June 16, 2024 Sermon
Sermon title: “Faith of a Mustard Seed”
Scripture: Mark 4:26-34
(Other lectionary suggestions include I Samuel 15:34- 16:13, Psalm 20, and II Corinthians 5:6-10 and 14-17.)
Mark 4:26-34
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32yet 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
33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
The mustard seed is probably one of the greatest symbols of things Jesus said. The sermon title should probably be, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” not “Faith of a Mustard Seed” since a seed can't really have faith, can it? A minor point! But the fact remains: the symbol of the mustard seed is a favorite. I gave my mother a mustard seed that she put on a bracelet when I was in high school, and she loved it!
On the surface, one might say that if you have just a tiny bit of faith, such as an amount as tiny as a mustard seed, that's okay. And it's okay because there is a possibility that that faith can GROW. So that's a nice concept. But what if Jesus had some OTHER ideas in mind? And I think he did! The bit about somebody sowing seed and going to sleep and getting up the next day and the seed continues to take root and grow, and “he does not know how.” The point is that God moves in tiny, imperceptible ways. What WE may think is a little thing is NOT a little thing in GOD’s eyes. And the same thing with the tiny mustard seed: it may be a small thing, but God's kingdom has big plans for it!
When we read that Jesus did not speak to them EXCEPT in parables, we may wonder why. The reason is that Jesus was preaching a dynamite message, and maybe even a radical message. I don't know when Jesus realized that he was probably going to have to die on a cross, but before that time came, he wanted to lay the groundwork for God's kingdom message. And he thought the best way for that to happen was to speak in parables. He did not want to come right out and say, “I am the Messiah, so listen to what I have to say.” Such a proclamation would have probably brought certain arrest and maybe even an earlier death than he experienced. But by speaking in parables, he could get his message out to some, and maybe those who understood could explain to others.
The last verse of today's reading says that Jesus explained everything to his disciples in private. That doesn't mean that everyone understood, but there was an attempt at letting the inner circle know that there was more to seed stories than originally met the ear!
Something else here: whenever we hear the term “arise” or “arises,” that term is the same word used for “resurrection.” So, already this early in Jesus' ministry is the concept of new life. What is going on may not look like what the people were expecting, but “it was in fact the seedtime for God's long-promised and long-awaited harvest,” to quote New Testament scholar N. T. Wright. And don't look down on small beginnings. How did Apple Computer start? In somebody's garage, right? So, don't look down on the small things. You never can tell what God may be doing.
The Scripture we heard today mentions something about the birds of the air making nests in the shade of a tree that was just a small seed. Jesus is referring to Old Testament prophets such as Ezekiel and Daniel, who use such an image. They are speaking of a great kingdom, “growing like a tree until those around can shelter under it.” According to N. T. Wright, Jesus is saying not to worry. “Remember who your God is and what he's promised. Realize that this small beginning is the start of God's intended kingdom - the kingdom that will eventually offer shade to the whole world.”
Wright acknowledges that Jesus' listeners probably knew their Scripture better than you and I do. (Without Wright's commentary, I would not have known what I have just told you!) And you and I live in a different world from when Jesus walked the earth. Our task “is to think out what we have to do to be kingdom-workers, kingdom-explainers, in our own day.” How do you and I keep the message alive? And what is the message? That God still reigns, regardless of the way things sometimes look. Amen.
Pastor Skip
