St. Luke's Episcopal Church
Cleveland, Tennessee

2nd Sunday after Pentecost
June 14, 2009
The Rev. Deacon Art Bass

Seeds of the Kingdom

We've all seen cartoons or heard jokes and clever stories about the person who goes to see the wise hermit or sage who dwells on top of a high mountain peak in order to ask of that great teacher: “What is the meaning of life?”

I was thinking the other day, what if the person being asked the question, the wise teacher, were in fact Jesus? I can imagine something like this playing out. The seeker, the would be disciple, spends days -- weeks perhaps -- slowly making his way up the steep mountain slope. Finally, exhausted, he arrives at the top, and there he finds Jesus. He falls to his knees, stretches out his hands and pleads, “Rabbi, I have come all this way, and I must know, ‘What is the meaning of life?'” Jesus calmly replies: “Seek you first the Kingdom of God.” But the man is perplexed, and he asks, “What does that mean? What has the Kingdom of God to do with me and my life?” Jesus replies, “Have you got about three years?”

According to Christian tradition based upon the gospels themselves, Jesus earthly ministry lasted about three years, and much of that ministry was a teaching ministry --Jesus teaching the people and teaching his disciples. Much, perhaps most, of Jesus' public teaching was in the form of parables. Parables are metaphorical stories; some are short, and some are long. The favorite subject of Jesus in his parables and in all his teachings was the Kingdom of God.

For three years, Jesus used common images, drawn from real life, to try to explain to the people the meaning of that great and divine mystery which is the Kingdom of God. Then to the disciples, those who after Pentecost would become the core of the church, Jesus gave further, more detailed explanations and teachings. It was not that Jesus was trying to be difficult, but he knew that before the Passion, before the Resurrection, there was no way the people could comprehend or accept the full meaning of what he was saying.

In the time of Jesus, the Jewish people were certainly looking to be saved, to be delivered. They were looking for the Messiah and they were looking for the coming of God's Kingdom. But they were missing the mark in these expectations.

The people were expecting God to send them some sort of warrior king, someone who could overthrow the Romans and make Israel a great nation as in the days of David and Solomon.

This brings us to the first of our two seed parables in today's gospel. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God was as if someone scatters seed on the ground. The sower then simply goes about his business, rising at day and sleeping by night. But all the while, unknown to the sower, and not even understood by him, things are happening to the seed he has sown. These things at first are hidden by the soil. The seed begins to sprout and take root. Then there are visible changes, small at first. The stalk appears, then the head, and finally, the full grain in the head. All matures to ripeness, and then the harvest can take place.

The second of today's parables, Mark's version of the mustard seed parable, is closely related to the first. In this parable, Jesus teaches that the Kingdom is like the tiny mustard seed, which is the smallest seed sown, and yet once it grows into a mature plant, it is the greatest of all shrubs with many large branches in which the birds can make their nests.

These parables can be interpreted in several ways. They may speak of Jesus and how the Kingdom of God began with his coming. For three years, Jesus taught and worked signs to reveal that he was the long awaited Messiah, the Christ. But compared to what the people were expecting, the coming of Jesus and his ministry was so inauspicious that most took no real notice of it. They could not see what was happening, and yet, all the while, hidden from most and beyond their comprehension, God's great plan of salvation was developing and unfolding. The Kingdom was coming near and all the world would be transformed.

But it is equally valid to apply these two parables to us, to our individual ministries and to our collective ministry as the Church of God on earth.

We sow the seeds, but anyone who gardens knows that the work does not end there. We have to water the plants, hoe or till the soil, and pull the weeds, just to name a few tasks of the gardener. We have our role to play, but we do not make the seasons or the weather. We do not cause the seed to germinate and grow. We do not cause the plant to produce its fruit.

So it is with our ministry. We do our part, but without God and the Holy Spirit working mysteriously and unseen, our efforts would be futile indeed.

Oftentimes, we don't have any comprehension of how God is working through us or even an awareness that he is doing so.

Our God is an awesome God, and by the power of the Spirit, he is doing awesome things through his church, even though to us, these things may often seem small and ordinary. Yet, God is there, working and making a difference; he is transforming the world even when we are unaware of it.

In my former parish, there was a family which took in a foreign exchange student from Thailand. She was a teenager, and she spoke excellent English. But she didn't know much about life in America, and she was very curious, very interested in all aspects of American culture, including religion. Although she was a Buddhist, she chose to attend St. Thaddaeus with her host family. She became active in the E.Y.C. and even started singing in the choir.

One Sunday as the choir was processing into the church, this exchange student, Tera, as she liked to be called, tripped and fell just in front of the altar. Her hymnal, folder, and sheet music went flying everywhere. Members of the choir and clergy hastened to help her up and see that she was all right.

But before anyone could reach her, Tera assumed a kneeling position, clasped her hands together as if in prayer, and made a series of deep bows before the altar. After the service, she explained that she was afraid her clumsiness in worship had offended the deity, and she was praying not to be punished.

We told Tera that our God was not like that, that our God was a God of understanding, caring and compassion. We explained that God would not fault her for what had happened. We told her that God's only concern was for her well being, and that as God's people, we all shared in that same concern. Tera thought for a moment and then said, “Your God is a strange and unusual God, but in a very wonderful way.”