For Sunday
Third Sunday after Pentecost

Collect

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reading

From Mark 4:26-34

“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.”

Reflection

This particular parable seems pretty straight forward. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed—a tiny little thing that can grow incredibly large. But it strikes me that Jesus isn’t talking about the normal growing process. Shrubs don’t get as big as trees. And birds nesting in the shade of shrubbery? For the most part–not a thing.

The point isn’t just that God can do great things. Nor is it to say that all great things start somewhere. Jesus isn’t talking about the way things are. Mustard seeds don’t grow into shrubs taller than trees.

We also aren’t just talking about a supernatural phenomenon, however. We are comparing the kingdom of God to a transformation of the basic ordering of the world.

And more importantly, this is the lesson.

It is much easier for us to dwell on God’s power to grow a mustard seed into a great shrub than on the implications of what that means for all of creation.

Again and again, Jesus tries to describe God’s dream for us in parables. Many of them force us to deal with how our culture, attitudes, and ideologies are ordered. And how frequently they don’t line up with God’s dream. So we read parables about workers getting the same pay for less work or unjust people getting rewarded for doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.

But these parables for this week paint an even bigger picture. A project of change that isn’t only miraculous. It’s totally transforming what we still take for granted. And we’re invited to join in.