homily for the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. 2024. Mark 4.26-34
We live in challenging times.
Not that this is new to humanity, or even to some of us here.
Indeed, I remember in elementary school sheltering below my desk as we rehearsed what to do in case of a nuclear missile attack.
And, well over half a century later, I still see signs of the challenging times we are living in. The difficulty in finding jobs. Or affordable housing. The decisions made by our various levels of government. Wars between nations. Oppression. A seeming loss of civility among people. An increase in levels of anger and anxiety felt by people. And a decrease in our sense of mental well-being. And while the advent of new technologies make more information available to more people more quickly, it has increased not only our knowledge base, but also our levels of fear and anxiety.
The world can seem filled with big problems that will overwhelms us. Problems that, it would seem, are so big that you and I can do little to make a difference.
And that too, is not new to humanity. Even in the time of Jesus, their world seemed filled with big problems that seemed to overwhelms them. Wars, oppression, slavery, disease, poverty; and no doubt they too felt that they could do little to make a difference.
In the midst of that world, and of ours, Jesus gives us two interesting parables. While at first glance, they appear to be about farming – in reality, they are saying something much more profound.
The parables are about seeds – the first is about wheat and the second about mustard, the smallest of all seeds.
And, as the parable tells us, the farmer, once the seeds are planted, doesn’t understand how the growth happens, the farmer just knows that it does. If the seeds are planted, watered and nourished, they will produce and produce abundantly. And it is not about the size of the seed, for even the tiny little mustard seed grows into an unusually large bush.
I find two important insights that come out of these parables.
The first comes out of the mystery hidden from our eyes, the mystery that a small seed can become a source of nourishment for you and I. And most of what happens on the seeds journey is hidden from our sight. Is invisible.
And what is insight number 1 ?
That most of the important things of life are invisible; can’t be seen or touched.
Yet, they are more powerful than the things we can see
- love cannot be seen
- mercy cannot be seen
- self respect cannot be seen
Yet, while these things cannot be seen, they have a tremendous impact
- the love of God is seen in the kindness of strangers, the acceptance of family members, the food on our tables
- mercy is seen in every act of compassion given or received
- and self respect is seen when you treat yourself as an important person – too important to destroy with addictions, or feelings that “I am no good”
And the second insight that comes from our Gospel parable?
the most successful lives and the greatest of accomplishments and indeed the reign of God itself, is and are based on, and arise out of, the smallest and least significant things.
Jesus said the kingdom of God is like the mustard seed; and his life shows that this is true.
the reign of God comes about as God works with the little things.
Growing up in this society, you and I are wired on big, on grand, on flashy — big cars, big houses, big buildings, big stars on huge stages with tremendous sound systems, we are impressed by big money, big fame, big status.
“The bigger, the better” and “the more, the merrier” seem to be the adages that govern us. But are they really true?
We ought not to confuse size with importance. Bigger is sometimes not better,
God choses what is little to work with – from Jesus – a carpenter born to a peasant girl, to the 12 disciples – simple fisherman – to you and I. Scripture says over and over again that God loves the little ones, the humble ones, the people that the world ignores or rejects. The signs of God’s kingdom are not big churches, big congregations, or gold and silver and fantastic wealth – but bread and wine – ORDINARY STUFF for ordinary people.
Even though we may think we have little faith, God can take it and make something wonderful out of it. God is always taking small and seemingly insignificant things and turning them into infinite worth.
We cannot stop wars – But we can be kind, compassionate and forgiving toward those around us.
We cannot abolish prejudice – But we can be courteous and kind and have genuine respect toward those around us who are “different” from us.
We cannot end crime and political corruption – but we can be honest in all of our dealings.
We cannot wipe out poverty, – but we can help those in need.
Sometimes God’s work is done by some flashy people – but most often it is done – and done well – by you and I.
- Whenever we offer a small donation to those that ask
- or we help a person who needs a hand,
- or help a person crossing the street,
- or give a few bucks and some cans of food to the food bank
- or volunteer for a reading program at the school
All these little things – all these acts of care – are God’s work. All of these are mustard seeds, little things that God turns into significant things, small things that, in the divine economy, become big things.
We should stop selling ourselves short, selling ourselves cheaply, considering ourselves to be of little worth in the big scheme of things. We are all very important, so important in fact that God’s only begotten Son died for us.
God is always making big things (a whole universe in fact!) from small beginnings. We can be sure of one thing. In spite of appearances, in spite of what a secularized world wants us to believe, God has not abandoned His world.
God is indeed at work in ways we cannot directly see, in the smallest and most insignificant things,
God is at work in you and I