This is part of the worship series,
"Pictures of the Kingdom”
Series Introduction
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
Week 5 | Week 6
First Week
Parables of the Growing Seed: The Kingdom—Mark 4:26–32
The Parables
The growing-seed parables launch the series by narrating the foundational truth of God’s kingdom: Like seeds scattered over the earth that grow into large plants, so the Word goes out from God’s heart into the world and will not fail to accomplish its purpose: his just and gracious rule over all the earth.
Picturing the Story
Although Vincent van Gogh never painted an actual mustard tree, he did paint over thirty images featuring a sower. He also painted a striking image of a tree similar to a mustard plant in The Mulberry Tree (1889). (All images can be found by searching Google Images.) It is a riot of brilliant colors—olive green, taupe, cobalt, pale yellow, butter yellow, blue, blue-green, sea green, chartreuse. It appears to be on fire and seems to radiate a living entity. In his many letters to his brother Theo, van Gogh expressed his deep faith in a God who had created the natural realm and who made his presence known through it. The kingdom is present in nature. We know that the artist was emotionally fragile, lived with a mental illness, struggled in his relationships, and was challenged financially his whole adult life (a prolific painter, only one of his paintings was bought commercially in his lifetime). In fact, The Mulberry Tree was created when van Gogh was a patient at a mental asylum. Not in spite of but through his struggles the artist believed he saw the kingdom all around in nature, and in his life he sensed the glory of God. In God’s providence, today thousands of people reap the benefits of van Gogh’s vision through his vibrant kingdom images.
Applicatory Thoughts
These two little stories hold within them a number of lessons about the kingdom. It begins small and grows large, beyond expectation. Who would have imagined that the life of a carpenter from Nazareth who died on a cross as a criminal would eventually bring salvation and transformation to billions of lives, affecting the course of history? The kingdom also grows gradually, from seed to germination, stalk, head, and kernel. We witness the kingdom over the centuries reaching many people groups across the globe. Also fascinating is that the kingdom grows automatically. In Mark 4:28, “all by itself” comes from the Greek automaton, a combination of autos (self) and memaa (to eagerly desire). Jesus never tells his followers to bring in the kingdom. He does entreat us to pray for it to come, to receive it, and to proclaim it when and wherever we see it.
Suggested Songs
“No hay dios tan grande/There’s No God as Great” Spanish traditional
“The Kingdom of Our God Is Like” Webb
“O Word of God Incarnate” How
“Hear the Call of the Kingdom” Getty
“Build Your Kingdom Here” Rend Collective
“How Great Is Our God” Tomlin
Revised Common Lectionary
Year B: Season after Pentecost—Proper 6 (11)
