Sermon for June 14, 2015

The readings

 

Ezekiel 17:22-24

Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. All the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the LORD have spoken; I will accomplish it.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17

So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord --for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.  And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

Mark 4:26-34

 He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come." 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." With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

The message

This morning I am going to continue the Confirmation theme of talking about the scripture readings through the lens of who our God is and the importance of publically affirming or telling people about God. Our readings today show that our God is one who encourages growth, who sustains us, who can do the impossible, and walks with us through all things.  This message starts with the passage from the book of the prophet Ezekiel.  Now, the prophet Ezekiel is known for some of the strangest visions and images in the entire bible (were talking the sort of stuff people have looked at and said “it describes alien spaceships or visitors from other planets”).  This morning we have a surprisingly normal vision from Ezekiel drawn from a familiar experience in the natural world. We hear of a vision and promise that God will break off a tiny young twig from the top of a great cedar, replant it on a great mountain and watch / nurture it as it grows into a great tree.  

This is something my grandmother would do every year.  She would break off stems of her plants along with a little root and spread them out in the garden. Over the next few months, each stem would grow into a full, new plant.  I still remember walking in a cemetery with my grandmother years ago. We were there to leave flowers at a relative’s grave. As we left, she saw a plant growing and pulled out a few little pieces.  She told me that this small handful of plant, dirt and root would cover the whole side of her house in a few years.  Sure enough, she was right. Those few stems kept growing and multiplying. A few years later, the entire 40 or 50 foot stretch of garden on the side of her house were covered with this plant. Neighbors would often come by and do the same thing my grandmother did in the cemetery a few years before, pull up a few pieces to plant in their own gardens. After my Grandmother died, my family and I were sure to take pieces of that plant and replant them. They continue to grow today.  This is how God works in the world. God’s love has an incredible power to change things, to grow, to spread out and reach all places, to start in us as a small and curious thing, only to grow and take over our lives and the lives of those around us. It is a love that takes over all the space occupied by fear, worry, anger or hatred.  

A few hundred years after the prophet Ezekiel reported this vision of great new life coming from a seemingly insignificant stem, Jesus says the same exact thing to the world. With Jesus, it is not a cedar twig, it is the Mustard seed. This seed is tiny and you would not think it was capable of doing anything.  It was the smallest seed known to Jesus’ world at the time.  This seed surprises everyone by growing into a large shrub from 5 to 15 feet high. It was not the largest tree (Palm trees in the area would tower over the mustard tree) but it was enough to provide shelter and nesting areas for birds. This tree is actually not the source of the condiment mustard that we put on hot dogs and stuff but it does have edible leaves. Today we might talk about microchips in the same way, extremely tiny pieces of metal and almost undetectable electrical pulses that are capable of storing more information than entire libraries and able to do incredibly complicated and amazing things through controlling all different kinds of machines. Again, we see the power of God’s love to surprise and impact the world.  

Ezekiel’s great cedar and Jesus’ mustard seed are not just fun, neat or surprising things we observe in the world.  Ezekiel’s cedar reminds us that God is all powerful, that God can interfere with the world, to bring life where there is death and help where there is no hope. To use Paul’s language, God can make all things new.  Jesus Mustard seed is a story of growth, of keeping faithful, of trusting God’s promises, of not feeling like we are powerless against change and not thinking we are alone in doing God’s work.     

A few years ago, someone shared a joke with me, that was more revealing of how we often think than it was funny.  There was a farmer who bought a piece of terrible land.  The property was covered in awful soil, rocks, and all kinds of garbage.  The farmer worked many long hours, day after day, clearing the space, caring for the soil, and removing the rocks. Soon, things began to grow there and after a while, all of the work paid off, good yielding crops were ready to harvest.  While he was harvesting the field, the local priest happens to walk by and sees the way that this field have been transformed, going from a good for nothing dump to a thriving farm.  The priest notes “what an amazing thing you and the Lord have done here”, to which the farmer replies, well it wasn’t much when it was just the Lord working here by himself”.

At the heart of this joke is a celebration of what we are capable of and that basic human need for recognition. Many of us were raised on the principles that hard work pays off and that doing the right thing will be rewarded.  We have something to prove.  The point of Jesus story of the mustard seed is a reminder that we cannot do everything alone.  Most importantly, we cannot save ourselves, we cannot earn the comfort that God gives us. When it comes to matters of salvation, the forgiveness of sins and obedience to God’s law, we were not much when it was just us working on it by ourselves.  

These stories of life, of replanting and growing remind us that a little faith can go a long way.  There is so much power and life in our faith, so much potential to make things better, to set our hearts and minds at ease, to go, speak and do knowing we are loved by God.