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Sermon - Second Sunday After Pentecost (B) - 14th June 2009
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping
Readings: Mark 4:26-34
These parables of Jesus about the Kingdom of God are well known to us. And 2000 years later they can lose some of their impact. You could easily get the impression that this is an afternoon garden club where people get to talk about their theological ideas. If that’s what was going on then why did the crowds flock to hear Jesus, what drew them in. The impact just doesn’t seem to be there, or perhaps somehow we are missing the point.
In fact, these teachings of Jesus on the Kingdom of God is incredibly dangerous. If Jesus were giving this teaching in Jerusalem he would be arrested by the Roman authorities immediately. Under Roman rule, societies generally prospered. Because of the Roman peace, business and trade could go on unhindered and many people made a lot of money. But there was one thing that was always non-negotiable. There was only one power and that was Rome. There was only one Lord and that was the Emperor. It can be likened to China today. Many people are prospering. The people have been given great freedom. But there is only one government and any opposition will not be tolerated. You are free to do almost anything except be political.
Yet in this sort of environment Jesus preached about a new kingdom. And this was to a people who had an expectation of a new kingdom. They believed it had been promised to them by God. Israel was looking for a messiah who would give them this kingdom. Several men both before and after Jesus led revolutionary movements declaring that it was them. They were the Messiah. So Jesus preached revolution in an age of revolution. It was this kind of language that got him killed and Jerusalem destroyed some 40 years after. But he persisted in telling stories about the kingdom.
And in this politically charged environment we can see that his words were explosive. No wonder he attracted the crowds. Notice here one feature of all of Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom. Jesus always preached success. He always preached that the Kingdom would win. The Romans were legendary for their record of success. they had brilliant generals who provided excellent leadership. They were wealthy enough to afford professional armies. Mostly, when a roman soldier retired he was well paid. They had the best technology. Their armour was so advanced, it was better than what knights wore to the crusades some thousand years later. Rome knew all about success. Its empire lasted longer than any other in the history of the world.
Yet Jesus taught the success of his kingdom, in spite of the incredible odds. In the first parable Jesus speaks of a harvest which is usually symbolic of the blessing of God. In the second we have the description of the mustard seed which on the one had is the smallest of seeds, but on the other, it becomes the largest of all the garden plants. Then it finishes with the image of the birds of the air perching in the branches. To us, I think the image of a bird perched in a branch is fairly unremarkable, but for the Jews it was a reminder of the story of Noah. God had created a mighty flood. Those in the ark had survived but they looked forward to the end of the flood and the beginning of a new life. Noah sent out a bird each day in search of dry land. But each day the bird returned because it could find nowhere to perch. Eventually, the day came when the bird did not return and Noah knew that the flood was receding. God blessed Noah with a new world where he could live and prosper. But Jesus adds to the image by including a number of birds that find their rest in these branches. In other words the kingdom will achieve its purpose. It will achieve its goals. It will be victorious.
But notice the other characteristics of these parables. They begin in such humble settings. The first begins with a farmer who scatters his seed in his field. Jesus began with an idea they were all familiar with – the farmer sowing his field. What happens next is known only to God. The farmer does nothing. He sits back and wait to see what will happen. The seed does whatever seeds do. It sprouted and grew no matter what the farmer did. He can sleep or he can get up. It makes no difference. The seed grows but the farmer doesn’t know why. Then in my Bible the next verse reads, “All by itself the soil produces grain.” That phrase “All by itself” is a Greek word from which we get our word “Automatic”. The verse could read, “Automatically, the soil produces grain.”
Once its ripe the farmer takes his sickle and brings in his harvest. The point Jesus is making is that the Kingdom of God is coming. People won’t know how it will come and it won’t depend on people to make it happen. But the coming harvest is guaranteed. This was a message of good news and it was doubly good because it didn’t depend for its success upon the efforts of Israel. This coming of the Kingdom will be something of a mystery.
But the parable of the mustard seed has a different emphasis. First we have the contrast between the smallness of the seed and the eventual size of the mustard bush. But something else is also implied. The mustard bush grows like weed. Once it takes hold in a garden you are never rid of it. So we have here the picture of a small seed planted. Then a vigorous growing bush. And then the final image of large branches and the birds of the air taking their rest. This is a picture of God blessing the nations.
But again, apart from the planting of the seed, no human activity seems to be involved with the bringing in of the Kingdom of God. And this is an essential part of the teaching. Others had attempted to bring in God’s kingdom by raising an army or insurgents to begin a rebellion against Rome. It never worked. After Jesus, they were still trying it and it always failed. But Jesus came preaching the Kingdom and explaining how it would come. He wasn’t recruiting an army. He wasn’t preaching armed rebellion. Under Roman rule, the Jews didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know how God’s Kingdom would ever be realised. Jesus preached that God’s Kingdom was coming, it was coming with power but they didn’t have to do anything. Its as if the kingdom would come automatically, “all by itself”.
Of course, from hindsight, we know that Jesus did it all. The kingdom was achieved through his death and resurrection. But Jesus’ message is always about how the people of God can live as the people of God even in the worst conditions, even when its against all the odds. Now we can often be in situations where we don’t know what to do. The dilemmas and problems of life can be complex. And it can be hard to know what the wisest path is. And its at those times we need to be reminded again of our reliance upon God and the importance of prayer. The coming of the Kingdom didn’t depend upon anything we could do. And living in the kingdom is conducted in the same manner. We need to remember our reliance upon the Lord of creation who holds all power. We pray to him, we lay the desires of hearts bear before him. And answers to prayers seem to come all by themselves.
This doesn’t mean we do nothing, or that we are totally passive. Rather we live with Jesus as our guide, with our trust placed in him, bringing our concerns to him, and knowing that as Lord of Creation, he will be victorious in all things. These parables provoke us to trust in God, to have our confidence in him – the God who is faithful, who remembers his promises, and guarantees his blessings.