Loading...Happy Father’s day to all the Fathers here today, all the Grandfathers, Step Fathers, Godfathers and anyone who has taken on the role of a father in the life of a child. Today I will be talking about God’s call to you. But you Moms don’t tune out also because I’ll be talking to you also.
We read two parables today. Both are about God’s Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is like scattered seed and the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. Jesus often used parables in his teaching. We have all read them and had them interpreted to us in sermons or Sunday school classes. But to the disciples and the crowds that Jesus talked to, parables were more like riddles. In fact the word parable means “a riddle.” Riddles are stories that leave the listener with the responsibility of finding the meaning or the answer. Jesus would tell the crowd a story then he would leave, leaving the crowd to figure out what he was talking about, to guess the meaning of the story or the answer to his riddle. He didn’t always explained his stories to his disciples either. So even the disciples were left with a lot of wondering and figuring out to do.
Our first reaction to many of the parables is “What?” Some of them still puzzle us and most are subject of a variety of interpretations. That is one of the characteristics of parables; that there will likely be more than one meaning. Each time we hear a parable it may say something different to us. Our understanding may be determined by where we see ourself in the story and by what is happening in our life at the time we read it.
For example, at a time when you are available to others and reaching out to those in need, you may read the parable of the good Samaritan and identify with the Samaritan. There may be times that you have turned your back on someone or not taken the opportunity to help someone in need. At that time if you were to read the parable you may identify with the Levite who passes the broken man without lending a helping hand. There even may be times when you are in need and those who you felt should lend a hand have let you down. At those times if you read the parable of the Good Samaritan you may identify with the traveler left on the side of the road. Each time reading the parable and understanding it through a different lens.
Today, I’m going to spend some time talking about the second of our two parables in today’s reading. Many of Jesus’ parables have to do with seeds, soil, planting and harvesting. This one tells us that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.
With what can we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It’s like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all seeds on the 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.
The Kingdom of God is like What? A mustard seed? Hmmm? If we take every word of the bible literally we may have a problem with this parable, because we know that the mustard seed is not the smallest of all seeds.
All of you gardeners here probably know that the orchid seed is actually the smallest seed. Do you know that the orchid seed is as small as a speck of dust having up to 35 million seeds per ounce? That’s pretty small. Jesus probably didn’t expect us to get caught up in the details of his story but instead wants us to look at the big picture. Maybe the point of the parable is not that it was the smallest of all seeds, but simply that something small can grow into something great? Maybe Jesus was saying that a small baby, born in a stable, would grow up to become the Savior of many people, and people would find comfort and security in him like the birds found in the branches of the bush?
Or maybe Jesus was saying that the Christian Church, which began with just a small number of simple men would one day become a gathering of billions of people all around the world who find their hope in Him?
Or could this parable mean that if we only have faith the size of a mustard seed, which is the way Matthew wrote this parable, our faith will mature and grow, and it will be enough to bring about the Kingdom of God.
Remember there may be more than one explanation of a parable. All of these are possibilities and may have been part of Jesus’ thinking when he sat down and told the crowd that the Kingdom of God was like a mustard seed. We don’t know; Jesus didn’t tell us. We are left to figure it out for ourselves, and maybe there is not a wrong answer.
When I reflected on this parable I saw it through the lens of a parent. Maybe because parenting is on my mind lately.
Today is Father’s Day, last month was Mother’s Day and but also because, as some of you may know, Jan and I remodeled our house last year. It was way too big for the two of us. We made our lower level into an apartment for us and gave the top two floors of our house to our son, daughter-in-law and our granddaughter.
I am loving watching our son in his new role and seeing him parent this precious little girl. He and Molly are wonderful parents. Jan and I are also re-experiencing the parenting of a small child as we have the privilege of caring for Fianna 25 to 30 hours every week. So today my interpretation of The Parable of the Mustard Seed as seen through the lens of parenting is that the mustard seeds are our children? We know how much Jesus loved little children; how he would take them on his knee and bless them, even though it upset his disciples who tried to keep the children away. Could Jesus be using the words of a parable to remind parents, of every age, that our children are our greatest resource, and our greatest responsibility?
The last part of the parable was that when the mustard seed 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. There are other references of birds nesting in trees in the Bible. In Ezekiel it says, “in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind”, and in Daniel we read ”from it all living beings were fed”. I believe Jesus was talking about God’s inclusiveness, that God loves everyone and God’s Kingdom is for everyone.
So in my interpretation then The Mustard Seeds are our children, and our purpose as parents is to nurture them, encourage them, protect them and guide them, until they grow up to become the greatest of all shrubs. And as shrubs they will reach out to others, welcoming all, protecting and loving everyone.
We all start out as parents with really good intentions. We are going to be the best parents ever, not make the mistakes that our parents did. It is so easy when they are first born all soft and cuddly, but then stuff happens:
- We have to work long hours to provide for our families, so we don’t have time to play catch, to swing at the park or to go on long walks. We don’t have time to listen to them, or sometimes even be with them. Harry Chapin’s song “Cat’s in the Cradle” always makes me cry? When you comin' home, Dad? I don't know when but we'll get together then Son. You’re gonna’ have a good time then. Childhood goes by so quickly. I am so aware of that now that my son’s childhood is past. I my now able to devote more time to actually be with Fianna when she is with me than I was to my son. A great benefit of being a grandmother who is retired.
- We many times place our small children in front of a “screen” to babysit for us. A TV, computer, or video game an I-pod to occupy them so we can get some work done. Last March before Fianna turned two they came to visit us in Florida. One day Fianna picked up my phone, she turned it on and began moving her little thumb across the screen. She wasn’t even two years old. They learn so quickly. The TV mesmerizes her. Caring for her would be so easy, just turn the TV on or give her a phone.
- Parents too are many times addicted to “screens”. We have all heard about children spending too much time on screens but last week I read that young people are now expressing their concern that their parents are spending too much time on their devices. Time they could be spending with their children.
- We spend hours taking care of the lawn, and our back yard, our flowers and landscaping, but we often ignore the “shrub” that God has given us to care for. These “shrubs”, our children when grown, if nurtured well, will provide love to others and reach out to those in need and give them rest.
This parable then may serve as a reminder of some good parenting tips.
- That the best way to love our children is to love and respect our spouse. As parents we are models for our children. When we show love and respect in our home they learn how to love and respect others.
- It’s ok to say “no”. It’s more important to be respected by our children than to be liked by them. They don’t like to hear the word “no” but will eventually understand that it was love that you were expressing when you said it.
- It may remind us that the best gift we can give our children is a sense of safety and security as they grow up and that it is more important to give them our time, not our money.
- And It may remind us that our responsibility reaches beyond caring for our own children. As Christians we are called to care for all children, everywhere. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The true test of a society is how it cares for its children.” We cannot just be satisfied that our children receive a great education when other children receive poor educations or no education at all. We cannot be satisfied that our children get nutritious meals every day when some children go to bed hungry. We cannot be satisfied that our children have a spacious bedroom, when there are over 3 million homeless children in the US alone?
This sermon is about “love”. I preach about once a month when I am at St. Paul’s in Naples. When preparing for my last sermon of the season last year I realized that all of my sermons last year and maybe the year before ended up being about love. I even apologized to the congregation that I was once again talking about love. But I told them that to me Jesus’ message, God’s message, and the message of the Bible is all about love; Loving God and Loving our neighbor. It all always comes down to love.
After hearing our Presiding Bishop’s sermon at the royal wedding a few weeks ago I don’t think I will ever apologize again for speaking about love. As Bishop Curry said “love is enough”. Love is all we need and when we learn to love the way Jesus taught us to love, Love will change the world. When we love our own children by respecting them, giving them our time, our attention and wisdom and when we love all children by speaking up for them and by making sure their future is protected by using our resources are wisely and that our laws and policies provide for and protect all children; then children everywhere will grow up to be the greatest of all shrubs, the people that can change our world with their love. Amen.
