The 4th Sunday After Pentecost

Pentecost 4, Proper 6B

Mark 4:26-34

June 17, 2018

St. Matthias

There are many things I do in the Church, but I would have to say that packing and sharing Beans and Rice is now one of my favorites along with packing food boxes at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.  Something happens – I can’t explain it, but I know it with all certainty.  Somehow in the simple act of sharing the simplest of food with those in need – God works.  And I get to be a part of it.  It’s like Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday all rolled into one. 

  Now we have been doing this for more than 3 years and Carol tells me we have fed over 6000 families.  I like to post pictures on Facebook to share.  Alma and others do too.  We have started to get to know some of the regulars.  Malcolm, Dwight, and others have invited folks to Church.  I don’t know that anyone has accepted our invitation yet – but I have hope and someday they will.  You see God works in God’s time both in us and those who we serve. 

In this morning’s Gospel from Mark we hear two of Jesus’ parables about the Kingdom of God.  The parables are everyday stories Jesus told to illustrate heavenly truths.  Through the parables, Jesus takes common, everyday, ordinary experiences like sowing seeds and shows us how God works.  The first this morning is about a farmer who plants a field and then seems to just sit back and wait for the harvest.  Isn’t it is tempting to live life the same way?  If God needs me He will call?  But read the parable.  The farmer rose day and night.  He watered and weeded and cared for the crops.  He worried when there was not enough rain and rejoiced when the harvest was good.  The farmer did not know how the grain would grow - that was up to God.  His part was to do all he could do so God could work.

The same is true in our own lives.  We cultivate our lives for God’s work through prayer and worship and study of the scriptures.  We live expectantly in the Kingdom of God – not just waiting around for God to act – but, preparing ourselves. It is a life-long journey that begins with baptism and continues every day.  Each day we live in the Kingdom of God here and now.  On Sundays, we gather to celebrate our Monday through Saturday ministries.  The bread and wine of Holy Eucharist become the spiritual food for our spiritual journeys in the week ahead.  And everyone is called to support each other in our daily life and work.

This leads us to the 2^nd parable – the parable of the Mustard Seed.  It is the smallest of seeds and grows into a huge plant.  So often we want to start big and get bigger.  We think of ministry on the level of extraordinary miracles - walking on water, healing the sick, that kind of stuff.  That makes it quite easy to say that God doesn’t work in us.  But Jesus points out this morning that the work of God really begins with the smallest of seeds – the mustard seed which is just about the size of the head of a pin – just about the size of the amount of faith we need to believe that God can work in us.  As I said in my sermon last week, God works when we are ready to believe that God can work through us. 

There is a story I have heard a number of times over the years and then again this past week.  It is the parable of three men working on blocks of stone at a construction site many years ago.  On this particular day, the king was walking the site and talking with the workers.  He wore old clothes and no crown so that many of the men did not recognize him as their ruler.  The king saw the first stonecutter and asked him what he was doing.  The man looked up and with a scowl said, I am pounding on this stone just like I do every day.  It is awful work in this heat and dirt, but it all the builder will give me to do.  As soon as I finish one stone, they bring me another just like it and I chip away at it until it is just like the last one and the one before that.  With that, the first man scowled again and turned back to the stone. 

The king then approached the second man and asked what he was doing.  This mason looked up and replied, I am earning a fair days wage for a fair days work.  I have come here to labor to earn enough money to feed my family.  The work is long and hot and my muscles ache every day.  But just as soon as I get my pay I will be done and then I can rest until we need more money once again.  With that, he turned back to his stone and continued his work. 

The king finally approached the third man and asked the same question, “What are you doing?”  This man paused – stood up straight before the king – and without hesitation said, “The King and I are building a cathedral to the Glory of God.”  And he looked to heaven and the king watched as the man silently gave thanks.  With that, the man smiled and thanked the king – who he did not recognize – and went back to his work.  The King looked down upon that man with tears in his eyes – and he called for a hammer and chisel – knelt down beside him at the stone – and together they built a cathedral that day.

It has never taken greatness to minister for God and God can take even the widow’s mite and accomplish great things through everyday people like you and me.  When we have faith no more than the size of a mustard seed, God can use us to accomplish the greatest of ministries.  And our job is to make sure we are ready – not just to chip away at a rock or give back as much as we think we have received – we are called to be ready to build the very Kingdom of Heaven here and now with God doing the greatest of things through you and me.  And it can begin with a bag of beans and rice.  AMEN.