Two Parables on the Nature of God's Kingdom.

4th Sunday after Pentecost
July 6, 2003
Mark 4:26-34

^4:26He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."
³⁰He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³²yet 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."
³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; ³⁴he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. (NRS).

In the midst of his account of Jesus ministry, Mark pauses to give us a few parables that tell us about the Kingdom of God. These analogies reveal to us some of what God is doing and how he's doing it. They also explain why Jesus' ministry took the form it did, why for example, he ordered people not to tell others that he was the Christ. These parables tell us that God is building his kingdom by means of the Word of Christ, and that he will be successful.

Before we look at these two parables, we need to understand something from the context of this chapter. These two parables are the last of four that Mark records. The first one is the familiar parable of the Sower and the four types of ground on which the seed fell. Jesus' disciples then ask him about it. He responds with a statement that sounds a bit strange to us. "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that 'they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.'" (NRS Mark 4:11-12).

Jesus refers to something that God said to the prophet Isaiah. God was at the end of his rope with Israel. The people would not listen and would not respond to discipline. Therefore, he was now going to let the Assyrians and Babylonians carry them off into captivity. There was no way God would relent and there was no way that the majority of Israel would repent. Nevertheless, God sends Isaiah to speak his word of warning and promise to them. Yet he knows that the people will not listen; in fact, they will only become more obstinate and belligerent. He says to Isaiah, "Go and say to this people: 'Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.' Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed." (NRS Isaiah 6:9-10).

Did God really want to make the people blind and deaf so that they could not repent? No, he wanted them to hear the truth and repent. But they would not listen! In fact, the more Isaiah spoke the truth to them, the madder they got. The word that was meant to save them drove them farther from God and into destruction. That was their punishment, not what God wanted, but the result of their rebellion.

Although it may seem harsh to us, God's patience does have a limit. When his people harden their hearts so that they absolutely will not listen, he cuts them off and makes it impossible for them to repent. That's what happened to Pharaoh. He hardened his heart and refused to listen. The more Moses spoke the madder Pharaoh got. Therefore, God hardened Pharaoh's heart and made it impossible for him to repent. Paul notes the same thing in his letter to the Romans. People refuse to repent of their evil deeds so God gives them over-delivers them-to impurity, degrading passions and a debased mind. He will even send people a powerful delusion so that they will believe what is false. That is not what God wants, but eventually, he will wash his hands of us.

Jesus applies this concept to his parables. They were not cute little analogies; they reveal God's truth to us. However, if we reject that truth, then the parables end up concealing the secret of the Kingdom from us. We saw that last week when the scribes confronted Jesus about his power to cast out demons. Jesus' analogies about a divided kingdom and binding the strong man spoke the truth, but only drove a bigger wedge between him and the scribes. Today's parables tell us something very important about God's Kingdom. We want to be in that Kingdom! Therefore, Let anyone with ears to hear listen!

First parable: "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸ The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."

This parable tells us a couple things. First, we're talking about the Kingdom of God. Mark introduces Jesus' ministry in these words: Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." (NRS Mark 1:14-15). This parable has nothing to say about Canadian democracy or the way people might build a kingdom. It says something about God's kingdom, which looks very different from any kingdom that people have put together. Perhaps you remember King Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel chapter 2. He saw a great statue made of four different materials. Then a great stone was cut out of rock, but not by human hands. That stone struck the statue and destroyed it and in its place, the stone became a great mountain that filled the whole earth. The interpretation of the dream what that the four part statue represented four kingdoms and the stone-one made not by human hands-was the kingdom of God that will endure forever. It is in this kingdom that is absolutely not man-made where we will find perfection. When God created the earth it was 'very good'. Man corrupted it with his work when he turned away from God's word.

The second thing this analogy tells us is that the power that establishes the kingdom is God's power. The farmer in the analogy does not know how the grain grows and comes to maturity. In fact, that doesn't matter! What he sees is that the grain grows, matures, and is ready for harvest. And when it is ready, he harvests it! Someone will argue that he knows what makes the seed grow. That's debatable, but again, it doesn't matter. You can be the dumbest person on earth. If you plant a seed and water it, it will grow. Whether you understand anything about it makes no difference. You don't cause it to grow. The power is in the seed and the earth God created.

So it is in the kingdom of God. That seed, which is the Gospel, does something in people. We see it, but we do not know how it works. We see people who hear this word and believe it but we don't know how that happens. We see other people who hear the same word and reject it, and again, we don't know why. We see it happen but we don't know how or why. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (NRS John 3:8).

Yet, we are to understand this: that Christ brings the Kingdom to us by means of his word. We know from the first parable in this section that the seed which is sown is the Word of Christ that we call the Gospel. It is the announcement that we are forgiven and reconciled to God because of Christ. That Gospel is what grows the Kingdom, not what our culture or current pop stars may think! Jesus was very clear in his commission to his disciples: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Now, on the one hand, that is a great comfort. If God builds the kingdom, it will truly be the kingdom of God. It will not be man-made and thus better than anything we could make. Nevertheless, since the fall of Adam and Eve, there is a desire within us to do things our way and to build the kingdom of man. We think we know better than God does. Therefore, we look for ways to plant our seed rather than God's seed. We abandon or alter God's Word and end up with a kingdom of our own making that is far inferior to what God has in mind. I'm speaking of something that happens mainly within the church. For example, if you read the article I mentioned in an email, "How to be True to the Bible and say 'Yes' to Same-Sex Unions", you saw an attempt to change God's Word so that, rather than condemning same sex marriage, it actually condones it! My interest here is not in the issue of homosexuality and same sex marriage. My interest is in the demonic ruse being used to alter the word of God. The argument is that Paul only condemns sexual acts that are contrary to nature. Therefore, if we redefine homosexuality as a natural orientation rather than a choice, then Paul doesn't speak against it. It's not longer contrary to nature! You can bet Paul is turning in his grave!

You see then, why it is so important for us to listen to the word of God. People will mislead us. They will attempt to replace the truth of God with a lie just like Satan did when he deceived Eve. If we fall for their ruse as Eve fell for the serpent's ruse, we will suffer a second fall so to speak. We will find that we have excluded ourselves from the Kingdom. Listen to the parable. How the seed grows, we do not know. We know it grows. Therefore, we must keep the seed!

Hear again the second parable: ³⁰He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³²yet 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."

A mustard seed is small and not very impressive. Yet when it's grown, it is impressive. Therefore, one shouldn't despise a mustard seed because it's so little. Likewise, the kingdom of God right now may not seem very impressive, but when Christ returns in power and raises the dead it will be very impressive! We must not judge the value of the Church only by what it is in outward appearance now. It will be the glorious people of God, purified of every fault and weakness, standing forever in the presence of God Almighty. The Church, you and I, are not so impressive right now, but we will be! We may suffer scorn now, but we will have the last laugh as we say. Therefore, when we look at the Church now-you and me-we must not lose sight of the Kingdom as it will be. We must have patience as we wait for the mustard seed to grow. Certainly we must not abandon the Church waiting for the day when it will be glorious. We are the branches of that mustard shrub. We cannot live apart from the root. Christ is the vine, we are the branches! If we break ourselves off now, the shrub will grow without us. we will dry up, be gathered up and cast into the fire.

The last verse of this parable is a clear allusion to our Old Testament lesson from Ezekiel 17. Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; . . . I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. (NRS Ezekiel 17:22-23). Ezekiel was contrasting kingdoms made by man with that made by God. He was denouncing Israel for having made an alliance with Egypt rather than submitting to the king of Babylon as God commanded them. He used a sort of allegory to express that in which Israel was a vine tended by one great eagle then by another. God, however, was the one in whom they needed to take refuge. He was the one who could protect the vine and make it grow. Then, Israel would not be a lowly vine, but a great cedar in whose branches and shade all the nations would find refuge. You see, Jesus used images familiar to the Jews to express the same truths. God will build his kingdom. He will not fail; it will come in his time. And it will be much more glorious than anything man could imagine and build. Therefore, we need to have confidence in God and patience. He knows what he is doing.

These simple parables remind us of simple but fundamental truths. First, God is building his kingdom by means of his Word. That word is Christ. And second, the Kingdom will come and will be glorious. Though we grow impatient now, our reward will be very great. Those who reject them will find themselves driven out of the Kingdom and judged by those very truths. But those who hold them fast will always remain firm in the Kingdom.