Sermon: 14th June 2009 - As small as a mustard seed.

It’s a commonly heard remark that our society has lost contact with the cycle of growth and nurturing that is farming. My father was born a farmer and remains that in his heart today. He is a man of the soil - has grown vegetables all of his life – still does.

My children were born in towns, and lived a suburban early life. Much as I enjoy gardens, I am not a gardener, so my children spent their early years believing that peas came out of the freezer in a bag marked ‘Bejam.’ (Remember them?) That was, until a holiday visit to my parents on their retirement smallholding. Imagine the children’s surprise and wonder the first time they saw peas growing, and popped the pods to find the peas inside. If you know anything about children you will also understand that not many of those peas made it indoors; most were eaten in the field where they were picked.

Food production was closer to people’s daily experience in the days before Mr Clarence Birdseye patented plate freezing in 1930 to preserve that ‘sweet as the moment when the pod went pop’ taste.

The Greek word used in Mark’s gospel that describes Jesus’ trade was ‘tekton’, from which we get our modern word, technology. It is often translated as carpenter, but is more accurately a builder, a worker of stone, metal and wood. Modern scholarship and archaeology supports this, and suggests that Jesus probably grew up in Nazareth and worked with his father as a day labourer at the nearby very grand and wealthy Roman city of Sepphoris, 3 miles from Nazareth.

During his walk to and from work each day, Jesus would have had plenty of time to become familiar with the cycles of farming, both arable and stock, and of the fishermen.

It’s no surprise then that, after he leaves Nazareth and starts his ministry Jesus uses images of farming to speak to his followers on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. We know that Jesus was being watched by the local Pharisees and scribes, eager to avoid an insurrection. We can surmise that Romans would also have been interested in what was being said to a crowd, but stories of soil and seeds must have seemed quite boring.

We need to seek the meaning. The major issue that commentators have with all of Jesus’ parables is that the apparent simplicity can yield a number of ever more interesting ideas as the Holy Spirit leads us deeper into understanding of God’s word. In this case I’ll try to avoid going down too many rabbit holes!

In Chapter 4 of Marks gospel we have first, the parable of the soil, then a story about a seed growing, then the parable of the mustard seed. In the middle of these simple farming metaphors Jesus tells his followers (when they are in private) that, ‘that which is hidden is meant to be disclosed’. In other words, there is meaning in the stories that goes beyond the obvious top layer. They are meant to be looking for new meanings, as are we.

Firstly I’d like to say that the mustard plant is not the most attractive you will find. The shores of Lake Galilee are decorated with Jacaranda and other lovely flowering shrubs. Palm trees are decorative and provide useful shade. Mustard is quite unassuming really. It is useful rather than beautiful, but its fruit is valuable spice.

Therefore it has potential. And that is why I would call it one of the ‘small things’ of God. If you think that small means insignificant, think of the fluw virus, or an atom in nuclear fusion. Small can hold guge potential, and anyone who looks beyond the immediate appearance to the potential in this seed, and who has confidence to plant it will be rewarded with a shrub, or tree that provides spices of value on the trade routes through the land, and also acts as shelter for nesting birds.

The previous words in the parable of the growing seed tell us that we don’t control the growth; that is in God’s hands. Even with all our scientific knowledge today not many of understand the mechanism by which a seed turns into a tree. We can describe photosynthesis, we can talk about osmosis, we can measure and chart and even watch growth on freeze frame photography, speeded up. We can sometimes determine optimum growing conditions, but we cannot make that plant grow. The potential to grow is inside it, a part of it, the part that is God given, the potential for life.

The mustard seed and the potential that it holds get another airing in the gospels. Do you remember Matthew 17:20?
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

And that’s what it’s like with the Kingdom of God, that growth of God’s reign of justice and of peace here on earth. That’s what happened to the seed of faith that Jesus planted. They grew didn’t they?

Imagine each one of those disciples as a mustard seed. From a small number of poorly educated, mostly manual workers who knew they didn’t control much in Roman occupied Palestine, but depended on the bounty of God, to us sitting here today. Across languages and time, that seed has taken root and grown, in our lives and in the lives of others. To push the metaphor, that spice has flavoured our world.

What was true then is true now. Jesus looks in to our heart and sees our deepest need, for relationship with God, and he offers that to us. He sees our potential, and we only have to be prepared to let that seed of faith be planted in us, to be the good soil that receives and nurtures. We don’t need to force anything; we only need to ‘let go and let God’.

The continuity of our faith, sharing the good news of our salvation with others, isn’t something we need to be anxious about. Sometimes the gentle word, the small action, the life lived with integrity, demonstrates the power of the Holy Spirit in us far more than standing on a soapbox and shouting. (btw - if standing on a soapbox and shouting is your particular gift from God then please, don’t let anything I’ve said stop you.)

Maybe we can simply relax in prayer, leave space for God to work, provide stillness and quiet, or companionship. Maybe we can help a friend to find something they haven’t experiences before – perhaps the wonder of peas in a pod - a part of creation that is very good. Sometimes we can help to identify things to be thankful for – perhaps the joy of a smile that shows God’s plan for our relationships, maybe the satisfaction of a life well-lived. Sometimes we can simply be, when we are needed.

Why don’t we all make space this week to look for the small things of God, the little opportunities to plant our own unobtrusive mustard seeds, and then allow space for God to work; trust God to make them grow.