The Kingdom Comes Surprisingly

 

Where is the Kingdom of God surprising you?

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Psalm 20
2 Corinthians 5:6-10,14-17
Mark 4:26-34

©2024 The Rev. Seth Olson

This sermon was preached on the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6B) at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles, Hoover, AL. Video for the sermon may be found here. 

Holy God, let my words be your words and when my words are not your words, let your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen.

The Kingdom of God is like… well, we will get there. Did you know that in today’s Gospel lesson we hear the only parables that we get on a Sunday this entire year? Shout out to my friend, Evan Garner for pointing that out on FaceBook. So, soak up these parables, my friends. 

Parables serve as analogies that Jesus drew to help listeners—including us—decipher what God’s reign truly looks like. They aren’t exhaustive doctrinal statements, so much as they are roadsigns that point to the Way of Christ. I had a New Testament professor, the Rev. Dr. Jane Patterson, describe parables with her own analogy. 

Dr. Patterson said that parables share their root word with parabola, that arch shape described in mathematics. Parables, she argued, have this shape too—they do not end in the same place where they start, so we have to move to receive them. Dr. Patterson then said the following:

Parables are similar to something that happens with my dog. She’s a good girl and loves catching popcorn. When I throw the popcorn it makes an arch, like a parabola that she has to watch, and for her to get the treat she has to move. Parables are similar. We have to move to get the treat—we have to shift our way of thinking, knowing, and being, so that we can more fully understand what treat Jesus has for us. 

That’s right, Jesus has a treat for us too. Are we willing to pay attention and move to catch something worthwhile from these saying about the Kingdom of God? 

Christ’s Reign or the Kingdom of God is often challenging to spot in our world. It’s not as loud as politicians clamoring, entertainers rocking, athletes performing, or everyday life persisting. In our midst though, God’s way is bursting through, like a sprout blossoming between the cracks on the sidewalk. God’s Kingdom pops up like a thunderstorm no meteorologist projected. Christ’s Reign emerges like an old friend making a surprise visit. And, I know this because it’s happened in my life. 

When I was a junior in college, I was Mr. Religious at Sewanee. That’s not an actual title, but suffice it to say, I was heavily involved in all things related to All Saints Chapel. I was a sacristan, a small group leader, a regular at multiple services throughout the week, and even served on the call committee to find the next University Chaplain. At that time, I had a great group of brilliant friends, was running well for the Cross-Country team, and I was dating a woman from the camp I grew up attending. Then, everything came unraveled.

The person I was dating was unfaithful to me. I had a serious bike accident that left my face badly bruised. And, after some outreach trips to suffering parts of the world, I began to struggle with whether or not I believed in God. In that moment, to me there was no way that God’s Kingdom existed, and it certainly was not popping up everywhere. I was like a dog unmotivated to catch the popcorn or even move. Eventually, as I stewed in heartbreak and reflected upon all the suffering that persists in this world, I began to think that God must not exist.

Not wanting to be a phony, I went to the Associate Chaplain to quit my official positions as small group leader and sacristan. I scheduled a time to meet with the Rev. Annwn Myers (first female priest ordained in the Diocese of Mississippi) about stepping down from these roles. I sat in her beautiful office and told her all that had been happening. She listened compassionately. 

After I had raged at God and lamented my heartbreak, we sat in quiet for a few moments. Then, Annwn told me that she had been in a similar place. She had doubts, even as a priest. She informed me that I don’t have to have a lot of faith and I can even rage at God. God can handle it. She told me that even if I slam a door in God’s face, God will still be there with me. All she asked was that I keep a window cracked, just a slight opening in my life, so that if God did show up I might see God.

I reluctantly agreed. I stayed on a sort of agnostic sacristan. I went to hear atheist speakers as well as Christian scholars the seminary had invited. I debated with friends. I dated someone new. All the while, imperceivable to me, God was working. God’s Kingdom was at work unnoticeable to me.

After my junior year, I traveled out in the Southwestern United States on a geologic expedition. The professor leading the trip, Dr. Bran Potter, was a devout man of faith who lived his beliefs more than speaking them. What we witnessed was God’s handiwork in the beauty of Creation. Science explained how it happened, but seeing the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, Zion, and Arches (as well as many others) opened my eyes to see something much larger at work in our universe than just me. 

The rest of the summer, I worked at the Yale Child Study Center, as I thought I wanted to be a child psychologist at the time. There researchers completed longitudinal studies looking at outcomes for children—and showed that more than prenatal exposure to drugs parental involvement was a determining factors in a child’s success. By the time I returned for my senior year, I had a much different perspective. Even if I had not fully grasped the treat that God was throwing my way, I was at least open to see where it was going. And, I was yearning to have my Heavenly Father involved in my life.

Throughout the next year, I reopened to God’s love, discerned and accepted a call to serve as college lay chaplain, and reaffirmed my baptismal vows with Dr. Bran Potter as my sponsor and the Rev. Annwn Myers as one of the priests. What was amazing though was not that I somehow managed to do all these things, but it was just how much of a passenger I was in this unfolding process! “The seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how,” is the way our Gospel for today puts it. 

We may struggle sometimes to see God’s Kingdom at work all around us, but that does not mean God isn’t growing a garden right underneath our feet. We may not see Christ’s Reign at first, like a tiny mustard seed, but that does not mean that Christ is not there working in our midst. Annwn told me in that turning point conversation that all I needed was faith the size of a mustard seed. At that time, I don’t think I had even that much. 

But, that is the beautiful thing about God’s mysterious ways and this journey we are collectively on as followers of Christ. Even when we have little or no faith—God is still faithful, God still believes in you, Christ’s Reign still germinates. 

The Kingdom of God is like that—surprising, grace-filled, profound, and yet often undetectable. The Kingdom of God is like a spiritual retreat called Cursillo happening not on center stage, but in the woods of Navoo, Alabama at Camp McDowell. The Kingdom of God is like people from 50 states gracefully supporting our fellow Alabama Episcopalian, Lulu Gribbon in response to the terrifying shark attack she endured. The Kingdom of God is like a popup Vacation Bible School called Sawyerville, which appears out of nowhere in Hale County every summer. I bet you have caught glimpses of this kingdom too!

The growth of God’s Kingdom is not solely up to us—thanks be to God! Christ Jesus though challenges us to understand his in-breaking reign through parables that cause us to move. Although I did not know how God’s Kingdom was growing all around me, encouraging me to grow, I am thankful that it was. The Good News is that even when we struggle, God is with us, persisting. Even when we doubt, God believes in us. Even when we shrivel and are pruned, God is growing us. We may not always know how, but God’s Kingdom is vibrant, alive, and blossoming. May we move to receive the treat as we witness the beauty of Christ’s Reign here and now. Amen.