The reign of God: grace, gift, generosity.

The reign of God is like........................

 

The kingdom of God might be better described as ‘The reign of God’- reign relates to the idea of the rule of God, rather than just the area of his dominion. 

The reign of God is something we can relate to, but also something a little bit surprising, there is an element of the unexpected.

That’s why Jesus uses so many parables to describe the reign of God. Parables are stories that use similes; something that is like the thing that is being described, but is also different from it. 

The parables that Jesus uses to explain the reign of God in Mark’s passage today (Sunday 17th June 2012, Mark 4.26-34)  relate to the agricultural world of Jesus’ listeners.

In the first we are told the story of the seed that is scattered and neglected but brings forth a great harvest. In the second we are told the story of the tiny seed of the mustard tree that grows into a large shrub where birds nest (see end of text for Bible passage)

These parables aren’t just about the idea of growth, although they are related to it. Most people who work the land, not just farmers, but gardeners too know that although nature grows on its own it needs lots of help on the way for it to grow in the right way. Yet, in the parable Jesus suggests that God brings forth a miraculous harvest that prospers with very little human input.

Similarly with the mustard seed, it’s strange that Jesus didn’t pick the example of a great tree to explain his point. The mustard shrub hardly reminds us of a great tree in which we can see birds nesting in the branches. The unexpected example of the mustard shrub alerts us to the ‘difference’ in this parable. Is Jesus suggesting that it is the unlikely, disregarded plants that will grow to great prominence in God’s reign? What might that tell us about the people who will flourish in God’s reign? Moreover, the flourishing shrub provides a place of sanctuary, a haven for others.

We can go some way to understanding the reign of God through these parables, but most of us in Surbiton aren’t part of an agricultural world. So, perhaps we need the parables to be presented differently for us to understand.

So, how would you re-write these parables for the modern day? Any ideas? Have a think. Here are my suggestions, neither perfect, but:

The reign of God is like a new job, where you are given little to do but turn up every day, but by the end of your first month you are outrageously successful.

[little effort, lots of reward]

OR

The reign of God is like a child’s twitter feed which goes viral, creating an online sanctuary and haven for its readers.

[something very small goes huge, creating sanctuary]

What’s good and what’s not so good about those examples: do they express what Jesus is trying to explain to us?

I think what Jesus is trying to explain to us is that God is at work in the world, silently and invisibly and that we don’t have to do all the work of bringing in God’s reign – it is actually God’s work to do that. If we begin to see the hand of God in the world, we will start noticing the miraculous. God is an abundant and generous giver: He gives, provides, shows forth, and bares fruit.

We are used to a world in which effort and hard work are involved: if we want to achieve anything we must put in the hours. But, within God’s kingdom there is an economy of gift, grace, generosity and extravagance. Baptism is like that, you don’t need to earn your right to be baptised. You just need to ask if you can be and you will be welcomed by God who offers you his gift of grace and blessing. It’s hard for us to work with a God who is such an extraordinary giver. Most of the time we want to create criteria for who can receive from God and who can’t. But the reign of God is a reign in which the Lord, the King, the ruler does the unexpected and the surprising thing. In the kingdom of God we don’t need to force our way, proving our worth and asserting our intelligence. Rather, we need to sit back and wait, listening out for the surprising gift that God will give to those who are willing to receive. It is up to you: will you wait to receive from God, or are you too busy building your own kingdom?

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.