June 14, 2015
Sunday

“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.” Mark 4:30-32

“What if the key to reading the parable of the mustard seed were to understand what a peculiar seed it actually is? The things about mustard seeds, you see, is that while some varieties were used as spice and others medicinally, in general they were considered at the very least pesky and often somewhat dangerous. Why? Because wild mustard is incredibly hard to control, and once it takes root it can take over a whole planting area. That’s why mustard would only occasionally be found in a garden in the ancient world; more likely you would look for it overtaking the side of an open hill or abandoned field. Looked at this way, Jesus’ parable is a little darker, even ominous. As John Dominic Crossan puts it:

The point, in other words, is not just that the mustard plant starts as a proverbially small seed and grows into a shrub of three or four feet, or even higher, it is that it tends to take over where it is not wanted, that it tends to get out of control, and that it tends to attract birds within cultivated areas where they are not particularly desired. And that, said Jesus, was what the Kingdom was like: not like the mighty cedar of Lebanon and not quite like a common weed, [more] like a pungent shrub with dangerous takeover properties. Something you would want in only small and carefully controlled doses — if you could control it (The Historical Jesus, pp. 278-279). Mission Possible, David Lose, June 10, 2012 (DearWorkingPreacher)

We spend so much time in the church trying to control everything. We want to control the service: the noise and the temperature and the time and the length of it all. We want to control the ministry: the places, the people, the frequency, and the cost. And here we are trying to control everything while Jesus says that the Kingdom of G*d is like something that cannot be controlled, will spread to places no on wants it, and that it will attract people we do not necessarily want. The question becomes, then what are we to do about it?

The answer sounds simple enough, but it is not easy to implement — and that answer, at least in my opinion is “trust the Spirit”. “So, Pastor Dave”, you may ask, “What is so difficult about that?” Well, the Spirit is unpredictable, uncontrollable, unexpected, and unbelievable — and yet it is the Spirit that builds faith, and drives ministry and worship. And, building faith, and doing ministry is not always simple. We have tried and tested models through which many are still trying to build faith (like traditional bible studies and Christian Education models) that don’t seem to be working anymore. Perhaps the Spirit is trying to tell us that we need to step out of our box of understanding and trust the Spirit to try some new models. This would also apply to doing ministry.

Trust the Spirit. How can you Trust G*d today to allow you to step out of the box and try something new?

Pastor Dave