Sexagesima
February 12, 2012
Proclaiming the Kingdom of God
Ps. 33
Isaiah 30:8-21
Mark 4:26-34
The Collect of the Day
O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP)
Hear Oh people of God, the words of the Psalmist:
“Our soul has patiently tarried for the Lord; * for he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him; * because we have hoped in his Holy Name. Let thy merciful kindness, O Lord, be upon us, * like as we do put our trust in thee.” (Ps. 33: 19-21, BCP)
Today’s reading from the Psalter calls us to rejoice in the God of Creation. The earth is full of His goodness and His love. He is faithful and true. We are asked to submit to the will of God rather than to the plans of the heathen, the advice of princes, or our own desires. The Lord is in charge. His plan is unchanging from generation to generation. We wait patiently, expectant in hope, for he will show us merciful kindness if we trust in him.
Since last spring, the vestry of the Church of the Good Shepherd has been seeking to put into writing what we believe is our mission, our vision, and our values as a Christian community living in a secular world. These words will enable us to affirm who we are – to communicate, in a consistent way, who we believe ourselves to be and what is important to us. But these are just words.
Given a mission and vision, we then defined seven strategic objectives that we felt would support our mission and vision. Under each objective, we discussed specific actions or tasks that would support each objective. What do we need to do as individuals and as a family of the people of God, part of the Body of Christ, to “walk the talk.”
As we got into the details of what paths we might take, we realized that something was missing. We were frustrated by what we perceived as past failures to reach the unchurched. We were confounded by the limited resources that we have to accomplish the work. We didn’t have a plan.
Psalm 33 provides us some guidance here. First, it is God’s plan for us that we are trying to discern – not our human plan. Second, we cannot do it all at once. We must be patient. Third, we must trust in His merciful kindness.
“Our soul has patiently tarried for the Lord; * for he is our help and our shield.” (Ps. 33:19)
Our “planning committee” decided that we needed to write a prayer for Good Shepherd that would call on God to guide us in our choices. As the prophet Isaiah said in this morning’s reading:
“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” (Isa. 30:21, KJV)
Today’s second reading from the Gospel of Saint Mark provides additional food for thought in developing a plan for executing the Great Commission as ambassadors for Christ.
Jesus Christ presents us with two parables. By presenting his followers with three agricultural similes, he was able to help them understand truths about the Kingdom of God in memorable terms. In the first parable, the Kingdom of God is likened to a sower who casts seed on the ground. He then goes about other business and by-and-by the seed sprouts, but he does not know how. The sower is not anxious. The coming of the Kingdom of God is a divine act rather than a human accomplishment. In an agrarian economy, everyone knew growing seeds took time. One cannot be impatient.
Years ago, a manager in the government agency where I worked, micromanaged his employees. He was described as a farmer, who daily went into his field and pulled up plants to see how they were growing. He lacked patience and trust.
The second parable, describes the process of growth. The Kingdom of God is like the earth – the soil – that brings forth fruit by the will of God: first the blade, then the fruit, and finally the ear of corn. Finally, the harvest is ready and is harvested promptly. This parable has been interpreted as the stages in the Christian life. Jesus, the sower, plants the seed of faith in our hearts and nurtures it. Our faith grows, fed by His grace. As we grow in grace, we bear fruit that is harvested in the end of days at the final judgment. Again, the Kingdom of God grows slowly and gradually, instead of suddenly and dramatically.
Preaching the Gospel to the secular world is much like the sower planting his seeds. We cannot judge our efforts by the human standards, such as the number of members in a parish. The seed may immediately spring up, or it may lie dormant for a long time. It is the Holy Spirit that nurtures faith. It takes time. It takes patience. The hard truth is that we may never know the impact of our witness to Christ on those around us. Thus, we should not be discouraged or disheartened if our ministry does not bear fruit.
The third parable about the mustard seed, is one of the more familiar of Jesus’ stories. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that is the smallest of all the seeds. However, when the plant matures, it becomes greater than all the other herbs and has great branches that can shelter wild birds.
When I was in school in the 1950s, some girls wore a mustard seed embedded in a glass sphere on a bracelet. The jewelry came with a little leaflet of the parable of the mustard seed and represented their religious faith. The seed was indeed a tiny speck of matter.
In climate of Palestine, a mustard plant can grow to 10 or 12 feet high, large enough to provide shade and shelter for wild birds. The birds are thought to prefigure the gentiles who would find shelter, repose, and blessedness in the Kingdom of God. The parable contrasts the small and insignificant beginnings of the Christian movement and the glorious kingdom that is its destiny. While our efforts to proclaim the Gospel in the world may seem small to us by human standards, we have no idea how God may use us in accomplishing his plan to advance His Kingdom.
In trying to discern God’s plan for us as a community of faith, we are confronted by what seems to be a constant challenge to our very existence as Christians. People seem unwilling to listen to God’s Word. They treat His message as irrelevant to their lives. Over the past thirty years, we have seen our traditional faith watered down and changed to reflect current immorality in a dysfunctional society. A society where a self-centered, me-first, hedonistic philosophy trumps the Judeo-Christian values proclaimed in Holy Scriptures.
This past week, the news was filled with controversy over the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decision that the Affordable Health Care Act requires employees to pay for insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilizations, and contraception. The ruling made no provision to exempt religious institutions that run hospitals, schools, and social service agencies. The Wall Street Journal two days ago (February 10, 2012) published an article authored by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Chuck Colson, and Rabbi Meir Soloveichik that described their fears for the future of religious freedom of conscience. The article showed remarkable unity among leaders of faithful communities. Increasingly, the directions of society seem to be in conflict with Holy Scriptures.
The article made reference to the 2009 Manhattan Declaration that has been signed by more than 150 Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical religious leaders and 500,000 people. The Declaration addresses the importance of a culture of life, the importance of traditional marriage, and religious freedom, especially religious conscience. The Declaration concludes by saying, “We fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what it Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.” (
The Prophet Isaiah in today’s first lesson (Isaiah 30:8-21) addresses some of the very issues that we face as we preach the Gospel to the world. very issues. While I have always felt moved by the majesty of the King James version of the Bible, I was struck by the clarity of the paraphrasing of this passage in E. H. Peterson’s, The Message: the Bible in Contemporary Language (2002):
8–11So, go now and write all this down.
Put it in a book
So that the record will be there
to instruct the coming generations,
Because this is a rebel generation,
a people who lie,
A people unwilling to listen
to anything God tells them.
They tell their spiritual leaders,
“Don’t bother us with irrelevancies.”
They tell their preachers,
“Don’t waste our time on impracticalities.
Tell us what makes us feel better.
Don’t bore us with obsolete religion.
That stuff means nothing to us.
Quit hounding us with The Holy of Israel.”
12–14Therefore, The Holy of Israel says this:
“Because you scorn this Message,
Preferring to live by injustice
and shape your lives on lies,
This perverse way of life
will be like a towering, badly built wall
That slowly, slowly tilts and shifts,
and then one day, without warning, collapses—
Smashed to bits like a piece of pottery,
smashed beyond recognition or repair,
Useless, a pile of debris
to be swept up and thrown in the trash.”
15–17God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,
has this solemn counsel:
“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me
and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves....”
He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.
God takes the time to do everything right—everything.
Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.
19–22Oh yes, people of Zion, citizens of Jerusalem, your time of tears is over. Cry for help and you’ll find it’s grace and more grace. The moment he hears, he’ll answer. Just as the Master kept you alive during the hard times, he’ll keep your teacher alive and present among you. Your teacher will be right there, local and on the job, urging you on whenever you wander left or right: “This is the right road. Walk down this road.”
We wait patiently for the Lord, for he is our help and our shield.
Let us pray:
O Jesus Christ, the lord and giver of all good life, Who hast called us to help build the city of God; do thou enrich and purify our lives and deepen us in our discipleship. Help us daily to know more of thee, and through us by the power of thy Spirit, show forth thyself to other men. Make us humble, brave, and loving; make us ready for adventure. We do not ask that thou wilt keep us safe, but that thou wilt keep us loyal; who for us didst face death unafraid, and dost live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
The Rev. Mr. David W. Moody
Sexagesima
February 12, 2012
Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd
Charlestown, NH
1