Mark 4:26-29
26He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
We live in a technological world with wonders and blessings. Whether we talk about the technology that refrigerates or cooks our food, or the technology that allows a wi-fi connection in our cars, or the technology that allows us to travel to Mars and Venus, we will in a world of tremendous blessings thanks to technology. But do we as the users of that technology understand and comprehend how these things work? Do we understand the properties of freon in our fridges or the thermodynamics in an air fryer? Do we comprehend the infrared waves of a wireless connection or the physics behind interstellar travel? We might partake of these technologies, but do we understand and know how they work?
So too is it with the Kingdom of God. As those baptized into Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit we live in and enjoy the wonders and blessings of the Kingdom of God, but do we understand how and see the progress of that same Kingdom? We do not understand the laws of statics and dynamics in physics, but we enjoy cars and planes. We do not understand how the Kingdom of God grows and progresses, but we enjoy the wonders and blessings, nonetheless.
In the parable of the seed, the Sower sows the seed on the ground and then time would pass, the seed would grow, and he does not know how. Many ministers and preachers over the years have preached the Word of God and this is most likely the idea behind the sowing of the seed. But at the Word has been preached and heard, No one knows how that Word does its work or its result. Some people respond to that Word, and some people are irritated and offended by that same Word. That Word will change the lives of some that hear it and in the lives of others it will ricochet like a rubber ball on a hard surface.
Perhaps the good news of the parable is that God alone activates and implements His own Kingdom. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. The progress and growth of the Kingdom lies alone in God’s purview as the earth alone produces the crop from the seed. The Sower must watch and wait. This can be good and bad. The earth will always grow the seed, God will always grow the Kingdom. No human must progress the Kingdom or advance the Kingdom, God alone bears the ability and the responsibility to advance the Kingdom. And since God alone progress it, the Kingdom will always progress.
When it comes to the progress of the Kingdom, we as the citizens of God’s Kingdom have a two-fold problem: timing and control. We want progress now, but God’s Kingdom progresses when God wants it. God is patient and takes time to progress the Kingdom. We are not patient, and we want it now and we want our progress in chunks not in tiny steps. The other problem is control: we want our results and not God’s. We want vengeance not justice. We want favoritism, not free grace for all. We want pride not humility. We want prosperity not blessings. We want… not gratitude that God gives. Progress now, and my kingdom not God’s.
But perhaps the more sinister problem we face is not the temptation to play God and control the growth and progress of a kingdom not our own, but the temptation to see the world degenerating instead of progressing and to trip headlong into despair and despondency. The famer does not know how the Kingdom grows, and when we cannot understand how God’s Kingdom can grow when our world is decaying, we despair. The earth produces the crop, and when we see no results or progress without our senses and cannot hasten that growth despite our efforts, we lose heart. The Kingdom cannot be seen to grow, and we cannot help it do so. This happens and we lose hope.
My friends, the good news of God’s Gospel is that even when we cannot see God’s invisible Kingdom and even when we cannot aid God’s Kingdom that seems to be deteriorating, we neither need to or can do anything about it. God alone bears the responsibility and the capacity to not only progress the growth of God’s Kingdom when it does not look it is or to preserve His Kingdom, when it is taking on water. And because the responsibility rests on God, His Kingdom will endure, and His Kingdom will be finished. We may not know how, nor the ability must speed things up, but we can merely enjoy the blessings of having the Kingdom. In plain words, we must learn to wait in faith, and hope in the Work and Nature of our God. The Sower had to wait and to trust in the earth. We must wait and trust in God.
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