Midweek of Sexagesima

The kingdom of heaven is like a seed cast into the ground by a man who then goes and sleeps and rises. The kingdom grows of its own accord. And who is this man who sows the seed? Is it not Christ, who as  he was preaching these parables, said, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear? And then what? When his three years of preaching were done, he went to sleep, for he was crucified, dead, and buried. Yet he also rose! And then his little church of his disciples grew to the church of Pentecost, and then continued to the present day to the four corners of the earth. And at the judgment, he shall put in the sickle and harvest his own, bringing his people into his everlasting hom.

And what of the mustard seed? The smallest of seeds grows into a great tree where the birds make their nests. So is the kingdom of heaven. So small! For its king was born in Bethlehem in a stable with ox and ass, and only a few shepherds and foreigners saw. And after his ministry he was beaten and abused, and crucified, dead, and buried. See how small! How utterly humiliated! Yet he rose from the dead, and is the first fruits of them that sleep. So be not dismayed at trouble and grief, and smallness, and disappointments. For this kingdom is his own, and he shall make it grow! Stand aside and watch! For he shall surely bring his harvest home. Sermon for midweek of Sexagesima.