Ready or Not: God's Kingdom Will Come
Posted on Jun 17, 2018 by David Whetter
For some of us as we say our daily prayers we often include the Lord’s Prayer, which means as we pray we pray for God’s kingdom to come. For this faith community, every Sunday when we gather, or every time your Council ends a meeting, we pray the Lord’s Prayer, which means we pray for God’s kingdom to come. Today Jesus wants to give us a glimpse of what this Kingdom might be like and for many of us, if we read this story carefully, we might want to rethink what we are asking for when we pray because the kingdom Jesus describes today is not quite like most of us imagine it.
Let me explain what I mean. First of all, for many of us, we continue to think of God’s kingdom as something that we will partake in after we die. But throughout the Gospels, Jesus is clear that the kingdom is here now. Oh, it is not complete, but with the coming of Christ, God’s kingdom is now breaking into this world. So when we say those words, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done…” we are actually demanding, not asking, that God fulfill God’s promise to continue to build the kingdom now. Our story today is one of those times that Jesus tries to share with his followers how to recognize the kingdom, and to do this he offers two parables.
In the first parable Jesus 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). Now, before I go any further, I want to once again point out that I think God, and Jesus, had a good sense of humor because I would argue that both of the parables today were meant not only to teach us something, but in Jesus’ day, and today for many farmers, these two parables would have caused some laughter. As I have said many times, I am not a farmer, but over the years I have learned a little about gardening, and the notion of just throwing seed around is crazy. I mean, last month when we planted our garden, if I would have just walked out and thrown some seeds on the ground, Jill would have had a fit, and rightly so. But Jesus said that not only is the kingdom of God kind of like that, but it gets even crazier. Not only is the kingdom just something that is kind of thrown out there, but as the gardener, Jesus says things will grow even if you don’t do anything. Now I can tell you I am pretty excited about our garden this year. We already have tomatoes, the peppers are looking and tasting great, we’ve already started picking cucumbers, and we are already harvesting all our fresh herbs, but between Jill and I, at least one of us is out there every day, watering, pulling weeds, etc., and I can tell you if we hadn’t, that garden wouldn’t be doing well. But Jesus, as he is speaking to all these people who would have understood the finer points of agricultural work, says, no, the kingdom is that garden, or planted field that will grow and reach its full potential no matter what. You and I need not do anything because God will ensure the kingdom comes, with or without us. We can fight it, we can resist it, we can even try to stop it, but it will all be in vain because God’s kingdom is here and is growing, and we can be part of it or we can ignore it. And, like the people in Jesus’ day who scuffed at such a notion, I think most of us laugh at such a notion of the kingdom. I mean, really, if we don’t do all the right things, God’s kingdom can’t come, we have to do that work, right? Oh, I think God wants us to be part of it, but when we begin to think it's about us making it happen instead of us just participating in it, then the joke is on us.
And, Jesus didn’t stop there with the humor, either. We all know the parable of the mustard seed and we have all heard the great explanation that Jesus is saying that the point is God’s kingdom is small now, but someday it will be mighty. Now that is a good interpretation, but that is not the whole story, and it isn’t the funny part. Let me explain.
So, in the second parable, Jesus says, “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;” (4:30-31). Now that is funny! You see, mustard plants in that part of the world were, and are, considered weeds, and no respectable person in those days would have planted mustard seeds. You know, I really like a green, lush lawn. Every year, I take time to fertilize my lawn regularly, and I make sure I keep the weeds out of it. But, in this parable, it is as if Jesus was saying to me, Dave, the kingdom is like when you take dandelion seeds and throw them in your lawn. What? I wouldn’t do that. Why would I intentionally sow weeds into my grass?
And there is the funny part. Jesus is saying the kingdom is like a seed that nobody wants. It is that seed that nobody would intentionally sow in their field, but when we combine it with the first parable, we get to get the sense that Jesus is saying, look, you might not want this kingdom to really come, but it could pop up almost anywhere and start multiplying. Some of Jesus’ listeners must have groaned or chuckled. The reign of God apparently isn’t much of a cash crop, yet, it grows, and like most weeds, it can’t easily be eradicated, and even if you try it will just pop up somewhere else. Good luck keeping it out of your well-manicured garden or your farmland, or your lives.
But the story gets even better, because Jesus goes on to refer to this weed as “the greatest of all shrubs “(4:32). Again, I think at this point many of those listening would have probably broken out in laughter. I mean, yes, the mustard plant can get enormous, but it most definitely isn’t great or magnificent, at least to those in power and those who wanted the finer things in life for themselves. And, to be honest, I imagine Jesus must grinning when he told this parable, as well. You see, I don’t believe he was trying to impart great insight, but he was trying to shock the people into a new way of perceiving greatness.
You see, if Jesus had been trying to impress us about the kingdom, he would have probably compared the kingdom to the mighty cedars of Lebanon that Ezekiel spoke of this morning in our Old Testament reading, but instead he describes something more ordinary, and yet also something more able to show up, to take over inch by inch, and eventually to transform a whole landscape. Some of us might deem this uninvited plant to be too much of a good thing. Others might consider it a nuisance, but what about those who, like the birds, need a home where they can be safe? The kingdom is that place where even those who we deem worthless, or the most valuable, will find comfort and peace in the kingdom, just like the birds find a weed a place of comfort and peace.
So who are the “birds,” those that might be deemed worthless in society that will find comfort in this kingdom? Scripture often speaks of the widow and the orphan, which in today’s world would be those who cannot care for themselves, or have no voice in a world filled with powerful voices. Today these widows and orphans might be the intellectually challenged who our system has overlooked and provides little care for, it might be those who are often not welcomed in communities because they don’t conform to the “norms” that have been established, such as the LBGTQIA community. It might be people of color who face socio-economic difficulties simply because of the color of their skin, or their nationality. Or, it could be the immigrants. Regardless of how scripture has been used recently, there is no scripture verse that supports the harm and rejection of immigrants. In fact, it is just the opposite. In Deuteronomy 10:19, God says,“You shall also love the stranger (immigrant), for you were strangers (immigrants) in the land of Egypt.”
Brothers and sisters, God’s kingdom is here and it is growing, and it is messing with our established boundaries and rules, and with or without us, it will become that mighty kingdom where all have a place at the table. It will be that place where we will no longer fear that our loved ones will be shot, or where hatred will exist. God’s kingdom is not only in those sacred spaces where we come to worship, but it is everywhere, even in those “seedy” places we deem unworthy.
So what is the point of today’s parables? God’s kingdom is here, it is coming, and whether you like it or not, it will prevail. So, when we pray, “Your kingdom come...” we might want to be careful, because as God’s kingdom grows, it changes the landscape all around us. Thanks be to God! Amen.