Proper 6B

With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed….

In two back-to-back parables based on agrarian imagery, Jesus speaks to the reality of his listeners. To the average Palestinian of the first century, the struggle to dry farm the rocky soil of Galilee is well-known. (I hazard that to the Vermonter of the early 21st century, the struggle to dry farm the rocky soil of most of the state is well-known, too! How many of us have spent hours digging up rocks in order to plant our gardens?!) In the parable that opens the gospel reading for this morning, Jesus describes the wonder of natural growth: once the seed is in the ground, growth happens automatically; the farmer does not know how this happens — it just does. What the farmer does know is that at a certain time, he must ‘put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.’

In the last of the agrarian parables, which we have also just heard, Jesus refers to the mustard seed. While some of the allegory is based on hyperbole, there is in it some truth, too. Most of us have probably seen what a mustard seed looks like: It is small— smaller than a pepper corn. When sown, it takes off and grows prodigiously. A field full of mustard is quite lovely to see. Waving, golden flowers carpet acres and acres… I walked by many a field alongside the Way of Saint James in France. However, if a mustard crop is not what you want, mustard seeds are problematic, at best. Mustard grows with the proclivity and tenacity of dandelions. Unless it is isolated by acres and acres, the mustard shrub can be difficult to eradicate. Rather than focus on the quantity of mustard shrubs, though, the parable emphasises the grandeur of the shrub that emerges from the tiny seed. When the tiny mustard seed 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.

But, how does the kingdom of God relate to the mustard seed?

And what does it mean for us to be part of the coming of the kingdom?

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Though early on in the Gospel of Mark, the writer already stresses the importance of the coming of the kingdom. The hearers of the gospel lived in anticipation of the immanent end of time, and thus, parables about the end times, were sources of hope that God would come. It is hard for us, now nearly twenty-one centuries later, to capture the uncertainty of the early Christian community as it contemplated the immediacy of the coming of the kingdom. It is perhaps less hard for us to imagine the fragility of the early Christian community as we struggle today to maintain the relevance of the church in our society, a relevance that sometimes seems to decrease with each passing year.

And so we need to step back, and consider for a moment what these two parables could mean for that early community, and then put the teaching of the parable into a context we can understand.

The first parable we have heard implies that the growth of the kingdom will be neither obvious nor controllable. The vocation of those who hear the parable lies in tending to the sowing, rather than provoking the growing which will happen by itself. Rather, one must know when the time comes to harvest and what actions one must take.

The second of these parables is meant to instill courage and hope in the small band of Jesus’ followers as they struggle against the political norms of the day. After all, how could such a small group take on Rome? Yet the writer of the gospel is certain that the Christian community will grow in size and strength, just as that tiny little mustard seed grew.

If the community has patience and hope, it will grow. Its growth will not happen right away, nor will it be triumphant right away. Even this early in the gospel, it would appear as though Jesus’ mission is doomed to failure. Jesus has already suffered the double rejection by the words of the Pharisees, and then his own family. Yet this parable seeks to reassure us that the seed is being sown and the harvest will come in abundance and might.

Key to both of these parables is the capacity for patience and hope. Patience — the being present with, the accompanying someone or something despite any difficulties….

Hope — the awaiting someone or something not readily seen or present, the belief in the coming of right relationships and God’s goodness in our time, and at the end time.

To borrow from the image in the gospel of Mark, it seems to me that each one of us is a mustard seed — seemingly small and sometimes insignificant alone, but once nurtured by the unseen Spirit of God, nurtured in the community we become strong. Each one of us is called to be an icon of patience and hope as exemplified by the tiny mustard seed.

It is difficult sometimes to be that bearer of hope — hope which is based in our faith in the risen Christ. It is difficult sometimes to be that bearer of hope when so much of our daily life seems to contradict it. It is difficult sometimes to be that bearer of hope when we seem so small — we, as an individual; we, as a parish, we, as a denomination. But we cannot give up. That is where patience that comes from trusting in God comes into play.

The patience that comes from trusting in God enables us to live in sincere hope, despite sorrows and trials, suffering and pain. Sometimes we must wait patiently, but that does not mean that we wait passively. In our waiting, we are still called to be a bearer of hope, an icon of hope, a mustard seed of hope. Our hope can become as great as the shrub in the parable of Mark. Our hope can become the place where diversity can find a haven. Our hope collectively can help bring about God’s kingdom and God’s relationship to a broken world. Indeed we have prayed this morning that God will keep the church — God’s household — in God’s steadfast faith and love, that through God’s grace we may proclaim God’s truth with boldness, and minister God’s justice with compassion. It is through each one of us proclaiming the truth of God’s love, and ministering God’s justice with compassion that we can bring about God’s kingdom bit by bit. The church is all of us. And so each one of us has a part in bringing about the kingdom.

What does bringing about the kingdom mean for you? How does your deepest passion meet the world’s deepest needs? How, in your daily life, do you live out the five baptismal vows of proclamation, prayer, community, service and respect? And how do you make the connection between your life here within these walls and the rest of the week? Each one of us has different answers to these questions, questions that first of all we must dare to ask without being afraid.

We cannot bring about the kingdom all alone, as lone rangers. No, we need to come together as a community to receive the sustenance that helps us to grow. That food is the eucharist, the gift of God which gives us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, and the kingdom of God. Fortified by the eucharist, we are then able to be bearers of hope to the world.

So, come and partake so that we together will be the mustard seed that grows into a tree of hope.