Sunday Sermon 13th June 2021

Mark Chapter 4:26-36

I read an article recently which advised how you know that you have reached middle-age. One of the signs of middle age is talking to electrical equipment. So if you rant at your computer when it doesn’t understand what you want it to do, or have an argument with your radio whilst listening to talkback programmes, things are not looking good.  

Driving back from Busselton some time ago, I found another sign of middle age - talking to road signs.  You know, when it says “Mandurah 75kms”, and then after what seems an age, the sign says “Mandurah 70 kms”.  I found myself say:” you’ve got to be joking; I have driven farther than 5kms since the last sign”.

I think that there is also another sign of reaching maturity – you finally learn what you can do and what you have no chance of understanding.  I admit to being geographically challenged – I spend a lot of time searching for the homes of people I visit.  I use a map, but somewhere between reading the directions and driving the car, I get lost. That makes life difficult for a priest who makes house calls.

I am sure you all know that my husband is the technical one in our family.  On one occasion we were driving to my then parish at Gingin, and Mike said “I was going to buy you a Satnav for Christmas, but you will only argue with it”. And this from a man who threatened to throw the satnav from the car when we were in Melbourne.  

Our new car does have a satnav, and it does have cruise control but I am not even going to give that a try.  So let me ask you: Are you a cruise control Christian?  Have you long ago received a mustard seed of faith, set out on your Christian journey, headed in the right direction, gone into cruise control and have just coasted along since that time.

Do you still have the same ideas, the same prayers, and the same favourite Bible readings, still give the same amount in the collection as you have always done? And if you haven’t grown or deepened your faith, what will happen if you have a crisis; what happens if the road ahead deviates from its expected path? Are you prepared for what might be ahead?  Has your mustard seed of faith taken such a root in your life that it will not only withstand tough times, but will flourish and grow so that you will have faith enough to shelter others?

I ask these things because I know that early in my faith journey, I was a cruise control Christian.  I went to church if I was in the mood, prayed if I remembered and gave whatever I had in my purse that morning. Thankfully God wasn’t content to let me cruise along.

We know that Jesus uses faming imagery a great deal in his teaching, because those who were listening would have understood what he meant. Jesus speaks of the Kingdom  as a man casting seeds in the earth, and he doesn’t have to watch them day and night:  the seeds spring up and grow, he doesn’t know how. I think this is an over-simplification, but the kingdom of God is like this slow but steady growth. 

And that is how it can be for so many of us.  We find if we look back on our faith journey, that we have learned, we have grown and we are changed.  The seed has taken root. We are stronger than we were, even if we are not where we want to be.

In our first reading from the book of Samuel, we learned how God may have plans for our lives which we cannot foresee.  David was the youngest son of a large family, and he could reasonable have expected a quiet life.  Tending his father’s animals, perhaps his ambition in life was to have his own flock.  Never in his wildest dreams could he have expected to save the nation of Israel on the battlefield or to become the king of Israel; a great warrior, poet, wise ruler and the ancestor of Jesus Christ. From shepherd to King was a great leap of faith.

Both Samuel and David learned to expect the unexpected from God. To accept that God had plans for their lives which they could never have imagined. And they were able to be part of God’s plans because they kept their faith alive. Neither of them just sat back and waited for faith to happen. They actively sought to deepen their faith and be open to what God wanted them to do.

If God spoke to us and gave us a mission, however unlikely, what would our reaction be?  Would we have enough faith to step out of our comfort zones and work with God?

We can only recognize God’s call by being attentive to God, like Samuel and David, and by keeping our faith alive. Wouldn’t it be sad for us if we missed God’s call because we are cruising through our faith journey, rather than enjoying the journey with God? 

AMEN