Today’s Gospel Reading (Mark 4:26-34), covers two parables – The Parable of the Growing Seed and The Parable of the Mustard Seed. Both parables draw reference to the Kingdom of God.   The Parable of the Growing Seed may give you the impression that we can be complacent as things will happen without much effort.  Verses 26 and 27 read “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 Sower can sow the seed and see it sprout and grow but the growth is beyond his comprehension and even grows by itself.  It is very gradual (Mark 4:28) and step by step growth appears, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain.  Through such growth the harvest eventually comes - Mark 4:29. The amazing growth of the seed represents the Kingdom of God that grows by virtue of the Word of God being planted. The parable therefore reassures us that whereas we have our part in the sowing of the seed, God is ever present working in our favour to guarantee the increase of that seed even while we sleep!

In the second parable, The Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds on the earth.  In Verse 32, Jesus said “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.” We might worry that as a denomination, Diocese and Cure, our membership is declining; however, if we plant the seed of God’s kingdom, the Church will grow.  As long as we continue to provide healthy soil we can expect to see our Church grow and bear fruit.  We can put more energy into nurturing one another’s faith and be more committed to joining together to encourage one another, whether it is in small groups, in Church on a Sunday or other Cure activities.  We can work closer, within

the Cure, to encourage and be encouraged in our efforts to bring people to Jesus.

Both parables speak to the growth of the Kingdom and that this growth occurs in simple, less dramatic, but progressive and impactful ways even in the most difficult conditions and circumstances.

Today is also Father’s Day – a day that we celebrate and reflect on the fathering role of a guiding parent. It is therefore a pleasant coincidence that today’s Gospel reading aligns with Father’s Day, a day that reminds us that the role of parenting is to plant and nurture seeds (children).

Children, like seeds, are vulnerable; however, with the proper nurturing will thrive even in challenging times.  Some parents are too controlling and want to tell the seed exactly what kind of plant to become.

Some parents are too lax and do not create good conditions for the seeds to grow.  While other parents are like the sower in the parable of the growing seed, they sow and wait with patience.

The parable of the growing seed gives fathers the assurance that with God’s guidance, like the growing seeds, children will sprout and grow. If fathers provide the groundwork of good Christian and moral values, with patience and trust in the foundation that has been provided, their sowing will bear good fruit.

Happy Father’s Day to all Fathers within the Cure and those who have played a fathering role for so many.  We also give thanks for God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.

Colin Barnett

Rector’s Warden

St. Philip’s