"God's New Age, Growing Of Its Own" June 18, 2006 Pentecost 2 (Proper 6)

(First read the text for this sermon: Mark 4:26-34)

Who here enjoys spending time in the garden? Who here knows how to break up clay, adding good dirt and hummus, to create good soil in the garden? Who knows how to divide up perennials? You know how to plan and plant a garden in which something is blooming all the time, right?

Who here knows how to nurture a lawn? You know all about your soil, and what seed is best, and what fertilizer to use and when to apply it, right?

When a person has the expertise I’ve been describing, we say that s/he has “a green thumb,” and there are all kinds of people like that in Williamsburg. There are many Master Gardeners in our congregation. But now, let me ask another question. Who here can make something grow?

Not a single one of us can do that! We can do all kinds of things to encourage growth, to provide opportunity for growth. But growth itself is a gift from God.

The two parables this morning, in the gospel of Mark, are exaggerated stories making that point – that growth is a gift of God! Specifically, Jesus is teaching us here how to watch for the growth of the kingdom of God, of God’s new age.

"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.

Jesus is using a little bit of comedy to make the point clear. In that ancient culture, the sower of seed certainly knew about good soil, and about cultivating and nourishing the tiny plants that emerged from the seed. But this parable isn’t about proper agricultural technique. It is about this: "The kingdom of God is as if…”

And so, the story is about this: Can you and I cause the kingdom of God to grow? How does it grow? “He does not know how!” Instead, the parable is telling us, all we can do is to be alert, to watch for where the kingdom is growing! Because it grows when we’re not looking! When we finally do see it, the kingdom has already been growing! The growth is God’s gift.

The kingdom of God is God’s new age. It is the resurrected life, and you have experienced that. There are any number of characteristics of God’s new age. There is no violence. Those who live in the resurrection care for the poor, and protect the weak, and stand with those who are oppressed. God’s kingdom is the environment in which the fruit of the Holy Spirit flourishes! And so (to use Paul’s list of that fruit, from Galatians), you are noticing the kingdom of God whenever you’re alert to any of these things: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

And when we’re attentive enough to notice the growth of the kingdom, where do we see it? It’s right in the midst of us! It’s right in the midst of all that we experience. It’s in the midst of great joys and deep tragedies.

Sometimes it takes great alertness to see God’s new age growing within us and among us, because the growth begins in ways that are infinitesimally small. Sometimes, even, It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.” But God’s new age grows of its own! And so, when the tiniest of kingdom seeds 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."

Whenever you’re alert to the presence of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, you realize that God’s new age has been growing in the midst of us!

Whenever you find yourself acting out of that fruit of the Spirit – caring for the poor, and protecting the weak, and standing with those who are oppressed – you are acting as a citizen of God’s kingdom! You are receiving the ability to live the resurrected life!

I am trying to communicate the deep grace in these parables we’re encountering this morning. It’s a difficult thing to do – because I am an unbeliever speaking to other unbelievers. Just like you, I take too much onto myself. I think it’s all up to me, and I’m always worrying that I’m not working hard enough to fulfill my responsibilities, and … (I won’t ask you to embarrass yourself by raising your hand if you live there too!)

What joy and release there is when, instead, you and I live immersed in the grace that these parables are describing! For instance, can you cause love to grow? Can you make others feel joy and peace? Can you force yourself to be patient? Instead, isn’t it a matter of receiving love, and joy and peace, and the abilities to be patient and kind and generous, as gifts from God? God’s new age grows of its own, within us and among us. We see that when we’re alert. The growth is gift, and we live in the resurrection when we respond to the gift.

One of God’s chief purposes for gathering us together in worship and study and fellowship is to teach us how to do this! We teach each other how to be open to the enabling of God the Holy Spirit, as we share our own experiences of what that looks like. We gather to give support for each other as we live in this entirely counter cultural way! God’s new age grows of its own. The life of faith is becoming more and more deeply a part of that, and watching for it.

How is God’s new age growing, in your own spiritual life, even from a beginning as tiny as a mustard seed? How are you living the resurrection, in how you treat others you live with and work with? Where are you more alert to the needs of the poor and of those who are weak?

What grace there is, in the gifts of God that enable us to live in the resurrection! Whenever there is love and joy and peace, patience and kindness, generosity, faithfulness and gentleness and self control, we thank God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.


Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia