Sermon

June 18, 2006

A Sermon Preached at St. Stephen's on June 18, 2006, by the Rev. Cork Tarplee

A renowned headmaster of the English boarding school Harrow , H. O. Davidson, believed that certain boys were born to fail. He wrote in the permanent record of one young man, "He is forgetful, careless, unpunctual, irregular in every way. He is unable to conquer his slovenliness. He will never make a success of public school." How would any of us like to have those words in our permanent record so early in life, especially by one who was so respected and knowledgeable? Fortunately, Winston Churchill heard other voices and listened to them.

Contrast the judgment of Churchill’s headmaster with this story: One winter day, a little boy in Alabama was standing on a grate next to a bakery trying to keep his shoeless feet warm. A woman passing by saw the frosty-toed child and her heart ached. He had on only a light-weight jacket and no shoes and the air was chill, the wind sharp.
"Where are your shoes, young man?" she asked. The boy reluctantly admitted he simply didn't have any. "Why don't you come with me and we'll see what we can do about that?" the woman said. Taking his hand, she led him into a nearby department store and bought him a new pair of shoes and a warm jacket. When they came back out onto the street, the little boy was so excited that he immediately started to run off to show his family his gifts. Suddenly he halted, turned around and ran back to the woman. He thanked her and then hesitated, "Ma'am, could I ask you a question? Ma'am, are you God's wife?" The woman smiled and said, "Oh no, I'm not God's wife, just one of God's children." The little boy grinned and nodded enthusiastically, "I knew it! I just knew you were related!"

In which category would you prefer to live your life? As a planter of negative judgments? Or as a planter of kindnesses, one of God’s relatives?

Our Gospel this morning is about the amazing power that waits to be awakened in the kingdom of God . Jesus compares the power of the kingdom to the power of seeds. Dead-looking, dry kernels dropped on barren ground produce plants, and some seeds, like the proverbial mustard seed, are particularly insignificant, but produce gigantic plants. Small stuff in the kingdom of God produces remarkable results.

You can see it in your own life. The teacher or coach who believed in you--when nobody else seemed to--helped you believe in yourself and helped you do more than you thought you could. The grandparent who spent time with you--when everyone else was too busy--sent the message that you are a person worthy of love. The mentor who shared his struggles with you helped you realize that struggles and failures are not the end of the world—and gave you strength and hope to try again. On this Father’s Day we can give special thanks for those fathers and father figures who helped us grow.

The stuff of the kingdom of God , by itself, rarely looks like anything very significant. The stuff of the kingdom of God is made up of time spent with people and of attention given. The stuff of the kingdom of God is made up of weakness shared in humility and occasionally made up of tears shed together. The stuff of the kingdom of God , when we are giving it away, seems small and not terribly valuable. We drop it on barren ground and sometimes don’t really even know where it goes. Those who take our time and our attention sometimes don’t even seem to notice.

But the promise of the Gospel is that the stuff of the kingdom of God is never wasted. We would not be the people we are today if it were not for the seeds of the kingdom scattered in our lives. And God promises that it is also true with the seeds we ourselves have planted.

Malcolm Muggeridge, the biographer of Mother Theresa, was converted to Christianity by spending some weeks watching that famous nun go about her life. From his own changed life, he concluded, "Humankind will not be changed by being taught, but they will be changed by what is caught." From the kindness and attention of others we have all caught the seeds of the kingdom of heaven, and like some marvelous contagion we spread them whenever, by the grace of God, we spend a little bit of kindness and attention on those around us. In such a quiet, but inexorably powerful way the kingdom of God grows. It is a miracle. And perhaps the best part of the miracle is that we are a part of the process. AMEN