26 He also said, “This
is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.
27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up,
the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28
All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the
full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the
grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what
parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It
is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.
32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest
of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch
in its shade.” 33 With many similar parables Jesus
spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not
say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his
own disciples, he explained everything.
- Mark 4:26-34, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
Grace, Mercy, and Peace are yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Have you ever seen time-lapse photography on TV? You can usually find it on the Discovery channel or on some special having to do with nature. You’ve probably seen footage of a seed being planted in the ground. The camera zooms right down to ground level. Shadows dance across the screen as time literally flies by. Quickly the seed sends out a shoot, which appears to burst through the surface of the ground. The tender shoot twirls around a bit, almost as if unsure of itself, but then grows straight and tall. It shoots up. Before you know it, that shoot has grown a massive bud, which then opens before your eyes revealing a beautiful flower. In one of the programs I saw, the flower wilted and died, but was quickly replaced by a swelling fruit. The TV show then applied that footage to the aim of their show. I’ve since forgotten what they were trying to show, but I do remember that I was left with a feeling of awe for God’s wonderful creation.
In the text before us, it’s almost as if Jesus is using time-lapse photography. We’re presented with two different seeds. One of grain, much like wheat, and one of the mustard tree. With these two seeds, Jesus pictures His Kingdom for us. The lesson we’d like to learn from these parables is The Son never sets on the Kingdom of God. It gives life and it gives strength.
Before we delve into our text, maybe we should say a few words about the Kingdom of God. Phrases like "the Kingdom of God is near," or "the kingdom of God belongs to such as these" might come to mind. Jesus spoke about his Kingdom on many different occasions and in many different ways. You might be thinking, hey I know what the Kingdom of God is. However, it might be good to remember that even the Disciples, taught by God himself, had some far-flung ideas about God’s Kingdom. People of Jesus’ day were looking for Salvation from Rome. They wanted the Kingdom of God on Earth. They wanted freedom from a foreign occupying force and they wanted food for their bellies. They wanted a Bread-King. Let’s remember the words of Luke, "people will not say, ’Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of God is within you" (17:21). It is a spiritual Kingdom of which we are already citizens. Jesus has already freed us from the spiritual occupying forces of Satan, and he has given us more spiritual food in his word than we could ever have imagined. Even better, we have the promise that when Christ calls us home or when he returns to get us, whichever should come first, then we shall enjoy all the benefits of citizenship in God’s Kingdom.
While we are still here, we’re bound by human understanding; oftentimes we’re all too aware of that fact. God’s aware of it too, and in his mercy he talks to us in a language which we can understand. He uses parables to convey truths that would otherwise be hidden from us.
The first parable, the one of the grain, starts off with a picture that was common enough in Jesus’ day. If you’re not familiar with ancient Israeli farming techniques, maybe think of someone spreading salt onto an icy sidewalk. He’s not worried about spreading the salt in tidy organized rows. His goal is to cover as much of the icy area as possible. The man in the parable scatters the seed out and then goes about his business elsewhere. Anyone who’s ever tried their hand at growing seeds knows that it’s not always a sure thing. In grade school, when you planted your bean seed in the ground, you planted and watered it, but all you could really do is watch and wait. Most of the time, the seeds sprouted, but not always. Part of the reason for planting bean seeds in Grade school is to learn how seeds grow.
"Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how" (v27). Aha, I planted my bean seed and I took Biology, I know how seeds sprout and grow; I had to memorize the process. Ok, people in Jesus’ day maybe didn’t know as much about the biological processes of seeds, as we do today, but they understood the picture well enough. Jesus isn’t giving us a biology lesson, he’s telling us about his kingdom.
The seed being spoken of here is The Word of God. That Word worked in your heart and mine. It gave us life and faith, and it still works in ways we cannot understand as it nourishes the life given us. The Son gives life. Life is the focus of the first parable. Much like a field that does not remain barren after the farmer scatters the seed, so our hearts did not remain dead after God scattered his seed, that is His Word. That Word took root and grew. Whether we understand how God’s word works in our hearts or not, it works, because the power comes from the word not from us. God sent his word to sprout and grow in our hearts. He sent his Son to give us life. Isaiah spoke of the process: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (55:10-11). This truth was proven true, when the rays of God’s Word shed light on our darkened hearts bringing us life and faith, and it continues to be true even today.
Verses 28 and 29, "All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. And as soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." After a crop has grown out in the fields, farmers don’t waste time in harvesting the grain. As far as earthly farming goes, they don’t want the grain to spoil out in the field, and then they’ll probably have to dry it out, before it’s sold or used for feed or made into bread, depending on the type of grain crop. In God’s kingdom, he doesn’t waste time getting the harvest in either. He wants all his children to be with him. At just the right time, he’ll bring us home to heaven.
For some, the idea of the harvest might seem scary. Indeed, sometimes it even seems scary to us. For as wheat is both chaff and grain, so we are sinner saints. Any mention of the Harvest strikes fear into the heart of our Old Adam, because he knows that just as chaff is burned shortly after the harvest, he - that is, we - deserve the same. You know why it’s so scary. Because you speed down the highway, and if not at Mach 2, "Well, it’s only 10 over, besides I’m late and I don’t usually speed." You know that even the tiniest, most fleeting thoughts of lust or hatred are eternally damning. There are even sins of which we are unaware! We deserve to be treated like the chaff, like children of the night, who have never known the Son. On our own, we should be separated from the wheat and we should be burned. But thanks be to God! He has had mercy on us and has made us clean from all our sins. He has washed us in the blood of the Lamb shed for us on Calvary. The Son gave us life and made us his children. We need not fear the harvest. No, we view the coming of the harvest as a blessing, and we eagerly await it. When the harvest comes, like grain brought into the storehouse, we shall be brought into the storehouses of heaven. What a blessed day that will be!
Malachi wrote, "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall" (4:2). Like a calf whose strength is fresh and new, so are we. The Son gives strength to us and to his kingdom. Strength is the focus of the second parable before us. It starts out with a mustard seed. Still talking about the kingdom of God remember, "it is like a mustard seed which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground." If you’ve never seen one, or don’t know how small they really are, I’ve got one on my tie-bar, and you can look at after while if you want. The verse says it’s the smallest seed you plant in the ground. To the untrained eye, it’s a tiny worthless seed. To one who knows, it’s the beginnings of a great tree. "Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade"(v32). Just as the seed is small, and practically invisible, so were the beginnings of the church. It was so tiny, but as it grew by God’s grace it was made strong. He sent his Holy Spirit to those early believers to make them strong and he sent his word through the Apostles to the whole world.
God’s Kingdom, which he planted as a tiny seed in Palestine all those years ago has been growing. To say it’s grown a bit would be an understatement, but there’s more to it. We can’t see the whole kingdom because it’s invisible, but the process of building God’s Kingdom can be viewed in miniature by looking to mission congregations. We don’t know how big they’ll grow or even if they’ll survive. Even so, we plant in confidence, believing the Lord’s promises. The Holy Spirit tells us through King Solomon in Ecclesiastes "Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well" (11:6). Remember the verse from Isaiah about the Word accomplishing its purpose? We’ll see the results when Jesus returns. Then shall his whole kingdom be revealed; strong and massive. Then we will see how great and large his Kingdom really is and how solid and strong it is from within. God’s kingdom is being strengthened even now.
As a church body, we’re in fellowship with many peoples around the globe, from the Land of the Midnight Sun in Scandinavia, to Skokie, Illinois; from Malawi in Africa to Memphis Tennessee. Most of us will never have the opportunity and the blessing to meet members from all corners of God’s Kingdom, especially those who live so far away, but we can pray for them, and they pray for us. You can pray for the members of the Kingdom, whether they are around the Globe or right here in Wauwatosa. Pray for them. What a wonderful blessing it is to be near so many members of God’s Kingdom who believe the same thing; that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and that by His wounds we are healed. Thank God for the blessing of fellow believers. Work to spread that word. God will make it work. Let everything we do be to the Glory of God and to the advancement of his Kingdom.
Spanning the globe are members of God’s Kingdom. As we speak to God before lying down to sleep, they are speaking to God upon rising. God’s Kingdom fills the whole earth. The British used to speak of the Sun never setting upon their Empire, because they had territory in all corners of the earth. I think most of us would agree that the sun has set on the British Empire. However, The Son will never set on the Kingdom of God. The Sun of righteousness will never be extinguished and the light of his Word will shine forever. It will shine forever, giving Life and Strength. May he grant that we always live and serve in that Kingdom, and may he help us to sow his Word wherever possible, that more souls might be won for Christ. May God grant it for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
And the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.