Pentecost 4B
St Paul’s Church Ipswich
16 June 2024
[ video ]
Aesop the fabled storyteller of ancient Greece may have lived around 600 years before the time of Jesus. He is thought to have been born around 620 BCE and to have died in the holy city of Delphi around 564. So many legends have developed around this character, that it is hard to say for sure just when he lived or to validate the many clever aphorisms attributed to him.
Among the many witty one-liners supposed fashioned by Aesop is the observation that good things come in small packages.
Rather than being a zinger once said by Aesop, this aphorism is more likely the moral of the famous fable—long attributed to Aesop—in which a lion is rescued by a mouse whose life had been earlier spared by the same lion.
Whoever first said that clever phrase, it could also serve as a summary of one message we can take away from our readings this morning.
Samuel anoints David
In the first reading, the prophet Samuel—who has been the key character in the OT reading for the past few weeks—turns up at the village of Bethlehem on mission to identify the person chosen by God to succeed Saul as the ruler of the people of Israel.
As is the way with ancient wisdom stories, Samuel is not exactly totally candid with the people about the reason for his visit.
One by one Samuel considers each of the seven sons of Jesse, thinking one of them will be person chosen by God. The numbers are significant: seven sons, the first three of whom are named in turn. Finally, when questioned directly by Samuel, Jesse admits that he does have another son.
An eighth son is like an extra day in the week. Not to be expected. A new twist in the story, and thus a significant develop in the plot.
We all know the story.
The unexpected son, the child who is too young to be worth even calling to the festival, turns out to be the one chosen by God. He had been left minding the sheep. Overlooked. Dismissed.
Yet, it is David who will be anointed by Samuel. None of the older brothers—each of them impressive in their own ways—turns out to be the one chosen by God and destined for greatness.
The overlooked youngest child is chosen by God and anointed by Samuel.
As the story ends, we are told that “the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward …”
The mustard seed
In today’s Gospel reading we have two of the parables attributed to Jesus. Just as Aesop was credited with fables in the ancient world, Jesus is described as a teacher who used seemingly simple stories when speaking with the crowds, but then explaining everything in secret to his inner circle of disciples.
There are 33 unique parables attributed to Jesus in the New Testament, with scholars divided over how many of them really go back to Jesus and which of them were simply attributed to Jesus by his followers.
The parable of the mustard seed is one of the few that almost everyone agrees was first created by Jesus.
Here we have another example of our theme that good things come in small packages.
To express that in slightly different, a small and useless object—in this case the tiny mustard seed—may turn out to be the essential ingredient of success.
As you can see from the photograph of wild mustard plants on the front cover of today’s service booklet, the mustard seed does not grow into a mighty tree. Jesus was making a joke in this parable.
For hundreds of years before Jesus, people had compared the kingdom of God to the mighty cedar trees of Lebanon. These trees were awesome and famous. Indeed, they remain the national symbol of Lebanon.
When trying to explain what the rule of God would be like, Jesus compares it to mustard seed.
When trying to tease out the point Jesus was making in this parable, I like to say that Jesus is referring to the tendency of mustard plants to spread like a weed and take over the garden.
Were he telling this parable today, I suspect Jesus would say, “The kingdom of God is like nut grass!”
One fragment of nut grass—like one mustard seed—can spoil the whole patch. They spread and multiply, until the whole garden—or our carefully manicured lawn—is taken over by the invasive weed.
Our vision of God’s modus operandi
Where do we see God at work?
How do we understand God to operate?
Is God to be seen in the grand gesture and the powerful miracle, or is God to be seen in the subversive presence of love at the heart of everyday life?
Like the prophet Samuel in our first reading, we want to see God in the big, strong and capable people who make an impression on those around them.
Like the audience of Jesus in our Gospel, many of us dream of a time when God’s presence is so powerful that everyone will come to faith and embrace God’s call on their lives; a giant tree where all the birds of the air build their nests.
But maybe we best serve God—and our neighbour—when we focus on the small things that really matter, the small actions that change the world: like compassion, solidarity and justice.
The reign of God comes to be among us one act of love at a time.
Good things do indeed come in small packages.
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