Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
– Proper 6 (Year B)
Mark 4.26-34
St. Gregory’s, Long
Beach
Today in our Gospel reading, we hear Jesus give two parables
that are designed to answer a simple question – “What is the kingdom of God like?”
Piece of cake. Jesus seeks to explain the kingdom of God using agricultural
imagery. Imagery that would have been well-known to the people of his day. The
first is the parable of the growing seed and the second is the parable of the
mustard seed.
As an aside, it should be noted that neither of these short
images are really parables. Parables are simple stories, with some sort of
developed plot, that are designed to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.
They are designed to challenge us to think about our lives, spiritual or
otherwise, in new and transformative ways. Neither of today’s images really fit
the bill. There is no plot. Neither address a moral or spiritual lesson.
Neither seek to challenge us to new ways of living, at least on the surface.
Rather, today’s images are actually similitudes – streamlined similes
describing a key truth with no developed plot. They are meant to convey an
image to help us understand a truth about our life in God. There is no
challenge involved, except possibly the challenge of translating and
understanding what is being conveyed. It may be splitting hairs, but, you know
me – once and engineer, always an engineer. And we engineers want to make sure
things are put in the right box.
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