Sermon; Proper 6B; Mark 4:26-34

With what can we compare the kingdom of God? 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.

We've all heard this parable before. It's one of those parables that we combine several details because it appears in all three synoptic gospels. And along those lines, we've probably all heard that the mustard seed really isn't the smallest seed on earth, or that it doesn't really grow to become a tree. And we've probably all heard that this is why it's called a parable, because Jesus is using a form of speech with some exaggerations to make a point. That point, of course, is that the kingdom of God starts small and grows to become very big.

I could be wrong, but I think Christians in general tend to focus on that growth from small to big. Whether that's mainline Christians who want to once again see the church grow into a large tree where we have three or four services a day, the large choir with paid leads, and an overflowing Sunday school wing, or whether it's non-denominational Christians who want a 5000 seat auditorium, full electric band, and a coffee bar, people want to see big. If we just have the faith of the mustard seed, all that is possible.

I suppose there's nothing wrong with that. But there were two things that grabbed my attention this past week that made me reconsider how I look at this parable.

The first was something I read about the mustard plant – and that was that the mustard plant is an annual, as opposed to a perennial. That is, the plant depends on renewed sowing to come back every year. Whether or not this is factually true, or that the plant can return each year if it has the right soil conditions and self-scatters its seed, really isn't the point. But the idea that you need to replant mustard seeds every year works best with the parable and where this sermon is going.

The second thing was something that happened in a much more personal way. As I said, I think most people hear this parable and hope that if they had the faith of a mustard seed they, or their church, or whatever, will grow into this big thing we can be proud of. But what if this parable isn't about back-end big growth, but about front-end planting?

Over the past few weeks things have been extremely busy and demanding in the office. Part of that included the frustrating experience I had with the survey and re-sending it using a different platform. So thank you for putting up with that and completing it a second time – this one worked much better.

As I said, it's been really busy in the office. Over that period of time I neglected to perform a very basic and necessary function of not only my job, but of my calling and vocation as a priest. The result of that failure on my part damaged a relationship that I have come to value. When that failure was brought to my attention I was angry and upset with myself and I worried about the possible far-reaching effects.

In my defense . . . No, there was no defense. Any possible defense I attempted to make would simply be a listing of excuses. My only recourse was to visit the person and simply say, “I messed up. I'm sorry. I ask for your forgiveness.” Thankfully that apology was accepted and we are moving forward.

But that incident got me thinking about today's parable of the mustard seed and how it might be as much a reference to the growth on the back-end as it was about planting on the front-end.

If indeed the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, a plant that needs replanting every year, then we can't just plant it, forget it, and hope and pray it grows into something big. Instead, we need to replant the kingdom of God any number of times.

We need to work on replanting the seeds of love in our families. We need to work on replanting the seeds of friendship. We need to work on replanting the seeds of the kingdom of God. And now, as we begin to see an end to the COVID pandemic, we need to work replanting the seeds that we call Saint John's.

The parable of the mustard seed tells us that the small things of God can and will grow into larger things which have the ability to draw everyone in. But it also tells us that it will take more than one planting for the kingdom of God to grow. It tells us that the kingdom of God is not a one-and-done event, but is the result of many events, many plantings, over a period of time.

I worked to regrow a relationship last week by planting the seeds of confession. I trust that relationship will grow thanks to the waters of forgiveness. It was that event that reminded me the mustard seed of God needs to be replanted on a regular basis. And that, if you haven't noticed, is hard work.

This kingdom of God stuff is hard work. It's hard work to replant seeds over and over again. It's hard work to replant seeds of friendship. It's hard work to replant seeds of love. It's hard work to confess your sins face-to-face with one whom you have harmed. If we think about it, this work of replanting is where we find ourselves right now.

Right now, probably more than at any other time in our history, we are reminded that we can't view the work of the kingdom, or of our relationships, as a one-and-done event, but that we need to work on a regular basis to replant those small seeds. Because while having the faith of a mustard seed that God will cause those small seeds to grow into a large dwelling that can become home to many, we must never forget that that large dwellings begin with the work we do of planting those small seeds in the first place.

We have been through the COVID pandemic. We have been through a period where the field lay fallow. But now is the time to get to work. Now is the time to begin replanting the seeds of the kingdom. Now is the time for us at Saint John's to begin planting again.

Amen.