St. Clare’s Episcopal Church

 

First an apology for the long delay in posting.  The intent was to spend a few weeks in pure listen mode, but I didn’t mean to be silent for so long.  From here on, I plan on a new post at least once a week. So….

 

 

I’ve had a Bible passage rattling around in my brain for about a month now and I’m wondering if that ever happens to you.  Has something just really hit you where you live and it won’t leave you alone?  For me it has been Mark 4:26-34 where Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to the sowing of seeds. 

 

Best if you read it for yourself, but I’ll summarize.  Jesus tells two parables.  In the first, a person plants some seeds and then goes about his or her business.  The seeds sprout and grow all on their own.  The planter can’t explain how, they just do.  The planter comes in at the end of the story to reap the harvest.  The second compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed which is the smallest of seeds, but which grows into a large shrub able to give shelter to the birds.

 

Bible readings stay with us because they speak to our real, every day experience.  Both of these parables touch on my experience as a church planter helping to start a brand new Episcopal church in Johnson County.

 

St. Clare’s feels like that mustard seed to me.  It may be smaller now, but we hope and believe that it will grow into a strong, thriving community that will “shelter the birds of the air” and proclaim the Kingdom of God.  I invite you to be a part of that God-given growth.

 

Jesus’ other story tells me how the kingdom of God, and our little corner of it at St. Clare’s, grows … and who does the growing.  We are the planters.  We are told to scatter seeds everywhere and all the time – little seeds of the Kingdom of God.  A smile, a conversation at the local coffee shop, the packing of backpacks for hungry kids, a check written to buy food or school supplies for our neighbors in Johnson County or a place like Haiti.  God then makes the seeds grow.  We don’t know which seeds will grow or how God makes it happen.  But knowing and understanding are not our job. Our job is to plant and pay attention so that we are ready to reap the harvest that God has provided. 

 

What do you think?  Ready to plant some seeds with us?