Sermon preached by the Rev. Richard Lampert
Pentecost II Mk. 4.26-34 Ezek. 31.1-14
When you’re dedicated and faithful enough, the seeds will always grow!
It just isn’t true, but, we wish it were so! Pastors & businessmen alike talk about some of the major myths of growth like: (a)If you are dedicated enough your church will al-ways grow and (b) all God ever expects is faithfulness. They speak about church growth conferences where dedicated pastors finish leaving feeling more guilty, frustrated, inade-quate than when they arrived. These men and women are faithful to God’s Word! They pray feverently! They are solid preachers! Sometimes their churches just refuse to grow. Why? Maybe it’s just a poor fit? Or, maybe the pastor is running out of gas? Perhaps the leaders have the will, but not the updated skills nor right tools? Maybe the timing is bad? Maybe the church just doesn’t pray hard enough or work hard enough? Let’s change the metaphor: If you’re dedicated and pray hard enough, your life and your job and your men-tal health will all always be fine! Tell that to the thousands who have now lost their jobs, to the man/woman who’s spouse just died, to a young child cancer patient, to a person drown-ing in the giant spiderweb of depression & inactivity! Where’s my growth? Where’s God?
What do today’s lessons really tell us? All of Mark chapter 4 is about sowing and producing: the parable of the sower, then today’s Gospel: the soil producing grain by itself and the Parable of the Mustard Seed. In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel warns us to “be careful how we use our towering strength lest it be cast down according to its own wickedness.”
So what can we learn from these stories? (1) Good things can indeed begin in small sizes. In the Arab world today the phrase, “as small as a mustard seed” is still commonly used. Often the tiniest seed sprouts to gigantic heights of 14 feet or more. (2) Of course the disciples were discouraged! Their initial flurry of growth had given way to increased opposition, disappointments and then abandonment. That’s why it says in Mk. 4.33, “He spoke the words to them as best they were able to hear it.” So,Jesus told the disciples today’s parables to encourage them never to give up! We’re inspired not to get sucked into the contemporary demands of instant results, numbers, success. (3) You and I and the disciples are reminded that God’s growth takes time.His timetable will never be the same as ours. (4)As Biblical and contemporary writers remind us, God wants us to be faithful, warns us not to abuse our gifts and asks for our loyal trust and patience.
So,thinking about all of this and Redeemer what can we say? First, after 15 years, you know that Fr. Fred is only basically interested in your spiritual growth & personal well being. He doesn’t care about numerical growth nor regular church attendance! Am I not right?? Almost? Perhaps I should adjust a little and admit that he wouldn’t mind if we had both, spiritual and numerical growth. Of course, the two do go hand in hand! That’s why we have Redeemer’s Strategic Parish Plan -spiritual & numerical growth. Second, this all ap-plies to the parish as a whole, but perhaps most intentionally to: the Saturday night Con-
temporary Service, Sunday Hispanic Mass, Small Group Ministries development, greater overall parish mission and sharing opportunities. Redeemer continues to be very interested in all spiritual and numerical growth in the total parish, but perhaps now especially in each of these four above mentioned areas.
Finally, let me add an important aside. Obviously, one commonality in all of Redeemers areas of spiritual (and numerical) growth is the pow-erful presence & action of God’s Holy Spirit within & amongst us. Without His presence there is no growth. Clearly to me God’s Spirit is alive and well at 7: 30 and
9: 00 and 11: 00. But, how He expresses Himself in the Men’s Ministry Groups or the Saturday Night Contemporary or the Sunday Hispanic Masses continues to be both a challenge and an opportunity for Redeemer! Put another way,God’s One Spirit certain-ly fits all, but perhaps one size may not completely!
Now what can we say about ourselves and today’s Gospel and Ezekiel’s pro-phesies? Can we really believe that good things do often start in small packages? Can we faithfully handle the inevitable disappointments and frustrations of life plaguing us all? Canwe resist the temptations to always look for immediate rewards and growth? Are we patient with God and ourselves? Do we gratefully accept our God-given gifts, yet always careful not to abuse or overuse them? Do we believe, as the saying goes, that “ you only have one life to live ” or can you see it all more as a series of interconnected, but not predetermined new beginnings ,each filled with its own tasks & possibilities, joys & despairs, yet all designed to lead in the same direction-towards happiness & fulfillment? How do you see your life ?? How do you travel ?? It makes a difference!
The Collect for Today: [ Perhaps this is helpful!! ]
“Keep us, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through
your Grace we may always proclaim your truth with boldness and justice and compassion.” Prop.6