Tree or Shrub?

3^rd Sunday after Pentecost, Yr. B, June 17, 2012

Ezekiel 17:22-24; Psalm 92:1-4, 11-14; 2 Corinthians 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17; ; Mark 4:26-34

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

The passage we heard from Ezekiel is the third part in a larger series that begins with a parable.  The parable goes like this.

A great eagle, with great wings and long pinions,
rich in plumage of many colors, came to the Lebanon.
He took the top of the cedar, broke off its topmost shoot;
he carried it to a land of trade,
set it in a city of merchants. 
Then he took a seed from the land, placed it in fertile soil;
a plant by abundant waters, he set it like a willow twig. 
It sprouted and became a vine,
spreading out, but low;
its branches turned towards him, its roots remained where it stood.
 So it became a vine; it brought forth branches,
put forth foliage.


There was another great eagle, with great wings and much plumage.
And see! This vine stretched out its roots towards him;
it shot out its branches towards him,
so that he might water it.
 From the bed where it was planted it was transplanted
to good soil by abundant waters,
so that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine. 
Say: Thus says the Lord God:
Will it prosper?
Will he not pull up its roots, cause its fruit to rot and wither,
its fresh sprouting leaves to fade?
No strong arm or mighty army will be needed to pull it from its roots. 
When it is transplanted, will it thrive?
When the east wind strikes it, will it not utterly wither,
wither on the bed where it grew? (Ezekiel 17:1-10)

In this parable God is the first eagle.  God took the top of the cedar tree and planted it, and nutured it, placing it in fertile soil near water.  It grew into a vine and produced fruit where it was rooted, where it had been planted.  The kingdom of God was growing there in this lowly vine.  But another eagle came along, one that was bigger and the vine’s allegiance began to change.  The roots and branches began growing towards this new god.  The vine is uprooted and transplanted.  The new eagle planted it in a place where it would become a “noble vine”, bigger and more prominent.  More noble than it was when it was just a low vine.  But that was not Yahweh’s intent for the plant.  It wasn’t meant to be a showcase.  It was meant to be a harbor for birds and animals in the place where God planted it. 

Jesus said, ³⁰ ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’ (Mark 17:30-34)

The Israelites at the time must have thought this was a great joke!  The image of Israel as a tall strong cedar must have been way more appealing than the image of Israel as a lowly mustard shrub!   What is all this reversal about?  Could it be that the Kingdom of God is really something that isn’t meant to be showy or grand.  Maybe the Kingdom of God is simply meant to be common … something that’s so common we hardly notice it.  It’s visible in the smallest acts of kindness and the ordinariness of compassion.  It isn’t some grand scheme that requires a comprehensive strategic plan.  We don’t need to make a mountain out of a molehill … we just need to build the molehill … and then watch to see what a difference that can make where we are planted. 

We live it rooted where we are and watch as the vine grows outward, not upward.  It grows outward toward others.  It becomes a shelter for others, and place of respite, a home that is open for any who land in our branches.  It’s strong, but not over bearing.  It’s expansive, but not exclusive.  It’s hospitable, not elitist.  It’s alive, but not at the expense of others.  This kingdom is among us now … growing in the most ordinary of ways … and accomplishing the most extraordinary things because it is God’s. 

Kingdom movement often begins with something as small as a mustard seed, a nudge from within, a thought that won’t leave us alone, a theme that seems to recur in different places and circumstances.  Kingdom movement begins when we pay attention to those nudges and allow our creativity to play with them.  When we allow our minds to take them seriously that’s when things like Sunday suppers and Mindful Meditation and SWEM and a Community Garden and hosting a Foodlink produce truck and a Prison Resource Center become realities.  They are mustard seeds in the kingdom that have taken root because our faith has put out branches and born fruit. 

It’s vineyard work.  Over the course of the last five weeks, we’ve had a lot of people volunteer on Wednesdays for the Foodlink Produce distribution.  The pastor from New Hope Evangelical Church has come twice.  A board member from SWEM came last time, and she had so much fun, she has put her name down to come to every Wednesday distribution this summer.  We’ve had a neighbor voluneteer, and a half dozen parishioners.  On the first Wednesday Foodlink came we had fifty people.  Last week, we had 121.  They start lining up at 12:30 in the afternoon.  There’s only a little complaining.  Most people enjoy talking with one another, and are grateful.  That’s kingdom making work.  That’s a branch off our shrub!

It’s one of many things that we do here that makes God’s kingdom visible to our neighborhood.  It’s an example of thoughtful engagement and radical hospitality, two of the three characteristics of our diocesan mission statement.  Where else can you show up and get free food without having to produce some sort of evidence demonstrating need?  This is for EVERYONE.  Last week, I took home a great big orange cauliflower and made soup!  It was great!  I get to stand out there and hobnob with the visitors and the volunteers, and I have to tell you … it’s a lot of fun.  It feels good.  We’re bearing fruit right where we’ve been planted.

The best way to do that is to remember who planted us and why.  God planted us, and we are not planted for riches or fame or glory.  We are planted to serve in humility for the works that will benefit all, ourselves and others.  If we look to God for our sustenance and our hope, we will always be brought into kingdom revealing work because that is what God is all about.  Creating fields of compassion that bring healing and hope to a broken and an uncertain world.  I will bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.  I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it.  (Ezekiel 17:24)  Let it be so.

Amen.