The obvious issue

I am struck by how many people use the Internet to communicate with others but we possibly don’t understand how it works. That ability to really communicate, get the message across, is an obvious issue. The messages that we type/speak/record today are now able to be beamed/streamed into a myriad of devices across the world.

In Mark’s Gospel (Mark 4:26-34) we may read/hear or possibly even watch a film of Jesus telling others about scattering seed or a weed is akin to the Kin_dom of God.

So Jesus is speaking of this Mustard Seed, to the locals who would have been confused that he is speaking about a naturally rapid self-sowing plant, or weed, normally found in the desert, which harbours birds that might eat the crops of the locals: and this is the Kin_dom of God???

Two Parables for the price of One!

What’s not to like?

Firstly, the farmer can gather a vast harvest, but first they will need to trust that the seed sown, takes, grows and is ready for gathering. We might question whether this is the work of God or the Farmer. I think the text is suggesting that we need not to worry, the harvest is the important aspect. There are mouths to feed: for physical and spiritual nourishment. This is the obvious issue, right?

Then there is the Mustard seed parable. Now, I am not strictly aware of the Mustard seed. Yes, I know from many Sunday School talks that the seed is minute. I am also aware that in Luke and Matthew’s Gospels this is not a shrub but a tree! However, when I check with other sources, it was considered a blooming weed in the Middle East! The analogy of this tiny seed growing to become a mighty shrub may be a touch of Jewish irony. The people listening may have been a little perplexed that the Mustard plant is described as “the greatest of all shrubs”, (Mark 4:32) so that the “birds of the air can make nests in its shade”.

Just a mo’

So Jesus is speaking of this Mustard Seed, to the locals who would have been confused that he is speaking about a naturally rapid self-sowing plant, or weed, normally found in the desert, which harbours birds that might eat the crops of the locals: and this is the Kin_dom of God???

It might be our white European privilege speaking here, but do we see this as a fantastic crop, the sunlight uplands and a shady place to rest our head? What might the locals have really thought?

The Mustard Seed, especially the black grain which is believed that this this parable is referring to, is a very small seed. [Koran, Sura 21, 48] The seed of this genre of mustard is similar in size, about 1.0 to 3.0 mm so it is not the smallest seed but it is the smallest seed of those which “you plant in the ground“. So Jesus may not have been comparing the mustard seed to all plants but only to those which were commonly grown. The Mustard, when fully grown, could be its highest at the end of the Summer. So not when birds may be nesting, as some translations suggest.

Was this parable about a religious group which was outdoing – itself, abnormally growing, and now full of birds? (Revelation 18:2) [ I doubt that the link to Revelation is valid, given that Revelation was probably written a long time after the ink had dried on Mark’s manuscript]. Is the previous parable a warning of a harvest that does not need much assistance, again abnormal growth?

Context

Let’s look at the Chapter as a whole rather than a soundbite of text.

Initially we have a farmer who scatters seed in various soils around the field. Mark 4:8 offers in some translations figures of yield as well: thirty, sixty and hundredfold. It doesn’t say that the one which yields the most is the best – all are ok.

Perhaps here we can be encouraged that to do our best can be fruitful – we do not compare ourselves with others but look to God.

Interspersed here is a parable about truth: a light not hidden under a basket. That’s the obvious issue really, but something which might also resonate with those in the Middle East. We need honesty, openness.

Yet, again we have the call “Listen with ears to hear” as if those then, and now, are too busy to ponder, to dwell upon what is being said. Have we scrolled onto the next post on Facebook or Insta, our attention diverted away from the obvious issue directly in front of us?

Who is welcome?

Perhaps this text is about the crop that is given the least attention – that weed. The least expected to be welcomed to the Farmer’s field are actually invited. They are nourished so that they will flourish. If this is so, which members of our society today might we ignore? those that might “fall between the cracks“? I am thinking of those who are working full time but are still in poverty. Of those who are unable afford identification documentation and may now not be able to vote. Those that have to quietly go to a Foodbank because of the perceived humiliation as they are seen as ‘doing ok’ by others.

Might we be looking at the world news and be taken in by our shortened attention span, flitting from one issue to another. We might not see the ‘most obvious’ issue in front of us every day of the week. Perhaps across the road from us, those who do not respond to our calls or text messages; those whom we pass on the road; those who say “I’m ok really” as we say ‘Hello’. Perhaps this is the obvious issue?

The Kin_dom of God is for all: not just those who we might feel are like us, and are acceptable. It’s hard to look again, given that society has taught us to scale, evaluate others akin to a league table. When God’s table is obviously flat, accessible to all.