Proper 6, Yr B (2024) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Proper 6, Yr B (2024) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
2 Cor 5:6-17
Mark 4:26-34
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
The Kingdom of God is like….
The Kingdom of God is like a whole bunch of things, apparently!
The Kingdom of God is like:
a sower who goes out and sows seed…
yeast mixed with flour…
a great banquet…
a sheep that wanders away…
a lost coin….
All the parables start out like a good story,
using everyday items and experiences,
but the bottom line of any of Jesus’ parables is that…
The Kingdom of God is like nothing you’d ever expect!
The Kingdom of God keeps showing up in unexpected ways.
In parables, Jesus takes common, ordinary experiences,
and shows how God is at work in ways we’d never imagine.
Today we hear two brief parables:
The kingdom of God is as if someone scatters seeds on the ground,
sleeps and rises, day in and day out,
does nothing to tend the soil or seed,
and an entire crop grows up.
Can you imagine that happening in your yard?
Crops with no work?
The 2nd parable is about the tiniest of seed…the mustard seed,
growing into a giant shrub,
so that birds can nest there.
Now, the thing about the mustard seed that Jesus doesn’t say…
is that no one in their right mind
would actually sow a mustard seed in their garden,
because the mustard plant is a very hardy plant that germinates rapidly
and then takes over the whole garden.
The mustard plant is what we call an invasive plant!
Then Jesus says that when the mustard grows up,
it becomes the greatest of all shrubs.
Here Jesus is throwing in a bit of humor…
to show God’s activity in an unexpected place.
The mustard plant is actually a rather scrubby bush.
It may grow as tall as someone standing on another’s shoulders,
but it would hardly be called “great.”
If Jesus were going to compare the Kingdom of God with a magnificent work of nature,
a great cedar of Lebanon would be more like it –
and more expected and hoped for.
A cedar’s height is truly awesome…
as is its strength and robustness.
So, a mustard shrub…
is this really what Jesus wants to compare the Kingdom of God to?
The Kingdom of God is like an unwanted, unruly, scraggly shrub?
Hardly seems like what we would hope for in the Kingdom!
Now, those who are avid gardeners -
or those of us who are wanna-be gardeners –
want to think that the health and vitality of our gardens are all about us…
all about our sterling efforts to produce…
all about our hard toil and labor…
probably mostly so that we can take the credit.
But, Jesus is saying,
the Kingdom of God is going to sprout up and flourish even without our effort.
God will bring about the Kingdom!
As I sat thinking about what in my own life might be compared to these two parables,
my mind quickly went to our former neighbor’s grove of bamboo.
If you have ever had the misfortune of experiencing bamboo,
you will know what I mean.
The only reason I can think to plant bamboo is to feed panda bears.
Over several years I used to watch with trepidation
what I called the “bamboo creep” heading toward our backyard.
At the time, I was in our backyard most every day for some reason or another.
And then I skipped one day – literally –
and when I next went out,
there was a bamboo shoot that stood about 3 feet high.
I was horrified!
I quickly learned that the only way to get rid of bamboo is to dig it up…
along with all the many tendrils it sends out in every direction,
spreading bamboo everywhere,
taking over the entire garden.
But, as much as the only reason I see for sowing bamboo is to feed pandas…
have you ever stood outside
and listened to the sound of wind shimmering through bamboo leaves?
It is one of the most peaceful sounds I have ever heard!
And then there was the family of bunnies that created their burrows amid the roots.
And the flocks of birds that all gathered at one time to make their music.
As I paid attention,
I realized that the Kingdom of God was alive and well in the bamboo!
It was not what I anticipated.
All of today’s readings tell us the same story…
In 1 Samuel we hear that God chooses David to be king of Israel:
the youngest of the family…
not the oldest whom everyone would have expected.
God chose the one who keeps the sheep…
not the one who inherits the land.
God chose the least expected son to become the king.
In 2 Corinthians we hear that Jesus died on a cross…
an instrument of shame and humiliation
to show his priority of love as an example for us to follow
so that we, too, might see not with the vision of those in power
but with the eyes and heart of the humble Christ.
Over and over Jesus tells parables to speak about the Grace of God…
the power of God to do infinitely more than we can ever ask or imagine!
Jesus tells stories about taking that which seems useless, unworthy, or even harmful
to establish the Kingdom.
Are we able to notice?
It is one thing to notice how an unwanted shrub can provide shelter for a bird.
It takes a little more imagination and opening of the heart
to see how more difficult circumstances can bring light to the Kingdom.
As unwanted as a difficult medical diagnosis or presence of mental illness can be,
perhaps these circumstances can open us up.
Perhaps challenging circumstances
can help us to become more honest with ourselves and one another…
to realize the importance of relationships and claim our love for each other…
or maybe to learn that the way we are living needs to change…
for our own well-being or for that of another.
Perhaps our patience grows,
or our courage to speak out is quickened,
or our ability to abide with another increases.
The Good News
is that God’s Grace abounds
even when we are not tending the garden.
It is there for us to notice and accept if we look deeply…
if we put aside our preconceived judgments about the way things “ought” to be.
As Paul says:
If anyone is in Christ, we have been made new;
everything old has passed away;
See, everything has become new!
Everything has become new!
Can you see?
