THE MOST WE CAN DO IS WATER AND WEED

Dr. Richard J. Henderson June 14, 2009

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Ezekiel 17:22-24
Mark 4:26-34

Introduction

The New Testament reading this morning includes two parables of Jesus about seeds growing. But first a parable that Jesus didn't tell.

The kingdom of God is NOT as if someone planted a seed in a pot and worried about it day and night. He placed the seed in soil and then watered it profusely. Each day he dug around in the soil to be sure it was loose so the seed could grow, and he watered profusely. After two days, when no sprout appeared he began to worry, so he dug up the seed to see if it was OK. Then he replanted it. A few days later he noticed small weeds beginning to sprout near his seed, so he sprayed them with insecticides.

When, miraculously, a tiny sprout appeared, he worried that the pot was too small, so he repotted his tiny sprout into a larger pot, and he watered it profusely. He wasn't satisfied that the little plant was growing quickly enough, and he wanted to make it stronger, so he poured fertilizer around the shoot of the small plant.

Despite all his efforts the seed grew into a plant, although it often looked brown and wilted as if it had been over-watered.

I

The kingdom of God grows by itself. We don't even understand how it grows. A tiny speck is buried and within a few days a little sprout comes up through the ground. That sprout forces its way through the dirt and finally breaks through the surface where it takes in light and air. How does that happen?

I suppose a plant biologist could explain the process, but would that make it any less miraculous? The plant grows by itself. The Gospel of Mark says, "The earth produces of itself." The plant is fine on its own, without our help.

II

We can't make the seed grow. The best we can do is to give it water and get rid of the weeds. There's nothing we can do to make the seed sprout, but we can clear the way for it and make its growth easier. We can't cause God's reign to come. We can't give someone faith. We can't make anyone have a deeper relationship with God; only God can do that. And God does. The most we can do is water and weed.

Wendy Farley has commented, "Intimacy with Christ grows in us as certainly and as effortlessly as seeds grow. We have so little to do with Christ's nearness to us that we can just go to sleep. In fact it might be better if we did sleep through the whole thing, snug and safe, resting like babies in our mother's arms. This trust, so deep that we can sleep without anxiety, is much more useful to us than fussing over the little seed..."(1) We read last week in Psalm 4, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace." That is an expression of trust in God. We can sleepwell at night because we trust God. The kingdom is in God's hands, we can relax.

III

In the second parable, the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus tells us that God's kingdom grows from tiny to huge. What started out as nearly microscopic turns into a plant that is so big that the birds come and make nests in it. Some of us can remember those necklaces that had a mustard seed in them. The seed had to be put inside a ball of glass that would magnify it so that you could see that there was something inside.

As I talk with people about their faith, I often find that the seed of their faith was a simple word someone spoke, a small act of faith and caring, or some event that many people would never give a second thought to but which caused this person to be drawn into a relationship with God.

One of the astounding things to me as a preacher is how God's word gets through somehow in a sermon. There are lots of tough weeks when a sermon just doesn't want to be born. I don't see a cohesive idea; the right words won't come; all I have in my head is a mish-mash of trite thoughts that should be a foolproof cure for insomnia.

I always read over my sermon on Saturday night the last thing before I turn out the bedroom light. Sometimes I read it and say to myself, it's going to take a lot of courage to deliver this drivel to those good people. Somehow that is the Sunday when someone will come out of church, take my hand and say, "Your words really touched my heart today." I used to have to bite my tongue to keep from saying, "Are you kidding; you got something out of that pile of twaddle?" But I don't bite my tongue anymore. I've seen it happen often enough that I marvel about the wonder of what God can do with a word.

A Baptist minister took a sabbatical and traveled the country. Each Sunday he visited a different church and listened to the sermon to see what he could learn about preaching in America. When he returned from his sabbatical, a friend asked him, "What did you learn about preaching?" He answered, "I learned that when it comes to preaching, if anybody hears anything in a sermon, it's a miracle." Amen. God can take what is tiny, frail, and fractured and make it into something good.

IV

So we can't take any credit for God's kingdom growing. God causes the kingdom to grow as God wishes. It grows as if it were a seed sprouting from death to life, pushing its way up through the dark soil to burst open in the sunlight and fresh air. We don't do much to help - maybe add a little water and clear a way for it. Mostly we just stand in awe. We can relax in God. We trust God to bring about the kingdom.

The passage that immediately follows these words in Mark tells of what happened later that same evening. Jesus and the disciples are in a boat, and Jesus falls asleep, tired from a long day of talking with people. A huge storm comes up. The waves are crashing into the side of the boat and pouring over into it. The disciples are terrified, and they run to wake up Jesus, "Teacher, don't you care that we are going to die here?" Jesus wakes up and reaches out to calm the waters. Then he says, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?"

Apparently, they hadn't learned from the parables of the seeds. Even though they were with Jesus, they weren't able to trust. They didn't do very well at relaxing in the Lord.

V

One of the things that strikes me about these parables is the rhythm in them. Did you notice it? The farmer plants the seeds, and then he sleeps and rises, night and day. The seed begins to grow: first the stock, then the grain, and when its ripe then comes the harvest. We see in this a pattern that will continue - he will sleep and rise, there will be night and day, spring planting will come again as will the fall harvest. It is a cycle that goes on and on. It reminds me of the familiar phrase, "generations will rise and pass away..."

The kingdom keeps growing generation after generation. Our great grandparents saw it; our parents saw it; we see it; our children and our children's children and our great grandchildren will see it. God's kingdom will continue.

Conclusion

Jesus seems to be saying, "Don't worry too much about building up the kingdom of God; it doesn't really depend on you." It might be that the best we can do is water the seeds and clear away the weeds. We get out the watering can, open the way in our world, and ask for God's will; then we relax in the Lord.

The people who think they are building up the kingdom of God all by themselves are suffering a delusion. It's not about what we do; it's about what God is doing.

After reading this parable it becomes clear: we water, we weed, we pray; and we leave the rest to God.

Amen

1. Wendy Farley, Feasting on the Word (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009), p 142.

© Richard J. Henderson 2009