Year B Pentecost 3
Mark 4: 26-34The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”The Parable of the Mustard Seed
(Mt 13.31—32; Lk 13.18—19)
30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 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.”The Use of Parables
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.Mark 4: 26-34
© The New Revised Standard Version,
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989In the name of God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
In my very early university days I rented a house in Canberra that had a glasshouse out in the back yard. Mysteriously this glasshouse was a huge attraction for me in renting this house and so it was one of my first tasks when I moved in, to sweep it out and hose it clean in preparation for my very own floral display. At that stage I had a love of poppies and so planted trays and trays of the things from seeds that I had bought and even found one of those water indicators to help me understand the inner details of the ground in which I had planted a million poppy seeds.
Well to my delight up came a million little green shoots, all on time, which had very little hairy stems, as poppies do. But after about 2-3 centimetres these little hairy stemmed green shoots just stopped growing, and when I inquired at the garden shop with a handful of hairy stemmed green shoots, I was told they were all just weeds. It might be amazing that I even remember this little story, but the reason I do, is because it has little to do with the absence of poppies and the abundance of weeds, but every thing to do with the disappointment and failure of a hope and expectation of what might have come from the small seeds.
In Jewish folklore, the mustard seed stood as a symbol for the smallest of something, and it is a good symbol of this. If you put a mustard seed, or a carrot seed, or a poppy seed in your pocket you will probably never find it again. But as the story from Jesus goes, from this smallest of mustard seeds, comes a large bushy tree, so that the small does not remain small, but grows, and in the case of the mustard seed, it grows very quickly so that soon birds can land on its branches and find a home amongst its leaves. The kingdom of God, Jesus says is like this, the small becoming large, the seemingly insignificant becoming a reality, of magnificent proportions, and a haven, a place of rest, a home. The Kingdom of Heaven, the presence of God, has this hope and expectation.
Many times throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, the plant and the tree are used as expressions of expectation of life, as symbols for fulfilment and hope. Remember the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. The Psalmist [92:12&14] writes, “The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon… In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap…” . Isaiah [41:18-19] writes, “I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry lands springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive…”. Daniel [4:10-12] in his vision saw, “…a tree at the centre of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew great and strong, its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, and it provided food for all. The animals of the field found shade under it, the birds of the air nested in its branches, and from it all living beings were fed.”. In Revelation [22] “…the angel showed me a pure river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.”.
Many of you will know all of this though from your own gardens; relate it to your own lives, your own life parables, your rose bushes, your vegetables, your gum trees, your cumquat or lemon tree; in the garden, from the seed or seedling or cutting, there is a hope and expectation of a transformation to a certain greatness, so that there is the smell of a rose, the taste of the vegetable, the beauty and shelter of the tree. The Kingdom of God has this expectation and hope.
There is a mystery in all this though, just like there is a mystery in the likening of the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. You might be a wonderful gardener, and know just when to plant and when to prune and when to pick, but you have no idea about what makes the seed grow into the tree. A doctor might be able to tell you why someone died, but they have no grasp of what gave life to that person in the first place from the smallest of seeds. Isn’t it true, that the Kingdom of God, the presence of God, can grow from the smallest of specks, but it has a life blood and being of God’s own? Isn’t it true then that the tree can be nurtured and pruned, fertilized and watered, but it can also be slashed or stunted or deprived or even chopped down? Some of you will know that the Olive Tree that Billabong planted a year ago out the back, was broken in half one night, and now has to be replaced. I had hoped it would grow strong; we even imagined picking the olives from it.
Opposites can be striking. When I was the Minister in the country, it always amazed me that we could have farmers who lived so close to each other and one would be a millionaire while the other lived in near poverty. It amazes me that some people grow flowers as if every flower seed automatically becomes a flower, while my poppies turn to weeds. It amazes me that some people die young while others survive long. It amazes me still why some churches grow and others die. I knew of one church that closed because it only had a few single people and two couples. I knew of another church that began with only a few single people and two couples. It amazes me that seeds of the Kingdom of God the size of a mustard seed are everywhere, but in one place they grow beyond all proportion, while in another place they struggle thinly, even wither and at times they die. It may be intriguing to be reminded of these things, but it is true, in places and times, the presence of the kingdom of God will grow, but it can and does in places struggle, wither, and even, die. Why is this?
Well the parable of the mustard seed sits amongst other parables of the kingdom of God, for example the yeast rising, the pearl of great price, the buried treasure, the farmer who plants seeds, and in each of these there is a fragility and a risk that sits side by side of any hope or expectation. Bread makers know the delight of a fresh loaf, but the disappointment of finding that you’ve cooked a rock cake. Treasure hunters and gold diggers know the joy of discovery and the pain of finding rock. All farmers know the sight of a good crop in a good year and the sight of a bad crop in a bad year.
The Kingdom of God, has a life and being of God’s own, but it also needs response, nurturing and faithfulness attending to it.
The Jewish tradition and the Christian church has deceived itself when it has believed that the kingdom of God would march in victoriously and triumphantly and all we need do is wait.
Equally the Jewish tradition and the Christian church has been naïve when it has believed that by our own work and hand we could save ourselves and bring the kingdom of God about. We can see in the Gospels that some expected this type of approach in Christ; perhaps most notably Judas.
Instead the kingdom of God “…is like a mustard seed, which when it is planted, when it is sown in the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 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.”
Nothing grows unless it is sown, not even the kingdom of God. If we sit back and just wait expecting a fruitful presence of the Kingdom of God, it will not happen.
All planted things, including the kingdom of God, need tending and nurturing and a faithful response. But neither will there be a fruitful presence of the Kingdom of God if we believe that we alone are the givers of life and that by our own hands we can save ourselves.
Think for a moment… How can you tend, nurture the Kingdom of God?
Think for a moment… How you believe that you have to save, by your own strength, the way of God.
Jesus said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 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.”
Amen.