Pentecost III Mark 4:26-34

"The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground..."

Transform your way of thinking by changing what you read rationally to how you read spiritually.

Rational thinking looks for the symbol.

Spiritual thinking looks for the fact.

We are speaking of the Kingdom of God.

The rational looks for what is at the center of the parable. It is the seed. The Kingdom of God is like a seed planted. In the first parable, the seed is the Kingdom. Night and day, the process of growth continues without any human intervention. The seed sprouts and grows. It literally grows to be a tree. Once the seed is ripe, it is for the farmer to bring in the harvest. And that is our task: to bring in the harvest which has been planted in the hearts of people.

In the second parable, the Kingdom is compared to a mustard seed. Although one of the tiniest of seeds, it grows into a sizeable shrub in which even birds can build their nests.

It starts from the smallest beginnings in the hearts of men and women who are receptive to God's word. And it works unseen and causes a transformation from within.

While it is true the Kingdom of God is always within all of us, it is also true we are all not always in the Kingdom. We become planted in the Kingdom of God only through our conscious, not rational, faculty.

There is nothing that will keep us out of the Presence of the Kingdom more than rational thinking. The conscious is not rational. It isn't irrational, but it must be experienced to be known; unlike rational thinking that must be known to be seen.

Spiritually thinking, the Kingdom of God is the ground not the seed. It is the Presence and power of God. The fact is, nothing is going to happen unless the seed is in the ground. We are the seed. We need to be planted in order to grow spiritually.

What we need to be planted in, is the good earth of grace. It is the experience of grace. As a theologian, I have always tried to get my theology of grace right. When I consciously experienced grace, I tried to figure out how it worked. When I brought my rational thinking into the moment, it lost the experience of grace. To me grace is like quick sliver. You have it in your hand. If you try to grab it too tightly, it will spill out. If you take it too cavalierly it will run out. You have to consciously stay in the moment to see and to hear the spiritual language of Jesus.

Mark says that Jesus spoke many parables. In fact, he only spoke in parables. But the full meaning of his teaching was explained to those who were willing to come in to see Him with their spiritual eyes and hear Him with their spiritual ears. What do you see and what do you hear when you are planted in the Kingdom? Or Out of the Kingdom?