The Farmer Doesn't Know How

April 28, 2023

Mark 4:25-34 | Ecclesiastes 8:15-17

There’s nothing wrong with seeking understanding. Whatever God did in creating humanity, the result is we have brains with the ability to ponder and reason. The core of wisdom is wrapped with humanity’s capacity to think.

Yet there will always be aspects of understanding beyond our grasp.

It’s not that we can’t and haven’t studied plants and seeds enough at this point to be able to figure out how they grow. Some combination of moisture, nutrients, sunlight, air, and yes, the passing of time, eventually results in the bursting forth of a seed from soil toward the sky.

Farmers do know this.

But how?

You can explain away how a mustard seed (or acorn or pinecone or…), easily eaten by a bird, can be planted to grow into a whole habitat for the same bird. But you can’t take away the wonder of the spectacle.

The Kingdom of God is like that. Don’t try to understand it so exhaustively that you miss its beauty and wonder.

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Mark 4:25-34

Then Jesus said, “This is what God’s kingdom is like. It’s as though someone scatters seed on the ground, then sleeps and wakes night and day. The seed sprouts and grows, but the farmer doesn’t know how. The earth produces crops all by itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full head of grain. Whenever the crop is ready, the farmer goes out to cut the grain because it’s harvesttime.”

He continued, “What’s a good image for God’s kingdom? What parable can I use to explain it? Consider a mustard seed. When scattered on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; but when it’s planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants. It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade.”

With many such parables he continued to give them the word, as much as they were able to hear. He spoke to them only in parables, then explained everything to his disciples when he was alone with them.

Ecclesiastes 8:15-17

So I commend enjoyment because there’s nothing better for people to do under the sun but to eat, drink, and be glad. This is what will accompany them in their hard work, during the lifetime that God gives under the sun.

Then I set my mind to know wisdom and to observe the business that happens on earth, even going without sleep day and night I observed all the work of God—that no one can grasp what happens under the sun. Those who strive to know can’t grasp it. Even the wise who are set on knowing are unable to grasp it.

Prayer

God,

Give me knowledge. Show me wisdom.

But let love not get lost in the quest for understanding.

By your spirit & in Christ,

Amen.