Thought for the week: Father's Day
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.
Mark 4:26-34
We talk about seeds a lot in the church. Faith and Mustard seeds. Scattering seeds as a parable about the kingdom. There is the harvest of the righteous. Agricultural metaphors and images jump across the pages of Bible pointing to a land and a time when the rhythms of life revolved around harvests and planting. Flourishing was as visible as green shoots and wind blowing through a wheat field. The natural world fed people. Food was not presented in a box with plastic wrapping or in a can but right outside your back door, under your feet growing by your own hand. Rural congregations get to see their food growing every spring. City congregants must travel or wait for the weekend farmer's market to taste and see the freshness that nature offers.
But around the country, in many cities our UCC churches are cultivating a love of creation and a recognition of the gift and labor that food represents by developing a part of their property as a community garden. The Kimball Avenue United Church of Christ is in the middle of Chicago and it has a plot of land on a busy street corner which is now dubbed "The Oasis." Rows of tended vegetables, raised beds, honey bees, paths and a labyrinth are the result of cultivated partnerships with the community, local businesses and an afterschool program. Since they began the garden in 2013 more than 200 high schoolers have participated in maintaining the garden. The garden is open to everyone. What a way to love creation and your neighbor and children!
Many miles from Chicago, in Arvada, Colorado the Common Earth Community Garden began its garden cultivation in 2016 as a partnership between the First United (UCC) church of Arvada and Denver Urban Gardens. The mission statement of the garden says:
Common Earth Community Garden is established to grow and distribute vegetables, provide a source of wholesome food to local food banks, provide nutritional and cultural education for youth, a place of fellowship for multigenerational families, and outreach to our diverse neighbors on this shared common earth
Besides garden plots, the space will include a gazebo, picnic facilities, a meditation bench, and beehives. Perhaps an inclusive way to express our three loves is by gardening.
It certainly is a way to cultivate your church's neighborhood in more ways than one.
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.
Mark 4:26-34
We talk about seeds a lot in the church. Faith and Mustard seeds. Scattering seeds as a parable about the kingdom. There is the harvest of the righteous. Agricultural metaphors and images jump across the pages of Bible pointing to a land and a time when the rhythms of life revolved around harvests and planting. Flourishing was as visible as green shoots and wind blowing through a wheat field. The natural world fed people. Food was not presented in a box with plastic wrapping or in a can but right outside your back door, under your feet growing by your own hand. Rural congregations get to see their food growing every spring. City congregants must travel or wait for the weekend farmer's market to taste and see the freshness that nature offers.
But around the country, in many cities our UCC churches are cultivating a love of creation and a recognition of the gift and labor that food represents by developing a part of their property as a community garden. The Kimball Avenue United Church of Christ is in the middle of Chicago and it has a plot of land on a busy street corner which is now dubbed "The Oasis." Rows of tended vegetables, raised beds, honey bees, paths and a labyrinth are the result of cultivated partnerships with the community, local businesses and an afterschool program. Since they began the garden in 2013 more than 200 high schoolers have participated in maintaining the garden. The garden is open to everyone. What a way to love creation and your neighbor and children!
Many miles from Chicago, in Arvada, Colorado the Common Earth Community Garden began its garden cultivation in 2016 as a partnership between the First United (UCC) church of Arvada and Denver Urban Gardens. The mission statement of the garden says:
Common Earth Community Garden is established to grow and distribute vegetables, provide a source of wholesome food to local food banks, provide nutritional and cultural education for youth, a place of fellowship for multigenerational families, and outreach to our diverse neighbors on this shared common earth
Besides garden plots, the space will include a gazebo, picnic facilities, a meditation bench, and beehives. Perhaps an inclusive way to express our three loves is by gardening.
It certainly is a way to cultivate your church's neighborhood in more ways than one.