The Gospel of Mark 4:26-34
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. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” He also said, “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.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Let us Pray: Let us look at our world with eyes that see God’s work. Learn to appreciate what he has provided for us, from the tiny mustard seed to the immense redwoods. The bountiful harvest that he provides for us, and the need for us to share our resources, but also our faith. This we pray in God’s name. Amen
This parable is like life. We look at the world and we can almost ignore things around us. God gives us the beauty and bounty of the earth for many reasons. One it supplies us with life sustaining food. But it also provides us with comfort and opportunity to take in its glory and to realize that the glory we see is a gift from God. I recently had an opportunity to be able to see our world from a different set of eyes. We had a visitor from another country who visited with us in Chincoteague, VA. We have been visiting there for many years, but it was her first time here. To her everything was new, everything was a learning experience. She saw things that maybe we had started to take for granted. It was a exciting experience to resee our surroundings anew. Our surroundings are like that mustard seed. It grows into a large tree and the birds live in it, but how many of us stop and look at it, stop and think that through the work of God that from those little seed grows a magnificent tree. And do we stop and listen to the birds sing. Or does it take someone with a different set of eyes to awaken us to the things we see every day as the work of God. We need to stop and think of our world similar to the kingdom of God. The world around us grows, the world around us becomes a beautiful place where we can definitely see the hand of God at work. We may not see it without someone else helping us to see it through their eyes, It is like do we see the glory of God’s kingdom here on earth without someone else’s help. We are the creatures that God created and gave us the ability to grow. And if God created the tiny mustard seed to provide food and shelter for the birds, He also gave us the ability to share our gifts with the people and the world around us to help others see things anew and to appreciate what God has given us. How do you share your gifts, how do you use your eyes and gifts to grow the Kingdom of God here on earth? Look around the opportunities are endless.
Let us Pray: Thank you, dear Lord, for making your Kingdom so beautiful for us to enjoy. Thank you for making it a place of welcome and shelter for all, even for nesting birds. Thank you for your glory and peace and love for us to share. Make our faith and love grow like the massive redwoods and the smallest mustard seeds, to your glory and for the good of our neighbors. This we pray in the name of our bountiful God. Amen.
Reflections by Bob 