Pentecost 3B (Lectionary 11)
June 13, 2021
Grace, Waseca, MN
Mark 4.26-34
In the churchy world we churchy people toss around churchy words like free candy from floats at parade, mostly unwrapped and scooped up with abandon. We use words like koinonia (or fellowship, take your pick), faith formation, spiritual growth, and exegesis. Okay, maybe you don’t toss around words like that, but I think you get the point. We aren’t always clear about what we mean. And Jesus isn’t much better. He tosses around parables just as freely as the actors in most of these parables toss around seeds. Those two things come together because most of the time Jesus is tossing around the phrase “kingdom of God” like Tootsie Rolls.
Jesus spends a lot of parabolic time talking about the kingdom of God so we know it must be important. In fact, his first words in Mark are, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near.” Now, unlike us, the folk Jesus addressed would have a good idea what the kingdom of God was. For them, it would be a glorious time when God will rule over all things after defeating God’s enemies, those things that stand in the way of God’s original intent for creation, especially humanity.
So, if those first hearers were familiar with the kingdom of God, why is Jesus using parables so much? First, remember that parables are not riddles to be solved; rather, they are mysteries to be entered. Or, to switch the analogy, they are like Trojan horses, seemingly tame and entering our consciousness until they explode and disrupt our thinking. Jesus used parables about the kingdom because the crowds and religious leaders couldn’t see how his presence was bringing it near. Furthermore, he wanted to stretch their thinking (and ours, too) about what God’s reign is really like. The kingdom, Jesus will show, comes in humility with power made perfect in weakness and love.
At the risk of appearing to have solved both parables, let me offer some thoughts about each that might stretch your thinking. In the first parable about the seed that grows “he knows not how,” Jesus invites us to imagine that the kingdom of God is coming even though we may not see much evidence of it. The parable also challenges our notion that it’s up to us to make God’s reign come in. We are to ask ourselves what role we have in kingdom work, knowing that it is God who ultimately gives the growth.
The parable of the mustard seed is dangerous because it is so familiar and we risk thinking we already understand it. Yet, explanations about the parable of the mustard seed are as prodigious as the plant is itself. One offshoot is that, like the mustard bush, Jesus and the kingdom are more than they seem. The mustard bush was and is an invasive, noxious species that takes over wherever planted, kind of like a latter day buckthorn. The comparison of the kingdom of God to a mustard bush would have stretched peoples’ minds and caused them to stop and think. Furthermore, with the addition of the birds finding a place to roost, he hints there are more inhabitants included in God’s kingdom than we might have thought. There is room and a place for everyone.
In Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great, he details attributes of companies that are as the title suggests: great. He evaluated companies that sustained greatness over time and compared them to similar companies who were merely good. He wanted to know what separated the great companies from the good ones. In one chapter, he describes one attribute, the Flywheel Effect. A flywheel is a large metal disc that rotates on an axis. He notes that, like a flywheel, great companies made small pushes over time that accumulated and eventually resulted in a momentum that releases energy and sustains itself. They took off, much like that merry go round you pushed and rode as a child. In contrast, those companies that were merely good looked for the one big breakthrough that would make them great, but it never works that way. Becoming great takes time and small consistent pushes that gather steam and momentum.
So, what might these two parables and the Flywheel Effect mean for Grace, Waseca? The summer worship theme for Grace is “Let’s Go!” and perhaps the parables caution us to go patiently, trusting God for the growth and doing so in ways we may not expect. There’s a tendency among churches to look for the one big thing that’s going to “save” the congregation and make it great, whether that be a person (like a pastor or youth director) or a program. Big splashy events are fun and even necessary, but it’s going to be the small pushes, sticking to Grace’s vision and mission, solidifying your identity as a Christ-centered, welcoming place in service to your communities, gaining momentum that will make a difference. You won’t bring in the kingdom, but you’ll catch glimpses of God’s work in, with and through you as you join God in it. Amen.
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