Homily for June 17, 2012 (11th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Ezekiel 31:1-6, 10-14; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34
Our annual celebration of Fathers’ Day brings with it a host of memories of our dads, whether they are still with us or they have passed on from this life to the next one. Thankfully, my dad is still alive and we call each other every week or so to stay in touch. Just as our moms never really stop being moms no matter how old we get, dads never really stop being dads, either. So my conversations with my fatherinclude not only the usual updates but also words of support and encouragement and sometimes questions and challenges.
Today’s gospel reading reminded me of one of my father’s favorite sayings: “If you’re going to play, you’ve got to pay.” This aphorism was often dispensed in the midst of a hangover following a night of a little too much collegiate frivolity. I didn’t appreciate it as much at the time. However, I never forgot it; and it taught me a valuable lesson: “Ourchoices have consequences; and many of them are fairly predictable. So make the right choice.”
The parable is the biblical version of “If you’re going to play, you’ve got to pay.” Scripture scholar Fr. Roger Karban has observed: “Parables trap us. They bring up something we agree with on one level and combine it with something we normally don’t accept on another level. Once we acknowledge the connection, we’re forced to change our mind about that other thing.”
Jesus often used parables to describe the kingdom or the reign of God. In today’s gospel passage, he uses two images. The first is of a farmer sowing seed by the broadcast method, i.e. by scattering it. This seems to be rather extravagant, even wasteful. The second image is of a mustard seed, something so small that it seems almost insignificant yet when it matures it becomes something that is not only large but which also provides a home for the birds of the air.
By hearing and acknowledging the truth of these parables those who heard them were challenged to rethink their notions of what the kingdom of God was like. It didn’t mean they would reassert exclusive role as God’s people, triumphing over their earthly enemies, or the reestablishment of the Davidic Dynasty. Instead, the invitation to be people of God was broadcast widely, and the kingdom of God was not something that could be created by human initiative. Instead it depended on God’s initiative and then our response to his grace and gifts. A wonderful harvest may come out of the earth; but only after the seed has been sown.
That seed may not seem like much, if anything. Thankfully, what it ultimately produces is not entirely up to us. As St. Paul told the church at Corinth: “We walk by faith and not by sight.” If we are going to “play” or engage with God in the ongoing work of creation and the building of his kingdom, then we are going to have to “pay” with our faith. In the reign of God, as elsewhere in life, our choices have consequences.—JC