Seeds!
Mark 4:26-34
So the city of Fort Worth needed to fix
a leak right where the water comes in to the meter in front of my
house. Of course they didn't tell me anything about it, just started
digging up the little area of grass surrounding the meter – right
out there by my mailbox. When they were all finished I had a brand
new, non-leaking water meter. But where there was once some grass,
now there was just dirt. I thought they might fix it – but I got
tired of looking at it and decided to replant the grass myself.
I don't know much about horticulture or
agriculture or even what the difference between those two really is.
But I know that grass grows from seeds. And if you put the seeds
down in some nice soil, and give it water, that those seeds ought to
grow. And sure enough, a couple of weeks later, I've got some new
grass peeking out from where I put the seed.
So it is with the kingdom of God.
Jesus uses two seed parables today to illustrate different aspects of
the kingdom. Or we might also say, of God's kingly activity in the
world. For so often we have a tendency to make the kingdom of God
all about us, or even about our work. But it's really always about
him, what he does, how he acts, how he saves. Especially in Christ.
Let's consider Mark's 2 seed parables this morning.
First, the Parable of the Growing Seed.
A short parable, with a couple of points of comparison. Often in
these parables we think of the seed as the word of God and the sower
as God himself. But here, it seems more that the sower is not God
himself, but a messenger – maybe a preacher or pastor. For the key
is that the seed does what it does – mysteriously. It works
according to its design and purpose, and the sower “knows not how”.
It also happens over time. I don't
think there's any species of plant, in which you can plant the seed
and watch the mature plant just pop right up before your eyes. It
takes time. There's a process. First the blade and then the ear,
then the full corn shall appear. All in good time. All in God's
time.
There are some implicit accusations
here for us, Christians. For one, we aren't always so content to
live under the mystery of the kingdom's working. Sinners want
control and information. We don't want to just blindly trust, but we
want to know the how's and the why's of God's activity, or seeming
lack thereof. We want to taste the fruit that is forbidden, and know
good and evil, know what it's like to be like God.
But imagine a gardener who tried
cutting open seeds to figure out their workings. Imagine him
dissecting and examining and poking and prodding around in the seed,
and then expecting the seed to grow. Or trying to tinker with the
seeds and make corn grow cantaloupe or beans produce broccoli.
No, he plants that seed and goes about
his other business. He rises and sleeps, day and night, blah blah
blah. And lo, and behold, when the time is right – the growth
comes. He knows not how.
And by way of a brief tangent - Perhaps
here's also a small word of warning to our scientists who would seek
to unlock the mysteries of life, the genetic code, the functions of
the cell. While on the one hand God has given us the ability to
study and understand much of the world he's created and put in our
care – and we are even commanded to manage and rule it well. On
the other hand, the astonishing design of life ought to bring us to
humility as not only the heavens but also the microscopic world
declares the glory of God, the creator. We know much more about how
seeds grow, for instance, than we did hundreds of years ago. But the
more we've learned, the more mysteries surface. And we're still far
from being able to bring about life in the first place. All of this
ought to humble us in our studies, and elicit a sense of awe at God's
marvelous work of creation.
And finally, we ought to proceed with
special care when it comes to tinkering with human beings in
particular. Breeding plants or dogs or even creating new hybrids may
bring stewardship questions, but when it comes to human beings we're
in a different ethical ballpark, for humans are made in the image of
God. And there is such a thing as “playing God”.
This first seed parable also indicts
our sinful lack of patience with God's kingdom. I check the progress
of my patch of grass every day- but it doesn't make it grow faster.
The plants God designed come forth according to his design. So also
his kingdom – as its word has effects that may take weeks, months,
years to come to fruition. You may live to see those fruits or not,
but no matter. Faith trusts the promise. God's word never returns
void. It accomplishes his purpose. But on his timetable, and not
necessarily on yours. How long, oh Lord? As long as it takes. In
his good time.
Jesus also reminds us that there is a
harvest time. Here is both a warning, and a promise. God's plan has
an endgame, history has an expiration date, Christ will come again to
judge the living and the dead. He'll separate the sheep from the
goats, the wheat from the tares, and bring his harvest, his people,
into his garner forever. This fallen world of suffering won't go on
forever. Such is the kingdom of God.
And then take this second parable,
perhaps more familiar, the parable of the mustard seed. One of the
smallest seeds, but it grows one of the biggest plants – a huge
bush with branches enough to accommodate all kinds of critters –
nesting birds and whatnot.
Here the point is simple: the working
of the kingdom starts small, but has great effects. It may begin
with simple water and a few words, but it ends with a child of God
living a life of faith and inheriting eternal blessings in the
kingdom to come. It may begin with a simple preacher sent to
proclaim Christ, and it may end with a church or churches where many
believers continue to gather long after he's gone. It may start with
one sinner who repents and is forgiven, and end with a multitude of
those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb.
Or even better, that by one man,
salvation comes to the entire world. It started small – with a
promise of a seed of the woman that would crush the head of the
serpent. God preserved his promise through the ages, and the ups and
downs of Noah and Abraham, and the tribes of Israel, and the kingdoms
of David and Solomon, through exile and back, under Greek and Roman
conquest. They would sleep and rise night and day, through the
centuries, as God nurtured his promise. And then Gabriel announced
to Mary, that she would bear that offspring. And you'll call him
Jesus.
Those who looked forward to him in
faith are saved, and those who have not seen and yet have believed
are greatly blessed. The good news of this God in the flesh would
start with a small band of about 120 disciples, and go forth from
Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.
That believers from every nation would flock to this church like the
birds nesting in the safety of the mustard bush.
And he, Jesus, also compared himself to
a seed:
And Jesus answered them, “The
hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and
dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
John 12:23-24
Yes, the seed of the woman so long
promised would indeed crush the serpent's head, but by the bruising
of his own heel: The seed had to die. Just as the wheat falls into
the earth and dies – so Jesus suffered, died, and was buried. But
death could not hold him, and he sprouted from the grave with new
life – not just for himself – but the fruits of his resurrection
bring a resurrection to all who are in him. We haven't seen the
complete fruition yet. But we will at the final harvest.
Until then, we live in our baptism,
dying and rising daily in Christ. Until then, we are nurtured at his
table, toward the fruits of faith in God and fervent love for one
another. Until then, we too cast seeds as we are able, according to
our own stations and vocations, and sleep and rise night and day –
in the peace that knows not how God works, but trusts him to do it
nonetheless. Thanks be to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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