You may have noticed that our selected readings for this week seem to raise more questions than they answer - and that can be both a blessing and a curse.
I’ve chosen to concentrate on Mark’s Gospel, but Paul’s letter to the people in Corinth also relates to our theme.

I almost want to cry out after reading today’s Gospel: “Speak plainly, Jesus. Tell us the meaning, don’t just tell the disciples, but give us some indication of what this “Kingdom of God” is about.  Don’t keep speaking in circles.”

The parables of Jesus have continued to spark imagination and controversy alike, down through the ages.
As parables, they speak around things, not directly about them, so we’re left to puzzle out the words and attempt to interpret them.
But, when we’re honest with ourselves, we know that our interpretation will fall short of the message of Jesus.

In the middle of a chapter of Mark’s Gospel come two parables about sowers and seeds.
The first has a more famous cousin, the story of the sower and the seeds that fall on different grounds.
At least THAT parable comes with its own explanation.
But today’s parables: about the growing seed and the mustard seed, that accompany it, are puzzling, to say the least.

Trying to figure out what each element represents is problematic for several reasons.
Firstly, it assumes that we’re able to get into the mind of Jesus - which is impossible.
We might think we know what he means, however in reality, they’ll be our thoughts, not his.
Secondly, it assumes that there were meanings to these stories in the first place.
Perhaps Jesus was painting broad brush strokes, rather than offering point by point analogies.
Thirdly, we’re conditioned, over time, by listening to people who are so certain that they know what’s going on, that their answers stick in our minds and prevent us from seeing beyond them.

The problem that Jesus has, is in getting our minds to focus on what God’s trying to get us to understand, when unfortunately, our minds are in a completely different place.

A first century Jew might have thought that the “Kingdom of God” had to do with the establishment of God’s Messiah on the throne of Israel and with that would have come certain understanding and expectations about how that would happen.
Something along the lines of: the Messiah will come, gather an army, defeat Israel’s enemies and once again rule the Kingdom of David, from David’s city and throne (ie. Jerusalem).

Today we’re less likely to think of it in that way, and more likely to look at the coming “Kingdom of God” in an individualistic way, perhaps even as something just for us.
Our interpretation might be that God is working to prepare those of us who believe, for heaven, after we die.

Actually, either of these understandings is far too small.
We know that God is certainly interested in more of the creation than just Israel, or just his believers and that
God is interested in more than just our going to heaven after we die.
As Christians, we ought to be seeing that what we’re doing is participating in something much greater than just a way to get ourselves into heaven when we die.
After all, that’s God’s decision, not ours.

One of the things that the parables of Jesus point to, is a need for a larger vision.
They talk around the concept of God’s coming kingdom, rather than defining it precisely, so that we’re forced to expand the way we think.
Our God is infinite and creative, always doing unanticipated things, in unexpected ways, so Jesus is trying to open our eyes, hearts and minds to new possibilities and grander plans.

Certainly, our two parables for today should help us to understand just that.
We can anticipate what the harvest might be at the time seeds are sewn and scattered on the ground, but it won’t always work out the way we hope.

Farmers make decisions about investing large sums of money in seeds and the process of sowing their crops.
There are many factors they to take into account, not the least of which is the anticipation of whether or not there will be enough rain, and at the right time, to make the crop viable and produce a good return on their investment.

Thus, even the sower doesn’t really know how it’s going to turn out.
When the grain ripens sufficiently, it will be harvested.
Thus, we see that things happen, but we don’t always know how, or when - we simply trust that they do.

When you examine it, the mustard seed (a very small seed) doesn’t reveal the size of the plant that grows from it.
It becomes a great bush, sheltering many of God’s creatures in, and under, its branches.

Both of these stories reveal that the Kingdom of God will come, whether or not we do any work on it, and quite outside of our anticipated outcomes, for God is at work, even when we don’t see where, or how, or why.
And the outcomes are much grander than we could ever have imagined.
Of course, we still need to work hard once we’re in God’s Kingdom, but that is a different story.

God is gracious, giving the gift of harvest and kingdom alike, and extravagant, as both come in abundance.
God looks beyond the self, providing produce for the farmer, and shade for the nesting birds.
God is connected to the creation - renewing and restoring it.
God is active and involved in the unfolding of this kingdom - even when we don’t see it or understand it.

The disciples didn’t see it or get it - as is described in Mark’s Gospel.
They remained blissfully clueless to the end, even after Jesus was raised from the dead.
They didn’t understand and were afraid for most of the time.

In the end, faithful Israel comes down to just one true believer - Jesus.
And yet from that one, following his life, death and resurrection, a movement began that has swept the world and changed it forever – based on God’s love.

So, we see that there may be more to these parables, than meets the eye.
The disciples had the advantage of Jesus being with them, yet they didn’t seem to understand.
How in the world can we hope to understand better than them?
But I don’t think that we have to, at least not according to these parables.
God will bring his kingdom, his harvest, his mustard seed, to full growth and fruit, despite our lack of participation or understanding, despite the fact that we often don’t get it, or that when we do, we still get it wrong.

When it comes down to it, Jesus speaks in parables as an encouragement and a pacifier to us.
He tells us just enough to get us on board, to hold out a vision for a different world in which God’s kingdom or rule will indeed become the reality for all creation - even though we don’t see it at any given moment.
We participate in that vision, grow in God’s love and live God’s forgiveness for our sinful self and the sinful world.

For now we live it - the fullness of understanding will come later.
We want to understand, we want to know, we want to see, and yet our brains are just too small to take it all in.
For know we’ll have to simply trust that, without our knowing or understanding, God’s kingdom is taking shape, God’s name is being hallowed, God’s will IS being done.
We simply have to trust that what looks small and ineffective to us, will become something greater than we imagine.
And in trusting, we participate in the kingdom that is coming, and growing and becoming God’s love in the world.

I urge you to keep reading, searching, discovering what blessings God has in store for you in your life and where you can plant your seeds in people’s lives.   

All for his glory…………Pastor Rick

“But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture - I believed, and so I spoke" says Paul in his letter to the fledgling church at Corinth, in ancient Greece.
He’d had many struggles during his journeys - proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, but even in the midst of all his strife, Paul relied on the resurrection of Jesus and it gave him hope. 
 
The little church at Corinth was one of his problem children, and in this letter he urges them to not lose heart, because even though their bodies may be deteriorating day by day, their spirits are continually being renewed.
He reminds them that the one who raised the Lord Jesus (i.e. God) will also raise us all and bring us into his presence.
 
You may remember that it was the resurrection of Jesus, on that Easter Sunday, that had fired up that first group of disciples.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, they’d been filled with fear and despair, and they were in hiding for fear of their lives.
The resurrection and the meeting with their risen Lord, changed everything about their point of view.
It lifted their spirits, their bodies, and their imaginations, allowing them to see life in a whole new way.
 
In his own struggles, Paul also often turned to the dynamic of the resurrection as a source of hope for himself.
He knew of the power of God in the resurrection, as seen in his own experience on the road to Damascus, when he was transformed from being Saul (a persecutor of Christians) to Paul (one of the greatest evangelists the church has seen).
He emphasised to the Corinthians that the power of the resurrection, which was available to him, was also available to them and to those they brought into the church.
 
Based on this hope, Paul told them that "everything is for your sake," a phrase that he used frequently in his letters.
All that Paul did in relation to the Corinthians, was so that they would know the grace of God and the eternal life that could be found in Christ Jesus.
 
And we now know that these words weren’t just for those Corinthian converts.
Their task was to share this knowledge with others, continually widening the circle of believers - all to the glory of God.
The point of such sharing wasn’t so much to increase their numbers in the church, but to increase praise and thanksgiving to God, which Paul says is what God desires.
 
Jesus repeatedly emphasized that what God wants from us is not our perfection, but rather our passion.
So, our life goal shouldn’t just be goodness, but also thanksgiving and praise - an attitude of gratitude to our God.
 
Paul reminded the Corinthians, and us, just why the resurrection (and gratitude in response to it) was so important.
We live in a difficult, dangerous world - a world that often makes us lose heart.
It can be scary and threatening, causing great anxiety, threatening our existence with ideas of meaninglessness.
Paul's interactions with the Corinthians reminded him of that abyss.
There’s a great temptation to lose heart in these situations; yet Paul recognized that in the very consideration of this question, in these very struggles, his understanding was being deepened and he felt strengthened and renewed.
 
He took this opportunity to remind the Corinthians of the realities of their lives, and indeed of all our lives, when he pointed out a series of contrasts between inner and outer natures.
 
He explained that our lives DO have a meaning and purpose - in God - and we have been deepened by the revelation of God in, and through, the life of Jesus Christ.
In this revelation, we have the opportunity to see that the meaning of our own existence is not confined to the limitations of our bodies.

We discover that we have a home in God, a home not made by human hands, but a home that tells us our lives and selves belong to God, even in the midst of our turmoil, or "outer nature".
 
Paul calls this home our "inner nature," and we use various terms for it: "soul", "spirit”, "consciousness" and "personal identity", which is rooted in, and grows out of, our longing for a permanent place with God.
 
Whatever term we now choose to call it, it connects back to Paul's first-century insight that we are more than the sum of our body parts, or our accumulated personal history.
To say that we’re "more than", is not to demean the present, or our earthly lives.
Rather it’s meant to enhance the present, to enrich our lives by helping us to become aware that there are deeper and more powerful meanings in the routines and stories of our lives and of course in the lives of others.
 
The idea of an "inner nature", or spiritual dimension, can seem fanciful to those who focus only on the physical.
Paul drove this point home to the Corinthians, by using two metaphors: "temporary and eternal" and "seen and unseen."
He wanted to emphasise as strongly as possible, that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ all point us to a reality that is deeper and richer than human history and science would suggest.
 
Paul keeps his eyes on the prize – which he sees as an eternal life with Christ.
It was his focus on this dimension of reality, the dimension of God's love and grace, that gave him the energy and vision to engage with issues such as the problematic church at Corinth.
 
So, what does this mean for us, living in a different world, more than 2,000 years later?
Christ still hasn’t returned in his full glory and the timing of such an occurrence remains unknown to us.
Life after death, and the second coming of Jesus, are powerful ideas and remain metaphors for us to use in talking about the forces in our lives.
 
I believe that Paul would urge us to also keep our eyes focused on the prize, but he’d add one more focus: that we not only believe in life after death, but we also believe in life BEFORE death.
In this passage, Paul urges us to ground ourselves in the "here and now."
 
Isn’t that what happened to the disciples on that first Easter morning?
The women who came to the tomb were captured by the power of death, as, initially, Mary couldn’t recognize the risen Jesus, even though he was standing right in front of her, talking to her.
She thought that he was just the caretaker of the cemetery.
Maybe the reason she couldn't recognize the risen Jesus was that her heart, her imagination, and her senses had been taken over by the power of his death, only a few days earlier, when he’d been crucified.
She only recognised him after he called her by name.
 
The thundering power of God that calls the dead Jesus out of the tomb now calls Mary out of her tomb too - out from under the power of death.
She then has the eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to receive that message.
She just has to share it - running to tell the others: "I’ve seen the Lord. He’s alive!"
 
Are our hearts and imaginations also captured by earthly thoughts and the power of death?
Why have we come to believe that weapons can bring us security, that war will bring peace?
Why do we believe that violence can be liberating, or that money will bring good life?
 
The doctrine of the resurrection is a promise telling us that death doesn’t rule - not only when we die - but even more importantly, when we live.
The risen Jesus is out in front of us, calling us to come out of the tombs of death so that we can experience that power of new life that fired Mary and even those reluctant men who had initially thought that she was hysterical.
 
May we, too, take heart when we hear our names called and know that we have been raised to new life with Jesus.
I urge you to take heart and follow him.         

​Pastor Rick