Bible Passage: Mark 4:26-34
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: June 16, 2024

Bulletin June 16, 2024

The Kingdom Grows!

1. From powerful seed
2. From tiny seed

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus.

The state of Wisconsin right now is like a huge object lesson on the Kingdom of God.  I say that because all over our state farmers are planting their crops.   Everywhere they are putting the seeds in the ground.  Wheat and corn and soybeans and alfalfa.  Drive anywhere and you will likely pass a field where you will see the corn now sprouted and well on its way to being “knee high by the 4th of July.”

I say this is like a huge object lesson for the Kingdom of God because Jesus used farming to teach many truths about the Kingdom of God.  And let’s remember what the Kingdom of God is.  The Kingdom of God is not a place.  Jesus even told the people when it comes to the Kingdom of God they should not say, “Here it is!”  Or “There it is!”  It’s not that kind of kingdom.  The kingdom of God is an activity.  It is God’s gracious rule in the hearts of people through faith in Jesus.  Jesus used little earthly stories to unfold sacred secrets about this Kingdom, for there are many secrets about the Kingdom of God that we will only know if they are revealed to us.

In our text today, Jesus wants to teach us some of the “secrets” of the Kingdom using parables.  Parables that take us to the farm.  The lesson today is this:  The Kingdom Grows!  It grows (1) from powerful seed.  And it grows (2) from tiny seed.

Our text contains two short parables.  The first is this:  a man scatters seed in the field.  Then, Jesus says, whether that man is awake or asleep, the seed does its thing.  It germinates.  It sprouts.  It grows.  Jesus adds this – and this key to his point – …though he does not know how.  The ground produces fruit on its own. (v. 27-28)  That little phrase “on its own” is the translation of one word in the Greek.  The Greek word is automate.  You can hear that we get our English word “automatic” from this word.

Jesus’ point is just this:  seeds grow automatically.  It’s what they do!  The farmer does not need to stand over them and talk to them.  He doesn’t have to coax them, or convince them, or threaten them.  He does not need to wave his hands over them.  He needs to put them in the ground.  Done and done.

So it is in the Kingdom of God.  The gracious reign of God in the hearts of people through faith in Jesus grows from a seed.  It is a seed that has within it the inherent power to sprout and grow.  That seed is the Gospel.  It is the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  Just how powerful is the seed of the Gospel?  Paul tells us in Romans 1.  There the apostle famously tells the Romans that as he travels about in the Mediterranean world, he is never embarrassed to pull into a new town and tell people about Jesus Christ.  Paul wrote:  I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16)  The word he uses for power is dynamis.  It is the word that gives us our word “dynamite.”  That is power!  That is the power latent, inherent, hidden in the Gospel!  The good news of Jesus is the only thing powerful enough to convert an unbelieving heart into a believing heart!

We need to remember this little lesson about the Kingdom.  For we want God’s Kingdom to come, to us and to others, don’t we?  We pray for it each time we pray “Thy Kingdom come.”  How will God’s Kingdom come?  A man scatters seed on the ground, and while he sleeps or and rises, night and day the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.  The ground produces fruit on its own.  (v. 26-28)  On its own.  It’s automatic!

 This has huge implications for us as a church, as individuals, as moms and dads.  We need to trust the power of the seed!  As a church, we must never panic if growth seems lacking.  We must never desperately and despairingly wring our hands and cry out, “What shall we do now?”  We know what to do!  Scatter the seed!  Proclaim the good news that Is Jesus!  It works!  It’s automatic!  When we witness to others, give them Jesus!  Scatter the seed on that ground.  And then…go home and go to bed.  Whether you wake or sleep, the seed of the Gospel will do what only it can do.  Moms and dads, you want your children to be fruitful little vines in God’s vineyard.  Scatter the seed of the Gospel on that ground.  Give your children Jesus.  As much as you can.  In the time that you can.  Plant the Gospel!  It is powerful seed!

So powerful, in fact, it has grown the largest Kingdom in the history of the world.  And it all started so small.  That is the point of Jesus’ second parable.  The Kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed.  A mustard seed is a round seed about 1 millimeter in diameter.  That’s small!  But the plant that grows from it can be up to 15 feet tall!

Think of the Kingdom of God.  It’s millimeter-sized beginning.  A manger.  A cross.  A tomb.  A resurrection.  Good news!  Forgiveness!  A commission:  Go!  The scattered seed.  It works!  The Word works!  The Church grows!   A worldwide Kingdom with branches so large people from every nation nest under its shade!  The final scene.  “A great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. (Revelation 7: 9)  The greatest Kingdom gathered before the greatest King, the King of kings and Lord of lords!

These parables today are good and timely tonic.  They remind us that things are not always what they seem.   We are told it is now the “post-Christian” age.  As if the Kingdom of God has come and gone.  It has not, nor is it, gone!  Not as long as there is the Gospel of Jesus!  For where that tiny seed is sown the Kingdom of God will always grow!

Amen.