1 Samuel 15:34-16:13,
Psalm 20, 2 Corinthians 5:6-17, Mark
4:26-34
I love to garden.
I don’t currently have a garden,
but I have had many in the past.
Especially when I was younger, my family and I would maintain small
gardens full of items that could be added to our daily meals.
The part I enjoyed the most was
when the seeds would burst through the ground as they sprouted into whatever
vegetables they were. In this
anticipation, I would wait and wonder about what was happening under the
ground.
Were the seeds getting enough
water? Were they growing? When would they sprout? No matter how many questions I asked, the
answers were always the same… we needed to wait and watch until the seeds
popped their heads out of the ground.
“and the plant would sprout and grow, he does not know how.”[1]
In this day and age it may feel
strange to consider this line from our gospel today about not knowing how
something grows. Through scientific
discovery we have been able to explain exactly how seeds germinate and how
humans and other animals grow.
With that being said, the people
that Jesus was speaking to did not know the same things about science that we
do today. Back then life was very
different. Faith and beliefs ruled one’s life rather than science and facts.
This differentiation is important for us to understand since it impacts how we
hear this gospel story.
The person who plants in this story
is not concerned with how the seeds grow; in fact he doesn’t even take care of
the seeds after they are planted. Yet he
is ready to harvest once the grain is ready.
It is in being ready for the harvest that we can see an example of what
the kingdom of God is like. Just like a seed that has been planted in
the ground, the kingdom of God may
be hidden from those unaware of its presence until it is revealed in the
fullness of the harvest.[2]
Later in the gospel we heard about
the mustard seed, and about how when it grows it becomes a large shrub. From a tiny seed, the kingdom
of God grows generously
and abundantly until it
is large enough to provide a home for the birds of the air.
At first glance it seems as though Jesus is using the size of
this large shrub to be an example of the kingdom, but perhaps it is the nests and
various shelters that the birds and other animals are able to make because of
this shrub, that represents the kingdom.
This is an image
of expansive gentleness. The kingdom of God is described not in grandiose terms but
in terms of ordinary, quiet beauty, an inviting place to call home.
The purpose of our gospel reading
today is not to teach us about seeds or planting. The purpose of our gospel reading is to teach
us about the kingdom
of God. Jesus talks about
the kingdom of God
in parables because there is no one way to describe the kingdom of God
that would fully capture the kingdom is like.
In these parables the kingdom is
the very thing sown, not the result of the sowing[3]. The kingdom of God
continues to be sown in each of us everyday.
Through the study of scripture, being kind to a stranger, lending a hand
to friend in need, or sharing a meal together.
As I waited what felt like long
days for the seeds to sprout I would sometimes get frustrated. I would get frustrated because I would doubt
that I had planted the seeds properly or because I would worry that the seeds
were not getting enough water. When I
would get frustrated my dad would remind me that just because I couldn’t see
what was happening under the ground, didn’t mean that nothing was happening.
Today’s gospel emphasizes the hiddenness and smallness of the
quiet beginnings of the kingdom and also underscores the sense in which the
person planting does not make the kingdom happen by force of will. The person planting just plants and then
sleeps and rises night and day, and the earth produces of itself, and the
mustard plant puts forth its large branches. The kingdom grows organically. And
inevitably, as day follows night, God's hidden, mysterious work in the world,
and in us, will be fruitful.
Amen.
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