Whiteboard: Kingdom of God

During my days in Northeast Ohio I used to drive past a particular church every day on my way back and forth to the congregation that I served.

This particular church had a great big sign out front. It was the kind that lit up at night and had a spot for messages to be written up to passersby. They always tried to be catchy with that changeable message. I guess they thought if their sign captivated you then you would be more likely to join their church. 

I always thought their messages were a little silly and occasionally theologically confusing.

There was the time when their signboard message read "Call 911! This church is on fire!" I'm sure they meant that they were "on fire for Jesus" or filled with the Holy Spirit or even just really enthusiastic about their congregation. But all the sign made me want to do was actually call 911 just to see what would happen (please note: I never prank called the authorities, but I did think about twice a day when I saw that sign).

There was another time, right around this time of year, when their signboard message read "Every Sunday is Our Father's Day!" Clearly they were playing off of Father's Day and what it means to call God "Our Father" as Christ taught us. But I couldn't help but wonder...why only Sunday's? Why was it "every Sunday" and not "Every Day is Our Father's Day!" 

It was enough to make me want to call 911 and see what they thought about the matter...

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This coming Sunday is Father's Day and we will have a small gift for every father who comes to worship with us. This Sunday we will celebrate God's dream, God's deepest desire for creation, the central tenet of Christ's teachings during his earthly ministry -- the Kingdom of God. 

Our scripture reading from Mark gives us two powerful examples of what the Kingdom of God is like. Each one draws from the natural order of things and reveals truths to us about God's abiding love, care, grace and power. Each one also shares with us the remarkable truth that faith is something that grows. Not something static. Not something that you receive once and then you are done with it. Rather something that grows and develops, that blossoms and blooms, that grows each and every day.

Come and join us this Sunday at First Christian Church to celebrate Our Father's Day...this day and every day!

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Mark 4:26-34

The Parable of the Growing Seed

He also said, ‘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.’

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet 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.’

The Use of Parables

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.