Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2018

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: The Miracle of the Seed
Theme: Mark 4:26-32

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Change is a condition of mortality. The progress of decay notes the pathology of sin. Sin robs us of permanence and stability, while holding out an elusive promise- the illusion of independence. Life is always in a state of flux. Outcomes are always pending. The marking of a goal completed is quickly replaced by the pursuit of yet another. The future is always somewhat uncertain; therefore, the present can be uneasy. Whether it involves relationships, education or careers, it seems as if, in this life, we are always striving but never quite arriving at where we want to be. Yes, we do mark milestones; births, graduations, weddings, retirements, but then life still goes on. Such is the reality of our existence, until death. There is no permanence. The only permanent reality to this earthly life is change. We often embrace this change because we are always seeking something better. We have the hope of something more permanently good.

The failure of this endeavor in the ultimate sense- this unrealized hope- is intended by God to drive people to look elsewhere. Jesus Christ is the end of change. Christ came to reclaim His creation. He brings permanence. He is permanence. He said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”1 Nothing else will endure. Nothing else ultimately matters. When Jesus sent out the Twelve apostles He said, “Proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand.’”2 Only that kingdom is unchanging. He also sent out the 72 missionaries saying to them, “Go!”3 Go and call people to repentance. Go announce God’s judgment against sin. Go with the message of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ. Go and bring the message of light and life to a dark and dying world.

Today’s parables teach about the mystery of God’s kingdom using the common realities of sprouting seeds and growing plants. The current relevance to us is obvious. Jesus is talking about the seed of God’s word and the growth of faith. The kingdom of heaven grows only through the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. This is the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit to convert the human heart. No additions, deletions, embellishments or augmentations. Christ crucified. Period!

Faith is a gift engendered through Word and water and Spirit and sustained through Word and bread and wine. In this way Jesus Christ is present with His people to forgive and redeem and restore. Satan is subdued, sin is vanquished, angels rejoice, the saints are at rest. All depends upon the grace of God. Truth is the foundation of His grace and forgiveness is its expression. By the grace of Christ, the church lives, without it, she dies.

Grace has been the currency of the Christian Church since its inception and even before. Adam and Eve were promised a Saviour. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Moses’ was led by Christ in the wilderness. David reigned on a throne gifted to him in the stead of the coming Messiah. The New Testament church is built upon the teaching of the apostles and prophets who tirelessly made known the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ. We are part of the continuous succession of the generations of believers. Our purpose corporately and individually, regardless of our vocation, is to go, plant the seed of God’s word and live the life of faith.

Where seed is not sown, no plants will spring up. Where plants are not tended, no harvest will be gathered. The mission of the Church always involves the planting of the seed of the Word of God and tending to the life that springs up. This mission is not some auxiliary function of the church. It is not a mere pious option towards which financial resources may be directed. Planting and cultivating are what the church is about or it is not the church of Christ.

And still all depends upon the grace of God. This is clear in the parables today. God’s grace works through us, yet still retains its character as His power and gift alone. St. Paul says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”4

Satan always opposes these spiritual ‘agricultural’ endeavors. Dear friends, if you give Satan an inch he will take a mile. We are the children of God, His baptized, so the devil targets us. The Bible says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”5 We are not enslaved to this world and yet we are constantly tempted to indulge ourselves at the expense of the kingdom. One of the sins of our culture is not the availability of wealth, but the misuse of it. The devil aims for the weak points in our faith. But the Lord Jesus says, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”6

All depends on the grace of God. The fields before us are ripe for harvest. In our neighborhoods, in our communities, in our own nation, across the ocean, even within our own families’ countless souls are without the forgiveness of sins and salvation in Jesus Christ. Yet, God’s word gives us this encouragement, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of faith.”7 We have the promise of God’s power. We have the promise of reward enjoyed by all the saints. We don’t always see the seed sprout or even the harvest, but we leave that to God. When the seventy-two returned, Jesus said to them, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”8 On Good Friday Christ wrote them down with the blood of death. On Easter morning He closed the book with His triumph of life. Thanks be to God! Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
17 June 2018
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Mark 13:31 2 Matthew 10:7
3 Luke 10:3 4 1 Corinthians 3:6-9
5 Galatians 6:7-8 6 Matthew 6:31-33
7 Galatians 6:9-10 8 Luke 10:20