Growing God's Way!

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

We don't usually talk very much about this parable.  Maybe because it seems a little hard to understand and obscure.  Jesus tells three parables in Mark which all use the common metaphor of the "seed".  The one before this parable is the "parable of the sower" and the one after the "parable of the mustard seed". It must be that a seed is a good thing to compare God's kingdom to.  

Similar to the parable of the sower, in this parable a man scatters seed on the ground.  No matter the man does, whether it be by night or day, the seed sprouts and grows, becomes a kernel, and when it is ripe it is harvested.  Importantly the growth is independent of the man's work other than sowing the seed.  So what is the point of this parable?  

First of all the farmer's job was the sow the seed. In first parable we see the seed is the Word of God, so it is logical to think it is here too.  In this way the person who is sowing the Word is partnering with God. He is being obedient to God's call to spread the Word.  But once we preach and teach the Word, we can't produce the fruit in another person, only God can and often it is slow and in ways we don't see or understand at the time. I would suggest that sowing the Word is not just telling it, but also living it.  Sometimes actions speak louder than words.  Our example of following Christ is sowing seeds of the gospel too.

As I said, we don't know how God's word spreads God's kingdom.  While there is tons of research on how and why people respond favorably to the gospel, at the end of the day it is a mystery how God softens a human heart to receive the Good News, believe it, and bear fruit resulting in the growth of the kingdom.  

Isn't it a relief that we can let God do His job and all we have to do is be faithful to be sowers of God's word in word and deed. That's how God's kingdom works.