Reverend
Debbie Cato
Mark 4:26-32
Fairfield
Community Church
June
16,2-24
Let
us pray: Holy, Holy God. We pray that our time of
worship this morning will transform our lives so that we can be all that you
have called us to be. O God, by your
Spirit tell us what we need to hear this morning, and show us what we ought to
do, to obey Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let
God Do the Work
Mark's gospel tells us that Jesus chose
to speak in parables. Some people find parables annoying. Why didn't Jesus come
right out and say what he meant? Why did he leave behind all these cryptic
sayings, loaded with innuendo, instead of a crisp code of laws or a stack of
essays with titles like "How to Be a Good Disciple," or "A Brief
Definition of the Kingdom of God" or "Seven Key Features of the
Coming Kingdom and What This Means to You." Checklists of things we need to know and
things we need to do. Or, maybe
brochures that we could study and memorize with pictures that make them more
interesting. That way, we would know for
sure what Jesus expected a good follower to look like or what in the world the
Kingdom of God really means. That would
be helpful, wouldn’t it?
If you think Jesus would have gotten his
points across better with hard and fast rules, try remembering the last time
you sat down and really enjoyed reading Leviticus or the first few chapters of
Numbers!
I think God figured they tried that once and it hadn’t worked very well! So, instead of how-to-manuals or a list of rules, we have collections of parables that are often confusing, hard-to-understand stories that Jesus told to his disciples and the crowds of people who gathered to hear him teach. Jesus used things that were familiar to the people he was teaching; things from their culture – like farming and fishing, to teach them about the not so familiar Kingdom of God.
Today we have two parables about seeds. The first parable compares God’s kingdom to a
feature of planting that is familiar to any gardener or farmer. The gardener can put the seeds in the ground
but cannot really do anything about them growing. In fact, the gardener has so little to do
with making the seeds grow that in the parable, the gardener sleeps through the
process of sprouting and maturation. It
doesn’t matter. The seeds sprout and
grow anyway.[1]
Now, just in case we did not quite get the message,
Jesus offers a second parable. This
time, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Even though
the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, it grows into a bush 10,
sometimes 15 feet tall.[2] In fact, the
bush that grows from this tiny seed becomes so large and so lush that birds can
make nests in its shade. It’s amazing
that something so tiny can become something so large that birds can find
shelter from the hot sun in the strength of the branches. (Here are mustard seeds and here’s a picture of a full grown mustard tree.)
You see, Jesus recognizes the importance of the imagination. When you hear these parables, you can picture a garden or a field, can’t you? Perhaps you can picture someone on their hands and knees, carefully planting seeds in the ground. Can you imagine plants poking through the ground; squash ripening on the end of the end of the vines; tomatoes turning red in the hot sun, or pumpkins turning orange in the fall? Perhaps you can see a mustard bush getting bigger and bigger as it reaches toward the sky.
I’m a gardener.
Four years ago I lived in a mother-in-law apartment attached to my
daughter’s house. They had 4 large, raised
beds that were waist high – perfect for my arthritic body.
One year I was having foot surgery in May, and I was
not going to be able to put weight on my foot for 2 months. I had prepared the soil in the fall, and I
did not want to go without a garden just because of my stupid foot! So, before my surgery, I planted some extra
strawberries plants, tomato starts, and I used seeds to plant bush peas,
carrots, lettuce, and spinach. I planted
herb starts, and lots of flowers. I set up soaker hoses on a timer so
everything would get watered. Then I had
foot surgery and for a month I couldn’t walk out to my garden. No one was pulling weeds and fussing over the
garden. I couldn’t see what was
happening. I am a control freak, and
this drove me crazy!!
Finally, after about a month, I was able to walk on
my heel far enough to get
to the garden. Honestly, I was amazed! My garden was filling in and there were very few weeds after that month. Pea bushes were shooting up and filling in. My carrots were about an inch high. Lettuce and spinach were growing. Tomato plants had gotten taller and filled in and already had some flowers on them which would turn into tomatoes! The strawberry plants had filled the planter and had flowers and even a couple of baby berries which my then 2 ½ year old granddaughter happily pointed out to me. The flowers I planted were beautiful. I had prepared the soil. I planted the seeds and the starts. But after that I had not done a thing. It was all happening without me. Maybe all my fussing wasn’t necessary! Maybe my garden had nothing to do with my superb gardening skills!
About 13 years ago, I served a church in Casper, Wyoming that was in a poor, underserved neighborhood. There were no grocery stores in our neighborhood which made our community a food desert. The church owned property next to our parking lot and it just sat vacant and was overgrown with weeds. It was an eyesore. After much discussion, and yes, a bit of begging on my part, we turned our empty lot into community gardens. It was a lot of hard physical work. We imagined a place where the neighbors could grow vegetables while having a place to build community and get to know one another.
One Saturday, Henry, an elder and I were the last to leave after a day of work. It was after 6:00. We were both exhausted. We had just planted sod in front of the gardens where we had developed a park for people to sit and visit and for the children to play. There were 3 families from the neighbor-hood, planting their garden plots. They were laughing and talking to one another while they planted. Henry and I stopped to talk with them. I introduced myself to each of them, Mind you, I was filthy. I was sweaty. My hair was sticking out in all directions. But I wanted them to know who I was and that I was so glad they were taking advantage of the community gardens. They were planting tomatoes and peppers and corn and onionsand squash and cucumbers. “Thank you for doing this for our neighbor-hood!” they said. “We didn’t know each other before but now we are becoming friends,” they told me. I learned that one of families lived across the street; another just down the street; and the 3rd lived on the next block. “We are planting seeds,” I told the congregation the next morning. “We don’t know what will grow, or how it will grow, or how big it will grow. But we have prepared the soil.”
Jesus tells this parable to illustrate what the Kingdom of God is like—the scope of God’s peace and freedom and justice. Despite the skepticism of many of Jesus’ enemies, He proclaims that God’s Kingdom has already become a reality through him. Many looked around them and could not see any signs of His promised peace and freedom and justice and they rejected Jesus’ message. In fact, some of them thought he was either crazy or demon-possessed, or maybe both!
I think that’s why Jesus told them this parable. He was reminding them that when it comes to understanding how God’s Kingdom works, we don’t get it. We are clueless. Just like the gardener who sleeps through the process of sprouting and growth and wakes up in time for the harvest.
The growth of the church in the first century certainly confirmed the truth of Jesus' parable. Just like the mustard seed, which is small and insignificant, the first followers of Jesus are a bunch of ragged folks; full o doubts and fears, unable to comprehend much of what Jesus says or does.
The reign of God bursting into history rests on them. And yet look at what happens! On the day of Pentecost, the 120 disciples grew to over 3,000 just on continued to multiply.
That was 13 years ago. The church doesn’t exist anymore. At least not as a traditional church. But the denomination saw the work that God started. They trusted. It took 2 years after the church closed but the Holy Spirit breathed life into the closed building. It’s called the Winter Memorial Community Center. Today, the church building is alive with activity. There are non-profit offices in the church and classes and workshops and resources. Community meetings are held there. There is a daycare center, a regional food bank, and community meals. The park has playground equipment now. The number of community garden plots have been doubled! The neighborhood is a safer place to live and there is a true sense of community. I didn’t get to see the harvest. But I was there when the seeds were planted.
You have all planted seeds. Some large. Some small. You may not have seen the harvest. You may have been broken-hearted. You may think your efforts are without fruit. Take heart! These parables are parables of hope. Reminders that God works behind the scenes. The end results, as well as the beginning, are God’s doing and not our own!
[1] Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3. Wendy Farley. P 140.
[2]
William
Hendricksen, Commentary on Matthew
[3] Cf. J. D. Crossan, “The Seed Parables of
Jesus,” Journal of Biblical Literature 92 (June 1973):
266. He says the parable is an image of “resolute and prudent
action.” Cf. also Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:850.
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