“SEEDS OF POTENTIAL”

 

A sermon preached at
the Mint Methodist Church, Exeter,
by the Minister, Rev Andrew Sails
at 10.30 a.m. on
 Sunday 26th September 2004

Readings:  Mark 4:3-8,26-32

 

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“A sower went out to sow….”  (Mk 4:3)

 

In Mark 4 Jesus tells stories about seeds
He was speaking to a small group of Galilean fishermen
who must have wondered
how they could ever really make an impact on the world.

And when Mark and Mt and Lk first told the stories of the seeds,
they were writing to small persecuted Churches
trying to survive the might of an often hostile Roman Empire in the 80s and 90s.

 

Jesus says "Things may look bleak,
but never underestimate what God can do.

 

Every seed has within it potential.

 

·        A seed can bear fruit 30x, 60x, 100x.

·        Each rice seed,
     each mustard seed, each ear of corn, each pumpkin seed -
     tiny and inert as it seems, has within it the potential
     to become a plant that provides an abundant harvest.

·        We have been talking earlier in this service about Sierra Leone,
     a country ravaged by civil war and poverty -
     has within it the potential to be a peaceful and productive nation.

·        Each child born has within them the potential to be a loving adult!

 

Like Jesus’ hearers, we live in an often harsh and brutal world.

The horrific events in Iraq could lead us to despair about human nature –
the good seeming to be trampled mercilessly underfoot.

 

But Jesus says –

Keep sowing –
keep sowing the seeds of hope and peace and love and justice in the world.

And yes some seeds will be trampled and choked
Sometimes our seeds of love and hope just seems to be

·        Trampled underfoot by brutal regimes

·        Blown away by callous terrorists

·        Or simply withered and scorched
     by the selfish indifference of so called respectable people.

 

But keep on sowing!

Trust the seed of God’s love

Believe in the Harvest!

 

 

 

We sow seeds -
We also seek to nurture and care for the fragile seeds of love and hope
sown by ourselves and others.

 

For seeds to reach their potential,
they need the right conditions to thrive and flourish.

 

In the parable of the sower,
the seeds that were not planted in the right conditions,
or nurtured and tended, withered and perished.
Life, particularly in its early stages, is fragile.

 

·        Plants need the right care and attention to bear fruit.

·        Babies need love and nurture to grow.

·        The rice seeds that Jusu and Hawa planted in Sierra Leone
     could not have reaped a plentiful harvest
     without peace,
     without tools, hard work,
     and donations to Christian Aid that paid for them in the 1st place.

 

This is the good ground needed that the seed may grow to maturity.

 

So let us provide
that ground,
that growing environment,
of Love, Peace and Justice
that seeds may grow.

 

 

There are many ways in which we can grow and nurture
the harvest of love, peace and justice –

·                    Give our money and see it produce harvest for the poor

·                    Campaign for a more just system of international trade.
          Please send Tony Blair the Christian Aid card you received today.
          Small farmers in countries like Sierra Leone
          are being crippled by trading rules imposed by the IMF
          and a whole system of trade ruthlessly
          biased towards the rich nations

·                    Say your prayers
          One small prayer can produce a ricjh harvest

·                    Live simply that others may simply live -
         and work to stop global warming

·                    Sow a million small acts of love and peace and justice
          in your lives and live out the gospel

These are the seeds of the Spirit which can be nurtured
to produce the great Harvest of the Kingdom.

 

This is a time of new beginning -
some of you here at the start of new University life -
But for all of us
may this be a time of new planting and new hope
and trust in God’s Harvest Home.

 

Finally let me leave you with words of Oscar Romero
RC AB of El Salvador martyred in 1980 -

One person plants a seed in the soil.  Another waters it. 
We plant seeds that one day will grow. 
We water seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise. 
We lay foundations that will need further development. 

(what we do) may be incomplete, but is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

So let us sow the seed
and trust God for the Harvest!

 

 

 

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