grows
into a bush. In the Galilee a mustard bush was the equivalent to an
invasive weed like kudzu or the Persicaria perfoliata that made headlines in
the Wilton Bulletin this week!
And, we know that the mustard seed is
not the smallest of seeds, what he means is that it is the least of seeds, its
insignificant in the botany world.
It’s a seed of a weed.
And a bush?? Really? You
would think that God could imagine a kingdom that would be a little larger than
a bush. It sure doesn’t give you the impression of greatness like the
Ezekiel passage that talks about the lofty tops of the cedars that God will lop
off and plant. But yet, the mustard bush’s small stature, offers a safe haven
and a home for birds of the air. In other words, it does its job. It has a purpose and a function in
God’s created world.
You only have to look outside your
backyard door to see what God means.
I’ve got large and very old trees, and azalea bushes. I’ve got invasive vines, and lush pachysandra. The birds, big and small flit around
from tree to bush as they wait their turn at the feeder. Each sort of vegetation is needed and
used for the perching purposes.
It’s a busy backyard.
Never underestimate the power of
God's ability to work through the most unusual and perhaps even
insignificant ways. Never underestimate
the power of God to work through you.
Never undervalue each encounter that you have with someone, it could
just mean that person’s life, or yours. You never know when a seed is
planted what it will yield.
Rev. Andre Trocme was a protestant
pastor in Le Chambon during World War II when the Germans occupied the South of
France. The book about his
ministry and life, “Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed” tells how Trocme lead his
congregants to peacefully resist the Germans and give refuge to thousands of
Jews who were seeking shelter for their lives. It’s a remarkable and inspiring story. But it didn’t happen overnight.
Over time and through his life example
and preaching Trocme built a firm and ethical foundation for the people, it was
a foundation rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ to thirst for justice, to be
merciful to all and to be pure in heart.
He charged them to have moral intentions in all that they do that were unpolluted
and to not be tempted by worldly things, to always stay focused on God.
In other words he sowed the seeds of
justice and mercy in their hearts and in doing so laid the foundation for Le
Chambon to save lives of innocent Jews who would have been sent to the death
camps. The good and everyday
people of Le Chambon gave shelter to many just like the mustard bush providing
shelter for the birds.
A small bush can pack a mighty punch.
God has the power to take small things and make them great. You have a place
and a function in God’s kingdom.
That’s the way God intended it to be and you will be able to effect
change.
God works through each and every one of
us. Every day is an opportunity
for growth, each moment can yield significant outcomes. There is a place in the
kingdom for all people because God will use us to the best of our abilities and
for God's ultimate purpose.
Each one of us is created wonderfully
unique so that the seeds of God’s love and grace can be sown. God will plant the seed of faith within
us to grow so that we, in turn, may plant seeds of hope and healing for others.
A small seed sown, one bush grown as
shelter for many. That’s how God
works to God’s purposes not ours.
Be open to the possibilities however small they might seem. One day you just might be giving
shelter to the birds of the air.
Anne Frank, once said, “Everyone has inside of [them] a piece of good news. The good
news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What
you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”
You have great potential and with God’s help you
will grow into it. That’s a
promise.
Amen.
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