Great things can come from insignificant beginnings. I learned this for myself more times than I
can count, but one story stands out. When I was pastoring a United
Methodist Church in Nelson County, Virginia, I got a crash course in this
truth. The parsonage we lived in had a wood stove, and I had to
learn how to use it. It took me a little while before I was
really good at keeping the fire going without having to restart from new wood…but
in time, I learned how it worked…But like many things in life, I
learned the hard way...
When I first began building fires in the stove, I didn’t realize the power of a few smoldering
ashes or the power of just a few hot coals. I
thought that I had to shovel out all the “ashes” and
start all over every single time. But now I know that from just a few
insignificant ashes, a great fire can be kindled.
One evening I went and shoveled out the ashes that had been
accumulating in the wood stove and put them into a metal bucket. I
then put the metal bucket outside by the door and left it there until I needed
to dump it and refill the bucket. The next morning it was cold out, so I
thought I’d start a fresh
fire. I went outside and dumped the old
ashes that were in that metal bucket into a small brush pile, thinking that
they had to be extinguished by now, I mean those ashes had been sitting in that
bucket for hours overnight now and there wasn’t
any visible sign that it was still hot…So I went back inside, shoveled the
ashes out of the stove and into the metal bucket and started a fresh fire in
the stove. I proceeded back to my office and sat down at my desk and
worked away … and, I…started smelling something burning…but
not necessarily the same smell you would smell form the wood fire.
I ignored it for a little while thinking it was nothing…but
it kept getting stronger and stronger. So I went downstairs where the wood
stove was and everything seemed to be okay…I was gonna just
forget about it…but something told me I better look
outside.
So I went outside and, lo and behold, the whole side of the yard
was on fire! We lived on a 2 acre plot of land that was hemmed in by cow
fields and mountains. The fence posts were blazing…the
fire was spreading in one direction out into the cow field and in the other
direction toward the parsonage. I was in a panic! I filled the mop
bucket with water multiple times running back and forth from the fire to the
house and to the house from the fire…I was out there with a bath towel
trying to put the fire out by swinging the towel down on the flames, but it was
no use…it was too much for me so I called the fire department who
came and put it all out.
Of course in Nelson County VA everyone has police scanners…it
didn’t take long for the whole county to
know that the pastor had started a fire at the parsonage.
...That day I learned that great things can come from
insignificant beginnings!
That’s really what Jesus is trying to teach
us today through the Gospel lesson.
Great things will come about from “insignificant
beginnings.”
The Kingdom of God is like the mustard seed. The evidence of this kingdom may appear to be
minute and of little consequence (kinda like my smoldering ashes!); however,
this kingdom is at work through the simple acts of faith by
people like you and me. With every act
of kindness with every offer of grace,
mercy, and love, the seeds of love are sown all over this world. The difficulty with this is that most of the
time, we do not get to see the fruit of our labor of love.
This was especially the case for Mark’s community where
followers of Jesus were experiencing persecution as a direct result of their
labor rather than the fecundity one might expect from doing the work of
God! This parable had to be comforting
for our early brothers and sisters: There is good news! Those tiny seeds of
faith will become great trees with branches that provide shelter and protection
for you and for all. So take heart -
your labor is not in vain! Great things
will come from insignificant beginnings.
You see, God’s kingdom is coming and will come in
fullness. Sometimes it’s frustrating. We, like the Markan community, work hard to
sow the seeds of God’s love and yet see very little
immediate fruit (sometimes we actually see the antithesis instead). But that’s
the point Jesus wants us to take to heart, and St. Paul says it well in the
Epistle lesson: we are those who walk by faith and not by sight. God desires for all of us to cooperate with
him in the coming of his kingdom, but we must remember The Kingdom grows of
itself, not simply because of our efforts, no matter how noble and
well-intended they may be. God’s kingdom depends on God’s power to bring it to pass, not human effort or
agency. While human beings play a role
in the Kingdom’s growth (we sow
seed), the growth itself is in God’s
hands. This kind of work requires much
faith and that “p” word
we don’t so much like these days: patience. We must wait on God’s timing and remember that God, not our own
efforts, not only provides orderly growth, but has the right to harvest.
So don’t give up simply because the fruit is
not immediate. By faith, see, in the present, small moments, the promise of God’s kingdom coming to fruition. Don’t let yourself get distracted,
discouraged, or even worse—paralyzed—by what the world
calls significant to the point where you cannot truly see with the eyes of
faith what is right in front of you. God’s
kingdom seems small and insignificant at times in this age that is passing away… Oh,
but it will become what it already is - the greatest of all and it will provide
protection and shelter for all God’s
beloved. SO immerse yourself in this so called insignificant business of God’s kingdom - the business of love
through selfless acts of kindness and mercy in this world that needs it more
than ever.
Whether you’re Hammering a nail on a mission
possible trip, helping out for the barn sale, tutoring a middle schooler at St.
James, hanging out with kids at summer camp, teaching or helping with vacation
bible school, mentoring a young person or confirmand, playing games and
listening to stories from young ladies and girls in Honduras, Digging and
laying pipe to bring fresh water to villages, or whatever else, remember:
Great things WILL come from “insignificant” beginnings.
That, Jesus says, we can count on.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
