Seeds

Sermon:  Meade, June 14, 2015

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 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

My dad is a retired farmer. For many years he scattered seeds.

Well, it wasn’t that easy. He tilled the ground, planted the seeds, fertilized them, watered them, and worried about them. I remember many early mornings going out with him to change water. That meant opening and closing the gates on the water pipe back before everyone had sprinklers. My dad used a golf club for this task.

So he tilled, and planted, and fertilized, and watered, and worried. And when those seeds had grown into plants that produced grain, he harvested them. And he celebrated those good harvests.

I understand that process and so do you. And so did those people who heard this story from Jesus’ back on that day.

But keep in mind that he precedes the story with the sentence, “This is what the Kingdom of God is like.” He makes it clear that he is about to illustrate the Kingdom of God, something very complex, through a simple story.

After all that’s all a parable is…an allegory. Parables are analogies that use simple, common, and understandable stories to explain something more complex. This is how Jesus taught…and it’s genius.

On this morning, Jesus was down by the lake. But as the crowd grew, Jesus got on a small boat out on the lake and taught from there with the crowd along the shore at the water’s edge.

Can you hear the sounds of the water lapping on the shore? Can you smell the smells of a lake as you sit near the water and listen closely to hear his words?

Jesus uses the concept of seeds several times in his parables on this day…this day that will end with Jesus calming a storm on this very lake.

You and I are scatterers of seeds. In talking about God’s kingdom, you and I as Christians are responsible for scattering those seeds.

Sometimes the process is very formal. Remember when I mentioned that my father tilled the ground. Well, sometimes we do that.

For example, a youth pastor may spend a lot of time with youth preparing their hearts for the Word of God. Maybe they do team building activities together, sing together, open up with each other about the challenges in their lives. Those young people are such fertile ground. Lots of time and effort is often put into preparing young people to hear and receive the Word of God.

But seeds may be planted intentionally or unintentionally.

Let me use the same example with the youth. That youth pastor will carefully plant seeds of God’s truth into the life of the student through his words and actions. That is intentional.

However, suppose that a youth director has spent lots of time “tilling the soil” then a student watches them cuss out a referee at a local high school basketball game or make an obscene hand gesture to someone who cut him off in traffic. These are also seeds…but seeds that we do not want to plant in such impressionable soil.

But the good seeds, well, we take care of them. Going back to my example, we nurture God’s truth in the hearts and minds of our young people. We reinforce them and work hard to make them grow. 

And just as my father worried about his crops, we worry about ours. What seeds are other people planting in the minds and hearts of my child? Am I fertilizing and watering all the right seeds? 

Because we know a harvest is coming.

Now, this doesn’t only apply to youth pastors and young people. As I mentioned before, you and I are scatters of seeds. What words or actions have you been scattering around? Will the seeds that you are throwing be helpful in furthering God’s kingdom? 

“Well, it was just a little seed,” you may argue.

Ahhh. The Kingdom of God is just like that. A little tiny seed, even the very tiniest of seeds, can grow into a plant that is huge.

Have you ever seen a mustard seed? My daughter has a necklace with one in a magnified locket to remind her of these very verses.

There are lots of different varieties of mustard plants. But the mustard plant that Jesus refers to in here is one that grows large enough for birds to roost in its branches.

For simplicity’s sake, I’ll pick a plant that we are more familiar with…cottonwood trees. Picture a cottonwood tree seed. I would estimate them at a millimeter in diameter and 2 millimeters long…connected to fluff that allows them to travel through the air long distances.

Now, trees take years to grow, unlike the mustard seed in the story. However, the analogy can still be made. A tiny seed makes a plant so large that we use its shade, birds and other creatures make their homes in them, and their branches extend out in all directions.

When I was growing up, my father planted a Cottonless Cottonwood tree in our front yard and one in our backyard. I remember the stakes in the ground to hold them in place as they fought the southwest Kansas wind to grow big and strong.

I was surprised when the trees grew taller than me and then grew taller than the house. And I’m still surprised when I drive by my childhood home and see how tall they are today… providing shade for the entire yard.

All of that, from just one tiny little seed.

Friends, the seeds we plant work the same way. Whether we tend them or not, the seeds have the ability to grow under the right conditions.

Sometimes we don’t provide the conditions. Sometimes we plant a seed and walk away not knowing it someone else will come along to nurture it. Sometimes we plant a seed and that tender heart where we planted it turns away from us.

Don’t give up hope! This parable tells us that sometimes we do not ever know what makes a seed grow. We may not be around, we may not understand.

But God is a grand gardener. He will tend His garden and plants will grow where we may have even forgot that we even planted a seed.

And those plants will produce more seeds.

Never stop planting.

And never stop tending the seeds and sprouting plants that our great gardener puts in your life.

Father in heaven, We are thankful for the teachings of your son, Jesus, and for the fact that they were taught in a way that we can still understand them so many years later.

Lord, guide us as we scatter seeds for your kingdom. Give us the wisdom to nurture planted seeds as often as we have the opportunity.

We know that you are the great gardener and that Your kingdom will grow. And we are grateful. Amen