Mark 4: 26-32

     He also said, "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."  Again he said, "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."

     I love the story of the little girl busy on a picture when her mother says what are you drawing?  She says she is making a picture of God. Mom says, No one knows what God looks like!!! The girl says, "When I'm done they'll know!"

     The kingdom passage seems to also tell us what God is like. That Kingdom is like a garden or a field and it begins in the hopes of a new planting and grows into what are great possibilities which are revealed when ripened and are harvested! The kingdom is a nurturing place and this God of ours is a nurturer.

     Most people believe that heaven is some far, distant place. When folks describe heaven they generally speak of some favorite place, like Hawaii, the Smoky Mountains or a cabin in Canada. The book of the Revelation talks about a place where there are "streets of gold, walls with precious stones and pearl gates." Our images of heaven tend to be some form of paradise where everything is beautiful and wonderful.

     But here in the gospel of Matthew Jesus does not describe "heaven" as a place.  He is speaking in parables and in each parable he refers to heaven as an activity.  When we look at the parables of Jesus we begin to think that Heaven is not a destination but a journey.  For Jesus, heaven has to do with

•           planting seeds,

•           discovering treasure,

•           selling everything you have

•           and being caught up in a huge net.

     In other words heaven is not a place where we end up but a process we participate in.   
    

     One of hymnist Natalie Sleeth’s most popular compositions is found in our United Methodist Hymnal on page 707.  It is the Hymn of Promise.   In it she cleverly and beautifully links the observable process with the unobservable purpose.

 
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;

In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

     In the parable of the mustard seed Jesus teaches us to have faith in the purpose and take the process for granted.

                                     Pastor Les