The seeds of the kingdom

A man was walking in downtown Birmingham one afternoon when suddenly it started to rain. He quickly ducked into a store. When he looked up, to his great surprise he saw Jesus Christ standing behind the counter. He asked, "What do you sell here?" Christ replied, "You name it, I’ve got it.” The man replied, “Well in that case, I want food for all, good health for kids, decent housing for everyone, and abortion to cease." Gently Jesus answered, "Friend, I do not sell finished products here, only the seeds. You must plant them and water them. Then I will do the rest." Hold that thought — we’ll come back to it later.

Our readings today focus on the coming of the kingdom of God using things we can understand. The image of seeds, and the fruits and harvests that spring forth, of the patience required awaiting the harvest — those would’ve been familiar to listeners back then, just as they are for us today. Each of these readings was addressed to an impatient audience — Ezekiel was writing for a people in exile, reminding them that God would restore their nation to greatness through the tiny remnant plucked from the ancient kingdom. Paul was encouraging a young Corinthian church to “walk by faith, not by sight,” in order to gain eternal salvation. And Jesus was addressing his parables to impatient disciples looking for a military leader. All of them share a common theme — the need to trust in God’s plan — to stay the course — and God will deliver a truly bountiful harvest.

Our readings also remind us that, through the power of God, greatness can spring forth from the most insignificant of things. Ezekiel reminds us that the power of God creates massive results from the tiniest beginnings. Taking a tiny, tender, shoot from the very top of the ancient cedar, God plants it alone on a mountaintop. He nurtures and protects that tiny sapling, and over time it becomes a mighty cedar towering over the landscape, and sheltering all within its branches. Our Gospel parables of the mustard seed and the untended harvest echo this theme of the greatness of God’s kingdom springing forth from the tiniest of beginnings as well. The tiny mustard seed brings forth the largest of plants, providing abundant shelter to God’s creatures. And the farmer simply plants the seeds, and it grows of its own accord and comes to fruit — he knows not how. He simply reaps and rejoices in the mighty harvest delivered through the hand of God. The takeaway - the goodness of the Lord provides for us in ways beyond our understanding. We merely reap the benefits of the harvest.

That brings to mind a simple question. Since it’s GOD himself who delivers the bounty of the harvest, why does he need us to be involved at all? No question — He doesn’t need us. God COULD do it himself. But God wants to bring us to salvation. And so he longs for and rejoices in our cooperation, our participation, and our INVESTMENT in His good works. It’s a simple truism of how we’re made — we value most those things we help create. God wants us to participate freely with our intelligence, our creativity, and all our gifts to help bring about His kingdom. As Paul reminds us today, by cooperating in His plan, God allows us to become instruments of our own salvation.

Which brings us back to seeds. Bishop Robert Barron notes, “It is a law of spiritual life that God wants good things to start small and grow over time.”

Jesus is reminding us that God has planted his seeds — IN us and THROUGH us. He is calling each one of us to do scatter those seeds as well — to plant and nurture them, and trust in his plan, even when we can’t see the results.

That’s the message of our Gospel today. God isn’t looking to US for greatness. Greatness comes from Him. God has shown us again and again that he brings forth greatness from nothingness. Just look at our church history, the saints, the prophets, and the patriarchs:

Abraham was a dried up old man

Jacob was a liar and a cheat

Moses was a murderer who stuttered

Jonah ran away from God

King David had an affair and had a man killed

The disciples fell asleep while they were praying

Martha worried about EVERYTHING

And Peter denied Christ THREE TIMES

But just look at the harvest God delivered through them.

God wants US to scatter the seeds for his kingdom, each in our own way — a mother’s quiet prayer, a father’s encouraging word, a teacher’s praise, a sandwich for a hungry child, helping a stranger or a neighbor, or just smiling at a store clerk. To simply do what we can to spread and nurture His tiny seeds, and leave the results to Him. And to trust that God will do what only GOD can do — to produce the growth and bring about the mighty harvest. The kingdom of God, the future presence of the Divine, is like that small, dried up seed, full of potential but lifeless and insignificant. But once scattered, planted, and nurtured by the sower, it sprouts forth from seed to stalk to ripened grain, without any influence of the sower, wholly through the will of God.

We don’t have to understand, we only need to have faith and believe. To scatter in faith and nurture the seeds of God’s kingdom within us, knowing and trusting that even in our insignificance, God will bring forth mighty works and a bountiful harvest.