Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

June 16, 2024. Texts: Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 [11-13] 14-17; Mark 4:26-34.

This is the season for allergies. Seems a little worse this year. Is it my imagination, or has it been windier than usual for June? All those little bits of organic matter carried on the wind play havoc with us and what can we do about it?

It’s also the season for parables. In winter we struggle with dreary cold weather and weighty theological matters regarding the coldness of our hearts and the dimness of our spirits. Spring is resurrection time. Now summer is at hand, and with Pentecost comes bright long days perfect for contemplating Jesus and his expansive teachings.

We consider Jesus a friend. But in his time as a rabbi in Galilee, he was more like a seasonal allergy for a lot of people. Jesus had a way of getting up people’s noses and making their eyes water. And to be sure, some of them wanted to do something about it in the worst way.

Jesus told a lot of parables. We probably have only his most memorable ones, captured for us by the gospel writers. No doubt there were many more that are lost to us. As Mark says, “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…”

Parables are memorable because they are about common things but have an unexpected turn, or perhaps a gotcha moment. Parables make a point that remains hidden except to those who can puzzle it out, or as in the case of Jesus’s disciples, are given the key to understanding.

Speaking in parables gave Jesus time to get his message out, and a lively way of doing it. Much of what Jesus said was deliberately provocative, even destabilizing. It still is today, if we take his words to heart.

Parables are not allegories. For that we look to Ezekiel 17. The prophet announces God’s plan to restore the kingdom of Israel. The cedar is the royal house. From its lofty height will come a new and noble ruler. There will be peace and plenty; shelter for all. Everyone will know that it is God acting, as the old regime collapses and the new and righteous one is raised up in its place.

Today’s two parables of the kingdom are delightful in so many ways. Jesus knew that most people would lean in to hear about the kingdom of God. As in the days of Ezekiel, they longed for God to take Rome down, restore their rightful ruler from the line of David, and make them great again.

The people wanted their world changed for the better. And they wanted Jesus to do it. Who doesn’t?

So Jesus told his parables about the seed, the earth, the grain, and the harvest. The people who were really paying attention (which was not everyone by a long shot) said, Wait, what? Because they recognized that everything Jesus said was just a bit out of whack.
The seed was haphazardly scattered by someone who had no idea what they were doing. They did nothing to tend it. And when it was fully grown, that mysterious someone walked away with a really nice harvest. That’s what God’s reign is like. Right?

Not convinced? Let’s try again. Jesus said, God’s reign is like an infernal invasive crop. It’s so small it’s invisible to the eye. But it grows like crazy, spreading along the ground and shooting up in stalks big enough to house bird’s nests.

So, the reign of God is like a mustard seed? How much mustard does anyone really need, after all? Too much of it can really get up your nose.

Which is exactly what Jesus anticipated. And why he spoke in parables. Particularly about God’s reign. Parables gave Jesus time to scatter as many seeds as possible before his timely death.

Mark’s gospel tells us that Jesus spoke the word to people “…as they were able to hear it”. There are many reasons why it’s hard to hear what Jesus is saying. Beginning with the reign of God failing to fulfill our expectations. Because it’s profoundly unlike any human reign we have ever known.

Therefore we are bound to have trouble with the reign of God. We want to say what it is and isn’t. Who is in and who is out. Where exactly its boundaries lie. How it came because we did such hard work. But, according to Jesus we can’t say any of these things.

What can we say then about the reign of God? The best we can say today is that it’s sneaky. It springs up at God’s will, and grows at God’s whim. Neither you nor I have the slightest bit of control over it. All our efforts at cultivation or refinement have no effect on God’s reign. But it has an effect on us.

Paul advised the Corinthian Christians to practice a certain lightness of being. They confronted injustice; healed the sick and broken; created an alternative economy; chose peace over violence; freedom for all over slavery for some; believed that resurrection and enduring new life were possible. People called them crazy for their fearless living.

Where did their confidence come from? It’s certain God’s reign had taken root in them. The evidence is that they were seeing everything from a whole new point of view. And a harvest of righteousness was underway. May the reign of God be so great within us. Amen.