Growing the Kingdom of God

Funeral homily preached on Thursday 27th November 2008, 11am at Robin Hood Crematorium.

Reading: Mark 4: 26-34
Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables,

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??? was a great lover of gardening. She loved planting seeds and cuttings and watching them grow. She might have appreciated the reading that we heard a moment ago from Mark’s gospel.
In the reading, Jesus tells us two parables. In both parables the Kingdom of God is compared to a plant that grows. In the first parable Jesus says that when we plant a seed of grain and watch it grow, it is something of a mystery to us how it grows. We know we need to take care of the seed, giving it water and light, but the growing it does by itself. And when it has grown, one grain of wheat produces a whole head of corn, a harvest many times greater than itself. We harvest the grain, and rejoice in the good things we receive through the harvest.
In the second parable Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It starts off as a very small seed, yet over time it grows to be the greatest of all shrubs.
Well ??? has been growing on this earth for 88 years, and now, for her, harvest time has come. God has taken her home. It is a sad time for us, who are left with the stubble in the field, but in heaven there is rejoicing in the good things received there. Of course, we do not know how rich or poor the harvest in heaven has been. We know that Beatrice was baptised and confirmed in the Church of England, so we know that good seed was sown in her. We also know that she was not a great churchgoer, so perhaps the seed did not get as much light and water as it might have liked, but we trust in the remarkable and mysterious love of God, that allows many plants to grow, even where we do little to look after them.
So today, as we commend ??? to Almighty God, let us trust in his great love and mercy and let us have hope. Let us trust that any failing and difficulties and weaknesses in her can be restored through the death and resurrection of Christ. Let us trust that we will see her again, when we ourselves die. Let us prepare well for that day by living our lives in the love of God, because God’s love is like the light and water that makes a plant grow. It’s God’s love that allows the kingdom of God to grow in us. It is God’s love that will bring us one day to a successful harvest, and to a great reunion in heaven.