Proper 6B (Pentecost 4 2024)

Text: “30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?” (Mark 4:30).

Todays readings address a fairly common question. It is a question that we give a lot of importance to. The readings address the question pretty well head on. That question is: What are you going to do to grow the church?

It’s important that we think through the answer to that question clearly. Because there are many who will come, promising all sorts of new methods for growing the kingdom—changes and tactics and strategies for growing the kingdom.

They will say that, if we can just find the right structure, the right organization, perhaps then we’d have what Jesus came to establish. You’re Lutheran, so you know that the pope is not the answer. “[T]he pope is [no] guarantee the Roman churches are the one, true “Catholic” Church” (Fisk, p. 163). You may not know exactly why, but you know the Orthodox church does not have the answer either. No, you and I look for answers in a different place. You play with other kinds of organizational structures in the hope of ‘fixing’ the Church. “[The answer] is the voters assembly; …it’s everyone a minister; …it’s a mission statement; it’s vision casting; it’s small groups; it’s house churches; it’s policy based [governance]; it’s Spirit-led…” (Fisk, p. 164). And every few years you get a new buzzword with the latest new and exciting thing that will cause the church to grow.

They will tell you that the answer lies in making the church like it used to be. For some, that means restoring the ancient, historic liturgy, “perfect it, get it right, bring it back… then the churches will at last become the Church God wants them to be” (Fisk, p. 165). For a lot of us, that just means making things like they were when we were growing up or making them like they were at some other stage in your life. If you’ll forgive a personal reflection, last month I was able to worship at the church I grew up in. My nephew was confirmed. There were a few familiar faces, but a lot of new faces. But the service, itself, was not like I remember. And, at the same time, it was an interesting reminder of how much differently they worship compared to the way we do things. For example, they kneel to pray and they stand to commune. We stand to pray and kneel to commune. There’s no right or wrong. And I honestly have no need to make what we do look like that. (We don’t have kneelers, for one thing.) At the same time, I wonder, if I were still back there, worshipping there every Sunday, how much would I be pushing for things to go back to the way they were when I grew up? How much weight should “we used to do things a certain way” carry?

Now, I’m starting to reminisce; I’m starting to speculate, but the point is that some will tell you, quite definitively, that we need to go back to the way things were if we want to be the Church God wants us to be.

They will say we must “get the music to sound more uplifting, then our churches will really take off. …We need prayers from the heart and sermons that aren’t written. …And why should only the pastor pray and preach? Surely, IfWeCanJust get everyone to participate in worship, then we’ll see the churches really grow...” (Fisk, p. 166).

Or they will assure you, with great certainty, that, we just need the right leader. We need a charismatic, sociable, Spirit-led leader then we can make the church what she was meant to be. Let’s face it: Pastors are boring; they’re weird; they keep going on and on about stuff that really does not matter to people today. What we need is a true leader— someone who cares about what the people today really care about; someone who will draw people in by the sheer force of his personality; someone who will really inspire us.

Which one of those answers do you agree with? Which ones…? Or perhaps you have a different answer entirely?

There are a lot of different ideas. Let’s hear what Jesus thinks. Let’s see if Jesus tells you what He— not only thinks, but— expects you to do to grow His Church.

Let me tell you a story about the Kingdom of God. It’s like a man scattering seed on the ground. While he is off sleeping and rising night and day, something is happening. The man doesn’t understand it; it is not by his effort or skill; it sprouts, it grows, and it produces a harvest. All that is left for the man is to gather in the harvest.

Let me tell you another story about the Kingdom of God. It’s like a tiny seed that grows into an enormous plant. The plant grows large enough for the birds of the air to make nests in the shade.

That is what the Kingdom of God is like.

Look again at Mark 4:26-29. What is Jesus’ answer to the question: What are you going to do in order to grow the church? Well, what does the man in the parable do? He scatters the seed. In due time he reaps the harvest. And what does he do in between? He sleeps and rises night and day. That’s what he does.

Now, let me acknowledge the ‘elephant’ in the room. Is this a good approach to farming in the real world? No! He is not trying to teach you good farming techniques. He is making a point about the Kingdom of God. That point is: trust the seed.

The power all lies within the seed. And that seed is Jesus Christ. It is the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus came to be.

In John 12 Jesus said, “[23] The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. [24] Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” By dying the death that you and I deserved, He is the grain of wheat that fell to the earth and died. He was literally planted within the earth so that, three days later, the Kingdom of God could break forth.

“And now the fruit of His cross has been planted in every corner of the world, planted through the preaching of the Word, casting the seed of the gospel to the north and to the south and to east and to the west, from Jerusalem and Judea, through Samaria and to all the ends of the earth. Where the Word of Christ is proclaimed there is Christ’s church. Thus Christ’s church has staked itself in the earth in order to grow and bless those who gather in its shade. The Church extends over the whole world like a glorious garden, tilled by the law, filled with the fragrance of Christ’s resurrection, adorned by Easter lilies and Martyr’s roses. Within her gather the Father’s own dear children to hear the Word of Christ and daily receive [the benefits of] His passion[— His suffering and death—] for their salvation.”

Isn’t that the job of your pastor— scattering the seed of the cross?

There is no doubt, you dream of having a pastor like St. Paul, himself. Well hear what St. Paul said about his ministry: “2 I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:2–5). Isn’t that, essentially, the same thing that your Lord was saying? St. Paul insisted on “knowing nothing among [them] except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). His job was going from place to place, scattering the seed of the Gospel wherever he went. And yes, may God grant you a pastor like that!

I’m sure you dream of having a pastor like Martin Luther! Well hear what he said about himself: “What is Luther? The teaching is not mine. Nor was I crucified for anyone … I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”

Preaching and teaching the Word, then sleeping, drinking beer… Isn’t that exactly what your Lord described in this parable? The Kingdom of God is like a man scattering seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day— he drinks Wittenberg beer with his friends— and the Word does everything: the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how (Mark 4:27); first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear (Mark 4:28). May God always grant you pastors like that!

May God always grant you faithful pastors who shepherd and teach you, “12 [equipping] the saints for the work of ministry, …building up the body of Christ, 13 until [you] attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that [you] may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:12–14). In short, to continue scattering the seed of God’s Word everywhere he goes and to everyone he encounters.

What is it that you were taught again? “The Kingdom of God certainly comes by itself, without our prayers, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.” The question is not whether or not Christ’s Kingdom— Christ’s Church— will grow (or how). The question is where can you find it? That is the question that is so easily overlooked here in these parables. It’s the question that the devil would love nothing better than to distract you from until you find, in the end, that Christ’s Kingdom has passed you by. While you were concerned with constitutions and bylaws, while you were concerned about how things are being done, while you were worried about what the pastor should or should not be, the Kingdom is sprouting and growing all around you— you know not how— and the harvest is coming. Will that harvest still include you? Or will you be too busy and distracted by all those other things?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: The Kingdom of God is here!

“How does God’s Kingdom come? God’s Kingdom comes when our Heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit so that, by His grace, we believe His holy Word and lead Godly lives here in time and there in eternity.”

“To gather within her fold is to draw near the Savior Himself. For within the church is the Church’s Lord speaking, baptizing, feeding, and loving His newly redeemed people. This is for you and for all. The Cedar has enough shade. The Garden has enough room. The fountains of grace can be found wherever Christ crucified is proclaimed. This place is such a place. And this fount is such a fount. Here, in the waters of Baptism, beneath the tree of Christ’s cross, the blood of Christ is poured out and poured over the old to wash your robes and make them white. Here in this water with His Holy Name, [by the working of His Holy Spirit,] you are given a new Image. Adam’s image is drowned in Christ and you are raised up a new creation [by the Holy Spirit]” (Fisk). “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Or to borrow the words of Ezekiel, He causes the dry tree of your life to flourish (Ezekiel 17:24). As you rise in the morning and you lay yourself down to sleep at night, the Holy Spirit is at work within you through the power of the word, producing within you a harvest of righteousness; producing a harvest of peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, love; and the fruit that you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life (Romans 6:22). He has given you His Spirit as a guarantee (2 Corinthians 5:5).

Your Lord invites you to come and take shelter here, in His Kingdom. This kingdom, which looks so small and weak to your eyes, offers shelter from this dying world. “8 [You are] like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit”” (Jeremiah 17:8).

You are sheltered here against any fear of the day when you will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, when you will receive what is due for what you have done in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10). The stream of His grace by which you are planted cleanses you from all sin and every evil. The deeds that you will be judged for will be the fruit that He has produced within you by His Holy Spirit. When the deeds of all are revealed, you will finally see how the Holy Spirit has used you to scatter the seed of His Word into the hearts and minds and lives of countless others and has caused His Kingdom to grow through you— through the compassion and service you give to those around you— in ways beyond anything you could possibly know.

He shelters you from the storms of this life by working through His Word to bring you to spiritual maturity, “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Here within His Church, Christ shelters you from all of the strange new spiritual ideas that blow through our culture regularly, not to mention sheltering you from the human cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:14).

He shelters His people from the assaults of this dying world as He gradually gathers in His harvest— calling one believer after another after another through death into His nearer presence. To say it another way, He slowly transforms the Church Militant into the Church Triumphant.

When this dying world finally passes away, you will remain safe within His Kingdom and “15 [You will stand] before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter [you] with his presence. 16 [You] shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike [you], nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be [your] shepherd, and he will guide [you] to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15–17).

Hopefully Christ has given you a better grasp of how His Kingdom comes to this world. He scatters the seed of His Word into this world. Then, as you are sleeping and rising— as you are living your life— the seed of the Word sprouts and grows in ways that you may not know or understand until the Last Day. Just as importantly, though, I pray that you have a better grasp on the promise that the Kingdom of God has come to you here.