Gary L. Bagley First Presbyterian Church Cleveland, GA June 17, 2018 Mustard Seed Inc Mark 4:26-34; 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 Some things seem too good to be true. That s the way the opening verses of the Gospel of Mark begins presenting a message of breathless excitement that God is here, and he is on our side 1 as Eugene Peterson s version of Mark begins. Too much human energy is spent on dissecting what s wrong with the world. Not enough effort is spent opening ourselves to new possibilities. That is what Jesus telling of these two parables in the fourth chapter is about one about a farmer sowing seeds and the second about the smallness of the mustard seed compared to the size of the plant when full grown. Eugene Peterson s transliteration of today s gospel text substitutes the smallness of a pine nut compared to the tallness of a full-grown pine tree. Jesus was saying, Can you imagine all of the powerful and wonderful possibilities coming from something as small as a pine nut (for those of us who live in the Southeastern United States) or a mustard seed? Only five times in the Bible are the words mustard seed used. All five occurrences are contained in the gospels, coming from the teachings of Jesus. For most of us, mustard seeds are associated with the teachings on faith that a small amount is enough to move mountains. The other three uses of the mustard seed all have to do with what God s Kingdom is like. 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; yet when it 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. (Mark 4:30-32) One thing I have learned is that the Kingdom of God is unpredictable. On one occasion Jesus expressed it like this. The Sprit of God is like the wind. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it came from or where it is headed next. 2 Today s lectionary gospel reading is paired with a Jewish Old Testament story. When the time came for King Saul to step down, God spoke through Samuel. God told him to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem with few instructions other than, I ll tell 1 Eugene H. Peterson, The Message, (NavPress, Colorado Springs, 2002), p. 1,808. 2 John 3:8 1
you what to do next once you get there. 3 Samuel arrived prepared to offer a sacrifice to God with Jesse, his sons, and the city elders. He studied the faces, the physiques, and personality of Jesse s sons. None gave Samuel confidence in his mission to discover the new king. God told Samuel not to look on the outward appearance of each son, but to look on the heart. Finally, when the youngest boy was called in from the fields, Samuel heard God s word: Rise and anoint him; this is the one. 4 His ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts, 5 the prophet Isaiah remind us. You never know which direction the Kingdom of God is going, and you never know where it will take you. This three-verse parable also hints to the unbelievable power of God one of the smallest seeds dropping to the ground, yet becoming a plant large enough for birds to nest in its branches. For the past several years on the campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia, a pair of eagles have nested in a huge pine tree with three live video cameras monitoring the nest from the laying of the eagles eggs, their hatching, feeding fish and rodents to the eaglets, to their final flight from the nest. Jesus life is a testament to that. His teaching and words of wisdom in the synagogues were unlike the other teachers. He spoke with authority and confidence. He healed those who were sick. He spoke words of release and hope to those who were prisoners in their own minds, social structures, and religious systems. His followers rapidly grew during his three years of ministry. The followers of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, just a few weeks after Jesus death, grew to over 5,000. And during the lifetimes of his apostles, this spiritual movement made its way to Europe and the East. So high you can t get over it; So low, you can t get under it; So wide you can t get around it At age 18 (1928), Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu left home near Macedonia (Albania) to join the sisters of Loretto. Forty-five years later, Agnes Mother Teresa was awarded the Templeton Prize in 1973, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, the Bharat Ratna (India s highest civilian award) in 1980. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and made an Honorary Citizen of the United States in 1996. To many in Calcutta, Teresa was known as the Angel of Mercy and the Saint in the Gutter. 6 She was the Kingdom of God turned loose among the poor and sick, performing miracles and 3 1 Samuel 16:3 4 Samuel 15:34-16:13 5 Isaiah 55:8 6 Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Mother Teresa, June 17, 2006. 2
teaching spirituality. Though not all would agree with her political and social views, none can deny the spirit of God in her work. Come. Follow me. Help people discover the most powerful, positive force in this world, Jesus told his followers. It s more than religion; we have plenty of that. It s more than morality teaching and rule keeping. The Pharisees are choking on that. It s being born the second time with water and the Spirit turning in the right direction, and allowing the Spirit to give direction to your life. And implicit in the parable of the sown mustard seed is that the Kingdom of God is ultimately working for good in the world, our lives, and the lives of all others. It drives us toward healthiness. Look at the life of Jesus and his teachings. Wherever he went, people followed him because they sensed in Jesus a contagious attractiveness. Pick a topic: relationships, legalism, peace, material things, patience, guilt, authenticity, greatness, wealth, gender He had a way of putting things in their proper perspective, such as he did when an adulterous woman was brought to him by the legalists. The move was actually a trap by the scribes and Pharisees. If Jesus said she should be stoned to death in accordance with Jewish law, he would be speaking against the Roman law that governed Jerusalem. If he said let her go, he would be speaking in opposition to Jewish Law. The account has him pausing and scratching with a stick in the sand. Some have said that he was using the element of time to allow her accusers to think about their own shortcomings. Some have suggested he was writing, in the sand, the names of her accusers and their sins. Avoiding the trap and putting things in proper perspective, he simply said, Those of you who are without sin have my permission to throw the first rock. When all but the woman had left the scene, Jesus said, Where are your accusers? They have left. Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more. An incredible feeling of goodness comes when someone expresses trust in you gives you important responsibilities overlooks your mistakes and gives you another chance expresses confidence in your ability to do something new sees possibilities in your life you never dreamed of. Such brings out the best in us and encourages us to go beyond our own perceived limits. This intrinsic characteristic comes with belonging to the Kingdom of God. Gil Kaplan fell in love with a piece of music on his way to becoming a multimillionaire publisher. He was in his early twenties when someone gave him a pass to the rehearsal of Mahler s Second Symphony by the American Symphony Orchestra in New York City, being conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Gil s own music background consisted of three years of compulsory piano lessons as a child. That night he was deeply moved by the music. Mahler s Second Symphony, sub-titled Resurrection Symphony, is a very complex work of five movements that lasts an hour and twenty minutes. The fourth 3
movement combines full orchestra and chorus. The work actually symbolizes Mahler s struggle to overcome a depression in his life. For several years, he had been stymied in his musical career and personal life. Inspiration to complete the work came from hearing Friedrich Klopstock s Resurrection Ode at the funeral of Hans von Bulow, his colleague. Mahler devised a narrative program in which the early movements questions life and faith. The fourth movement, choral movement, is a rebirth of faith with the chorus singing, I am from God and will return to God. Back to Gil Kaplan he was so moved by this work in the rehearsal he had free tickets to, that he bought tickets for the performance the next evening. He said, By the time the fireworks erupted in the last movement, I was completely broken up. 7 Mahler s Second Symphony became an obsession for him. He read all he could find about the work and attended every performance he learned about, regardless of the location. At the same time (1967), his life as a twenty-five year old and an economist at the New York Stock Exchange took a turn with a venture to launch the magazine, Institutional Investor, innovatively provided to investment executives at no cost. Any profits would come strictly from advertising. He risked all his saving and all he could borrow $144,000 at the warning of many friends. Within two years, the magazine had become a success and he a millionaire. This success enabled him to fulfill another audacious dream ten years later to conduct Mahler s Second Symphony himself in front of a live orchestra one movement in a private rehearsal. Kaplan ultimately studied conducting privately for a full month, memorized the entire five movements, rented the Lincoln Center and invited 3,000 guests to the performance. Obviously seen as an eccentric nut by many, the event was a success. What was this all about? Responding to a reporter afterwards somewhat answered the unasked question. I had the feeling that people in the audience were urging me to fulfill my dream because each of them had a secret ambition they had not attained. So they were up with me on the podium that night, playing baseball for the Yankees, writing the book they never wrote, or getting the girl they never got. If I had failed, they would have as well. I could feel their nervousness. 8 The orchestra played beyond itself that night. The spiritual life is one invitation after another. The question for all of us is, Do we want to be part of an ongoing miracle? That is what Jesus seems to be asking all of his followers through the parable in Mark s gospel. It s unpredictable. You can t control it. You can only let yourself be taken by the wind of the Spirit, do your best work, keep your mind and eyes wide open, and hang on for the ride! Prayer 7 Jo Brans, Take Two (New York, Doubleday, 1989), pp. 171-175. 8 Bran, p. 174. 4
Mark 4:26-34 4:26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 4:27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 4:28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 4:29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come." 4:30 He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 4:31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 4:32 yet when it 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." 4:33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 4:34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. 1 Samuel 15: 34-16:13 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel. 16 The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons. 2 Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you. 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, Do you come peaceably? 5 He said, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, Surely the Lord s anointed is now before the Lord. [a] 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, Neither has the Lord 5
chosen this one. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. 10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these. 11 Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your sons here? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here. 12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, Rise and anoint him; for this is the one. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah. 6