Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: Two Routes Toward Flourishing

Unedited Transcript Below:

The name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Amen. The cards we pray today starts with this significant statement, it says O Lord.

From whom all good proceeds. Just posture mind. Think of what we're affirming. When we pray that I think it's worthwhile to reflect on whether we really believe. Those words. There are a lot of good things in the world, right? Lots of things that are good. In this world. There are talented people, the world is full of painters and Poets, and pianists.

The world is full of writers and leaders and athletes and teachers. It's full of linguists Engineers. It's full, it's it's full of sacrificial servants, philanthropists soldiers and entrepreneurs. There's a lot to celebrate in the world just and that's just some people, right? And then there are these relationships that are a blessing and a Wonder to us.

We have deep friendships and familial bonds. Their lovers parents daughters Sons and siblings. These are some of the deepest relationships, we have. Right, and something close. To the it, it's close to maybe the thing, we feel that defines love, maybe more than anything else. And in our collect, we're seeing all those things.

In fact, everything that can be called good proceeds from the Lord. All of it comes from God. And whether or not we believe that and truly believe that determines a lot about how we value the world that we inhabit. It determines how we Orient to the sayings of Jesus that trouble us.

Like the ones like unless you hate your father and mother and child and everyone you ever loved, you cannot be my disciple. Right. Jesus says that. If we don't really believe our collect. But I I just said that so like, hey doesn't mean like, I'm like I have this anger and hate like VM anger.

It's like disregard, he's saying, disregard these relationships, you know, in order to love Jesus or follow Jesus. And if we don't Really believe our collect that every good thing proceeds, from the good God, who made all things. Then those words may seem nonsensical to us. And what we see in the passages today has everything to do with that claim.

All good proceeds from God, The, the readings can trust two different ways to seek flourishing. We'll take a look at both those ways to seek flourishing and on the blessing that comes from seeking flourishing in God's way. Keep in mind though that the only reason that we seek, the kind of flourishing that God has in mind for us, is because we agree with the collect That all good things.

Come from God. So, two routes toward flourishing, the first route is striving. Are are Ezekiel passage gives us the the far limit of humans striving And I think it's important to note that the far limit, it's pretty good. The far limit of human striving is pretty good. So in verses 5 and 6, you have this cedar tree towering high above all the other trees, All the birds nest in its shade and the animals birth young under its branches.

God says it's even taller than the trees of Eden. This tree is taller than the trees in God's garden in second. It has all that it needs. As far as water and provision. Digging down deep planted by the water side. But verse 9 is the bombshell. God says, I made it beautiful.

I made it beautiful. Pause here for a moment because it's important to think about who God's talking about. Right. He's addressing pharaoh. So that's how he starts he's talking about Pharaoh, right? This is the quintessential enemy of God's people in the Old Testament. When you read about pharaoh in Egypt, you know, Bad guys, like read bad guys.

In the story, right? Because these were the people that God freed Israel from slavery to Pharaoh. Set himself up as a God, the whole book of Exodus is This battle, or at least the beginning of the book of Exodus is this battle between Pharaoh, the God and Yahweh the God and they got in a god off and there.

That's what the plagues are all about. Is that who got which God is stronger. Well, we're gonna find out. That's what the plagues are all about. Is this battle between the two gods. Right. This is who's being addressed, he's describing Assyria. Right, they've brought the northern kingdom into Exile.

So, the northern kingdom has gone into Exile. These are enemies of God and of his people. Pharaoh has set himself as a up as a god. And then, The Assyrians have brought God's people into Exile. And then God says, I made the cedar beautiful. I'm the one who empowered this nation.

I am the one who built this up. I'm the one who made it. Beautiful, everything good about. It came from me. Oh God, from whom. All good proceeds. Even the good in our enemies, even the God in his people's enemies. All of it came from me. He said I'm the one who set this Cedar up.

Because all things that are good proceed from the good God, who made all things, right. And so what is the great sin of Assyria or Egypt or Babylon later? All the Empire building peoples judged in Ezekiel. Comes down to one thing. Labeling, the good that proceeds from God. As something that is self-derived.

Or achieved in humans, driving, and in our own strength. That's why verse 10 says because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height. I will give it into the hand of the, my of a mighty one from the Nations.

So what was the sin? Got proud of its height and set its top among the clouds. It's almost language of Babel. Because remember the story of the Tower of Babel let us build a tower to the heavens and let it extend into the heavens, kind of very similar language because it was said, its head among the clouds and was proud of its height.

This is why it will be delivered and judged. This is a representation of what, all humans driving and human Empire Building looks like It's important to note that a certain level of flourishing does happen. By humans driving. Our Psalm tells us that in Psalm 92 8 though the ungodly or as green as grass and although all the workers of wickedness, flourish, that there's some flourishing taking place, there is true.

Good that proceeds from the good creation of God, Even when these creative peoples are rebellious toward God and and are have turned against the God who made them. There's still a level of flourishing that takes place. However, the strongest things and even the Empires that look immovable, and when you're talking about Assyria and Babylon, You're talking about Empires that don't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon.

So we think of like superpowers today and we think like they're immovable, they're not like they they rise and they fall Empires rise and they fall, our nation will rise and it will fall. If the Lord carries, this is how it works. Rises and Falls if Rome Falls everyone Falls, okay?

So it's just the way to to orient ourselves toward these Empires right? And all of them. Even Empires that are built while glorying in their own strength. Will ultimately perish. And that brings us to maybe the end of all humans driving. When we look at this way of flourishing, humans striving the end is destruction, Even the language of flourishing, in the psalm, Talks about grass, green grass.

Grass in the Old Testament is a picture of fleeting all. People are like, grass. They rise up like grass, they're here. Today gone tomorrow, the grass is here today so like We had, we had markings. Um, but we're gonna put a fence in, right? We had spray paint on our grass, right?

We had spray paint put on our grass in two months. The spray paint won't be there. Why the grass Grow. It'll be cut. The the whole picture is, hey, this is fleeting. This is a fleeting reality when you talk about grass. It's here today. It's gone tomorrow. This is the picture of grass in the scriptures.

So hear me? Everything built while glorying in your own strength in your own might is going to be burned up like grass. All of it. All the things we build that while glorying in our own strength in our own might Burns up like the grass, even the good works that we might label, Christian works.

In 1st Corinthians 3, Saint. Paul tells us that even the good works that are not built on the foundation of Jesus will be burned up. And those who did these Works will be saved but only through fire, right? That's what he's talking. He he's saying like if it's not built on the foundation of Jesus, it will not last.

It will not endure. So so if you and I are striving to make names for ourselves by our own strength, We're building on what is fleeting and dying. Parishes. But there's a second route toward flourishing that we see. In the gospel readings, right? And that's that of humble reception.

We get two Parables in the Gospel reading today, giving us two messages about the kingdom of God. One story tells us about kind of the scope of the Kingdom while the other gives us a description of the power of the Kingdom and where it comes from. So if we look at the scope of the Kingdom, we get this picture.

That's the second Parable, he tells of the Kingdom, starting small. Extending through the whole world. So, this is a, this is what Jesus is teaching in that second Parable, right? He Compares the Kingdom to a grain of a mustard seed that grows into a plant. That's massive, right? And when we talk about extending God's kingdom or preaching, the good news, many times we get a picture Of like kind of a private uninteresting set of propositions that we're trying to get people to believe.

Like, Hey, preaching. The gospel is like getting people to believe. Right. Boring set of information, right? And and this a lot of times how we picture evangelism, it's why? When we talk about evangelism, we don't like the idea of it. We think that the gospel spreading is just like Trying to get people to believe a couple boring facts.

But that's not so but the picture that Jesus gives is one that looks small. And then grows over the face of the whole world, right? And that expands and then it's this mighty thing that's that's towering over the whole world. Do you view yourself as like a mid-level or low-level salesman when you think about evangelism?

Or do you view yourself as a Herald of the Kingdom? That's extending over the face of the whole world. Remember the story people are in the garden, right? And the people Rebel, they they turn away from God. They as a whole we've all turned away from God and then God.

Enters the world as a savior, as a redeemer. And he, and he goes. And he says, uh, he calls it, his bride, right? He saves his bride. He saves the princess, right. He goes and he rescues them so that, so that they can be United reunited with him and made one with him.

He dies for them and then he rises again and wins a victory over all that is broken in the world and then he ascends and Reigns as king as extending his kingdom over the entire world, guys. Boring like it, I mean, it could be wrong but it's not boring.

So I, uh, so you don't have to view yourself as like a mid-level sales person. Like if this is true, this is like wildly good news. And important news.

And one day, the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the water covers the sea. That's what habakkuk 2. 14 tells us. So make no mistake every knee will bow. It's a completely. World encompassing Kingdom. All enemies will be placed under Jesus feet.

And this is not like worldly kingdoms. This is a kingdom that brings Justice and righteousness. All that is broken is fixed. All that is unjust is made, right? And so we pray to God. Every time we gather several times a day, your kingdom come your will be done on Earth like it already is in heaven.

But we realize here is that it starts small. Incredibly small Jesus says, it's the smallest of all the seeds in the world. Now people get weird. Um, and I think they've argued about whether they can think of a smaller seed. Now that other seeds have been discovered and then they want like, okay, this was not Jesus point, he was not making a point on like um, Botany.

Okay. Um, the the point is, it's, it's really small, okay? Like this is a very small seat, right? It's like it's the grit. It's very small. And, if you've seen a mustard seat, you know, it's small. I don't know if there's a smaller seat, you guys can go look it up and try to find that out.

But the point is super small. Certainly the smallest one that these guys known about have ever knew about it, right? That he's talking to right, really small C, right? And then it and then it extends throughout the whole world. So what's the Kingdom of Heaven? Look like,

It looks like a couple of people opening up their home. Or opening up a classroom. To start to do a study through a book. It looks like a parent. Rushing to get their kids to church. Or to try to get to the school bus on time and wrestling with them through the prayers during the Eucharist, right?

The kingdom of God might look like an educator pouring over how to impart the gift that he or she's been given to the Next Generation. The kingdom of Heaven might look like a small group, Bible study meeting in a jail. It might look like a barbecue with your neighbors.

Sharing a meal in your life together. The Kingdom of Heaven might look like laying hands on a sick person and asking God to heal them.

The Kingdom of Heaven looks like a small group of Believers, gathered around the Eucharist, Where we see. The intersection of Heaven and Earth. Happening. Right at the table. So we don't despise small beginnings. Not if we're Christians. Because the kingdom of God always starts small, and then it extends throughout the entire Earth.

So that's the scope of the Kingdom. We also had a parable about the power of the Kingdom, right? And the power is God's. The power had solely so it solely belongs to God, the first three verses that we read are unique to Mark. So Mark is the shortest gospel.

So when you see something a unique to Mark take note of it it's like wow because he's all there's almost nothing that's only covered in Mark and this little Parable is Right. The phrase that may leap off the page to us in that story of the farmer, is he knows not how So he like puts the seed in the ground.

Uh, and he doesn't know how but it grows. Now some of us know in a fallen world If you look at my yard you can see that like it probably takes a little more work than what's described here but but what what? He's trying to uh, I like your yard look halfway decent right.

Uh, but like what he's describing here is this power that's like within it seems within the ground. It's like magic, right? Like there's these seeds in the ground and then like whoa. It's like it happens and it's not by his strength or his mind or his power might have some cultivation that needs to take place but this is a power that comes from outside of the farmer, right?

He's he he's talking about this like self-contained power of the seed. And we get really tempted in a growing church that has started small to think of ourselves. Maybe a little too highly. If someone leaves, The church. Or if people aren't coming in quickly enough, we start thinking about our liturgy or advertising, or our programs, or our music, or our priest, or other leaders or our diligence Now, this Parable isn't about isn't against working hard.

You'd have to rip like the entire book of Proverbs out of the Bible to realize that Or to say like, hey, we we shouldn't work hard. But it's a very clear statement about where Victory comes from in God's kingdom. Even that book of Proverbs with all the emphasis on hard, work tells us the horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.

It's God. Who does the work? The kingdom doesn't extend because we like came up with the right plan or got the right charismatic priest or picked the right music or worked tirelessly and never took a break. That's not how the kingdom of God expands. It's a work of God.

And God does it the kingdom of God, extends over the whole earth because God is at work, and he's at Mighty, So where are you feeling tempted to see the Kingdom's extension, be a product of your own work. Because remind yourself of this. Is the Kingdom of Heaven is Advanced only by the work of God.

And only by his might and by his power. Do you think if you don't ever rest or ever say no to someone like me who comes and says hey can you help out with that that the kingdom of God will advance even like a little bit faster? It won't It won't Advance a little bit faster because you can't say no.

Um it won't it it won't Advance a little bit faster because you flexed a little bit harder, the kingdom of God advances. Because God advances it. And he invites us into that. He invites us into the labor. But he doesn't. So what is our part? What does success look like?

What does it look like for us to be successful in seeing the kingdom expand? It's one thing, it's only one thing. Have I obeyed the Lord? Have I rightly discerned what? The Lord's asked me to do and have I obeyed him? That's it. And that's plenty. Trust me. That's plenty to do.

The farmer sowed the seed, right? He didn't just Ask for the seed to be. So he did sow the sea. So, it's plenty. God will ask you to overcome your anxiety, your self-centeredness, your procrastination, your laziness, your workholism, all those sorts of other things that take your eyes off him.

As we see Saint John's continue to grow. And extend God's kingdom. We have to realize though, that success is one thing. And one thing only have I obeyed the Lord And the result of this type of flourishing. This type of flourishing, that, that recognizes that the, the power and all comes from God.

All good proceeds from God, is this longevity, whereas the other type of flourishing led to was fleeting. It was like grass, this type of flourishing is long. That's why the psalm says, the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. I grew up in Southern California. Palm trees. Can live anywhere.

It like, blows me away. How they survive anywhere. If you've been to Palm Desert in July, It's awful, like nothing like no one should be there. It's so hot, it's so hot. Like you think it was hot this weekend here? Like it's so hot like it.

The palm trees are doing fine, right? And and the psalmist tells us that the ones who are righteous, the ones who are recognizing that all of it comes from God, they flourish like a palm tree. They they they're not like the grass which is fleeting here today and gone tomorrow, they flourish like a palm tree.

In the courts of God. God's advance of his kingdom is completely inevitable. And we receive those benefits when we trust in him and when we recognize, it's his might in his strength. So today we prayed that God is the one from whom all good proceeds. If we truly believe that it changes everything about our lives.

It changes how we view our relationships, our friendships and our families, but it also changes the way we understand our work and our vocation, we come to realize that all good things come from God. Who made all things? And we don't attribute the good in this life to our strength and our might.

We become humble, recipients of what God is doing. And we don't conceive of ourselves as the agents to bring things about. When we put the good things in our lives, in perspective and place ourselves in the place of humble, recipients of the gifts of God's kingdom, the world opens up to us.

God promises that our works and our lives. Both will endure long. After all the things built on human cunning are burned up. So today we're about to receive from the Lord, the first fruit to the kingdom. And we resolve to live in Humble, Reliance on him as he grows the kingdom and brings about our flourishing.

Amen.