Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

 Sermon Text: Mark 4:26-34

 Other Readings: Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Colossians 1:3-8

 

1. Verse 29 talks about the ripening and harvesting of faith. Is Jesus talking about a believer's last day, about the fruits of faith believers show in this life, or about both things (a believer’s last day and fruits of faith in this life)?
    
2. What is a parable? Why did Jesus so often use parables to teach?
    
3. Especially within these parables, the kingdom of God is synonymous with ___. How do you know?
   1. The created world
   2. Society
   3. The Church
   4. Government
   5. Something else

4. What does God use to grow his kingdom? Confer Colossians 1:5,6.
    
5. How can these verses help us evaluate…
   1. Our personal lives of faith? 
   2. The work our congregation and synod are doing?

 

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1. The most natural interpretation here seems to be a believer's last day; Jesus seems to be emphasizing how God creates, grows, and strengthens faith from beginning to end. This is not contradicting other places of Scripture which emphasizes that faith produces fruit in this life. That is an emphasis in our Second Reading from Colossians.
    
2. In the technical sense of the term, a parable is a sort of riddle. In the context of Jesus’ ministry, a parable is a comparison that uses earthly imagery to teach a spiritual truth, especially about the way the kingdom of God works.

Jesus used parables because their imagery makes them memorable. But for Jesus’ enemies, his parables were told as a sort of judgment on them; after rejecting Jesus’ plain teaching, the parables’ riddle component was a way for Jesus to say, “Fine, have it your way.”

3. c) The Church. The kingdom of God is the way that Jesus describes the activity of God’s rule and reign within the hearts of his believers, and God’s believers make up his Church.
    
4. God uses his Word, especially the gospel. The gospel is the good news about Jesus and his work for our salvation. God uses the gospel whether it is heard, read, contemplated, or attached to the sacraments of Baptism and Communion.
    
5. These verses can help us evaluate our personal faith by reminding us that the main thing is receiving God's word gladly and then let him go to work, knowing that he indeed will grow your faith.
   This helps us evaluate the work of our congregation and synod by showing us that our main role within the kingdom’s growth is simply to spread his word liberally and confidently.