There is an inherent danger in sharing personal stories when preaching. The danger is that the story will make the conversation about me, rather than about God.
But, this story does not do that, because it is not about me really, it is about how God’s kingdom comes about. It is about how all God’s kingdom comes about in all of us. The story is a call story; my call into the ordained ministry.
When I first started college, I was a theatre major. As I envisioned the direction of my life, I assumed that it would be somewhere on the stage. I assumed that I was going to be in the spotlight; an actor. I took the lead role in my very first college play, and I savored every minute, every sentence uttered, and every movement cast about on the stage.
But from the wings, the voice leading me toward the designing and building of sets was calling my name, and that is where I increasingly started to devote my passion. That was where my life was going to lead: scenic design.
Then, along came the required religion course. Most students thought the required religion course to be something you just survived in order to move on in life, but I was captivated by looking at religious thoughts in new ways.
I was blown away when I was told that St. Augustine did not view sin as things that we do wrong, but rather as a state of being where we are turned away from God, which causes our lives to spiral out of control. I had never thought of sin that way before.
I was captivated by the open question, “If Jesus was the Son of God, the perfect one, why did he need to be baptized? What sin needed to be washed away?” I did not know the answer, if there is one, but I took on the challenge and took a stab at it in a paper that was passed around the religion department.
Even with that, up to that point, religion was just a passing passion. Its study was a hobby of mine, a hobby that I could take to Broadway with me and fiddle around with on my free time as I designed scenery for live theatre.
The real turning point in my life came in the form of two sentences. After receiving an “A” on one of my religion papers, one of my religion professors stopped me in the hall as I passed his office and he said, “Your paper was really good and thoughtful. You should consider doing this for a living.”
That was it. Two sentences.
It was as if he took a handful of seed and threw it into the hallway, hoping that at least one seed might take root. He had no idea if any of it would grow or not. He did not have the time to sit and cultivate the seed as I moved on in life and went on to take new courses, and then move on to new places.
That is not how seeds work anyway. You just scatter them and a seed will “sprout and grow, [you] do not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.” It was only two sentences, but I would not be in this ministry without them.
The kingdom of heaven is built on so tiny of a foundation. It is as if a stone mason works days and days to cut a single slab of granite. He does not know where it is going to fit in the cathedral, but without that slab the cathedral cannot stand.
Just think about that. Just think about how big God can make all of this little stuff.
In the church, we call this “the discipleship of encouragement,” because church people like to have a least four word long phrases. You have not made it in life until you have produced for yourself a standard four word long phrase.
“The discipleship of encouragement” is simply scattering seeds. Encouragement is looking at a person, seeing the love and passion that God has put in them, and...well... encouraging them to keep living out those passions.
It is acknowledging the passions of deep religious thought in a young adult.
It is acknowledging the care for the forgotten one by a child on the playground who always plays with the new kid.
It is acknowledging the hard work and long hours that someone puts into helping a struggling neighbor build their house.
It is throwing out those little seeds of God’s “Yeses” to all the goodness we see happening every day. It is say: “Yes, that thought is a good one.” “Yes, that love is pure, don’t lose that.” “Yes, that hard work, sweat, and love is worth it in the end.” It is scattering little seeds of encouragement everywhere and just stepping back and letting the kingdom to come and God’s will be done.
Going back to that stone mason who cuts the granite, biblical scholar NT Wright points out that we do not build the kingdom of God. That man who cuts that single stone has no idea what the completed project is going to look like, or even if it is going to be completed in the first place!
He does not build the kingdom. But, he does build for the kingdom of God.
He is not in charge of building Jesus’ entire world of love and grace for all. Jesus is going to do that. The Holy Spirit is going to tool that project. But, he does cut one stone toward that end.
We do not build the kingdom of God. It is built as God sees fit. But, we do build for God's kingdom.
These small words and small actions can be powerful instruments that God uses for the kingdom.
And, it is the power of the small and seemingly insignificant acts of goodness that make them even more important, because equally small amounts of fear and hatred can have just as powerful of an effect.
The singular phrase, “We don’t need your kind here” shouted out the window of a passing pickup truck was enough to make a brown skinned friend of mine decide that it was time to pack up his family and leave. An entire family’s life was uprooted, friends at school disrupted, family stability knocked off kilter, and friendships put at a distance all because of one sentence. Seeds of evil can be thrown out just as easily, and they too sprout and grow of their own accord.
But, one minor detail that I would like to point out in the parable of the mustard seed is that the mustard seed produces a huge weed. Almost no one intends to plant a mustard bush (except mustard farmers I guess). But, God is able to take even those mustard bushes and create a home for the birds.
The seeds of evil will be overcome by Jesus. All evil dies on the cross with him and only love is given a chance to sprout up to new life.
But, that truth, that hope in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ who can take the worst of things and transform them into something new and beautiful should in no way give us a warrant to spread seeds of fear and discord. We do not need to make Jesus’ work any harder! No.
We are the people who hope for the kingdom of God. We are the people who search out the goodness. We are the people who plant seeds of encouragement and love.
We are not the people who create the great, huge garden called the kingdom of God, but we do plant for that kingdom of God. I cannot plant a garden whose vastness extends beyond the horizon, but I can plant a single watermelon seed. Or, maybe even several, because lots of delicious watermelon eaten in the summer on the porch is truly a gift.
I can scatter seed for the kingdom of God. And, maybe, at some point, one of those will take root, and God will cause it to grow, and with that seed of encouragement God will produce the harvest of Jesus’ love for the world.
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