Sermon Index
June 14, 2015
Mark 4:26-34
It's summer time now, a time when nature is green and growing. Fruit and vegetables are producing food. And when the fruit is ripe, it's time to pick it, give thanks to God and eat it with enjoyment! Jesus told many parables about seed, fruit, growth, and harvesting. In today's Gospel lesson there are two such parables. The first is Mark 4:26-29.
“26 He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’”
After planting the seed, the farmer goes about his regular life until harvest time. He does nothing to help the seed grow. He doesn't understand how the seed germinates, sprouts, and grows; he doesn't know anything about biology and photosynthesis: it is a mystery to him. He leaves that all in God's hands. But he knows what is in his own hands: it is to sow the seed and harvest the grain. After God gives the growth, his job is to “put the sickle to it.”
Now this is a parable about the Kingdom of God. The seed is the word of God, as Mark 4:14 says, “The farmer sows the word.” This is evangelism, telling people about the love of God. The growth of the seed is coming to faith and becoming a mature believer. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. We do not know how the Holy Spirit works faith in people's hearts, because it is his mysterious work. The harvest would be baptism and bringing people into the Kingdom of God. Sowing and harvesting are the work of the church, creating faith is the work of the Holy Spirit. As Martin Luther wrote in the Small Catechism: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”
The farmer in the parable did not know anything about bio-chemistry. This is a big industry now-a-days. What was once thought to be a mystery of God is being explored in detail. Chromosomes and genes are cut, split, spliced, combined, inserted and the result is a new type of corn or rice or bean. These new products are often resistant to insects and disease and can offer bigger yields at harvest time, blessings to this world where the population is growing in explosive, expediential rates. Many people are worried about these man-made, monster crops called “Frankenstein food.” Are they safe? Will they give us cancer? Will they harm the environment? Is this study ethical or not? Is it man trying to play god? I personally feel that God created Adam to take care of the Garden of Eden. It is the job of modern Adams (modern researchers and farmers) to take care of God's creation, to make sure that the people of the world are fed. But as in everything, ethics and morals and the dignity of life must be watched and protected.
Jesus told this parable about the Kingdom of God. Sowing and Harvesting are the work and goal of evangelism. Coming to faith is the work of the Holy Spirit. Biblical scholars and evangelism directors have always been doing research on the seed, the Word of God. The genes and chromosomes have been carefully examined and explained. This is wonderful, and we can see the love, mercy and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. Now, however, sometimes scholars and evangelism directors [and preachers] look at the Bible and start to cut, splice, and give new meanings to the Word of God. They produce some sort of "Frankenstein Bible." Sometimes they think that it would be better to emphasize some certain aspect in order to get more people to believe in the Bible. Different denominations have different emphases. But if the cross is cut out, if the call for discipleship and discipline is cut out, if modern philosophy is spliced in, if personal desires are inserted into the seed, then the resulting crop is nothing but weeds: inedible, un-nourishing, poison to the soul. By the way, you have to be careful of cults. They are "cultivating" a new species of plant. They like to splice into their cults parts of other religions that they find useful.
Whether a farmer knows about bio-chemistry or not, whether a Christian understands the mystery of the Holy Spirit or not, both know their job: planting and harvesting, proclaiming the word of God and welcoming people who confess their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
The second parable is Mark 4:30-32.
“30 Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.’”
The tiny mustard seed grows into a large bush about 8 feet high, about a thousand times taller than the original seed. This tree provides food for both people and for the birds which come into its shade. Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like that. It starts out with humble beginnings, but Jesus promises huge growth. He says that people will come to the church for the rest and peace and nourishment that it gives. This surely means peace and relief for the soul and heart and mind, but people often come to the church needing peace for their body, needing something to eat or something to wear. Here at the Okinawa Lutheran Church, we don't have much of that food-kitchen ministry to the poor. Sometimes I wish we did, not just for evangelism, but also as a way to show Christ's love and care. It is to love the neighbor, as we all help our neighbors and friends in many, various ways.
Finally, in John Chapter 12, Jesus speaks of himself as “seed.” 23 “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” The “Seed” is Jesus. God plants His only Son in the soil of our world. He is planted in the soil of our lives in order that he might bear fruit for the world. “The Son of Man came not be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). God sows his Son as “seed.” This seed will burst from the ground, burst from the grave, burst forth with new life, creating nourishment and shelter for all. That equals salvation.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church