Seeds of Bounty
Aldersgate
Mark 4:26-34
I. How many apples are in an apple seed?
a. Cut an apple in several pieces
b. How many seeds can we find.
c. Let’s count them
d. What would happen if we planted this seed
i. Easy to say how many seeds are in an apple
ii. but harder to say how many apples are in the seed
e. you are each like the seed with more potential than you can imagine
II. Today is Father’s day and I’d like to share with you about my father, Phillip Welch who had seven children
a. died when he was 46 and I was 22, yet he is responsible
i. for the accounting that my older brother did
1. state
of
2. and a hotel firm
ii. for the help that my sister provides to students now
1. and the care given to patients when she was a nurse
2. and the clients she helped as an loan officer
iii. for the paper that my brother produced when he worked for a paper company
1. laid off back in March
2. but I know he will find some productive work
iv.
for the various pieces of sonar and other electrical
equipment that my brother from
v. or the shoes that my other brother made when he worked for a shoe company
1. and the homes and businesses that he now wires for electrical service
vi. and the thousands of people that my other sisters helps as a retail store manager
b. in a way, my Dad is responsible for all this
i. as I completed my dissertation, I was once again reminded of the book that he wanted to write with me
ii. even though he died young, it is the values that he taught me that I most cherish
1. to be honest, above all else
2. to be a conscientious worker
3. to think and debate
4. to be open to new ideas
c. this is what my father was able to do
i. I hope you have remembered your own father or a father figure in your life
ii. just imagine what God can do when we accept the personal relationship that is offered to each one of us
III. Jesus talks about God’s kingdom
a. Can think of this as God’s reign
i. Or the home of God
ii. Or the family of God
iii. This language of kingdom
1. also a way of thinking of God as father
2. so rather than kingdom, we might say father-dom
b.
i. embodied in his life
1. way he treated people
2. healed them
3. exorcised their demons
4. challenged their self-righteous pretensions of being
a. religious
b. or ethical
c. Jesus uses two comparisons, com-parables, if you will
i. says that the kingdom is like a seed
1. Waiting to be planted by the farmer
2. Nurtured and grown by the earth
3. And then harvested at the right time
4. the farmer works with God who nurtures the seed
a. Until planted the seed is dead
b. And when the time is ripe, the farmer is the one who harvest
c. Once again, I hear the words of Jesus, “The harvest is ready. Who will join in the harvest?”
ii. Jesus also says the kingdom is like a mustard seed,
1. when planted grows into a huge bush
2. that provides shelter for many
3. yet is modest as a bush
a. Some scholars equated this bush to the cypress tree mentioned in Ezekiel and Daniel
b. missed the reality that no matter how big a bush is not the same as a cypress tree
i. compare a large lilac bush
ii. to an oak tree
4. Jesus failed to meet expected preconceived notions
a. of who the Messiah would be
b. and what he would do
5. so also God’s kingdom does not arrive with ostentatious show of strength and power, rather a show of bounty
d. Jesus uses farming metaphor to talk about the bounty of God’s kingdom rather than the power
i. recognize two historic settings
1. Jesus’
audience in
2. Mark’s audience when the story was repeated and incorporated into this gospel
a. addressed to community in trauma
b. chaos
of Jewish revolt against
c. early Christians caught in middle
3. community caught up with vision of kingdom must reconcile with reality of their lives
a. not sitting in places of power
b. discovering that following Jesus @ taking up cross
ii. in some ways similar to setting today
1. we have a vision of God’s kingdom
2. doesn’t fit with the reality
a. of people loosing their jobs because a multinational company isn’t making enough money
b. doesn’t fit with housing costs increasing so quickly that our adult married children can not live in the town where they grew up
3. yet we have the promise of God’s bounty
a. not just for the Biblical people
b. take seriously the promise of the Bible
IV.
On this Father’s day we remember good fathers
nourish potential
a.
Did you notice that I
didn’t talk about my work and the abundance that my father, Phillip Welch,
engendered
b. Because of my father’s early death its been hard for me to talk about him in my preaching
i.
But without realizing
what he was doing, encouraged me to act on God’s behalf
1.
let my hands be Jesus’
hands
2.
my feet be Jesus’ feet
ii.
at end of WWII
1.
part of occupation
forces in
2.
saw terrible things
after the bombing of
a.
children going through
trash
b.
wrapping some scraps
for parents
3.
lost faith in God, at
least loving God he had been taught about in his small Methodist church
iii.
want father to find
his faith
1.
just as I want others
who have no faith to find theirs
2.
when we stand with
oppressed as Jesus did
3.
speak out on behalf of
those who are struggling
4.
when others show
courage by sharing their stories and standing for justice
5.
then we know and
others know that God lives
c. Hearing this gospel lesson on Father’s day helps us to hear a message about fathers and a message about God
i. Good fathers and God the Father nourish potential
1.
Just as the earth nurtures the seed, so also God
germinates the potential in each of us
d.
Dr. John N. Buchanan
i.
pastor of
ii.
received a letter
about the coming to life of seeds planted by this great congregation.
iii.
Dear Dr. Buchanan,
I am an Associate Professor at the Chicago City Colleges, ...
1.
One of my students
wrote a stirring architectural paper about your church. I've forgotten what was
detailed about much of the structure, but I still vividly remember what was
said of the warmth and caring that was expressed by the congregation.
2.
Later that week this
information was shared with another class. To my surprise three members
acknowledged that they had received tutoring from your church.
a.
One young man stated
he would have become a gang member if it had not been for your service.
b.
A young woman said she
believed she would have become pregnant, thereby thwarting completion of high
school, and college would have been just a fantasy.
3.
I am convinced that
the Chicago City Colleges have students that are taking courses and succeeding
in life due to your persistent care and well-conceived programs.
4. Please persist in your good works.[1]
e. This church lived out the kingdom in their own small way without really knowing what they were doing
V.
‘We owe Mark a great debt,
for he alone records this parable of the seed (
a. There is no clearer insight into the mysterious transformations of the Spirit of God, the germinal power of the gospel, than in these companion parables of the seed and the mustard seed.
i. The seed parables instruct us not to expect complete comprehension of the transforming power of the Spirit's presence.
ii. It comes by God's initiative and appointment, not by our understanding and manipulation.
b. “…The seed parables also remind us of the large outcomes of the smallest beginnings.
i. “…Huge harvests can come from small seeds.
ii. Our mandate is to plant seeds, and trust the Spirit to work the miracle of transformation.
iii. Even small faith seeds have tremendous power - even to the point of moving mountains.[2]
iv.
Consider one more Father’s day story and the
faith that a son placed in his father
1.
In 1988, World Vision
President Robert Seiple visited war-torn
2.
The leaders of
3.
Then Seiple's 12-year-old son spoke up:
a.
I think you ought to
listen to my dad.
b.
He only wants to help
you.
c.
I know my dad.
d.
He can help you if
you'll let him.
e. With this, the entire atmosphere of the meeting changed, and the relief program was approved.[3]
c. Let us remember God’s promise, the harvest will come.
i. Our only predictability is that it will come in God’s time, kairos time, the right time, rather than chronological time.
ii. And it will come in God’s way
1. metaphorically, like a farmer
a. we prepare the soil
b. weed the field
c. wait patiently in times of frustration
d. get ready to harvest because it will come
iii. And when it does it will demonstrate to everyone's amazement that surprising life-forces are contained in those little seeds.