Look What the Seed of God’s Word Can Do!

4th Sunday after Pentecost, 6/20/21 Mark 4:26-34 Look What the Seed of God’s Word Can Do! I. In the human heart II. All over the world Exerting influence and doing so using force almost always gets ugly in our world. And we’ve seen far too much of it lately and have even been the victims of it. The events of Jan. 6, 2021 at our nation’s capital are a case in point. That was far from our nation’s finest hour. It was embarrassing and horrific. The attempt to exert influence by using force resulted in massive property damage and even the loss of life. Indirectly, even you and I have been victims of the attempts to exert influence through the use of force. Lately the weapons that have been used look almost harmless—a computer with a keyboard and mouse. Cyber criminals have taken massive American companies hostage, demanding billions of dollars. No doubt these criminal events are one of the reasons we’re paying more at the gas pump and at the grocery store. The attempts to exert influence using force almost always gets ugly. The Jews of Jesus’ days on earth were aware of the power Jesus possessed. They watched as he performed miracle after miracle—changing water into wine, healing countless sick people, even raising a few people from the dead. They had been watching for centuries for their Messiah to arrive and many of them looked to Jesus as that Messiah. And now they wanted him to exert his influence through the use of force. You can almost hear the desires of their hearts, “Lord, use your unlimited power to defeat our enemies, establish your kingdom here, and make our lives a heaven on earth.” But you and I know that’s not why Jesus came to this earth. He told Pilate that he was a king, but that his kingdom was not of this world. And he wanted his followers, especially his disciples, to understand that. In Mark chapter 4 Jesus is teaching his disciples about his kingdom using parables. And in the portion of that chapter before us this morning, he pictures his word as a seed. His kingdom doesn’t come with outward power, but with inward power. And look what the seed of God’s word can do! Let’s keep that exclamatory invitation before us this morning. Look what the seed of God’s word can do! May the Holy Spirit enlighten our hearts and our minds to see what our God reveals to us about his kingdom. Part I. Pop psychology would tell us that there is at least a little bit of good in every person; we just need to nurture that goodness and encourage it. However, I recently read the words of a Christian theologian who stated that the human heart is exceedingly wicked. So, which one is it? Well, Jesus himself talked about how wicked the human heart is. And we’ve seen plenty of evidence of it recently. We hold our breaths, hoping and praying that another mass shooting doesn’t occur, but that’s wishful thinking. What’s more, I think I’ve read and heard more angry and hate-filled words over the past 18 months than I have the previous 50-some years of my life. People can really be ugly to one another! And the sad reality is that it might subside some, but it probably won’t end. It’s another manifestation of sinful people living in a sinful world. If only God would do something about it! If only he would change people’s hearts! Well, he has been and he still does—through the seed of his word. Listen to what that seed does, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” That seed gets planted in the human heart. Recall what we stated about the human heart—it’s exceedingly wicked. The power to make the seed grow into a plant isn’t in the soil, the heart; it’s in the seed itself. Jesus makes special mention of how imperceptibly the plant grows. Even the farmer who planted the seed doesn’t see it growing in the soil, nor can he take any credit for the seed germinating and growing. He simply plants the seed and goes about the rest of his business. He sleeps, awakes, eats, spends time with his family and works on other projects. And yet all the while, the seed is sprouting and growing. And soon the seed does what seeds were created to do—produce a crop. But just what does that crop represent in the kingdom of God? I can think of two likely answers. One good answer is that the crop represents faith in Jesus as the Savior. That’s why the Lord shares the seed of his word with any sinner. That’s why he wants to share that seed of the word with every sinner—to create and nurture saving faith in Jesus as the Savior. Another good answer is that the crop represents the fruits of faith, such as Christian love for others. Christian faith will produce the fruit of love for others—love towards God and love towards our neighbor. And that’s the exact opposite of what we so often see coming out of the hearts of the people in our world. Look what the seed of God’s word can do! And it will continue doing so until the harvest, as Jesus pointed out in his parable. No doubt, Jesus is referring to the Last Day when he returns to this earth in glory, raises all the dead, and glorifies the bodies of Christians. And on that day—and not fully until that day—the results of the seed of God’s word working in human hearts will be seen with human eyes. Here they are—every member of the kingdom of God standing in glory before Jesus. God’s people—every one of them—glorified forever, body, soul, and heart. Look what the seed of God’s word can do in the human heart. Part II. Every human heart by nature is sinful and in need of a drastic change of heart that only the seed of God’s word can accomplish. That need is universal. Thank God, then, that the working of God’s kingdom is universal as well. That’s the second truth about the kingdom of God that Jesus wanted his disciples to know and understand. So, he spoke the second parable in our text. “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.” Have you ever seen a mustard seed? I Googled it the other day. A mustard seed is round, about half the size of a common green pea. It’s not impressive in size at all. What’s impressive is the large plant that such a small seed produces. The mustard plant to which Jesus refers in the parable was commonly 10-15 feet tall. It was literally the size of a tree. Obviously, a plant of that size would allow for birds to perch in its branches. But what does all this have to do with the kingdom of God? From the world’s standpoint, what the seed of God’s word shares with us isn’t impressive. Jesus is born in a stable. As an adult, he doesn’t have a place to lay his head. His own people, by and large, reject him as their prophet. He ends up crucified like the worst of criminals. None of that is impressive to the world’s eyes and ears. But he rose again from the dead. In doing so, he established a kingdom that will never end. That kingdom spread from the city of Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. There are Christians from every nation, language, tribe, and people in that kingdom. It’s literally a worldwide kingdom. It even stretches into heaven to include the souls living there with Jesus. There’s truly no kingdom like it. Other kingdoms rise and fall. Their territory is limited and so is their influence. But not the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom will exist when every earthly kingdom has been destroyed. And not even Satan’s kingdom can overcome it. And you’re a member of it by faith in Jesus. And so is every other Christian on the face of the earth. Look at what the seed of God’s word can do all over the world. But now it’s time for the rubber to hit the road. I think you agree that these are interesting and informative parables, but what do they mean for you personally? Well, when is the last time you acknowledged that your human heart by nature is exceedingly wicked? We don’t like to admit that so readily. And when is the last time you acknowledged that it’s only because the seed of God’s word was planted in your heart that your heart received a complete make-over? And now, because of that seed working in your heart, you are a member of a kingdom that will last forever. No matter how tragic and difficult this life may be, you are a member of God’s eternal kingdom. No one, not even Satan, can overcome that kingdom. But we fret, we worry, we wring our hands and shake our heads over the way things are going in our world as if our happiness depends solely on all things going well in the here and now. You are a member of an eternal kingdom that results in eternal glory for you. Does that impress you? For all the times in our lives when it hasn’t, O Lord, we beg your mercy and forgiveness. And in your kingdom—the Church—we have it. It’s ours by faith in Jesus, who lived, died, and rose again. You have life in God’s kingdom. That’s all that matters. Now ask yourself, “What’s my part in it?” One good answer is that you have been called by God to scatter the seed of his word. Let’s get busy, shall we? Amen.