Christians and Others 
(Poem by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

All go to God in their distress,
Seek help and pray for bread and happiness,
Deliverance from pain, guilt, and death.
All do, Christians and others.

All go to God in His distress,
Find Him poor, reviled without shelter or bread,
Watch Him tormented by sin, weakness, and death.
Christians stand by God in His agony.

God goes to all in their distress,
Satisfies body and soul with His bread,
Dies, crucified for all, Christians and others
And both alike forgiving.

Scripture Readings: Ezekiel 17:22–24 | Psalm 92 | 2 Corinthians 5:6–17 | Mark 4:26–34

“He 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.’” (Mark 4:26-27).
 
What’s your favourite kind of flower?
 
My favourite are Forget-Me-Nots. Aside from being simple, small, and yet beautiful, they also remind me of a time in my life when I was preparing to answer a calling to ordained ministry in the Anglican Church.
 
A few of us who were also about to be ordained were on a silent retreat at the Roman Catholic monastery in Rogersville. It was a time of deep prayer, and of serious reflection on the implications of taking this step… and I can recall feeling overwhelmed at times, and very conscious of my own limitations… my own smallness compared to the mission ahead of me, and the whole Church I was called to serve.
 
But then I went for a walk around the monastery grounds, and found a little path to a grotto… a solitary outdoor place of prayer. And in that peaceful place, where God’s Spirit continued to quietly invite me to trust in His guidance and grace, I found myself surrounded by Forget-Me-Nots. They completely lined the pathway, these little blue flowers… and this image is still vivid in my mind… an image which now helps me not to forget how God works through these simple and small ways to bring about His good will… drawing us closer to Him, and inviting us to trust in His gracious, life-giving love, for us and our world.
 
When we moved to our home some years back, we found all sorts of wildflowers around the property. And to my delight, amongst the various wild plants and weeds, there were a few Forget-Me-Nots at the end of our driveway. No idea where they came from, but there they were.
 
And for the first few years, they remained just a few in number. Easily overlooked. But then last year, instead of just mowing them down with the grass, I let them be… hoping that maybe they would spread a bit. And this year, to my growing delight, we now have a big patch of them… as well as a few more patches springing up nearby.
 
Now I know that’s the way with Forget-Me-Nots, but like all growing things, even those that seem so commonplace, familiar, or insignificant… there’s an amazing and mysterious beauty at work in life if we take time to notice it… inviting us to humbly reflect on how our own lives fit into creation, and the Living God’s ongoing work within it.
 
And in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus our Lord gives us two parables about God Kingdom using the imagery of planting and growing: wheat planted by a farmer, which then grows into a harvest, and a small mustard seed which then grows into a shrub big enough to offer shelter to the birds.
 
These are moving images, but we need to remember that Jesus used parables not just as relatable word pictures about general truths… Jesus used them to offer true insights into who He is, and into what He is doing. They are about God’s Kingdom. Meant to reshape our ideas about what God is up to, and our place within His will for His world.

Sometimes these parables seem pretty straightforward and familiar. Sometimes they seem a lot more mysterious. But if we want to actually understand the Good News that these sayings have to share, we need to remember their purpose: they point us to Jesus Himself, shining light on what He is up to… bringing about God’s good Kingdom even now.
 
The parables we heard today are spoken by Jesus at a particular moment early on in St. Mark’s Gospel: after Christ had already called the Twelve disciples, had been confronted by the religious experts, and carried out many miracles. And so at this point, many of the common people in that region had begun to take notice of Him. People with all sorts of different ideas about what God’s Kingdom and God’s King should look like.
 
At the start of Mark Chapter 4, we can read that Jesus “began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables” (Mark 4:1-2), including the two parables we read today.
 
Mark 4:26-29, “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.”
 
It’s a simple and profound image: a seed planted in the ground comes to life in ways completely hidden from human agency. It’s something that happens all the time, all around us, but it’s still mysterious… outside of our understanding and direct control.
 
Of course, all the gardeners here today know a bit more than the rest of us about what might help plants to grow; what kinds of soils and fertilizers works best, and so on. And those a bit more scientifically minded might have a better understanding about the whole process of plant cell replication, etcetera… but remember: this parable is not really about plants… it’s using plants to make a point about God’s Kingdom. About how it grows in ways we often don’t recognize, understand, or control. And yet, when the harvest is ready, there is a real need for us to respond rightly.

Then there’s the second parable about the mustard seed. Mark 4:30-32, “He 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.”
 
Any botanists among us (or those like me with access to Google), might be tempted to point out that orchid seeds are actually smaller than mustard seeds… but to focus on this detail is to miss the point of what Jesus is getting at: that something so seemingly insignificant and easily overlooked is designed to transform into an unexpectedly outsized blessing for others to share in.
 
Like many other examples of abstract wisdom found in the world… these parables might provide some edifying food for thought for anyone to consider. But for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, these sayings have a much more direct message, with real implications for how we go about the work of God’s good Kingdom.
 
In short: we simply can’t accurately assess the potential growth of God’s Kingdom based on appearances! It is in so many ways mysterious… outside of our understanding and control… and able to exceed all of our expectations. And yet, we are all still graciously called to take part in it… trusting the Living God to do His work, as we seek to do His will.
 
This means that we don’t need to be discouraged when the things of God seem small and insignificant. And we are warned against placing our faith in what seems like success by human standards.   
 
After all, God’s Kingdom is not all about us! It’s not based on our own potential or lack thereof. By God’s grace, we have a real role to play, but it is God’s power at work in us that brings about His New Life… often in really mysterious and unexpected ways.
 
Christ Jesus Himself is the prime example of this.

He is Himself the Living God, the Eternal Son whose glory was hidden like the grain of wheat, not in soil, but in the life of an ordinary human being like us… the life of a humble carpenter’s son from Nazareth… and yet there He was mysteriously and powerfully  accomplishing God’s redemptive and life-giving work in ways beyond all expectations… healing the sick, confronting those who were misleading God’s people, and setting people free from the powers of darkness… and calling for people like us to respond to what He was up to with faith and obedience.
 
And just like the tiny mustard seed sown in the ground, Jesus Himself would suffer a fate reserved for those whose lives are seemingly deemed insignificant… crucified as a criminal… publicly shamed and reduced to nothing from a human point of view… and yet from His death God’s New resurrection life bursts forth, upending our world for good… defeating the powers of darkness and death, and offering shelter and salvation for all the peoples of the world, calling us all to come and discover our truest home in Him.
 
And as we Christians reflect on the life, and death, and resurrection of Jesus our Lord, we also come to understand the place of the Church within God’s good Kingdom as well.

These parables point us first to Jesus, and call us to respond to Him in the light of the truth that they share.
 
Just as God’s mysterious and hidden power was present and at work in and through Jesus in His earthly life, so too God is present and at work through His Spirit in the life of the Church today. The community of God’s faithful people may not seem all that significant in the world’s eyes… but that doesn’t mean God is not still at work in us, even in ways that we don’t understand.
 
Even if it’s hard to see, God’s life continues to bear fruit in us as we draw near to Him in faith… as we let His word shape our imaginations, and spread its roots deep in our hearts… as we turn from our sins, and receiving His gracious forgiveness… offered through Christ’s own broken body and blood shed at the cross… and then as we put into practice all that we have received… walking in His ways, and tending to the life of God growing inside us through the Holy Spirit.
 
Like a grain of wheat, God’s Kingdom is at work in us in ways we can’t always measure or observe… but we can be faithful and ready to respond when the time is right for Chris’s work in us to bear its good fruit.
 
And just as Jesus Himself was cast aside, and His life considered a small thing to those who opposed Him, we too His people should not be surprised when we find ourselves dismissed as too small to matter, or to make a difference. God’s people might be a minority, but with God’s own Spirit still at work in and through us, we can become a real blessing to our world… helping all those who are lost to come into contact and receive the saving love of the Living God.
 
These parables offer an important word of hope for the Church in the West these days: we don’t need to despair over having small numbers, or when we seem to only be making slow progress… and we don’t need to chase after quick ways to draw crowds, or get things done at the expense of faithfulness to the call of Jesus Christ to trust and follow Him.
 
True, the more people who come to follow Christ Jesus, the better. And if our projects and programs seem to succeed, that’s great. But the point is: we can never clearly assess what God intends to do in and through His people, and He loves to use what seems weak and insignificant in the eyes of the world to bring about His gracious Kingdom.
 
So, when we are tempted to be discouraged, or overwhelmed by the challenges that lie before us, let us not forget that God’s Kingdom grows in all sorts of surprising, and unexpected ways, with God’s Holy Spirit showing up where we least expect Him to, and when we need His grace and guidance the most.
 
Let us not forget that Christ Jesus is the source of our confidence and life, and that if we follow Him in faith, our very real limitations won’t stop Him from drawing us into His good work.
 
Let us not forget that God’s Kingdom is so much bigger than you and me… and yet, we are all called to share in its joys, in its labours, and in its blessed life. And let us not forget that Christ Jesus calls us share this Good News with the world around us too.
 
I’d like to end now with a poem I wrote a while back called A Penny in God’s Pocket.
 
A penny in God’s pocket
Of infinitesimal insignificance;
Almost perfectly pointless.
 
And yet…
 
Hidden, not forgotten.
Lovingly remembered,
As holy fingers play.
 
Toying with this secret
Silly treasure
Tossed by all the rest.
 
A penny in God’s pocket
 
Almost nothing at all,
But held by One
Who makes all out of nothing.             

Amen.

You're here at last!
   So glad you've come
   We've waited for so long
Branches wave and
   Knees bend low, while
   We sing out the song
Not quite the way we 
   Pictured you...
   No army in your wake
Seems you've not come
   To overthrow
   There must be some mistake.

Here you are... and with us
   Sitting down
   The select few
How great is this?
   How great are we?
   You say we have no clue.
Then bending down
   And stripping off
   You wipe away our mess
And order us
   To do the same...
   We could not get it less.

Now here we are
   Long after dark
   You take some time alone
We sit and wonder
   What comes next?
   And drift off, one-by-one.
Then suddenly, you're here
   And all around
   We see our foes.
We strike. You step in. 
   Stop the blood.
   Surrender... as we run.

Now there you are
   Suspended in the sky
   For all to see.
Naked and
   In agony, and
   Hanging from a tree.
This is the end.
   It has to be!
   There is no coming back.
And one-by-one
   We turn away.
   There is no coming back.

But here you are!
   Before our eyes
   How can all this be true?!?
We saw you die...
   But here you are!
   We still don't have a clue.
This had to happen
   All along, you say
   And just as soon
As we believe our eyes
   And ears and hearts
   Again you're gone.

Yet here you are!
   Still with us, even when
   Our eyes don't see
And there you are
   Far off ahead
   As we follow your lead
And here too we 
   Meet with you in
   The eyes of every face
And here we help them 
   See you too
   When we extend your grace.