THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS LIKE?
Sermon for June 14, 2009
Scripture: Sam. 15:34-16:13, Mark 4:26-34
Another mystery of our faith—the Kingdom of God! By now some of you may recognize the phrases, “is like” or “is as if” as undoubtedly leading us to parables, one of Jesus’ favorite teaching tools. Jesus was never without a story and he fit the stories to his audience, their experience in life and their maturity. I know there are some of you out there that also have a lot of good stories, lots of ideas. Today’s sermon is going to be a congregation participation sermon. I haven’t done one of these for a while. When I do, I always learn a lot and I hope you do to.
All of the gospels have many parables but the parable about God as the seed sower is only in Mark although the mustard seed is also in Matthew and Luke. Eugene Petersen in The Message translates the passage like this: “Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets it. The seed sprouts and grows—he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain. When the grain is fully formed, he reaps—harvest time.”
What could this possibly mean? I’m sure most of you gardeners out there don’t just throw down seeds and forget them. Let’s look at the next parable: the mustard seed. The land I grew up on had lots of mustard plants. I really liked them. They usually were taller than the grass but never, as far as I know, did they grow into a big tree. Jesus is exaggerating to make his point. In the Middle East of Jesus’ time, the mustard plant was considered a weed. One of my references described it as a woody, fast growing and spreading, persistent nuisance. Maybe it’s a bit like our dandelions. Since I have so little grass I appreciate the dandelions, and I never have seen them grow as tall as they did this year. But what is Jesus’ point? What is the kingdom of God like?
I’m going to throw out some possibilities but I hope you will be thinking of your own answers. Could it be that the kingdom will grow without any effort from us? Maybe we don’t have to be concerned about evangelizing after all. If we look at our story from the Hebrew Bible lesson, we know that David certainly didn’t do anything to make God choose him. The youngest of the children in the family, he was out watching the sheep and Jesse, his father, didn’t even think about including him in the lineup of sons that Samuel wished to see as he hunted for the God-picked ruler of the nation. He was too young, and also slight of build and certainly not well regarded by his family. Who would choose him? Is the kingdom all about God’s grace?
Is the Kingdom a place, a plot of land somewhere? No, it has to be a vision of God and his son Jesus, a vision of what things will look like when they are as God wants them to be. What will that be like?
One more thought before I ask you to share your reflections. Some of you may remember that I grew up in Maine on Sebago Lake where my parents helped my grandmother run a tourist home. After my grandmother died, we became quite poor, as there was no will, and my mother had to divide up all the property with her two sisters. Not only did we lose our home and our many acres of woods and pastures, but also my parents lost their ability to earn a livelihood from the homestead. My favorite scripture found both in Matthew and Luke was: Be ye not anxious, consider the lilies of the fields and the birds of the air. They neither toil nor spin or sow nor reap yet they have all that they need. So do not worry as your heavenly Father will provide. Here too was that kingdom phrase, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be yours as well.” Mt. 6:33. So maybe the kingdom of God is a place where we do not have to be anxious. That first man just went to sleep and the seeds grew, he knew not how. So much of what we ponder about God and God’s world is a mystery for us.
Would some of you share what your thoughts and stories are on what is God’s kingdom?
To close I’d like to share with you a great mustard seed story, borrowed from Rev. Christina Berry: “Millard and Linda didn’t plan to stay longer than a couple of hours. They just wanted to see the place and hear the story. Truthfully, Millard just wanted to see what his pal Clarence had up his sleeve. See, Millard was a millionaire at age 29, And now, everything was coming apart. He should have been happy. But he was in poor health. Linda was saying she might leave him. The money wasn’t buying him any joy in life. So he went to see his friend Clarence. As it turned out, what Clarence had going was not up his sleeve, it was all over the place down there in rural South Georgia. It was Koinonia Farm, founded in 1942, as an interracial, intentional Christian community. There, people of all colors shared a simple life, committed to nonviolence, to justice, to following the teachings of Jesus.
From a small seed, Koinonia Farm grew, Clarence Jordan’s crazy idea of sharing in community as Christians, without regard to race or social class. It was a noxious weed, as far as its neighbors were concerned. They threatened the families of the farm. They bombed the produce stand – not once, but twice. They tried everything they could think of to make Koinonia Farms, and the people who lived there, go away. It was an affront to their way of life, and it would not go away. It stood over and against everything they held dear: private ownership, acquiring wealth, racial separation, and it would not go away.
Millard and Linda came for two hours and stayed for a month. After that visit, they put their marriage back together, gave away most of their wealth, and came up with the idea of “Habitat for Humanity.” Today, Habitat builds houses alongside people in need all around the world. From a small seed, a planned two-hour visit, a ministry of the kingdom grew. A tiny little seed, starting with a few houses in rural Georgia, flourished and grew and grew and grew, until it was everywhere, and it couldn’t be stopped.”
We don’t know how the tiniest of seeds becomes the greatest of all shrubs. In the same way, we never know how or when the still speaking GOD will use any of us or how God will use this church to bring about the Kingdom of God, whatever that may be. We’re called to observe whatever is our mustard seed and see where that crazy plant growing all over the place takes us. We don’t know where it is going to take us, but we know we aren’t going to be standing still! It just may take us to the Kingdom of God. The One who plants us, the One who calls us to grow like crazy, the One who makes all things new, has some big plans in mind for us! Amen and Amen
Scripture: Sam. 15:34-16:13, Mark 4:26-34
Another mystery of our faith—the Kingdom of God! By now some of you may recognize the phrases, “is like” or “is as if” as undoubtedly leading us to parables, one of Jesus’ favorite teaching tools. Jesus was never without a story and he fit the stories to his audience, their experience in life and their maturity. I know there are some of you out there that also have a lot of good stories, lots of ideas. Today’s sermon is going to be a congregation participation sermon. I haven’t done one of these for a while. When I do, I always learn a lot and I hope you do to.
All of the gospels have many parables but the parable about God as the seed sower is only in Mark although the mustard seed is also in Matthew and Luke. Eugene Petersen in The Message translates the passage like this: “Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets it. The seed sprouts and grows—he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain. When the grain is fully formed, he reaps—harvest time.”
What could this possibly mean? I’m sure most of you gardeners out there don’t just throw down seeds and forget them. Let’s look at the next parable: the mustard seed. The land I grew up on had lots of mustard plants. I really liked them. They usually were taller than the grass but never, as far as I know, did they grow into a big tree. Jesus is exaggerating to make his point. In the Middle East of Jesus’ time, the mustard plant was considered a weed. One of my references described it as a woody, fast growing and spreading, persistent nuisance. Maybe it’s a bit like our dandelions. Since I have so little grass I appreciate the dandelions, and I never have seen them grow as tall as they did this year. But what is Jesus’ point? What is the kingdom of God like?
I’m going to throw out some possibilities but I hope you will be thinking of your own answers. Could it be that the kingdom will grow without any effort from us? Maybe we don’t have to be concerned about evangelizing after all. If we look at our story from the Hebrew Bible lesson, we know that David certainly didn’t do anything to make God choose him. The youngest of the children in the family, he was out watching the sheep and Jesse, his father, didn’t even think about including him in the lineup of sons that Samuel wished to see as he hunted for the God-picked ruler of the nation. He was too young, and also slight of build and certainly not well regarded by his family. Who would choose him? Is the kingdom all about God’s grace?
Is the Kingdom a place, a plot of land somewhere? No, it has to be a vision of God and his son Jesus, a vision of what things will look like when they are as God wants them to be. What will that be like?
One more thought before I ask you to share your reflections. Some of you may remember that I grew up in Maine on Sebago Lake where my parents helped my grandmother run a tourist home. After my grandmother died, we became quite poor, as there was no will, and my mother had to divide up all the property with her two sisters. Not only did we lose our home and our many acres of woods and pastures, but also my parents lost their ability to earn a livelihood from the homestead. My favorite scripture found both in Matthew and Luke was: Be ye not anxious, consider the lilies of the fields and the birds of the air. They neither toil nor spin or sow nor reap yet they have all that they need. So do not worry as your heavenly Father will provide. Here too was that kingdom phrase, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be yours as well.” Mt. 6:33. So maybe the kingdom of God is a place where we do not have to be anxious. That first man just went to sleep and the seeds grew, he knew not how. So much of what we ponder about God and God’s world is a mystery for us.
Would some of you share what your thoughts and stories are on what is God’s kingdom?
To close I’d like to share with you a great mustard seed story, borrowed from Rev. Christina Berry: “Millard and Linda didn’t plan to stay longer than a couple of hours. They just wanted to see the place and hear the story. Truthfully, Millard just wanted to see what his pal Clarence had up his sleeve. See, Millard was a millionaire at age 29, And now, everything was coming apart. He should have been happy. But he was in poor health. Linda was saying she might leave him. The money wasn’t buying him any joy in life. So he went to see his friend Clarence. As it turned out, what Clarence had going was not up his sleeve, it was all over the place down there in rural South Georgia. It was Koinonia Farm, founded in 1942, as an interracial, intentional Christian community. There, people of all colors shared a simple life, committed to nonviolence, to justice, to following the teachings of Jesus.
From a small seed, Koinonia Farm grew, Clarence Jordan’s crazy idea of sharing in community as Christians, without regard to race or social class. It was a noxious weed, as far as its neighbors were concerned. They threatened the families of the farm. They bombed the produce stand – not once, but twice. They tried everything they could think of to make Koinonia Farms, and the people who lived there, go away. It was an affront to their way of life, and it would not go away. It stood over and against everything they held dear: private ownership, acquiring wealth, racial separation, and it would not go away.
Millard and Linda came for two hours and stayed for a month. After that visit, they put their marriage back together, gave away most of their wealth, and came up with the idea of “Habitat for Humanity.” Today, Habitat builds houses alongside people in need all around the world. From a small seed, a planned two-hour visit, a ministry of the kingdom grew. A tiny little seed, starting with a few houses in rural Georgia, flourished and grew and grew and grew, until it was everywhere, and it couldn’t be stopped.”
We don’t know how the tiniest of seeds becomes the greatest of all shrubs. In the same way, we never know how or when the still speaking GOD will use any of us or how God will use this church to bring about the Kingdom of God, whatever that may be. We’re called to observe whatever is our mustard seed and see where that crazy plant growing all over the place takes us. We don’t know where it is going to take us, but we know we aren’t going to be standing still! It just may take us to the Kingdom of God. The One who plants us, the One who calls us to grow like crazy, the One who makes all things new, has some big plans in mind for us! Amen and Amen
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 12:00 PM
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