Sermon for 3rd Sunday after Pentecost – Mark 4:26-34

Ever notice how Jesus tells a lot of stories about farming? Fig trees. Wheat. Weeds. Vineyards. Now, Jesus always draws a crowd whenever he speaks. A lot of these folks are probably farmers, so Jesus wants to be relevant. He wants to paint a picture that these folks can relate to. Except sometimes he says some pretty weird things. Like in the parable of the sower. A farmer walks along the path scattering seeds. Some fall on good soil, but seems like most fall on bad soil or the rocky path. That’s not efficient, is it? Unless you have seeds to burn or don’t need to eat. I guess we’ve all got different goals. But it’s weird to tell that story to a bunch of farmers. They’re desperate for good crops. They’re not rich and they’ve got mouths to feed. So it’s easy to imagine them getting hung up on what a weird farmer this is.

Then again, what was Jesus’ job before he started his ministry? A carpenter. (Mk 6:3) Not a farmer. So maybe that explains why Jesus says some odd things about mustard seeds in today’s Gospel reading. Like that the mustard seed is the world’s smallest seed. It’s not true. Back in the day, farmers had smaller seeds. They knew better. Here’s another thing. Jesus talks about sowing mustard seeds. No one did that. The seeds rapidly germinate and start growing almost immediately. And the plants are notorious spreaders. Ancient botanists wrote that once sown you really couldn’t get rid of them, like an infestation. Like kudzu. Messing with THESE seeds is like opening Pandora’s box. So do you think the farmers in the crowd are giving Jesus a little side eye by this point?