3rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year B

Pentecost 3B

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I read a story this week that hit me right in the chest. “[Quite a few] years ago, on The Merv Griffin Show, the guest was a body builder. During the interview, Merv asked ‘Why do you develop those particular muscles?’ The body builder simply stepped forward and flexed a series of well-defined muscles from chest to calf. The audience applauded. ‘What do you use all those muscles for?’ Merv asked. Again, the muscular specimen flexed, and biceps and triceps sprouted to impressive proportions. ‘But what do you USE those muscles for?’ Merv persisted. The body builder was bewildered. He didn't have an answer other than to display his well-developed frame.”

The author of the story then says this: “I was reminded that our spiritual exercises--Bible study, prayer, reading Christian books, listening to Christian radio and tapes--are also for a purpose. They're meant to strengthen our ability to build God's kingdom, not simply to improve our pose before an admiring audience.” [Gary Gulbranson, Leadership, Summer, 1989, p. 43.]

In this morning’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is telling a parable to explain the Kingdom of God. In this parable, he’s using a farming example. Even those of us who don’t farm can, I think, understand what Jesus is getting at here. When you put a seed on the ground, in the right conditions, it will sprout and grow and eventually get big enough and mature enough to bear fruit. When we do plant seeds, we simply need to make sure they have sunlight and water, and then the rest just happens, right? Of course, science has given us a better understanding of the life cycle of plants, and the germination process of seedlings…but for the most part, we just know that seeds grow in the right conditions. And frankly, that’s all most of us need to know about growing seeds.

So what is Jesus saying in this metaphor? Let’s look at the parts. We have a man, a seed, and the earth. What’s the earth? Well, actually, that’s us…or more accurately, it’s people’s hearts…particularly good hearts where the seed will grow and thrive. In the beginning of chapter 4 of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus describes different kinds of soil (the hardened path, the rocky soil, the ground covered in thorns, and the good soil), referring to different kinds of people, and how they will receive God’s Word…or not…and whether that Word will take root in them. But now in this parable, Jesus is talking only about good, fertile soil, that is suitable for planting.

The seed, then, is the Word of God. Also earlier in this chapter, Jesus uses a different parable, but he clarifies by saying “the sower sows the word.” (Mark 4:14) It’s the Word that the man sows like seed in the earth, putting it in a place where it will grow. Look at how Jesus describes the growth in verse 28: “The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.” [ESV, Mk 4:28]. It’s not the earth - the dirt - that’s growing. It’s the seed that’s growing, that’s getting larger, that’s getting ready to bear fruit on the plant once it matures.

By now I hope you’re asking “if we’re the earth, then who’s the man doing the planting?” It would be easy to make ourselves out to be the man in this parable…but we’re not. The man here is actually Jesus himself. Jesus is bringing the Word of God to people in this passage, and he knows that the Word will take hold and grow in some people. Does he know how this will happen? Well, he’s GOD, so yes, I’m quite sure he does. But like the farmer, Jesus isn’t terribly concerned about *how* the seed grows…he is primarily concerned that the seed *does* grow…and that it would grow up strong and bear good fruit.

Jesus then reminds his listeners of the tiny mustard seed… the “the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” [ESV, Mk 4:31–32]. In other words, the size of the seed does not determine the size of the plant when it matures, nor does it determine the usefulness of the mature plant.

Out of curiosity, I looked up how big a mustard plant can get. Apparently a single mustard plant can grow to be 20-25 feet tall, with a 20-foot spread. Coming from the tiniest of seeds, that’s pretty impressive. They’re also quite a rugged plant…once they’re mature - they’ve evolved to survive with little moisture, they do well in clay-based soil, and they can handle a wide range of temperatures. Pretty resilient for a plant.

Is God’s Word that resilient? Well, when this “seed” isn’t growing, it’s not the seed that’s the problem…it’s the soil. God’s Word doesn’t change. God’s Word doesn’t get weak or lack the ability to grow. It’s our hearts that are the problem. They may have started out as good soil, but that can change. Something may have happened that causes doubt or tries to pull us away from God. Or perhaps we did bear the fruit that God wants us to bear, but something else took that fruit. There are many possible obstacles to our seed growing into what God wants it to be.

But we’re here…in God’s House. We’ve come to hear the Word and let it be planted in our hearts. We’ve submitted to God’s Will by giving up our morning to be here. We’ve made the ground ready for planting. We’re doing what God asked of us. And He is planting the Word in the soil of our hearts. That’s good.

In that Word we have been given the Good News of Christ. We know that even though we fail to live up to the commands that God has given us, we are forgiven for our shortcomings because of His abundant love and grace and mercy. We have been redeemed by the death of His Son, who paid the price for our sin on the cross, and he defeated death and the devil, and rose again to show everyone that death is not the end. He gave us all a glimpse of the new life that God has in store for us when Christ returns. This is the Gospel. This is the Good News that we receive in the Word. This is what is contained in that seed.

And as we participate in the life of faith, that seed grows. When we read the Bible on our own, when we pray, when we receive Holy Communion, the Holy Spirit grows that seed a little more…each time we open our hearts to Him. The Word goes to work in us.

Jesus uses the seed metaphor for a variety of reasons, and one of them is certainly that a seed represents new life. Just as a plant grows up, flowers and scatters its own seed, the seed it has produced means new life for that plant. It means that its species will spread and grow. The younger plant will live longer than its parent…and it, too, will produce seeds and spread them, ensuring that its kind will live on. If you have dandelions in your yard right now, you know exactly how this works.

So now we have this seed, right? We have God’s Word growing in our hearts. When does that seed grow into a mature plant? When does it start bearing fruit? What does that fruit look like?

This, I believe, is the question facing our congregation right now. What does growth look like? I’ve mentioned before that the NALC has been investing in a system for growing disciples. It’s about helping believers to grow in their life of faith. It’s designed to help you grow that seed. We’ll be exploring this in the months ahead, but I’d ask all of you to pray about this, reflect on it, and ask God if this time is right for you grow more deeply in your relationship with Him. One of my mentors made the comment recently about Christians in our country: “there are a lot of people who know about Christ; there are not a lot of people who KNOW Christ.” This discipleship training will help all of us - myself included - to KNOW Christ better. I think we can all agree that we all want that.

I hope by now you realize why that bodybuilder story hit me so hard. We have this gift; it’s unquestionably the greatest gift in all of creation. Now ask yourself questions similar to Merv’s: “Why do we grow in our faith?” “What do we use our faith for?” And maybe we can throw in that question my professor suggested: “What is God calling us to do or to be?”

We can find the answers to these questions on our own, or we can find them together…but when you have an answer, ACT on it. Don’t be afraid, and don’t wait. Act on it. If you don’t have an answer, talk to a brother or sister in the church. That’s what a church family does - help each other discern what God is doing among us. Let’s all pray that God would be at work in us not only to grow our relationship with Him, but that He would guide us and inspire us in what to do with that faith.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.