One Thing Contrary to the Kingdom of God: Control

Homily for the 11th Sunday

Neatly spaced sugar snap peas

Jesus offers two parables on the kingdom of heaven: sower and the mustard tree. The sower scatters seed, and the seed produces a bountiful harvest, “first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain of the ear.” The mustard tree sprouts from a tiny seed, and grows into an impressive habitat “so the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” (see Mk 4:26-34)

“To his own disciples, he explained everything in private.” If I were one of the disciples, I wonder what Jesus would say to me. I am guessing he would interpret the parables not in a general sense, but in explain how they speak to my current life situation.

Today, Jesus would probably say, “You are not in control.” After months of prayer, the Lord has told me it’s time to leave as the director of the Catholic Conference Center. In. It’s been a wonderful six years. My last day will be June 30. The Lord has not shared what he wants me to do after I retire. The future is uncertain, and that makes me a little uncomfortable.

That’s why the Lord says, “You are not in control.” I like to control. I like to control my life, where everything is ordered and predictable. I like my life and have order and balance. I sometimes like to control others – if they would only do what I say. I’d even like to control the dialogue on the news outlets and social media. That’s obviously unrealistic.

Because of my desire to control, I sometimes get frustrated, worry myself to death, become bitter because no one pays attention to me, guilty because I sometimes think I should have done more, concerned that people will think less of me if it looks like I am not in control.

To me, and for all the people here who try to control things, whether with your parents, with your children, with your coworkers, or with any of the people occupying space around you, Jesus has offered these two parables on the kingdom of God.

The kingdom is not something you can control. It can only be experienced. It can only be experienced when you surrender your need for control.

~

In the first parable, the farmer scatters the seed and then walks away. Yet in its own time, the seed sprouts and grows. Guided by its God-given genetic design, it produces fruit, “first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.” What did the farmer do to control this outcome? Nothing. He just scattered the seed and patiently allowed the events to unfold as God designed.

There are two especially weird parts of this parable which emphasize two points Jesus wants to make. First, what farmer would “scatter seed” to plant a garden? I planted sugar snap peas in my garden. There are a limited number of seeds in the two packs I purchased. I don’t scatter those. Instead, I take one out of the pack at a time, place each carefully in some carefully prepared soil and sprinkle a little potting soil on top. I’d be a fool to scatter this seed. It would be downright irresponsible if I depended solely on my garden for sustenance, as was the case in Jesus’ time.

From this weird behavior, Jesus makes the first point: God wants me to be a generous sower, not an obsessive controller. God wants me to foolishly spread seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…, not to measure my ‘seeds’ carefully and methodically.

The Lord is saying, “Don’t worry about spacing your commitments like you space your seeds. Don’t worry about proper distribution of spiritual, emotional and intellectual pursuits like you distribute your plants. You’re not in control. I am. I want you to be the sower, and sow seeds of love generously and without reservation. That’s how the kingdom will come.”

Think about a situation you struggled with in the past. How much more peaceful would your life be if you had done the same. Instead of trying to control the outcome, you scattered seeds of love, hope, and encouragement and let events unfold as God designed.

The second weird part of this parable is this. After he foolishly scatters the seeds, he walks away. I wish it were that easy. After planting, I am constantly weeding, watering, fertilizing, thinning, etc. Then, if all goes well, a harvest.

This man is either a lousy farmer or a lucky one.

In my garden, I control as many of these variables as possible. And I think it works. Yet that also illustrates a huge difference between us wanting to control the outcome, and recognizing that God is the one in control of the sun, the rain, the soil, the sprouting, the genetic make-up of the plant, the direction of growth, the shape of the leaves and the tastiness of the fruit. In my carefully tended garden, I give myself the illusion that I am in control, but it is in reality God, not me, that produces the harvest.

I do the same in my life’s interactions. I try to tend my friends and family and situations the same way I tend a garden. So much is outside of my control. My desire to want the world around me to be perfect leads to frustration and disappointment.

Part of letting go is to do what is proper to me, and let God do what is proper to God.

~

The second parable is about that beautiful mustard tree. It provides an example of the impact just one little seed can have. It invites us to think about all the seeds we have planted, and the seeds that others have planted within us: a teacher, a parent, a friend, a stranger. Each planted the seed, but didn’t control the outcome – just let it grow. Many of the seeds we plant we don’t even know they are seeds.

The second parable also has a weird part. The mustard plant was sometimes used for medicinal purposes, but was no friend to the farmers. It reseeded itself quite easily and prolifically. The four-foot-high plant takes over where it is not wanted, grows out of control, and attracts birds which sometimes eat the harvest. The mustard plant could be deadly if intermingled in a field of grain. Jesus in essence said the Kingdom of God is like a medicinal shrub with dangerous takeover properties.

How did Jesus use this parable to explain my current life situation? I imagined the field is not a field of fruitful grain, but a field of the things I like to control. All the attachments I have that separate me from God and the false expectations I have for myself and for others that are not aligned with God’s purposes. This is MY field.

Jesus is saying that once I stop controlling these things, this mustard tree with it’s medicinal properties will take over. “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God…”

What were my takeaways from the little side-bar with Jesus as I look at the nebulous but exciting future of no longer being director of the Catholic Conference Center:

1. You are not in control.
2. You are the sower, God is the grower. Sow seeds abundantly.
3. Control what is proper for you to control, and let God control what is proper for God to control.
4. Let go, and let God into your field.