Seedy Gospel
My framework of my words at Bethany Christian Church on June 17, 2018.
Mark 4:26-34
Jesus also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
Jesus also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet 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.’
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
This morning I’ll do my best to slow down and speak clearly. You do your best to listen to and through the words, and we will trust that somewhere along the way we can meet up in the good news of God. I think that is what Jesus means when he says, “Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen.”
When we catch up with the disciples and Jesus this morning it’s as if he is doing a gardening show on HG TV. The 4th chapter of Mark is a pomegranate of seed filled parables. For some, it might flare up diverticulitis or a seed allergy. No matter. There are other teaching stories that may better fit your condition. Like Jesus, the parables meet followers and believers where we are in life, and each time the parables have the ability to create dissonance.
A dissonance that can create frustration: like hitting every red light when you are late or working the blasted Rubik’s Cube.
Parables can create a dissonance that blesses apathetic relativism.
The parables can create a dissonance that can open the heart and mind to deeper learning, vision, and commitment to following the way of Jesus; or at least being a decent human being.
A marketing guru, Seth Godin, had a little thought this week that describes the work of the parables. His words:
There are two polar opposites: Staying still and Breaking. It’s easy to visualize each end of the axis, whatever the activity.
In between is stretching.
Stretching is growth. Extending our reach. Becoming more resilient, limber and powerful. Stretching hurts a bit, and maybe leaves us just a little bit sore.
But then, tomorrow, we can stretch further than we could yesterday. Because stretching compounds.
If you’re afraid of breaking, the answer isn’t to stay still. No, if you’re afraid of breaking, the answer is to dedicate yourself to stretching. (Seth Godin, “Stretching”. June 10, 2018)
Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen.
In the gospel of Mark, I think Jesus gives us a primer for the parables at the end of chapter 3. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister, and mother.”
So, what do we do with this seedy gospel of the kindom of God? It’s as if someone scattered seed on the ground. In an agricultural based society this makes sense, but there are other definitions for the word scatter that effect how one hears and listens to this parable.
Scatter:
- to cause to separate widely
- to cause to vanish
- to fling away heedlessly
- to distribute irregularly
- to sow by casting in all directions
- to reflect irregularly and diffusely
- to diffuse or disperse
- to divide into ineffectual small portions (
(“Scatter.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 16 June 2018)
Maybe we need to be more intentional about our scattering as much as the seed we are spreading or ingesting. You can understand the elements that create germination or as the parable notes, not know how the earth works at all, but soil doesn’t always yield what one expects. And, we end up harvesting a genetically modified good that was grown by doing or accepting a little bit of evil. It is a kind of gardening we all struggle with, every day, on the walk to love our neighbor as ourselves.
But, dominant public Christianity seems different right now. The prosperity preachers, evangelical ideologues, state and federal legislators of a particular brand, and fellow citizens have separated widely through the embrace of an unethical, insult driven culture war profiteer to get what? This is what they are getting: judges on the federal bench, reclaim a “status”, to slow change, or embrace a freedom to discriminate that they already had in their home life, though no longer protected by the law in public or at the ballot box. Apparently, that too is changing.
Do we really need to wonder “why” Generation X, Millennials, iGen, and the growing class of religious “nones” of all ages are suspicious of Christendom’s seedy gospel. Actually, I think the appropriate word for this day and age is “sketchy”. A disreputable and slightly unwell gospel “acting-out” fear your neighbor as yourself. A sketchy, “do as I say not as I do” monetized gospel whose kindom has a profit margin.
But, no matter the historical context Christians remember, some of us weekly, that somehow we inhabit this already, but not yet, kindom of God. With what can we compare it, or what parable will we use for it? Well, it is like kudzu. The vine begins as ground cover. It takes some time to root, and then it appears to be unstoppable. Kudzu does a great job of keeping soil from washing away or blowing away. Even during the dormant winter months, its woven tapestry holds on to wherever it has taken root.
In 1935, amidst the dust storms of the prairies, Congress enlisted kudzu to stop soil erosion and paid people to plant this vine imported from Japan. It appears to grow quickly and out of control, but that perception is false. The Southern states are said to be covered with it, but it is not as invasive as myth would have you believe. It does return again and again. Kind of like the mustard weed, kudzu seems to survive and come back sometimes in odd places.
I’ve seen some kudzu recently at Chi Rho camp. Two boys in conflict discovering their home lives similarly impact their behavior. The settle and shake on keeping each other accountable for their behavior the rest of the week. They exchange snapchat handles at the end of the week. A 6th grade girl about the size of Mary Lou Who, this little one was the sole voice of her small group’s skit at the talent show. She told the story of Joseph and his brothers and his amazing coat as if she was, and we all were, participants in the story. All the while, her small group acted out the story in shadows created from a few flashlights and a sheet. She knew names and places and she ad libbed for characters like they were family stories. She spoke of how people reconciled with one another and did some exegetical interpretation ending the story: “Joseph and his brothers made up. Joseph forgave, but I don’t think he forgot. That would be a lot to ask wouldn’t it? Being family again was enough.”
I’ve seen a kudzu like kindom in the work of this congregation with the school just down the hall, with your engagement in civic life in Tulsa, and the affirming open hospitality offered to everyone that wander through the doors. Neighborliness, one person at a time connecting to intentional community with honest dialogue, prayer, and accountability. Sharing life together like those first called disciples of Jesus.
I’ve come to think of the kindom of God not as a Nation state, nor idealized, nor as a time of global peace. As I’ve traveled through living my journey in faith has embraced the idea that the kindom of God is something that is within each of us. It is part of the Imago Dei, the divine spark of God’s residue that inhabits our being. Maybe that is an obvious theological statement, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to what is claimed on behalf of public Christendom these days. For me, the kindom of God is a blend of conscious, moral compass, the way of Jesus, and trust in God. Scattering the kindom happens interacting with people. Somedays I do a better job than others. That’s why its like the pesky mustard weed or kudzu. It is so deeply rooted in us we are unaware that the kindom is holding on, waiting, to be discovered and scattered. In any situation we can choose to do what is right because we know it is right. To borrow from my companion, we can choose to act out of our original blessedness.
With many parables Jesus speaks the word to us as we are able to hear it.
Remember the primer.
Not sure what the will of God is? See Micah 6:8.
Then, revisit a parable that Jesus told.
And . . . stretch.