Seeds of the Kingdom

The fourth chapter of St Mark’s Gospel reads like a “gardener’s corner”. It’s all about soils and seeds, weeds and fruitfulness. Mark uses the very minimum of words to stimulate our thinking about the reality of the Kingdom of God

“What can we say the kingdom of God is like? It is like a tiny grain of mustard seed.”

In digging around that image we may only scratch the surface but nevertheless there are some important principles to draw out

It’s very easy to jump to the conclusion that the Kingdom of God must be a super power. Our perception can be dominated by very human ideas.

For example in a culture like that of the State of Texas describing the Kingdom of God would be a big question that would demand a big answer.

However in a ‘big country’ mindset surrounded by oil kingdoms and cattle fiefdoms the Kingdom of God may be sidelined and perceived as something apart – big but not of this world

The story goes that a Texan farmer once boasted that it would take him from 6 in the morning to 6 at night to drive from one end of his farm to the other.

“Yes” said his friend patiently, “I know what you mean. I once had a car like that!”

Well that took the wind out of his sails! We can get carried away with notions that somehow a big show of things is essential.

In teaching about the Kingdom Jesus is digging deeper than material kingdoms, propaganda stunts and ‘big’ ideas with attention grabbing images.

The disciples listening to him included some who had already run away with the idea that the Kingdom was political power. They needed to listen carefully to what Jesus was saying. Jesus talked about a tiny seed.

Simon the Zealot listened and was stopped in his tracks. He had been eager to make a real impact. He wanted to bring on the Kingdom, trumpets sounding and with enthusiasm!

His vision was about numbers, big numbers, even political upheaval – big time. Jesus rules ok!

Such zeal and eagerness for Jesus was way off the mark. It was facile. It was also arrogant to the point that as a zealot he believed he knew best. He knew how to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. In such attitudes the work of God is taken out of God’s hands.

Christians are not in the business of empire building for Christ.

The Kingdom, the rule of God is a divine power. It is freely given. It is the Holy Spirit, the Love of God in the hearts and minds of all faithful people. It is a tiny seed that changes and grows.

Also as Paul put it we are called to be “planters” of God’s grace. “I planted the seed, Apollo watered it, but God made it grow”. So we are involved in the coming of the Kingdom as co-workers with God.

As Christians we need to learn how to co-operate in this divine work. Our attitudes and perceptions of the Kingdom need to be in tune with the mind of Christ. We miss the mark when we try to force the seed of God’s love to grow according to our prejudices and ‘enthusiasms’.

We are called to be faithful and by God’s help to become channels of grace. Our mission is to scatter the seeds of faith, tend the soil, encourage with patience.

We do this in worship, in prayer, as members of the Church, in asking big questions, in wrestling with right and wrong, in listening to the Word of God and in service.

When BBC television recently revisited the Monastery they were in a sense checking the seeds that had been sown several months before. They wanted to see if the participants in the programme had grown spiritually.

The most interesting character for me was Nick; a Cambridge academic who had been debating theology for several years and who throughout the previous series had been in the same mode. It was as if he was lying dormant, dug in deep but not growing.

It was not until the reality of vocation was raised that Nick seemed to stir. He was seized by a sense of his faith growing, of being compelled to express it in action – bursting out – growing up, maturing. This growing experience led him on to a costly decision to enter the full-time ministry. No more ‘big’ talk but rather costly service.

How did this happen? We could say the seed of faith had been planted, the encouragement was all around like good soil, the kindly, patient friendship of fellow Christians was supportive but the growing – the growing to the point of vocation and action was surely the work of the Spirit.

When Jesus spoke of the tiny mustard seed he may have been reflecting on his ministry in Galilee. He had sown the seed. Now he was saying ‘let it grow – be open to the rule of the Spirit and learn to plant the seeds of the Kingdom’. Let the love of God rule in your hearts and minds.

Plant seeds of kindness that offer shelter and hope; plant seeds of honesty that encourage trust and security; plant seeds of prayer that strengthen the spirit; plant seeds of all kinds that let the love of God grow in your lives.

By the grace of God such seeds do grow and grow.

Jesus said to them, “This is how the Kingdom of God works.”

Brian Wren’s hymn “There’s a spirit in the air” captures the sense of this divine mystery – the reality of the rule of God’s love all around us.

“When believers break the bread

When a hungry child is fed

Praise the love of Christ revealed

Living, working, in our world.”

Amen