Do Tell Parables

This morning, we continue in our series on the power of telling stories in parables and continue in the gospel of Mark.  This year, we have been reading the gospel of Mark together.  We have paired it with our year long verse: Be doers of the word, not just hearers, who deceive themselves, from James 1:22.  Lest, you and I only nod our collective heads in agreement and instead being active followers of Jesus Christ.

Today, we find Jesus teaching.  Often, we find Jesus with many gathered around him, pushing in, closer and closer, hanging on his every word, as he teaches.  The Kingdom of God is like a lamp.  Give me oil for my lamp.  This little light of mine.  For the light within, the light given to you and to me, that God gives to each of us is a gift.  Jesus, the master teacher, taught using images so familiar that the listeners did not recall or scratch their brains to recall what Jesus was talking about, they just knew(1) .  Stretching the familiar imaging to question theological absolutes was the vital and delicates work of Jesus.

When I have chapel time once a week with CMO preschool friends during the year, “This Little Light of Mine” is one of their favorite songs.  Perhaps, it is because it is an old time favorite.  Mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers have sung it.  Perhaps, it is because there are a lot of actions.  You need to find your light.    You need to not “let anyone blow it out.” You have to “let it shine.”    Perhaps, there is a lasting quality.  I always hear the children singing and humming in the bathroom and in the hallway, long after we are done!  This song “sticks” around.  It becomes so familiar that in years to come, that it can be the basis for parody and the building blocks for heartwarming moments.

For you and I, this morning, we hear the parable teaching of Jesus in the familiar children’s song.  God, who has given us with God’s very self, reminds us not to hidden and put under a lamp stand.  Do not be limited by others or sheltered, even by their good intentions.   Hide it under a bushel – NO!  I’m going to let it shine!

The parables capture stories of surprising growth.  The smallest seeds that have been written off as not able to produce or been made much of grow into the largest bushes.  The tiny mustard seeds discounted that wildly take over the area as a bush.

When CMO began, it was a single day as opportunity for socialization for children, Children’s Morning Out.  Hard to believe what it has become!  Growth like a mustard seed!  With 7 classes and 72 children, the vision has always included a permeant playground. This week, we had the joy of watching that vision come fully to fruition.  After worship at 11:00, we will dedicate the playground.  Please join us for the short service and the picnic to follow!  You will not want to miss it complete with bubbles and the first slides!

Stories of faith often includes how God brings us from the humblest beginnings.  This morning, we give thanks to God for each of our graduates, who had to begin with learning to sit, crawl and walk, long before they could go to school.  As we celebrate their accomplishments, we pray God’s blessings upon them.  May each of our graduates move into the next stages of life – our high school graduates who have and are graduating high school going to college, to vocational school or into the working world.  May you know the blessings of joy and courage. For our college graduates and those who have been commissioned by the military, transitioning into the next stages of life, we pray God’s blessings.

The parable of the mustard seed is instructive also in this way.  The small seed grows into a large bush, so that the birds can find a nest to come and live in.  For each of you, graduates, as the mustard seed grows, and the bush gets larger, the hospitality of the bush grows in scope.  Others, in this analogy, the birds. feel welcome, in ways they did not previously.   So, growth in size and spirit, is magnetic!

For our graduates, we pray God’s blessings.  Don’t forget to share with the greater body of the church – where you see God moving – this is at the heart of how Jesus told the stories that we call parables.

For the families of our graduates, we pray in this time of change, we pray gentleness for yourself and family.  As you wait upon God, we pray that you let the church family wait with you, particularly those who have waited there before – lean on their telling of the parables, their lives.

For our CMO and preschool teachers and families, we pray and celebrate with you today for dedication of this new playground.  We give thanks to God for this witness in our community and for the ways in which this will be a light in our community.

For each of us, we pray for how God is using us to shine the light and be the seed and let the kingdom of the God grow in and through us.

The Kingdom of God is like a playground in which children from the community came to play as toddlers, learned at VBS as elementary students, professed faith, helped with other kids in middle school, babysat in high school and graduated to shine that light beyond into the world.

This is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, thanks be to God, Amen.

(1)  Crossan, John Dominic.  The Power of the Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus. 2012

New Testament Lesson:  Acts 8:4-25

Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. So there was great joy in that city.

Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.” Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.”

Now after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.

Gospel Lesson:  Mark 4:21-32

Jesus said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

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.”

Meditations For Your Week

Sunday, June 10 ~ Saturday, June 16

Sunday:Jesus said to them, ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?” Mark 4:21. When you have the experience of God’s goodness, you can not help but share it. When you see the light of love in others, it shines through them. Consider where you can affirm God’s love in someone else today.

Monday:For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’” Mark 4:22-23. Pray today for all those who feel held back by secrets of abuse.

Tuesday: “And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.” Mark 4:24. God is always speaking and moving. Where is God teaching you to listen closely to intuition and instinct?

Wednesday: “For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” Mark 4:25. Consider where it is that God is calling you to engage in the community. God is often calling us right beyond our area of comfort.

Thursday: “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.’” Mark 4:26-29. Parables of the sower and seed give us pause to figure who we are in the story. Perhaps, we might reflect dependence on God is not certainty, but adaptability.

Friday: “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; “ Mark 4:30-31. Where are you seeing the growth of the mustard seed in your life?

Saturday: “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.’” Mark 4:32.  Pray for all those in need of shelter and respite.