Circuit Thoughts

According to “Wilfong’s Southeast Missouri Dictionary of a semblance of the English Language” a parable is “a story that explains a difficult concept in a vernacular understandable to an indigenous people.”

Parables help people understand things from their perspective. Jesus used parables all the time, and to those who were listening, they made sense.

If Jesus told a parable about a seed and a mustard plant, farmers would understand. If he told a parable about fishing and sorting fish, the fishermen would understand. If the parable were about land or treasure, the real estate agents and landowners would understand.

A parable told about lost coins or sheep could be understood by homemakers and shepherds. Jesus told these to folks so they would have a deeper appreciation of what God was up to.

For instance, let’s look at Mark 4:26-29. Jesus describes God’s Kingdom as a seed that is planted by the scatter method. The farmer slept and awoke night and day, the seed sprouted and grew. The farmer didn’t know how this happened, he just prepared for the harvest and went to work.

Now if you are a “city slicker” and think your milk comes from the plastic jug factory, you are probably not going to get this reference. But for a farmer, this means a lot. Even today, the farmer can tell you what happens in the germination process, but he/she cannot tell you why, or if the seed will even sprout. Today, we are a little more learned in agricultural techniques, but in Jesus’s day, there was no ag department or scientific studies, there was just plant and hope.

What is significant about this is the farmer did nothing to grow the seed. He scattered it on the ground, but he had extraordinarily little to do with the seed growing into a crop. In fact, all he did was get ready to harvest. Thus, farmers would have understood that while we may be able to spread the word of God, it is up to God, through the Holy Spirit to grow that word.

Think about it. The Gospel started off with 12 men and a teacher. Today Christianity is the largest belief system in the world encompassing thousands of branches of beliefs, (thus we get into the mustard tree parable starting on verse 30). The Kingdom of God grows as the Kingdom of God will. We have no say and are called to scatter the seeds and let God do the rest.

Which means that those of you who are part of small congregations and rural parishes, God is still growing, and we must trust to his time, not ours. We just need to share the good news and pray for the Holy Spirit to grow the seeds.

The parables brought hope to people 2000 years ago, and they still bring hope today. The Kingdom of God is a dynamic movement, not a static institution. It will continue to grow and grow from a tiny seed to a great crop. We need to plant the seeds and get ready for the harvest.

Are you ready?

See you in church.