Trinity One

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.  The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.  But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

How does your garden grow?  If it’s anything like mine, at this time of year it grows too quickly, and it’s full of the wrong things.  Plants grow well in good soil, but weeds grow even better!  A few weeks ago, a church had to call for volunteers to help with gardening, because the area around the car park had become completely overgrown.  In a matter of weeks, it had gone from being a lovely, well-tended area filled with daffodils and snowdrops, to a jungle of weeds 4 foot high.  It took a team of 30 people all morning to clear it.  Phenomenal growth in a very short period of time.  Quite impressive really.

On the other hand, I’ve had many plants which I’ve tended with loving care, watered, fed, and done everything the gardening book said … and more … and they’ve died on me.  I love Gardenia’s, and I tried to grow them for years.  It would always the same story.  I’d buy a beautiful, healthy plant full of shiny green leaves and buds about to pop open.  First the buds would drop off, then the leaves would drop off, and within a few months all that was left was a pathetic specimen that was only fit for the compost heap.  It certainly wasn’t lack of care or attention, but I just couldn’t get the plants to flourish.

So how does your garden grow?  Its not just about the soil, or the plants, or how well we care for them.  Sometimes we can do everything right, and the plants still die.  Other times, we can neglect them, and they flourish.  We may do what we can, but we can’t actually make anything grow.  Only God can do that.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus talks in a parable about a man scattering seeds on the ground, and then sleeping and rising day and night while the seeds grow apparently by themselves.  The man doesn’t tend them …. he sleeps and they grow.  They don’t just grow, they positively flourish, producing first a stalk, then a head, then whole heads of grain.  That picture of abundant growth, without human intervention, reminds me of how plants often grow in the summer months.  The growth is silent yet rapid, mysterious yet glorious, and fruitful, producing wonderful displays of colour.

Jesus likens the mysterious growth of seeds into grain to the way the Kingdom of God works.  A seed of grain grows apparently invisibly, almost imperceptibly, but over time it achieves what it was meant to do.  It eventually grows into a whole head of wheat, which can be harvested.  Under God’s hand, it reaches its full potential.  The Kingdom of God grows in the same way, apparently invisibly, almost imperceptibly, but achieving what God intended.  It will continue to grow until Jesus returns, to be ruler and judge of all.

So what is the Kingdom of God?  The prophet Isaiah foretold of the coming of the good news of God’s reign, when His Kingdom would be revealed.  Jesus first mentions it at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, when he comes to Galilee after John the Baptist’s arrest, and begins to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is near.  He then calls the disciples, inviting them to follow Him, and saying he will teach them to fish for people.  He begins His public ministry, teaching in the temple, driving out demons, healing the sick, and proclaiming the message of God’s love.  This is the Kingdom of God.  It comes near when we do the things Jesus did: when we share our faith with others, when we care for the sick, when we become agents of God’s healing in the world, and when we reveal His love.  When the Kingdom of God comes near, God comes near.  He breaks into people’s lives.  Things begin to change.  The Gospel, the good news, is that the Kingdom of God is here, and it can be experienced now.
Today’s parable of the seed follows a similar one about the sower, and the two may be related. The seed Jesus talks about here may be the seed that was scattered on good soil in the earlier parable.  There, Jesus tells us how the seed is sown.  Here, he tells us how it grows.

Previously, Jesus talked about the sower scattering seed on the path, on rocky ground, amongst thorns, and on good soil.  Only the seed which fell on good soil produced grain, and the harvest was bountiful being 30, 60, even 100 times what was planted.  Jesus goes on to explain to the disciples that the seed represents the Word of God, sown into peoples’ hearts.  Only when the Word is sown in good soil can it take root and grow. I guess my question would be, who makes the soil good?  Does God do that, or do we have a part to play?  Certainly when we plant in the garden, we usually prepare the soil beforehand.  Nobody can be drawn to God unless the Holy Spirit is working in them, but perhaps we also have a responsibility to help to prepare the ground first.  That might mean, for instance, building relationships with people, and from there, we may get the opportunity to share our faith with them.

Thankfully, today’s reading tells us that once we’ve scattered the seed of God’s word into people’s lives, we can leave God to grow them.  We may talk about Him to people, but only He can bring them to a living faith.  We just need to keep scattering the seed, and leave the rest to Him.  So if there’s someone you’ve been praying would come to faith, but they don’t seem interested, and nothing seems to be happening, don’t lose heart.  Just keep scattering the seed, and keep praying.  Maybe the seed of faith has already germinated, but you just don’t know it yet.  The growth we see in today’s parable is mysterious, with a divine element to it, and the seeds grow in God’s time, and under His mighty hand.  Sometimes we just need to scatter the seed and wait patiently for God to do something, remaining diligent in prayer until he does.

Jesus also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?  It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

The seeds we scatter may only be little ones, and we might not think they’re enough.  But the Kingdom of God only needs a small amount to begin to grow.  Mustard seeds are tiny, yet depending on the variety they can produce plants that grow up to six feet tall.  Jesus is exaggerating when he says mustard seeds grow into the greatest of all shrubs, and elsewhere he says they grow into trees, but the point is that something very small can grow exponentially in God’s hands. Jesus also says elsewhere that faith as small as a mustard seed is enough to move a mountain.  Again, this is an exaggeration, but the point is that just a glimmer of faith can grow into something mighty with God’s help, and when it does it will often take us by surprise.

Whether the challenge is to draw an individual to faith, or to reach a whole community, we can proclaim the good news of Jesus with confidence, knowing that God will fulfil His promises.  Our efforts may seem small and insignificant, but the earthly ministry of Jesus was like that.  He didn’t have many dedicated followers who stayed with Him until the end … most of them drifted away.  All hope of Him being the messiah seemed to be snuffed out on the cross.  Yet Jesus rose again, and 2000 years later the Christian Church is still alive, and its worldwide, and still expanding.  So let us be encouraged by today’s message.

To summarise:

We are all called to scatter the seed of God’s word into people’s lives; that may be as simple as talking to them about our faith, and how important it is to us.

God is responsible for producing the growth; that growth is mysterious, and sometimes it won’t look as if anything is happening.  But don’t lose heart; just keep scattering the seed, keep praying, and wait for God to do something.