June 18, 2006 Sermon
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Proper 6 Year B
Mark 6: 26-34 Emmanuel San Angelo
June 18, 2006 Allan Conkling
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like this….”
Once again we find ourselves in the long summer season, and once again, when the faithful do come to church, we find the stories of Jesus waiting for us like a comfortable old shoe.
“I love to tell the story of unseen things above.
Of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story; ‘twill be my theme in glory.
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.”
The long summer season is filled with the old, old stories. This morning, in our short passage from Mark we get two: The story of the farmer, and the story of the mustard seed.
Jesus was the consummate teacher. He told his stories using images and object lessons drawn from the world around him. He took what was readily seen, and used it to describe that which was unseen—what he called the Kingdom of God. No doubt were he here today, he would use different things drawn from our world. But the examples found in the Bible have a wonderful quaintness, and really, even for city dwellers, they are still pretty understandable. Who can’t form a mental picture of the reign of God being mysteriously fruitful—growing and evolving daily—drawing all to a “harvest time”? God’s reign will be one of blessedness and abundance for all of Gods creation.
Or what about the promise that great things often start from small beginnings? What Good News it is for us on our sometimes tenuous journey of faith, that God will take our smallest efforts: God sees and indeed rewards our most humble attempts at being good, or helping others, or at prayer—and make these great. We are promised, as Christians, that our efforts to get closer to God are never in vain. We will be blessed so long as, “we make it our aim to please him,” as Paul says.
Well, so where do we begin? How do we know that, in fact, we are doing all that we can to please God? I think about this a lot on this father’s day. We have all have heard the “mixed reviews” that fathers often get. We all know, and some of us even first hand, of fathers who were less than adequate as parents—some even downright no good. I want to be a good dad for my kids, a good husband, a good spiritual “father” for this congregation. But how do I know if what I do is right? How do we as individuals, and as a congregation know that we are on the right track in this call to make our aim to please God? Remember, that when Jesus spoke of that which was unseen he used examples of that which is seen: examples drawn from the real world. That is the point of the parables, and I believe these words from Mark hold for us several key points we can reflect on to answer this question:
First, from this parable we can see that, apart from anything we say or do, Growth Happens. As Christians we believe, and in the Lords Prayer we say every week, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Using the example in the Parable, it is not the farmer who makes the seed grow. The farmer doesn’t even understand how it grows. It just happens. The secret of life and potential for growth resides in factors and systems beyond us. Sure, we can frustrate it, or hinder it, just as we can create opportunity for it to be fulfilled more speedily—but God’s kingdom, and the radical transformation of this world is going to take place whether we want it to or not. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand, and many who heard him rejected him. But for whose who were able to hear it the message was, that behind all things and in all things is God. God is the mover. The Spirit is the life force. And as for us, as Paul says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”
Secondly, we need to remember that the Christian life is one of hope. We live today in an atmosphere of despair, and in a culture of cynicism and hopelessness. How many churches preach a message of doom! We despair for our Church. We worry about our kids. We fear the collapse of our nation both from within and without. We live in dread of the future. But, as William Barclay writes in his commentary,
“If God is the God we believe him to be, there is no room for pessimism. There may be remorse, regret; there may be penitence, contrition; there may be heart-searching, the awareness of failure and of sin; but there can never be despair.”
Christians who are spiritually on the right track live in hope that, “with Christ all things are possible.”
Finally, we can know we are on the right track in our faith now, when we live with a sense of joyful anticipation of the future. The kingdom of God will meet its fullness and consummation. Of that we are promised. Jesus says, when the seed is sown “it grows up and becomes the greatest of all plants – putting forth branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” Small beginnings will result in great endings.
The parables of the Kingdom, of sower and seed, give us an example of what has been called “Agricultural Grace”. God is working his purpose out—like a plant breaking through the soil growing slowly, steadily, on its own time and in its own way. Meanwhile, we live our life day by day: in faithfulness, loving kindness, in service to others around us; with open hearts and open minds. As we do so that the seed which took root in Palestine so long ago will flourish within us and in this church, today and always.
Copyright © 2003 Emmanuel Episcopal Church. All rights reserved.
Revised: 06/26/06