Gardening is all about hope; we sow in the fall and plant in the spring and wait. Somehow, we know that eventually the earth will keep its promise despite harsh winters and cold, late springs. It’s all about patience in the knowledge that if we wait and are vigilant spring will come. Perhaps this exceptionally late spring on the heels of a long and bitter winter remind us that gardening is not for impatient people. No, impatient people want things to happen now, on their time schedule and are always expecting the real thing to happen somewhere else and therefore want to go elsewhere. The current moment is empty for them. Bur patient people dare to stay where they are. Patient gardeners, like the sower in our parable do not go away; they remain present and prepare for what they know is inevitable, spring and new growth and the fruits of their labor.
The passage in (Mark 4:26-34) reminds us that the Kingdom of God occurs without any help or involvement from us. We, except for our presence, have nothing to do with it. The parable implies the hidden and smallness of the quiet beginnings of the kingdom and also underscores the lack of involvement on the part of the sower. He cannot or does not make his garden happen by force or will. The sower doesn't even water or weed his planting! He just sows and then sleeps and rises night and day and patiently waits. The earth takes care of it all as the mustard yields its bounty and sends out its large hearty branches as it and the kingdom grow organically. Inevitably, God's hidden, mysterious work in the world and in us will be fruitful.
Being patient gardeners and living patiently go hand-in-hand; however, living patiently is not the same as passive living; we trust that somehow “things” will all fall into place. This enables us to live actively in the present and wait there like the sower until the earth is ready. Yet waiting involves actively preparing just as an expectant mother prepares for her baby. She is aware and attentive to the baby's presence as the child is nurtured and quietly grows in her womb without any help from her. Likewise the gardener waits knowing that despite the absence of any outward signs, the earth is busily going about preparing its bounty unnoticed. Paradoxically, this active waiting is actually a way of controlling the future. The mother and gardener just know.
Giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, according to God’s love and not according to our fears or wishes, are not easy and run counter to our take charge culture of success. The spiritual life in which we wait actively present in the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us…new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy or prediction, is a very radical approach toward life in a world preoccupied with control. And so it is with the kingdom of God; we let it unfold, and know that we are an integral part of its growth and transformation in the here and now and into the future.
A parable invites the participation of its listener. People who heard Jesus describe the Kingdom of God as a garden that grew all of its own would have laughed at him. They knew that gardeners and farmers couldn't just nap the time away and expect a harvest. I suspect Jesus would have smiled and said to them, "You are quite right. If you want a good harvest, you have to put in the hard work." The harvest of a garden relies on the rain, the sun, the life that is in the seed. These things God must provide. It also relies on the sweat of the gardener. That's where we come in. Jesus invites us to become partners in bringing forth the Kingdom of God, and offers a share in the harvest of peace and joy.
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