Lenten Devotion – Day 18

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Mark 4:26-29

“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)

“This kingdom of God life is not a matter of waking up each morning with a list of chores or an agenda to be tended to, left on our bedside table by the Holy Spirit for us while we slept. We wake up already immersed in a large story of creation and covenant, of Israel and Jesus, the story of Jesus and the stories that Jesus told. We let ourselves be formed by these formative stories, and especially as we listen to the stories that Jesus tells, get a feel for the way he does it, the way he talks, the way he treats people, the Jesus way.” ― Eugene H. Peterson, Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers

  Jesus choose to use parables to describe the kingdom of God for his listeners and we have looked at these parables in our devotions. Some people might find all this talk about the kingdom of God in parables very annoying. Why didn't Jesus come right out and say what he meant? Why did he leave behind all these cryptic sayings where he seems to avoid just telling us what the kingdom is. Many people have thought that Jesus should have just presented us with a crisp code of laws, rules or a select group of essays, like "How to Be a Good Disciple," "A Comprehensive Definition of the Kingdom of God" or "Seven Key Features of the Coming Kingdom and What This Means to You." Instead, Jesus gives us parables, because in part the experience of the kingdom of God is not the same from one person to the next.

  A list of rules and laws never changes, never adapts. If you still think Jesus would have gotten his points across better with hard and fast rules, try remembering the last time enjoyed reading Leviticus or the first few chapters of Numbers. A parable gives us the fluid nature of a story, a tale that adapts to the hearer and their experience of the kingdom, which over time keeps breathing new life into the Good News. Jesus' parables engage us and entice us into our world, if they did not, even God's Word becomes a hard read.

  In our scripture reading today, this particular parable is unique to Mark. Jesus frequently uses illustrations from the growth of nature to describe the coming of the kingdom of God. The seed parables instruct us not to expect complete comprehension of the transforming power of the Spirit's presence. The kingdom comes by God's initiative and appointment, not by our understanding and manipulation. The seed parables remind us of the large outcomes from small beginnings. (Parable of the Mustard Seed) Huge harvests can come from small seeds. We are called to faithfully plant the seeds and trust the Spirit to work the miracle of transformation. Even small seeds of faith have tremendous power, even to the point of moving mountains.

  The parable tells us when we plant the seed, we don’t make the seed grow. We don’t really understand how it grows. We know some things, we know the best soil to make the seed grow, we know what nutrients are best to promote growth, we know when there is too much or too little water and how much sun a particular plant needs to best grow, but in the final analysis there is much we don’t know about how it all works. Within the seed lies the secret of life and of growth within itself. We can discover some things; we can rearrange them; we can develop them; but create them we cannot. We do not create the kingdom of God; the kingdom is exclusively of God’s creation. In the end we can frustrate and hinder the growth of the kingdom. We can make a situation in the world where it is given the opportunity to come more fully and more speedily. But behind all things is God and the power and the will of God at work, using us to bring the kingdom to the world around us.

  Nature’s growth is often imperceptible. We do not see a plant growing. If we see it every day we cannot see the growth taking place. It is only when we see it, and then go away, and then come back after an interval of time that we see the difference. It is so with the kingdom of God. There is not the slightest doubt that the kingdom is on the way if we compare, not today with yesterday, but this century with the century which went before.

  Even though our society and world has not arrived at the point where peace, justice, hope and love are the prevailing purpose. If we look back at the horrible ways individuals were once treated, we know those ways are unthinkable today. Why? Because the kingdom is on the way. We can see improvements, for example, in civil rights, the justice system, debtor prisons, slavery, hunger, poverty, education, and racism. Are these problems solved, no, but this is why the work of bringing the kingdom never ends. We are always in the midst of the work and task of promoting the kingdom of God. Though the parable does assure us that someday the harvest will come, the day of the Lord will arrive.

  The growth of the kingdom may, like the growth of the plant, be imperceptible from day to day; but over the years that growth is plain. Nature’s growth is constant. Night and day, while people sleep, growth goes on. There is nothing spasmodic about God. The great trouble about human effort and human goodness is in the fact that they are spasmodic. One day we take one step forward; the next day we take two steps back. But the work of God goes on quietly; unceasingly God unfolds his plan.

"God is working His purpose out,
     as year succeeds to year:
God is working His purpose out,
     and the time is drawing near -
Nearer and nearer draws the time -
     the time that shall surely be,
When the earth shall be filled with the glory
     of God as the water covers the sea."

Today’s Lectionary Readings
Morning: Psalms 34; 146
Evening: Psalms 25; 91
Jeremiah 7:21–34
Romans 4:13–25
John 7:37–52