Worship, Sun 17 June - 'Small is beautiful'

Our readings for Sunday were: Ezek 17:22-24; 2 Cor 5:6-17; Mark 4:26-34

Because the Minister went 'off-script' there's no full copy of the sermon this week, so instead, a wee sum up of themes and thoughts.

A slight sense of 'Gardeners' Question Time' to worship, with Ezekie'ls 'God the tree planter' metaphor, and Jesus' seed parables. Meantime, in Corinthians, Paul dished out some life goals.

In our 'thinking about' slot, we played 'guess the mystery seed', once we'd determined that what
had been given out at the door with our orders of service were actually seeds.
There were several 'no, you don't eat it' moments...
An indication, perhaps, that on those occasions when presented with items at the door,
they often end up being those of the edible kind!
Mystery seed, by the by: nasturtium.
While Jesus talked of mustard seeds, they were deemed a little too small
and easily lost for the intended worship purposes.
A conversation was had on optimum conditions for growth and flourishing,
and moved into optimum conditions for our own growth and flourishing as God's people.
Congregation invited to take home their seed and use it as a 'prayer plant' -
read the gospel passage, plant it, and over coming weeks, think/pray about God's kingdom
via the various stages of growth - hidden and at work; small shoots; eventually [hopefully] flowers

The sermon focused mainly on the gospel reading, and the theme of scattering seeds
and the qualities of mustard trees. Basic gist as follows!

Regardless of what the person does who has scattered them,
the seeds are doing their thing, quietly, mysteriously - at first unseen – underground,
but later, bursting through the soil and growing.
Seeds, for the most part, just get on with it, and grow.
We might not see the whole picture, we might not even realise there are seeds
underneath us, gently breaking open and beginning to grow...
we might not even be aware of just how long some of those seeds take to grow –
and, some seeds, especially those in the desert, only grow when it rains.
From seemingly nothing, you can suddenly find vast carpets of wildflowers growing in the desert.
The seeds may have been in the soil for years, just waiting for those optimum conditions.
At the right time, they will do what they were created to do.
Jesus: this is like the kingdom of God -
it may seem that nothing much is happening;
it might feel like there are no seeds of the kingdom breaking open and beginning to grow –
it may seem like such a long time since we’ve seen any signs of the kingdom...
but wait, says Jesus – have faith:
the seeds are there, ready and waiting, and some, already growing.

Parable of mustard seed -
Speculation on just how big mustard seeds grow -
not so much a mighty tree, but a decent-sized shrub!
Thought about qualities:
resilient, prolific - bit like a weed, really, grows anywhere it has the chance

So:
The kingdom of heaven is:
prolific...
everywhere, even in the most surprising places...
is resilient
[congregation - some of the most resilient people Minister knows, esp. given this last year or so!!].
Allowed to grow, the mustard bush provides plenty of room to shelter...
so too, the kingdom of heaven.

The truth about God’s kingdom:
like a seed, when planted, it will grow;
like a mustard seed, it begins small;
it’s persistent;
It doesn’t need to be the tallest, it just has to have the optimum conditions, and it’ll flourish.

Church -
Thinking about how small we are, and wider, thinking about main-line church decline:
can cause anxiety. Sometimes look at other parishes and compare - but, every parish
different contexts that affects how and what is happening.
Anxiety about size can lead to jumping on cycle of all-singing, all-dancing programmes,
without necessarily thinking about local culture and context, or even listening to people
in local area. Feeling of disappointment when things don't work...leads to trying something
else, and so on:
 ‘You can’t just scatter the seed, you need to do more’ –
well yes, we need to let go, and let God get on with it.
It starts with scattering seed.
And has its middle and end in trusting God to deal with the actual growth.
We plant the seeds – God deals with the rest.
And the seeds we plant are the smallest of all the seeds, says Jesus...

Current sense re. 'decline' of church in general - possibly comes about from
centuries of 'Empire building' - Church bought into earthly ideas about what a
kingdom looks like, which was a mistake. Empires fall: the Kingdom of Heaven will never fall.
Perhaps what we're witnessing is the death of the old model of Christian empire -
let go of 'but 50 years ago, churches were full, Sunday Schools were packed.'
Societal/ cultural changes haven't been factored into the way we do things.
New things will happen/ new kind of church - as per Ezekiel reading.
Need to remember Kingdom of Heaven brought in by:
King who rides a donkey;
who served others and didn't expect to be served -
washed feet, cared for the stranger, noticed the meek
['why aren't they coming - they should be coming' attitude at times in churches'];
Kingdom a place where all kinds of 'birds' can come and find shelter/ a home:
Jew and Gentile, male and female,
black and white, gay and straight,
rich and poor, introvert and extrovert.
Can do this because our God is big enough -
sometimes bigger than we allow in our imaginations/ hearts.

We are a small congregation - and that is okay, so is the mustard seed -
we might not immediately see signs of the kingdom,
we might be looking at what we don't have - and forgetting our context -
what are the optimal conditions for growing and flourishing here? Might look
v different compared to other places/ towns...
Jesus started the church with 12 friends - good to remember.
Small is beautiful - crack on, scatter seeds, and trust God!

A prayer from Christian Aid finished the sermon:
We may not be able to confront queens, or challenge presidents;
We may not have the capacity to divert resources, or uplift communities;
We may not have the voice to silence the noise of war,
or the words to negotiate peace between armies;
But, as we follow you, O Christ, we are able to do something.
And so, we pray that you would inspire us
to commit to, and act on,
the small difference we can make:
May we bring peace through small acts of gentleness and reconciliation;
May we bring wealth through small contributions and collaborations;
May we bring safety through small acts of consideration and acceptance;
May we bring wholeness through small acts of care and service.
And in the small ways, O God,
so we sow the seeds of your kingdom,
and watch and pray and prepare
to be amazed by the mystery of your faithfulness,
and by your love, at work in our world.  Amen