Read the Lectionary Texts

If Jesus lived in South he probably wouldn’t be talking about tiny mustard seeds growing into big plants whose branches are large and strong enough for birds to perch in. No, if Jesus lived in places like here in East Tennessee he’d be talking about kudzu.

Now kudzu is not native to Tennessee, or even to the United States. It comes from China and Japan and was first introduced to this country at the Japanese Pavilion in the 1876 Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia. It was touted as a vine that could control soil erosion and was planted along roadways throughout the southeastern United States. Big mistake! Today, kudzu is EVERYWHERE! It spreads at a rate of about 150,000 acres a year. Someone once told me that planting kudzu requires two steps: first, you throw down some seeds, and second, you run for your life!

Kudzu.

Today, on Father’s Day, I want to offer all the dads, all the men, and all the boys out there a special Father’s Day gift – kudzu seeds! Here you go (make throwing motion)!

These are not actual kudzu seeds of course. They are spiritual kudzu seeds.

And all the mothers, women and girls are welcome to have some too! (Make throwing motion again)

Jesus had a lot to say about scattering seeds, and he often used examples from the farm, and from nature. In today’s reading, Jesus first talks about a farmer who scatters seed on the ground and – over time – without any real effort on the farmer’s part – the seed somehow sprouts and grows and becomes grain that can be harvested and used. How does that happen?

Then Jesus goes on to tell us that wonderful parable of the mustard seed. It’s such a tiny seed, and yet when planted, becomes the largest of all garden plants. How does THAT happen?

And with these two parables, Jesus teaches us how the kingdom of God will come!

You know, the Gospel of Mark was written during a very difficult period in the life of the Jewish nation. Some of the more zealous Jews had started an insurrection against the Roman occupying force. They were determined to take their country back and regain their freedom. I suppose you could say they were determined to drive out the kingdom of Rome and replace it with God’s kingdom right there on earth, with Jerusalem as its capital city.

But the Romans didn’t think this was such a great idea.

So they mounted a major counter attack and wiped out the rebels – and thousands of innocents along with them. And then – for good measure – they destroyed Jerusalem, and burned down the Temple.

So much for establishing the kingdom of God on earth.

Or so it seemed.

Mark, in putting together his Gospel during this time of great national disaster, reached back into the memory of the Christian community and pulled out these two stories Jesus had once told. They were both about how the kingdom of God will come. But they were not about armies, but about seeds – they were not about politics, but about faith – they were not about coercing the future by our own power, but by trusting in God to grow the future. No, these were stories about God’s unseen hand, silently, almost imperceptibly, bringing about growth from seeds we plant – seeds that one day will grow into the kingdom of God.

Now you and I are not facing the Romans anymore, but by golly we do have kids – and grandkids – and we face great challenges like unemployment, and economic Insecurity, and getting old, and facing health problems, and how it is we can make sense of all the cultural changes taking place all around us. These are challenging times in which we live.

And so Jesus speaks to us and our fearful times with these wonderful parables about –  scattering seeds that grow into the kingdom of God..

Do you remember when Nick Wallenda walked that tightrope across Niagara Falls? That was in June of 2012. What an amazing feat! Were you nervous as you watched? I was! My heart was pounding, and I’m sure I held my breath most of the way. When they showed that shot from the helicopter looking down at Nick with all that moving water underneath, I felt dizzy! I could almost feel the spray! And when he safely reached the other side, what a relief! We witnessed history-in-the-making, and even more than that, I think we saw the parables of the seeds in action!

Did you notice? I bet most people missed it, but the parable about the guy who scatters seeds that just take off and grow by God’s nurturing care was aired right there on ABC before the walk even took place. Did you catch it?

Nick Wallenda gathered his family together in a circle. And he prayed with them.

They are a very devout Christian family, those Wallenda’s! Nick’s ongoing religious monologue as he walked the Falls may have put some people off, and may not be your cup of spiritual tea. But what I loved about the family prayer circle was that Nick – the father – was the one who prayed.

Dads, take notice.

You can’t force your kids – or anyone else for that matter – to believe. You can’t coerce people into faith or into living lives that will bless them and their families and honor God. Those among us who try by their own efforts to bring about their version of the kingdom of God in the lives of others will always fail.

The kingdom of God is not a product that can be manufactured.

It can only be grown from seed.

The best thing fathers and mothers can do for their children’s spiritual health is to scatter upon them the seeds of faith, trusting that God will cause those seeds to sprout and grow and become good grain – in God’s time.

One way parents can do this is by not just listening to their children say their prayers at night, but more importantly, by letting their children listen to them pray – like Nick’s children experienced their dad praying before he took up the challenge of walking across the Falls. What a great example of faith at work!

Being a spiritual seed scatterer means becoming a role model. Parents who tell their children why they work on a Habitat for Humanity house – and maybe even bring them along if they’re old enough – are scattering seeds upon the soil of their children’s hearts that one day just may grow into their kids’ engagement with acts of mercy and compassion. And the kingdom comes.

Parents – who sometimes don’t know what else to do but  throw guilt trips on their grown kids for not going to church – may find it better to simply tell the kids why they find the church important, and to share their own experiences of how God’s grace has touched their own lives. I so remember a Youth Group meeting where parents were telling their faith stories. One fellow who had been in the Navy on a nuclear sub told about being submerged for weeks on end and how lonely it was being away from family and all contact with the outside world. This loneliness was becoming almost claustrophobic, really weighing him down with depression. But one night as he slept, he said, Jesus came to him in a dream. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, Bill. I will never leave or forsake you.” Then Bill told the group of kids that whenever he felt that loneliness coming on, he whispered those words to himself, and they gave him comfort and strength to go on, and eventually he overcame the loneliness. Everyone was moved by his story, and most especially his daughter who’d never known that about her dad. The tears streaming down her cheeks as he talked about his encounter with Jesus seemed to indicate that some seeds were planted in her heart that night. And I’ll bet there came times in her life when she found her father’s testimony about God’s friendship helpful in facing her own lonely times.

We scatter the seeds.

But the growth is up to God.

This past week at our church was a huge seed-scattering enterprise. I’m proud of the fact that we had 36 children who came to Vacation Bible School. That’s a great number for us! But I’m even more thrilled that those 36 kids were cared for by 40 adult volunteers who shared their faith in countless ways.

Seeds are scattered, and God grows them.

Yes, that parable Jesus told was demonstrated that night long ago on ABC as Nick Wallenda prayed with his family!

And the parable of the mustard seed was there too!

I couldn’t believe the TV people actually interviewed Nick Wallenda as he crossed the Falls on that tightrope. I don’t think I’d be in a talking mood! But he didn’t seem to mind.

The question was asked, “Why do you do crazy stunts like this?”

His answer was simply that by stepping outside the box, and attempting something so out-of-the-ordinary, someone watching might be inspired to go and reach for the stars!

I hope they don’t decide to cross Niagara Falls like Nick did, but I think Nick’s point was this: people can inspire each other to greatness.

A tiny seed of inspiration can grow into a mighty tree that makes people better people and the world a better place! And the kingdom comes!

A number of years ago an article appeared in Patheos – an online religious journal that, among other things, discusses faith communities that are on the cutting edge of Christianity in the 21^st century. The article was written by the late Phyllis Tickle who had been with us a few months previous for our Spiritual Life Conference.

And guess who the article was about? US!

Here’s part of what Phyllis wrote:

“…my two or three days in Tellico were to be spent with the staff and people of Tellico Community Church, a very large and, at first blush, traditional church serving what is quite definitely a huge retirement community. As one might expect, the subject was to be Emergence Christianity, and I was supposed to do the talking. What happened was that that surface veneer of a traditional church composed of senior citizens peeled away within less than an hour of my being there. What took its place was a body of the gathered who, having come into Tellico Community from every known denomination and communion in Christendom, have managed in their retirement to blend their worship, their space, and their actions into a singular expression of contexualized Christianity…. More to the point, what they really wanted to talk about was how they fit into the over-all landscape of Emergence Christianity and how what they were and had built and were building could interface with what God is doing in His Kingdom at large.”

In other words, we sort of blew Phyllis’ preconceived idea about what a bunch of old people can be and do! She sees us as a uniquely different kind of cutting-edge church that holds out new possibilities for other churches of how faith can be done in the 21^st century.

Now I have to tell you that Phyllis went on to share in the article a brilliant essay sent to her by a bright “thirty-something-year old” theologian by the name of Rhonda Blevins. And this essay has gotten quite a bit of play out there in the larger world, and has drawn a good deal of comment from others seeking new ways of letting the Holy Spirit work through a traditional context. As Phyllis pointed out about us, we have a kind of traditional church veneer, but what is happening underneath the surface is really very untraditional, new and unusual! We are bringing together a multitude of denominational traditions, and people of many ages, backgrounds and experiences, and we are putting all these things secondary to our faith in Jesus. And this is creating a STRONG church – a church that is preparing people to live as Christians in the world of the 21^st century – not the 17^th or 18^th century –  and that has a major impact for good upon the larger community. Gathered around Christ and not denomination, we are more fully able to express the kingdom of God together than we ever could by ourselves!

So who we are is a church that is inspiring other churches! Isn’t that great to know?

But we are called not only to scatter seeds of inspiration upon the soil of other churches, but upon our neighbors, too. You know, I find it so sad that we live in a world today where so many people spend their lives pointing out what’s wrong with everybody else. You see it all over Facebook. Your email inbox is full of it. And if you pay attention to politics…the message is mostly about all that’s wrong with the other candidate. And this is completely bi-partisan. Both the R’s and the D’s practice the art of hate.

But the message the world is waiting to hear is not what you’re against, but what you’re FOR! We are CHRISTIANS, after all, and our faith stands for things like economic justice, and equality, and brotherhood, and religious liberty. We believe in helping others, and loving enemies, and working for reconciliation. We are people who bring cups of cold water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry. We visit prisoners, and clothe the naked, and offer friendship to the stranger. We tithe our income to benefit others, and volunteer in the community. We tell people they are loved and accepted by God and try to practice that love and acceptance in our church, in our homes and in our families.

Do people know that about you – that you are such a person – that you have taken on a lifestyle of radical love that is every bit as exciting and challenging as walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope?

People need to know who you really are and what you really stand for.

And when you share it with others, it’s like planting a tiny mustard seed that God can grow in them into something truly great.

And the kingdom comes.

So here we are on Father’s Day.

Now people may ask, “Did they give you anything for Father’s Day over there at the Community Church?”

You can answer, “Yeah, they gave me these kudzu seeds!”

And when they reply, “They gave you WHAT?”, you can tell them about who and Whose you are, and the difference Christ makes in your life.

Then you’ll be like that farmer Jesus told us about – scattering seeds for God to grow into the beautiful kingdom of God.