Ash Wednesday Sermon

"Parables and the Kingdom"
[Mark 4:21-34]
March 1, 2006 Second Reformed Church

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. This is a season of reflection and mourning for our sin, before we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. This season is not meant to be a morbid one, but one where we take seriously the depths of our sin and then rejoice as we remember that our sin was imputed to Jesus and His Righteousness was imputed to us. In the mystery of salvation, we who were under the Wrath of God, have been justified, and we are being made into the Image of Jesus.

One of the most terrifying verses in the Scripture is this: "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). If we are not holy, we will not see the Lord. If we are not sanctified, we will not see the Lord. I dare say that none of us is completely holy; we are not wholly sanctified. So, is there any hope? Thanks be to God, there is.

On Sunday, we looked at the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, and we saw that it is God Who gives us the grace and the faith to believe in Jesus Alone for our Salvation. Salvation is wholly the Work of God. God makes us members of the Kingdom of God. We only understand as God reveals Himself to us.

Don't be confused: the Scripture is not teaching Gnosticism -- that there is a secret knowledge that we have to attain. What we are told is that God Himself chooses us, forgives us, and makes us His people, and He gives us God the Holy Spirit to indwell us so we might understand the Scripture and live in joy under God's Law.

In this evening's Scripture, Jesus tells three short parables. One about a lamp; one about a growing seed; and one about a mustard seed. These parables concern the Kingdom of God that we belong to and the hope that we have as Christians, even as we consider the horrible greatness of our sin.

In the first parable, Jesus says, "Surely, a lamp is not brought to be put under a modius [basket] or under a bed? [But] put on a lamp stand?" Jesus says that the Word of God is like a lamp in the darkness: the nature of the Good News of Salvation is like a lamp in the darkness. It is not right or even reasonable to put a lamp under a basket or a bed. The lamp cannot shine, and the darkness cannot be driven away, if the lamp is hidden. The lamp has to be put on the lamp stand where it can shine, producing its maximum light. We have an obligation to send the light out, both through our words and deeds. Letting the lamp shine is every Christian's duty, and joy.

And we needn't worry as we consider our limitations and infirmities and sins. We need not fear that the lamp will fail to shine and drive away all of the darkness God intends it to drive away, because, Jesus said, no matter what we do, whether we are faithful or not, in the end, nothing will be hidden. The lamp will, by its own nature, expose every secret. God has called us to preach and live out His Word, but God has not rested His Future and His Plans on us. No, God's Word will accomplish exactly what God wants it to accomplish, because it is we who rely on God.

The Good News here is that we ought not to hesitate because we fear our sin is too great or our abilities are too small. God knows what He is doing, and God will bring everything to pass that He has willed. On the other hand, we ought to be careful and seek after holiness, not treating sin as something light or insignificant, simply because God is not hindered by us, but we need to understand that God knows everything and is not fooled, and everything we do and do not do will be exposed on that final day. So, let us heed this warning and strive with everything that we are to be holy, until that day when Jesus returns and accomplishes our holiness in total.

Jesus said that we must, "Consider what we hear. For he who has, to him will be given; and to him who does not have, what he has will be given away." That is a call to work, as Paul wrote, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).

Together, let us understand this: if God has given us certain gifts for the sending out of the lamp of the Gospel, and we work hard to accomplish God's Will by the Power of the Holy Spirit, God will give us more. But if we do not use those gifts, we ought not be surprised if God takes them away.

"But how does the Word work in us?" one asks.

In the second of tonight's parables, Jesus says that a man threw seeds on the earth. The Word of God -- the Gospel -- was preached and lived out -- remember the seed is the Word of God. And then he watched. The man did not cause the seed to have any power or strength. The man did not cause the seed to grow. No, he watched. And eventually, he saw the seeds sprout and grow. "But as to how, he knows not."

Jesus is saying that the Word works in a secret manner. We throw the seeds far and wide. But we can't cause anything to happen. We don't even understand how anything happens. The growing of the seed is God's Work, and the way that it works is a secret. Solomon wrote, "As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good" (Ecclesiastes 11:5-6).

"The earth bears fruit by itself, first the sprout, then the head, then the full head filled with grain in the head." God is patient, and we sowers must be patient as well. We have no idea where God will work His Word or in what time frame He will work it. The Word of God works both when and where God sees fit, and then by degrees. If we do not see the results of our efforts, it may be that the seed, simply, has not yet broken the soil. But that's God's Work, not ours.

Still, we should find that an encouragement to us, especially when we are feeling despondent over our own growth. We cannot judge ourselves as to the heights we will grow or the rates with which we grow. The plant does not fret over its height and breadth; it works hard to be the plant God has made it. Likewise, we are to work hard to live the lives of holiness that God has called us to, but as to when or how we grow and mature -- it is by degrees, as God wills. Peter reminds those who were suffering for their faith not to give up hope, "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (I Peter 1:8-9). Let us press on, and take hope and be confident that God is working in us through His Secret Means and by degrees.

And in the third parable, Jesus reassures us that the grace that we need will come to us through the Word. Jesus says that our faith -- the faith the God gives us -- initially seems tiny -- like a mustard seed. But when that seed is sown in the good earth, and God works it to grow, it will not just grow, but it will "grow up and become the largest of all the garden herbs, and grow large branches, therefore the winged creatures of the heaven can tabernacle in its shade." Jesus said, not only does He cause the seed to grow and mature, but He brings it to full growth, and so He will bring us all the way to our full growth, to fullness, and to holiness, our sanctification in Him.

Paul wrote, "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing" (II Thessalonians 1:3). And, "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (II Corinthians 3:18).

During this Lenten season we do right to consider our sin, to recognize the greatness of the offense that it is against God, and to recognize that, without holiness, no one will see God. However, the reason we can celebrate this season again and again is in knowing that God has made a Way for us in Jesus, in God's Son receiving the fullness of God's Wrath for our sin upon the cross, and He rose again. If we believe that, then we have been made right with God -- justified -- and He has now called us to go out and tell others through the Word and the example of our lives. And as we work hard to seek after holiness, by the Power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us, let us find comfort in knowing that God is working in us, as He wills, by degrees, and as we receive His Grace and continue to know Him through His Word.

Let us pray:
Holy God, we thank You that You do not leave our Salvation or our holiness up to us. We thank You that You are at Work in us to bring about Your Kingdom and to make us into the image of Your Son. Give us the grace and the desire to work hard and to place all our hope in Your Word. In Jesus' Name, Amen.