From the Daily Lectionary for Thursday in the Second Week after the Epiphany
Mark 4:21-34
He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Our lives, both personal and collective, renew and rejuvenate; we know not how. But it is true. Jesus is making the case that God’s actions in the world are not super nature. God’s actions, as miraculous as they seem, are merely woven into the created order, but no less a marvel. Mark likens God’s action to the germination of seed, truly a marvel, but so very common, mundane, fundamental.
First, Mark compares God’s love to light, that love will reveal all truth. From a tiny flame love will enlighten beyond its engendering. It will infuse even the dark corners of the room. Photons, wavelengths… we know not how.
And then there are seeds, rudiments of life that draw nurture from the source, the earth, and grow exponentially into the unimaginable… for shelter, for food, for beauty. Photosynthesis, mitosis… we know not how. But, to be sure, it is all a marvel; all real.
Perhaps we ask too many questions of reality. Perhaps our faith only asks for the lighting of our lamps, our planting the seeds, setting God’s purposeful love loose into God’s own creation, all the while not knowing the how and the why of things. Perhaps participating in the mystery is enough. Perhaps seeing what is just before our eyes is believing. And it is truly marvelous.
A Prayer for Joy in God’s Creation (BCP p. 814)
O God, who has filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
