Buried (Alive)

Mark 4:26-32

Have you ever felt buried? In over your head? Overwhelmed? Overworked? Stressed-out? Burnt-out? Unproductive? Well, then the gospel is for you.

Ours is a gospel in which we are not buried to die, but buried to live. Romans 6:4, “we were buried together with Christ through baptism into his death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life.” That statement makes very little sense at the surface-level. So I want us to dig down a bit deeper and really think about what it might mean to say that “we are buried to live”.

Jesus never wanted folks to just follow him blindly, or take what he had to say as true without thinking about it. “If you’ve got eyes…look! If you’ve got ears…listen!” Jesus wanted people to wrestle with what was really true. This is because what people are told to accept as true and good and righteous by people in positions of power and prominence is often times untrue and rotten and wicked. Jesus even goes so far as to challenge widely held interpretations of the Torah, the Jewish Law. Take the Sermon on the Mount for example: in the 5th chapter of Matthew, Jesus speaks out against 6 commonly held interpretations of the scriptures using the same formula each time, “You have heard it said…but I say to you…” Jesus wants his hearers to chew their truth before they swallow it, he wants them to think more deeply, to dig below the surface.

So let’s get to thinking about what it could mean to be “buried to live.” If you’ve made it to worship at all for the last couple of weeks, you're well prepared to think deeply about this. If you haven’t, then Jesus’ parables from today’s text offer a hint: “life in the Kingdom of God is like a seed.” Seeds are “buried to live.” Let’s look back at what we’ve experienced in worship and word:

• At our Earth Day worship in the park, we planted seeds and likened their nurture and growth to our own nurture through the spiritual practice thinking about and affirming the gifts we possess that reveal who God calls us to be.

• Then, a few weeks back, we celebrated the sacrament of Baptism during which I prayed these words over the Baptismal Font: “We thank you, O God, for the water of baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. From it we are raised to share in his resurrection, Through it we are reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

• The following week, we celebrated the sacrament of Communion during which we prayed to thank God for gifts of bread and cup, for the grain and fruit grown from the soil, and for the mysterious work of the Spirit through which they become, for us, full communion in the Kingdom of God as we become members of the body of Christ.

• We also thought about Sabbath, about stopping to spend time in God’s presence.

• Last week, we talked about Adam and Eve being called out of hiding into God’s presence so that they could receive grace and grow from their mistakes.

Let us approach today’s text one more time: “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 grain, then the full head of grain.” Jesus is using the mysterious process of a seed which is buried in the soil, and then, sight-unseen, brought to life, to describe how the Kingdom of God grows “in a hidden, mysterious way.”[1]

Are we supposed to compare ourselves to the seeds, buried in baptism to be called forth into new life in Christ? Or are we supposed to relate to the farmer, bewildered by the mystery and miracle of growth of the seeds we scatter and then leave alone? Or are we, as the church, supposed to identify with the soil: a source of support and spiritual nourishment for all the seeds scattered throughout this world; a place where mysterious and miraculous growth happens by the power of God’s Spirit in the presence of God’s grace? Or maybe Jesus is vague on purpose…so that we will think about all of these things.

The meaning of parables isn’t on the surface, but buried deeper. When we pray, and read, and think deeply about Scripture, we encounter the hidden and mysterious power of the Spirit which causes something within us to grow. And this is not only true for Scripture, but true for any time we pray and think deeply about anything: current events, family issues, jobs and careers, relationships, big decisions. But when we feel rushed and overwhelmed, deep thought seems an unaffordable luxury. I’d suggest this is one of the reasons why God is so insistent that we practice the sabbath, we need time to be still in the presence of God and just think deeply. We need to allow God to help us guide our lives, our thoughts, our actions, our choices along the paths of righteousness.

Do you see the good news for those of us who feel buried by worry, doubt, fear, pain, grief, stress, work, responsibilities, expectations? Just as the seed grows and bears fruit independently of the farmer’s ability, effort, and awareness, so too is gift of grace is given independently of our ability to earn it, to create it, or even to fully comprehend it. So do you feel buried? In over your head? Overwhelmed? Overworked? Stressed-out? Burnt-out? Unproductive? God is involved in your life in hidden and mysterious ways to help you grow out of the places where you are buried. Think deeply about that. And like the mustard seed which grows into a shelter from the storm for the birds of the air, may your life help God’s Kingdom grow into a refuge for those in need of safety, shelter, and rest. Thanks be to God. Amen.

[1] Williamson. Lamar, Jr. “Mark” from Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching.