by Auriol Farquhar

(Based on Mark 4: 26–34)

Today’s reading is from Chapter 4 in Mark. In this chapter Jesus tells a number of parables and stills a storm. Before the parable of the gardener and the mustard seed, Jesus has told the stories of a farmer scattering seed and one about hiding one’s light under a bushel. While he often explains the parables to his disciples, he does not comment on the meaning of the ones in today’s reading; he explains it to them later.
So this is my interpretation of these passages, with a little help from Debie Thomas and Michael K Marsh.

In the first parable Jesus speaks of a gardener scattering seed on the ground and then going off to sleep. He enjoys his rest and does little to ensure that the seeds will grow. This is something of a puzzle to good gardeners, who work hard at ensuring that they will get a decent crop. Even my husband, not too concerned about the aesthetic appearance of his garden, fertilises the ground with compost, plants his plants in rows, weeds conscientiously, waters in the dry season and does his best to protect his garden from pests and birds.
But this gardener sleeps. He trusts the seeds; he trusts the sun, the shade, the clouds, the rain. He plants, and he harvests when the time is ripe.

Of course, Jesus is not really talking about gardening or farming. He is using these images to talk about your life or mine. His parable is a metaphor for the way God works in our lives.
The gardener never suffers from the illusion that he’s in charge; he’s operating in the realm of mystery. In this story of God’s Kingdom it is not our striving, our piety, our doctrinal purity or our impressive prayers that cause us to grow and thrive in God’s garden – it is grace alone, often acting in mysterious ways that we do not understand. Once the seed of the word of God is sown, only time will show how a person’s faith will grow and develop. And growth takes time. A lot happens under the ground, hidden within the soil of our lives. There’s a lot of waiting and then one day, something sprouts and voila – there is growth.
I think of my own faith journey. As a child I attended Sunday school, church and Pathfinders. I learned about the Bible in primary and secondary school and considered myself to be a Christian. As time passed, I still had faith but, although I tried to manifest that faith in my life, I stopped going to Church, except at Christmas, and was not really part of a faith community.

About ten or twelve years ago Joan asked me to help with the Christmas Community Celebration in Tairua and, after a couple of years of making my contribution, with the choir and the dramatic presentation, I felt that I needed more involvement with the life of the Church. I had a strong urge to come to church on Sundays. I cannot explain why I felt this – I just had a desire, I wanted to be part of a faith community again. God was bringing my garden to fruition.

Seeds grow when the conditions are right. God grows love in us and that love can shelter and comfort many others. God’s Kingdom is not only the ‘end-time’ or the afterlife, it is the here and now – anywhere where the power of God is evident, he is establishing it through us.

The reality is that there is a spirit moving within us. Each of us has been seeded and something is growing there. Sometimes we don’t see it, believe it or trust it – but it’s there. Sometimes we wait years, hoping, looking and wondering when, and then one day we see the first green blade rise up. Other times we wake up one day and are surprised by what has changed within us. How and when did it happen? It is not dependent on us but we participate in it.

In the second parable, a sower sows mustard seed in the ground. In first century Palestine, this was a noxious weed. It is a plant that quickly takes over the land, dropping seeds everywhere and encroaching on other plants. It would be like a modern day gardener planting oxalis or wild ginger – nuisances that a gardener tries to get rid of, not plant deliberately.
What is Jesus saying when he describes the heart of God’s Kingdom as this insignificant tiny seed that is invasive and that most gardeners would like to get rid of? Is he saying that God’s Kingdom grows and flourishes whatever efforts can be made to ‘root’ it out – that nothing can stop it flourishing?

The last image in these parables is that of the birds nesting and finding shade in the branches of the mustard plant. We all love to see birds in the garden, but what gardener wants birds taking up residence – eating seeds and fruit and dropping guano everywhere? We take steps to keep the birds away. But this doesn’t happen in God’s garden. There are no scarecrows to scare off unwelcome guests in God’s garden. No scarecrows or rattling CD discs there. That is because the Kingdom of God is about welcoming everyone; it is inclusive of all – even those that some would think were unworthy. Its main purpose is hospitality, not productivity. By trying to get rid of the nuisances in the garden, because we believe the produce is the most important thing – are we rejecting the needs, hunger and hopes of those around us because we are focused on controlling the garden? Can we surrender ourselves to losing that control and letting the garden, or God, take care of itself?

When I started to prepare for this reflection and read these verses from Mark, I was puzzled. I read some other reflections on them – which seemed to say that these parables were about trusting God to grow his kingdom. And the harvest – his Church – would grow and develop. But, I asked myself – does that mean God does all the work, and we do nothing? Do we have a role to play in the growth of the garden and the burgeoning mustard seed plant?

I think that we must have a role. Consider what seeds have been scattered for us in our own lives. Who are the people who have loved and encouraged us, offered wisdom and guidance, especially on our faith journey? Who are the ones who have given us hope, stood by us, helped us find ourselves? Who has inspired and mentored us, who has helped us to use our talents and skills? Perhaps we can identify people we have known. I’d begin with my Mum and Dad, who gave me unconditional love; then Mr Woodley, the curate who took our Pathfinder class; Miss Jenkins, my Religious Instruction teacher, who was such a gentle Quaker soul; my drama tutor on my teacher training course, Hilary Ball, who enabled me to grow in confidence and realise that I was just as worthy as others. And then, in recent years, St Francis friends Chris, Bruce, Joan and Sharon who have inspired me and made me think more deeply – and so many people in between.

I am sure that we can all identify people we have known that have played important roles in our growth. But always it is God, working in mysterious ways, enabling his garden to grow.

And what can we actually do to help our own harvest, and perhaps scatter seeds in the lives of others?
We can forgive those who hurt us, reconcile and ask others for forgiveness. We can put others’ interests before our own. We can encourage, love and reach out in compassion. We can support others when they are in the depths of emotional crisis, such as grief, despair or loneliness. We can speak out for justice and stand up for people when they are treated unfairly. We can love our neighbour as ourselves!

So, I believe that we should trust in God and have faith that his Kingdom is growing, slowly and mysteriously – with weeds that we can neither control nor contain. But we should also be open for his guidance, in whatever form it comes, on what we should plant and how we should harvest the results of his labour.

Thy will be done, Lord.