{"id":56,"date":"2018-07-13T23:54:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T23:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/?p=56"},"modified":"2018-07-13T23:54:48","modified_gmt":"2018-07-13T23:54:48","slug":"consider-mustard-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/07\/consider-mustard-seed.html","title":{"rendered":"Consider the Smallest Mustard Seed"},"content":{"rendered":"

This passage from Mark is taken from the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV. You can hear a recording of this passage here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Reading the Gospel aloud<\/strong> invites the audience to experience human encounters with the divine as recounted in the Bible. \u00a0We can leave interpretation and meaning to members of the clergy and other scholars. What we are most interested in as lay readers is the human experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/I1NTVseyztE\/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEXCPYBEIoBSFryq4qpAwkIARUAAIhCGAE=&rs=AOn4CLAVb8sItH8HcDJLnyOehcfcEuXFfQ\"<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em><\/strong>The kingdom of God is as if \u2026<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In this reading, as in many others, Jesus speaks in parables. Parables seem to step in where technical descriptions fail. It may be impossible to describe the kingdom of God in any way other than a parable. Just as if<\/em> you could offer a technical description of your back yard in a real estate listing, it would be nearly impossible to convey in the same technical terms the emotions that are awakened by memories of watching your children play in that yard, the sleep outs, the parties and cook outs you have held there for family and friends over the years, the careful landscaping you have done, the sweat and toil you have devoted to mowing, raking and trimming maintenance, the vegetable gardens you have planted, the wildlife you have observed and everything that your back yard has meant to you. You can only really offer, \u201cIt\u2019s as if\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

So, the parable is not an objective technical description. It asks the listener to momentarily suspend normal intellectual cognition and disbelief and imagine something quite different, \u201cas if\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

A parable is also dynamic. An \u201cas if\u2026,\u201d is intended to invoke narrative and EXPERIENCE. \u00a0Like poetry, or a song, a parable captures not simply the factual and intellectual \u2013 neuroscience — explanation of an experience, but the emotion, if not physical sensation, of an experience.<\/p>\n

I think parables also incorporate narratives because they are easier to remember than definitions and specifications. A parable is much more apt to go viral than a technical description. The listener is engaged and transformed.<\/p>\n

And I love the fact that Jesus leaves the \u201cexplanations\u201d to his disciples, almost as a side bar. Again, it suggests that experience is more important than explanation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Text Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a sense of wonder <\/strong>in these parables: \u201cThe earth produces of itself,\u201d and \u201cHe does not know how.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is the dynamic of time <\/strong>at work\u2026\u201dsleep and rise day and night.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parables invoke mystery<\/strong>.\u00a0 These are extended miracles of micro-creation. The circle of life, of planting and harvesting is a mystery. We do not know how, but the harvest comes.<\/p>\n

The tiny mustard seed is magical.\u00a0 Shakespeare names one of the charmed fairy handmaidens from A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream, Mustardseed.<\/p>\n

The dynamics of change and transformation<\/strong> are captured in the parables. In the parable, the tiny hand sown mustard seed becomes the greatest of all shrubs.<\/p>\n

The solemnity of service<\/strong> is offered by the mustard seed. Shakespeare\u2019s Mustardseed offers a hand to Bottom.\u00a0 The mustard seed of the parable \u201c puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mystery, transformation, and service are all concepts that can animate your reading.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reading this passage aloud<\/strong><\/p>\n

This passage should be read as poetry; not as a technical description. The passage is less objective reporting about how Jesus told a parable \u2013 and for the record this is the parable he told — and more of an attempt to capture the spirit and presence of the kingdom of God in multiple parables for a listening audience.<\/p>\n

These parables are intended to capture the imagination of the audience with the imagery of harvest and bounty. They are meant for all, \u201cAs they were able to hear\u201d: not just listen or understand, but HEAR.<\/p>\n

There is rhythm in the language. There is care in the planting of images and \u00a0a growing excitement as seeds are sown, live takes root and yields are realized.<\/p>\n

There is revelation and awe.<\/p>\n

Each parable should begin in the spirit of, \u201cimagine this!\u201d and then enjoy and exult in the lushness of the imagery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This passage from Mark is taken from the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV. You can hear a recording of this passage here. Reading the Gospel aloud invites the audience to experience human encounters with the divine as recounted in the Bible. \u00a0We can leave interpretation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":621,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nConsider the Smallest Mustard Seed - Hear the Gospel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Reading the Gospel of Mark aloud\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/07\/consider-mustard-seed.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Consider the Smallest Mustard Seed - 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