Mark
4:26-34
This particular parable, so simple a picture and yet so full of
meaning only appears in Mark’s Gospel. It tries, in a couple
of sentences to explain what something really quite complex (the
Kingdom of God) is all about, in words which Jesus’ hearers
who lived lives closely connected to the soil would be able to
relate to. At times Jesus could really make the people scratch
their heads and wonder what on earth he was going on about. But
not here, I think. All they had to do was close their eyes and
picture the scene in their minds.
Every week almost, we say these words ‘Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ and I wonder
how much we understand by that phrase? That’s the trouble
with saying the same words week after week for all of our Christian
lives – sometimes the words come out without the understanding
behind them, they’re almost empty of meaning.
Jesus loved to use picture language that people could relate to
and what better than the example of the growth of a seed into
grain ripe for harvest? Nature was all around the people of Jesus’
day, and living where we are we can almost say the same, because
we don’t have to travel far to see the cycle of nature from
seed sowing to harvest.
And what does it tell us? Firstly, that the seed has within it
the secret of life and growth, and the farmer doesn’t really
need to understand this before he sows. He’s not creating
something, because all the potential for life is contained within
the seed. The farmer can help by looking after the land and creating
good conditions for growth, we can tinker genetically with the
breeding of the seed, but at the end of the day we have little
control over whether the seed will germinate and grow once it
is in the soil and watered by the rain – that’s the
miracle of nature.
It’s not us who can in some way create a Kingdom of God.
It is already there, waiting to be entered into. We can create
conditions upon earth where it is given the opportunity to grow
more speedily and more fully, and we can also hinder it by our
actions or inaction, but in the same way that it is the creative
power of God behind the miracle contained within a seed, so it
is with his Kingdom.
Have you actually watched a seed grow? Have you seen it actually
grow taller as you watch? I guess not, and yet no doubt you’ve
sown seed one day, seen nothing happen for a while and a few days
later gone back and seen the first leaves pushing through the
soil. Give it another day or two and there’s real evidence
of growth in that row of lettuce or whatever (slugs permitting!).
A few weeks later and you are eating the leaves. Nature’s
growth is often imperceptible. Watch a plant every day and you’ll
be lucky to see evidence of growth, we only notice growth when
we’ve been away for a while and come back to look. It could
be argued that the same is true of the growth of God’s Kingdom.
Generations of Christians have prayed those words about the kingdom
in the Lord’s Prayer over the centuries. Have their prayers
simply been ignored? Were all those words said empty, without
meaning? Of course not! History tells us that despite the terrible
atrocities that have been committed and the injustices that have
been endured by people over the centuries and even now, we live
in a world that is far removed from that of our forefathers. It
might not yet be perfect, but it is better.
The story is told of Elizabeth Fry who went to Newgate Prison
in 1817. She found in the women’s quarters around 300 women
and masses of children living, cooking and eating on the floor.
The only attendants were an old man and his son. They crowded,
half naked and begging for money which they spent on drink in
a bar in the prison itself. She found a boy of nine waiting to
be hanged for poking a stick through a window and stealing paints
valued at twopence.
I don’t think conditions like that would be tolerated in
this country these days, and maybe we would be justified in saying
that the reason is that God’s Kingdom is slowly and imperceptibly
becoming established, as humankind begins to think of others as
well as self, and indeed starts to think that all might be born
equal in worth. Think about the tireless work of those opposed
to our country’s involvement with the slave trade, which
had a massive impact at the time but only after a long period
of time when fellow human beings were considered to be as valuable
as a pack horse and openly traded for gain.
We might not notice the difference from one day to the next, but
when we look at the bigger picture then we can perhaps acknowledge
the fact the work of God goes on day to day, quietly, unceasingly,
sometimes hindered, sometimes helped by our actions. But just
as there is an inevitability behind the cycle of nature which
starts with a seed and ends with a harvest, so it is with God’s
purposes. A tender shoot can force its way through a tarmac pavement
over a period of time. How does it do it? By constantly growing
in order to achieve its purpose – fruitfulness and harvest.
And it’s this inevitability, the ultimate harvest which
is the great Christian message of the Gospel. The seed is sown,
it grows and eventually fruits. As the hymn tells us ‘God
is working his purpose out’ And at the harvest the good
fruit, the ripened grain is separated from the weeds and tares,
which are put aside and destroyed. Harvest and judgement go together!
Christians are called to be good gardeners, who sow the seed but
who also have the patience to wait for the harvest, whenever it
might come – in our lifetime or in the future, as Paul acknowledged.
We might want action now, just as we want to see our flower seeds
grow and blossom within a season, but God calls us to be patient
gardeners, to work to his timescale not ours.
Paul knew all about this, about living in hope of what was to
come, of being a harvest people . In our reading from Corinthians
he says “It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps
us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the
path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we'll be plenty
ready to exchange exile for homecoming”
Every act of love and service that we offer, every comforting
or encouraging word, each time we share something of our faith
with others is like a seed sown – we don’t know what
effect they will have in the immediate days, but they are like
the watering and feeding that we do in our own gardens, they encourage
growth, promote fruitfulness and hasten the harvest in our lives
and others. “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A
man scatters seed on the ground”
Have you been practising your gardening skills recently?
