Growing from Nothing

Let us pray…as we come before you in this time, o God, we want to hear something new, something fresh, something exciting. So, in this time of reflection this morning, help us to open our hearts, our minds, and our Spirits to your Son’s words so that we can be carried throughout our week, and maybe, just maybe give someone else the hope that we feel in you each day. Amen.

Time to Breathe

As we enter into this time this morning, I want us to take a moment to reflect…so we are going to do something to focus our hearts, minds, and spirits. Here’s what I want you all to do right now...close your eyes for a moment…go ahead…I want you to think back to the day you started your very first job. It could be the very first job you held as a teenager to earn some money for gas or fun stuff you wanted to do or it could be your very first job after leaving school. Everyone have that image in your minds…now, think about how you felt as you entered your workplace for the very first time. (if there are any children in the congregation, ask about the first day of this school year). Do you remember how you were feeling that day? Were you excited to start something new? Were you nervous about making a good impression?

Now, think about how you dressed for that day…did you spend hours the night before picking out just the right outfit? If you had to wear a uniform, did you lay it out on your bed or maybe even try it on to see how you would look that day? Did you plan out what you were going to do with your hair and that applies to all of us…was it parted just this way or that, did you try to do up your hair the night before so that you knew exactly what you would do the next morning? What were some of the other things you did that night to prepare yourself for the next day? Take just one more moment to remember all those things that you did to prepare...

Ok, now, I want you all to open your eyes and keep those feelings in your heart. As I thought about what I wanted to bring to the surface with these two particular parables that we hear nearly every year, I wanted us to have some memories flooding back into our hearts and minds because I believe it will help us to re-frame these parables for us today…so let’s dig into the stories a bit.

The Parable of Growing Seed

When I think back to my first “real” job, I remember the excitement I felt at officially becoming an adult and entering the working world. I remember that day like it was yesterday, mostly because of the excitement. If you want to know why that day truly sticks in my mind, ask me later about it, it is a rather interesting story…but I do remember how excited I felt, how I planned what I was going to wear, how I was going to drive to work, the route I would take, and the things I talked to my parents about the day before. It was new, it was exciting, and it was a day filled with hope.

I think in remembering that day, it helps me to understand more about what Jesus is talking about when he tells those around him about the Kingdom of God. We find ourselves this morning very early on in his ministry. He is surrounded by a crowd of people, some of whom may have heard him teaching before, but very likely he was surrounded by a vast majority of people who had not heard him teach in any capacity. There was excitement and a buzz amongst the crowd about this new teacher in town, someone who is teaching about hope, love, and a new way of looking at things.

Much like how many of us might have felt about our first day of work, these people came to learn and do. So, when Jesus begins teaching, he desires for them to connect with him in a way that will enter their hearts and stay with them throughout their lives. When he teaches, he uses stories that, when applied to their own lives, people will be able to understand. In particular, he uses stories about growth and seeds, at least in today’s lessons. And he starts with this one...

Mark 4:26–29 (NLT)

“The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”

For the people who had come that day, this was something very familiar to them. They were farmers and fishermen. They would have grown their own food. They knew that it did not much matter how the growth happened, it just happened. For Jesus, he wanted them to understand that our faith is like a seed. Yes, we have to plant the seed. We need to take an action to make growth begin. We need to come before God, accept the forgiveness that God freely gives, and from there it is all in God’s hands. Our faith grows because we have planted the seed to make it start. Now, I am not saying that all we have to do is accept grace but it is the acceptance of that grace that begins our faith in growing. Just like seeds, we need to water, fertilize, and remove weeds from time to time to make sure that the seeds have all they need to grow strong. But in essence, without us even knowing it, our faith can grow by doing these kinds of things and in my mind, that means tending to our faith by being here, listening online, reading scripture, and talking to other about our faith. Through these actions, our faith can become strong and tall and produce more seeds that can be planted in others.

So that leads me to the second story Jesus uses to illustrate our faith journey, that being the parable of the mustard seed. Now, I know we have talked many times about having the faith of a mustard seed. Today, however, I want us to think of this story in another light…so let me remind you of what Jesus tells us in this parable...

Mark 4:31–34 (NLT)

It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.”

On multiple occasions, when thinking about a mustard seed, we have focused on its size, how it is the smallest of seeds but grows to become one of the largest garden plants. Today, however, I want us to consider its growth rather than its size.

The Mustard Seed

Jesus, in both of these stories, is not reflecting so much on the how the plants grow but rather their growth in terms of faith and in particular the Kingdom of God.

A couple weeks ago, we reflected on how we can continue to grow the Kingdom of God here on Earth by tending to our spiritual growth but also sharing our faith with others. This, at least to me, is truly what Jesus is trying to get across to those who gathered that day around him. I think he wanted them to understand that what they do here on Earth is what will make the Kingdom of God so much greater. Stick with me here…and so he uses the mustard seed to illustrate what the Kingdom of God will be like at the end of time. We know that the mustard seed starts small. As it grows, it grows in leaps and bounds to become greater than anyone could imagine a seed of its size could accomplish.

As it grows, it becomes something so great that birds can perch in its shade. So if you think of something not much larger than the size of a pen point growing into something that can hold a bird, it just does not seem possible. But yet, that is what a mustard plant becomes. Thinking in terms of our faith and how our faith grows, this illustration helped those around him and us today to understand that our faith grows in this way as well but also that what we say and do here can have an impact that becomes so much greater than we can imagine.

How this Applies to us...

Think about something that you have done in your life that you had no idea had an impact on someone else’s life, until one day, someone you did not know came to you and said, “You know, so and so? Well, they did something that had this impact on my life and because of you, they did that thing...” I know its a little vague, but I am hoping that you have had at least one of those experiences in your life. It does happen…things we say and do have impacts on those around us. Because we did something for someone else, they go out and do something for someone else, and they go out and do something for another person. Much like the ripples in a pond, before you know it, one tiny thing that you did has had an impact on multiple people. The thing is though, we may never know the impact we have on the lives of those around us. Yes, sometimes we find out about how our action has impacted another, but oftentimes we do not and that’s ok. It’s like how a seed grows…somehow the seed knows how to sprout a stem, then a leaf, and eventually a flower and maybe a fruit or grain. It just happens. We cannot see how it happens, it just does.

This is what these parables teach us about the Kingdom of God. We may not ever know how something we do for someone else will lead to more people coming to know God’s love for them, it just happens because we are like the seeds of faith that help others to begin growing. The point is this…we need to keep growing our faith so that there are more seeds planted into the hearts of others. In thinking back to the excitement and hope of a new job, those feelings were real and they helped us to learn and grow in our jobs. Our faith is the same way. I get it…time marches on and sometimes we lose that excitement and the job became mundane or we just did things because they were what we did, we got comfortable.

However, if we can remember how it felt to be starting something new, we can take that excitement and apply it to things that have become mundane and ritual. If we want to grow our faith, each day is an opportunity to start anew and with fresh eyes. Let us not lose that excitement so that others, like those around Jesus that day, can catch the wave and join us on our journeys. We are well on our way already but that does not mean we can stop, hesitate, or fall into the comfort of the ritual. The Kingdom of God still needs seeds planted, our challenge is, are we willing to plant some seeds so that they too can grow? Amen.