{"id":1139,"date":"2015-06-14T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2015-06-14T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=1139"},"modified":"2019-10-22T11:56:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T15:56:41","slug":"a-grain-of-mustard-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2015\/06\/14\/a-grain-of-mustard-seed\/","title":{"rendered":"A Grain of Mustard Seed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 4: 26-34<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to listen to the sermon only<\/a><\/p>\n

Our little boat motor idled well and even carried the pontoon boat forward, but at a snail\u2019s pace. \u00a0All boats disappoint just like all dogs bite. \u00a0\u00a0The summer on our like is a series of boat breakdowns. \u00a0I wondered. \u00a0Old age finally taking the motor? \u00a0Carburetor? \u00a0Choke? \u00a0Throttle wires? \u00a0I am no mechanic. \u00a0This usually means taking the boat out of the water and towing it 30 miles for repairs. \u00a0The motor casing came off easily. \u00a0In a few minutes, it was apparent even to a non-mechanic that a single connection, throttle to gas line, had slipped undone. \u00a0Just as easily, without tools, it was reconnected. \u00a0The motor purred, and purrs still. \u00a0\u00a0Small things, little things, can make a big difference.<\/p>\n

We have no cable TV. \u00a0We have no dish. \u00a0We have no outsized antenna. \u00a0We get what you get with today\u2019s equivalent of rabbit ears, a free-standing antenna. \u00a0Four channels not four hundred, and hardly anything worth watching. \u00a0But we like the local news, some for content, more for delivery. \u00a0One evening the TV stopped connecting with anything. \u00a0And we worried again about another expense, task, day of home repairs. \u00a0But it happens that in the wind the antenna sometimes moves, slightly. \u00a0Just a little jiggle to the south, and all channels darken. \u00a0Which means, as you guess, that a little jiggle north brings our motley four channels back. \u00a0Small things, little things, a slight little shift can make a big difference.<\/p>\n

Our out cottage, a broken down old fishing camp, built probably on weekends by one guy with tools, a six pack and a rod and reel, has a pump. \u00a0On that well and pump depend cooking, eating, cleaning washing, showers and other forms of relief. \u00a0It is outside, so subject to weather and other beings. \u00a0The pump stopped one afternoon. \u00a0I am no plumber, but I know a good one. \u00a0We called him. \u00a0You worry when your family needs water and you have no way to provide it. \u00a0A new pump? \u00a0Line problems? \u00a0Dry well? What is wrong? \u00a0But it was something very little. \u00a0Ants had found their way into the electric box and broken the connection. \u00a0Two minutes of expert attention, ants erased, problem solved. \u00a0Small little things can make a big difference.<\/p>\n

The dock itself is new, partly brand new. \u00a0The dock is our island into the lake, our portal into boating, our entrance into swimming, our bridge into fishing, our outpost of land in water. \u00a0\u00a0It is just a wonderful territory in itself. \u00a0But in order to get from the hillside down onto the dock, a makeshift staircase is required. \u00a0It is a fraction of the size of the dock, a farthing compared to a pound. \u00a0It is a humble set of six stairs in wood reaching out onto the majesterial dock. \u00a0Without the stairs, though, the dock is useless. \u00a0All the weight, all the space, all the expanse, all the expense of the four piece dock lies permanently adrift from the mainland without the simple steps. \u00a0Small things, little things, make a difference, and open up the possibility of much, much greater things.<\/p>\n

Back from the fishing camp, and a warm water pumped shower there, now out on the dock beneath the stairs, ready to board the boat for a motor powered rid, our 7 year old granddaughter caught something in her younger brother\u2019s rhetoric. \u00a0Brother said, \u201cEric told me yesterday that he would take me tubing behind his boat today\u2019. \u00a0Sister said, \u201cI know that is what he said, but that is not what he meant.\u201d \u00a0There is a short, short way from birdie to bogie, from right to almost right, from what is said to what is meant. \u00a0To be able to hear that difference is a spiritual gift, a small, little, powerful, spiritual gift. \u00a0\u201cI know that is what he said, but that is not what he meant!\u201d \u00a0Small things, little things, make a difference, and open up the possibility of real understanding<\/p>\n

It is a Sabbath reminder for us. \u00a0Little things can change the world. \u00a0Think about the Archduke Ferdinand. \u00a0Read about Asa Kent Jennings. \u00a0Look again at the events in Boston of 1775. \u00a0Recall the old lines: \u00a0For the want of a\u2026nail, shoe, horse, rider, battle\u2026Read once more Barbara Brown Taylor\u2019s A Preaching Life. <\/i>\u00a0Or return to read again Arthur Ashe\u2019s memoir, Days of Grace. \u00a0\u00a0<\/i>Remember when someone said something to you that intervened, helped, saved. \u00a0Sometimes the best medicine is whatever gives you the courage to take one more step forward. \u00a0You have the mind, heart, faith and voice to speak such an intervening word this week. \u00a0You also have the mind, heart, the faith and will to hear such an intervening word this week. \u00a0Will it make any difference? \u00a0Small, little things, make a difference, and have the power of faith, like a grain of mustard seed.<\/p>\n

A grain of mustard seed. \u00a0Our Lord meets us today within his chosen realm of discourse and rhetoric. \u00a0The realm of nature. \u00a0The realm of story or parable. \u00a0The realm of nature parable. \u00a0Notice, as a clue to the intimacy of these words and Jesus himself, the odd phrase \u2018birds of the air\u2019. \u00a0A redundancy, a connection it may be, to the Aramaic of Jesus\u2019 own speech. \u00a0What other kinds of birds are there, anyway? He taught them nothing, without a parable. \u00a0Most of those, at least those not dealing with money and labor, are nature parables, like ours today. \u00a0Jesus has used the memorable image of the tiny mustard seed before. \u00a0\u2018Truly I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, \u2018Move hence to yonder place\u2019 and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you\u2019. \u00a0He has used the mustard seed before. \u00a0He has used hyperbole before. \u00a0He has used parable and nature and nature parable before. \u00a0Our Lord meets us at the intersection of parable and nature today.<\/p>\n

Faith is a little thing. \u00a0\u00a0It is not as easily measured as some other things. \u00a0Faith is like a grain of mustard seed, in and through which, over a long time, great and big changes come. \u00a0You may disregard such a little thing, at least for a time. \u00a0After all, it is the smallest of all seeds. \u00a0Faith is a little thing. \u00a0Yet in the odd mysteries of secrecy and of growth, of growth in secret, of which nature and the parables of nature do remind us, in Jesus\u2019 teaching, we are given again an intriguing hint of faith.<\/p>\n

An old hymn, sung with sincerity, authenticity and a sense of irony, can give that kind of hint of faith, in worship. \u00a0An anthem, true and fine, offered to the praise of God, out of a different time and clime, can give that kind of hint of faith, in worship. \u00a0A strange story, of a boy become king on the credit of his ruddy cheeks and the spirit of the Lord moving, can give that kind of hint of faith, in worship. \u00a0A cascading waterfall of tumbling words in ancient writ, a warning that we walk by faith not by sight, and that outward appearance is nothing compared to the heart, and that we see no longer by flesh only or by spirit only but according to the cross of a new creation, in which the old is gone and new is come<\/i>, can give that kin of hint of faith, in worship. \u00a0A friendly word on entry, a gentle greeting on departure, an example of another\u2019s compassionate faith from another place in the pew, all can give that kind of hint of faith, in worship. \u00a0Compared to the great assemblies of the age on the screen or on the stage or in the ballpark or on the green, a little mustard seed, a tiny little seed for the future, a moment in worship, come Sunday, must seem so very small. \u00a0Yet it carries a hint of faith, which may be, some dark night, all that you need and all that you have to go on.<\/p>\n

That difficult hour may be upon you today, or this week, or this summer. \u00a0In decision, in change, in struggle, in loss, in despair. \u00a0Faith isn\u2019t faith, in a way, until and unless it is all you have to go on. \u00a0Jesus meets us today with a word of hope. \u00a0In a nature parable, in the chosen medium of his diction. \u00a0\u00a0Watch. \u00a0Take heart. \u00a0Look. \u00a0Listen. \u00a0You matter. \u00a0You count. \u00a0You are for real. \u00a0You can do this. \u00a0You can.<\/p>\n

That difficult hour may be upon us today, or this week or this year. \u00a0\u00a0In Boston, we are still struggling through the trauma and consequences of April 2013. \u00a0How could we not? \u00a0The court verdict for the person responsible for the killings and injuries continues to reverberate in our collective conscious and unconscious. \u00a0How could it not? \u00a0In America, we are still struggling through and with shocking reminders of majority power and minority pain, sometimes bubbling to the surface of our shared consciousness by means of little things, like photos, like videos, like cell phone recordings. \u00a0How could we not? \u00a0We are not finished, but unfinished as people, and as a people. \u00a0Across the globe we are still struggling with containment of conflict emerging from religious and economic and cultural difference. \u00a0How could we not? \u00a0These and other struggles can have the capacity to freeze us in place, to keep us from moving well and forward into an unseen future, unless we are freed up, given flexibility, creativity, and hope, through a tiny measure, an abiding sense of faith. \u00a0Faith has the audacity to say \u2018we walk by faith, not by sight\u2019.<\/p>\n

Difficult hours may be upon us today, or this week, or this summer. \u00a0In decision, in change, in struggle, in loss, in despair. \u00a0Faith isn\u2019t faith, in a way, until and unless it is all you have to go on. \u00a0Jesus meets us today with a word of hope. \u00a0In a nature parable, in the chosen medium of his diction. \u00a0\u00a0Watch. \u00a0Take heart. \u00a0Look. \u00a0Listen. \u00a0You matter. \u00a0You count. \u00a0You are for real. \u00a0You can do this. \u00a0You can make a difference for good, in what you say, in what you do, in what you choose, in where you go. \u00a0Sometimes, by the dominical saying before us today, it is the little things, these very little things, that are hints of faith, and that make, over long time, manifold difference.<\/p>\n

A grain of mustard seed. \u00a0Sometimes a bit of the future is hidden in a little change. \u00a0In your marriage or family life, is there one small change for the better which might lead to a great harvest later on? \u00a0In your work life, is there one small change you could engineer for the better, which might lead to a great harvest later on? \u00a0In your community life, is there one small change which, by odd and untraceable influences, might make all the difference over the long haul? \u00a0In your personal life, is there one summer alteration, one slight step forward, that might with the gathering momentum of time and season, pave the way for a peace that passes understanding, a meadow into which you can go in and out and find pasture, a joy that is closer and closer to becoming complete? \u00a0Think about it.<\/p>\n

With what may we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? \u00a0It 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 branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.<\/i><\/p>\n

-The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel<\/a><\/p>\n

For more information about Marsh Chapel at Boston University,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For information about donating to the Chapel,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to the full service Mark 4: 26-34 Click here to listen to the sermon only Our little boat motor idled well and even carried the pontoon boat forward, but at a snail\u2019s pace. \u00a0All boats disappoint just like all dogs bite. \u00a0\u00a0The summer on our like is a series of boat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1139"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1141,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139\/revisions\/1141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}