The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come. (St. Mark 4.26-29)
Plants are remarkable. Left unchecked, a single seed, if it does not fall prey to disease, disaster, or devouring, can in time grow to a whole meadow, thicket, or even a forest if the conditions are right.
Today at Mass we will hear Our Lord Jesus in the Gospel lection use that as an allegory. Jesus loved allegory. It resonated with people. It informed those who wanted to know. It confused those who refused to know. And when it confused everyone He took the time to explain it. Here He really did not have to. The plant allegory clearly gave us two points of consideration.
First, Helikened it to grain, where the seed eventually, gradually, almost imperceptibly, sprouted, grew, and burst forth great heads of grain. In this way, when the idea of the Kingdom gets into our hearts, if left to germinate and grow, if given care and nurture, it then manifests wonderfully in the person. You know these people, They are resplendent with love, joy, peace, patience, moderation, kindness, gentleness, and self control. They also care for those around them and bring hope to those who otherwise may not have hope.
Second, He likened it to mustard seed. A little seed that hits the ground, and without anyone being the wiser grows, gets bigger, spreads, and provides shelter for many birds. Here, the Kingdom starts small, in an imperceptible corner of a wild and bad city, where despair and destruction rules. In time, however, the message of hope gets out there. It eats away at the evil and the rot, shoulders it aside, and then before one really knows it, it has spread and provides shelter for those in need.
Is it perfect? No, no it is not, because the Kingdom of this Age would rather destroy and root out the Kingdom of God wherever it may be found. The Spirit of this Age would rather keep humankind in slavery to fear, doubt, destitution, despair, and death. We see this when evil men and women infiltrate the Church and create horrible things out of seemingly good intentions: crusades, pogroms, the Inquisition, the Wars of Religion, Residential Schools, justification of slavery, suppression of workers, to name a few areas where the Enemy has tried to uproot the Kingdom of God and to turn human hearts to fear and revulsion for it.
But here is the thing. Every time the Enemy knocks the Church down, every time the Enemy sullies its reputation, every time the Enemy causes men and women in the Name of God to do the Devil's bidding and not God's will, a little seed gets left behind. Perhaps it is an atheist who still has a heart for the poor, an unbeliever who advocates for the homeless, a small group of Christians who still advocate for the oppressed. In time, the Kingdom of God sprouts again, and people begin again to manifest the works of the Holy Spirit, and the Kingdom of God spreads throughout a darkened landscape, bringing light and the love of God and hope.
