MARK 4:26-29
He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
It JUST Does
American culture is the “got to know” culture. Ever since the enlightenment we have been on a quest to know literally everything there is to know. Knowledge is power. Power is control.
He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
It JUST DoesAmerican culture is the “got to know” culture. Ever since the enlightenment we have been on a quest to know literally everything there is to know. Knowledge is power. Power is control.
I love the agricultural parables Jesus tells as a farmer turned pastor. But this time Jesus has it wrong. The modern farmer knows exactly how the seed sprouts. We have researched the whole process from seed to harvest. We know exactly how much water is needed to soften the exterior shell of a grain of wheat. We know the optimum soil depth, temperature, and number of degree days needed for the wheat to mature into grain. We know how to increase the yield with fertilizers and how to keep bugs away with pesticides. We can even keep other plants from growing in the same field with herbicides. WE KNOW how the wheat grows.
Not so with the farmer in Jesus’ day. He plopped that old seed in the ground and up came the wheat. He didn’t understand how, it just did. What a poor excuse for a farmer. What laziness to sleep your days away waiting for the wheat to come up and mature. The farmer should be out there doing. Nike has captured our mentality: “Just do it.”
Spiritual farming has little room for “Just do it,” but lots of room for “It just does.” Most of the time I can’t explain the “why’s” of life to people in my congregation. I don’t understand how one day a person is rebelling against God and the next they are seeking God. I can’t explain how one day a child is healthy and the next cancer has claimed their life. “It just does.” Life just happens. The Gospel just happens.
There is freedom in embracing spiritual farming. No more worrying about seeds that don’t sprout. No more anxiousness about when or how much the harvest will be. Just sow and watch. No more “just do it” it just does.
God who causes seeds to grow, help me to grow by watching you work instead of working to grow on my watch. -Dan Jones
Jesus the Traitor
Jesus was a Benedict Arnold; a traitor to his own country. Think about it. If I knew Al Qaeda would destroy America in less than 40 years, had the power to stop it, but chose not to, would I be a traitor to my country like Arnold was when he plotted to undermine the American Revolution?
If Jesus was God, performed real miracles, and could have called angels to deliver him from the cross, then he was also a traitor. He could have prevented Rome from destroying his country less than 70 years after his resurrection. He could have returned from the dead, and instead of disappearing into the clouds, ousted the Romans and established the kingdom of God in political reality. He had the power and didn’t use it. Why?
The kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus’ ministry. Mark started by recording Jesus’ words, “The kingdom of God is near, repent… .” Today Jesus begins describing the nature of this kingdom.
His hearers automatically associated Jesus’ kingdom talk with their own country, the nation God himself brought into existence. But Jesus had something more universal in mind. It might begin in Jerusalem, but, if his followers would just plant its seed, it would mysterious and unrelentingly grow to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1).
America is my home and there is much about it that I love. However, I have to wonder, in light of Jesus' core priority, am I an American Christian or a Christian American? Where do my unconditional loyalties and allegiances lay?
Eternal King, I submit my appreciation for and participation in my great country to your global and eternal Country. I will shape my values by, stake my life in, and trust the wellbeing of this planet to the mysterious thriving of Your kingdom. –Mike Leamon
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