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“Growing Season”
Mark 4.1-9 and Mark 4.26-34
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Rev. Dr. Charlie Berthoud
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Madison, Wisconsin
Jesus spoke in parables, using images and stories to get people thinking about life, and God and
purpose. Many people in his day were farmers, so he used a lot of agricultural imagery, as in our
readings for today. The first part of Mark 4 invites us to think about how receptive the soil is the seed,
and by implication how receptive we are to receiving the seeds of God’s word.
The agricultural imagery continues in the second reading, with an exaggerated sense of how the seed
without much help from the farmer. Jesus seems to be stressing the grace of God in this parable, saying
that the seeds just grow. This is comforting. But even though I’m not a farmer, I do know that farmers
work very hard to make the conditions as good as possible for growth, while also trusting in the
miraculous process of growth. So there is a wonderful dynamic tension between the grace of a seed
growing and the effort that a farmer puts in to provide optimal conditions for the gracious growth to
happen.
And Jesus talks about mustard seed, the tiny little mustard seed, that grows into a large plant, sort of
like a small tree. Elsewhere, Jesus encourages his disciples to have faith the size of a mustard seed, to be
able to do great things for the kingdom. Here, he just talks about the kingdom.
Listen for God’s word:
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. 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.”
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.”
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.
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C. Berthoud, 6/7/15
Cov. Pres. Madison WI, p. 2
A few years before we moved here from Pittsburgh in 2013, one of our
boys brought home a small cup from school, with dirt and a little sprig in it. In his
class, they had talked about nature and growth, and so the teacher gave them
each tiny strawberry plants.
We planted the little
sprig, hoping that it would
grow—and if it didn’t, that it
might be forgotten. Not much
happened that first year, but
we did plant it in the ground.
Within in a couple of
years, and with minimal effort
by us, we had big red, juicy
strawberries. And we had lots
of them.
The last year we were in Pittsburgh, we had dozens of them, probably ten
big bowls full of strawberries, all from the one tiny sprig.
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Over the years, I have read and pondered Jesus’ teachings on mustard
seeds many times. But never before have I lived just a few miles from the
National Mustard Museum! We have gone there a few times since we moved
here and it’s a pretty cool place.
I visited the museum again this week, to do a little sermon research. I had
never seen mustard seeds before, and they really are tiny. Looking at them, it is
amazing that from them not only can a mustard plant grow, but from that plant
comes more seeds and more plants and so on and so on.
C. Berthoud, 6/7/15
Cov. Pres. Madison WI, p. 3
Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like
this—apparently the kingdom begins in small and
inconspicuous ways and becomes surprisingly big
and wonderful.
Jesus’ words invite us to think about how
we are growing, how we are changing, how we
are part of God’s kingdom.
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We are in the part of the church year called “Ordinary Time.” Our bulletin
says it is the “Second Sunday After Pentecost,” or it could say that it is the “Tenth
Sunday of Ordinary Time.” This is how we traditionally describe the long season
after Pentecost and Trinity Sunday until Advent begins, near Christmas. It’s
Ordinary Time. I’ve never been particularly fond of the term “ordinary time.” It
sounds kind of boring.
But what if instead of just ordinary time, we thought of this as “Growing
Time” or “Growing Season”?
What if we prayerfully pondered the incredible image of a mustard seed
growing big, providing shade as well as spice, and considered how God might be
calling us to grow more compassionate or more alive?
Or what if we made an intentional effort to let the seed of God’s word take
root in our lives a little more deeply?
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Many years ago, I went through Confirmation at my home church,
Westminster Presbyterian, in Connecticut. It was a good program and I said, I do
and I am and I will at all the right times, but then I sort of said, “I will see you
later.” And for several years, I had nothing to do with church.
C. Berthoud, 6/7/15
Cov. Pres. Madison WI, p. 4
But apparently some seeds were growing in me. That church had faith in
me and for me, before I had it for myself. And when I went to college, I started
asking questions about warfare, and hunger, and God. I started reading about
Jesus, who fed hungry people and called for a radical kind of love. I started going
to church on my own.
I also got connected with some Christian fellowship groups, and in one of
those groups, I was given a little booklet. In that booklet were about 16
perforated cards. And on those cards were various Bible verses.
I still have those cards today. And the little cards were like little mustard
seeds, inviting me to reconnect with God and grow in faith. Those cards planted a
renewed appreciation for God’s word in me, both comforting me as a child of
God, and challenging me to hear the call of the gospel to turn away from
foolishness and live a life of purpose. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m grateful for
the growth that has come from those cards and from those Christian
communities.
So today, I have a small gift for you: a little Bible verse card which I printed
up this week.
C. Berthoud, 6/7/15
Cov. Pres. Madison WI, p. 5
There are about six different verses, so if you don’t like yours, maybe you
can trade it with a friend. Or maybe you shouldn’t trade a card that doesn’t seem
to connect with you, as sometimes God tells us things that we don’t want to hear
but that we need to hear. The ushers will hand the cards to you as you leave, and
I have some with me too.
I hope that this summer will be a time of growing for you: growing in faith,
hope, and love; growing in passion and purpose; growing as a child of God.
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When we moved here, my wife was smart enough to dig up a little
strawberry plant from that plant our garden in Pittsburgh. Last year, we didn’t see
much. This year, the plants are big and healthy, with lots of flowers, and just
yesterday, I noticed some strawberries starting to grow. We have high hopes.
God has high hopes for each of us too. Day by day, nourished by God’s
word and by our community together, we are learning, and growing, and living as
God’s people. Amen.