Wellspring UMC; Seventh Sunday after Pentecost; July 15, 2007: “What is the Kingdom Like?”:

-Psalm 100, Mark 4: 26-29

This service of worship centered around the sharing by the youth and adult attendees of “impactRichmond,” a mission experience which was held this past week in Richmond, VA. During our service the participants shared what they experienced during the week, answering the question, “What is the Kingdom Like?” Following the sermon a powerpoint slide show was shown so the congregation could experience through pictures what the mission team received through serving God.

What is the Kingdom like?

When you think about the Kingdom of God, what does it look like? What does that feel like? What do you dream it is? Is it some ethereal place that we go after we die called heaven, where angels are flying around us, we’re singing to God on the throne and all is well with our souls? Is it a place where we feel better than we’ve ever felt before and where all things are well? What is the Kingdom like?

You’ve just heard a bit about what we who attended impactRichmond experienced, and for us, we experienced the Kingdom of God, which looks a bit different than someplace ‘out there.’ What we experienced was the Kingdom of God...a place as close to us as right here, right now.

In thinking about the Kingdom of God, I’d say that the Kingdom of God was found when 85 adults and youth from Virginia and North Carolina gave up a week of their summer vacation to serve those who needed a hand to help them. It was found in paint, hammers, nails, ceiling tiles, and building handicapped ramps so that the city did not condemn the houses they owned. This is the Kingdom of God.

It was found in worship experiences where children of all ages let go of their inhibitions and let God in. It was seen in the full acceptance and celebration of a young man with Asberger’s syndrome, a form of autism, standing up during the singing of praise songs, lifting his hands, and literally acting out the words. Like a liturgical dance with steps given by God Himself, we marveled at the witness of worship through this youth.

It was experienced around tables at dinner, during conversations at night, in receiving ‘warm fuzzies’ in the form of small slips of paper upon which words of encouragement and thanks were written and received. The Kingdom was found in times of silence each morning to reflect upon life, hope, and Christ. It was seen as youth groups met and debriefed about the day and talked about what they were seeing, feeling, and experiencing. The Kingdom of God was seen, and it is powerful.

Listen again to the Word. “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed. Night and day whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. The soil produces grain, the fruit of the vine, and the fruit fulfills its purpose for harvest.” This is a pretty simple word, and at first glance it may seem a bit too simple. Someone scatters seed, doesn’t even plant it with deliberation, just scatters it, and the seed grows to bear fruit.

So often in parables we think of the main character in the story as God, the Creator who spreads love and hope for all the world, but I don’t believe that in this case that’s what Jesus is trying to say. Certainly God is in the mix, but what would happen if we looked at this parable from a different angle, and Jesus is saying that the man is not God, but the man is you and me. The man is the church called to scatter seeds of faith...with abandon.

The man in this parable is the one who lives a life that reveals the Kingdom of God. Night and day, in and out, living life, seeds are planted...life is given, and the seeds grow. First the stalk...an invitation from one of us to another to experience Christ or a phone call to someone beside us who needs a word of encouragement. Then the head, our neighbor asks a question or two about who we are and who Christ is in us or our Sunday School member seeks answers to a question that’s been burning all her life. Then the kernel, their journey begins as they step on the road of faith, living and loving, experiencing the hope of the Gospel...and scattering seeds...with abandon.

For the past 5 weeks we’ve been sharing together a journey of giving. Praying for God to use us to spread seeds of love, then doing it. As we’ve discussed, it feels good. But it’s about more than just feeling good. It’s about revealing to the world what the Kingdom is like. It’s about Jesus Christ alive in and through us. It’s about scattering seeds so God can develop them, but what is key, what is necessary, what is vital to the Kingdom’s power is in us and shared through us.

We have to be willing to scatter the seed. We have to invest ourselves in the work of Christ. Whether it’s sharing the Gospel with our children through Sunday School, taking a Saturday to work in the community, checking in on the elderly neighbor or seeking to build a relationship with the recluse across the street, the Kingdom of God is revealed by God through us. Revealed at times when we give, but come to fruition as we live lives of giving, lives of Christ, lives that embody the radical, transformational love of the One who was the Word incarnate.

What is the Kingdom like?

Friday evening was the last night together, and during that time we experienced the power of Kingdom love through a hand washing. We had previously been invited to write on our hands with washable ink, any distractions which might get in the way of our witness upon our return home, then one by one Jim, Cindi, and I had our hands washed by the impactRichmond staff, then we each washed the hands of these youth. There in that time, these hands that revealed the Kingdom of God to those whom we rarely reach out to...hands which touched the Kingdom of God through those whose lives rarely cross paths...these hands...lives were washed clean of distractions so that they can continue the work of Christ.

These hands which were cleansed are poised and ready to do Christ’s work here in Williamsburg and invite you to do the same. These hands, Christ’s hands, hands of Kingdom builders have seen and felt the Kingdom.

What is the Kingdom like? Look around. Really, look around. The Kingdom is in you and me. In us sharing life together, in us sharing life with those outside this place, in us planting seeds and watching as God reveals light, life, hope, love...as God reveals God’s original intention. “God’s Kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven.” Amen.