Sowing for Sustenance — Not Profit
Mark 4:1 – 32
“He [Jesus] 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 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.’”
– Mark 4:30 – 32, NRSVUE
Jesus tells three sowing parables in Mark 4: the parable of the sower, the parable about seeds suddenly sprouting, and the parable of the mustard seed. These parables can be attractive in modern western economies where profit is king. Yet the abundance depicted in these stories does not seem to be a source of profit.
In the mustard seed parable, the tiny seed becomes a sizable shrub where birds can build nests to hatch eggs and care for their young. This story highlights a plant sustaining the livelihood of non-human creatures without losing its own life.
What is striking about this portrait of a sustainable kingdom is its contrast with the first-century Roman Empire, in which a disproportionate amount of crops and their wealth went to the ruling wealthy elite while low-income farmers struggled to get by. For Jesus’s primarily low-income and poor audience, being birds or mustard seeds in this parable could indeed be good news. In such a kingdom, they could experience equity, sustenance, and sustainable life.
What is one thing you can do this week to promote equity and sustainable life?
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Credits
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version updated edition of the Bible
Image of wheat is by Irena Carpaccio on the Unsplash website
Image of red and pink seeds is by Nisuda Nirmantha on the Unsplash website
