The Gift of a Seed
Text: Mark 4:26-34
It may sound like irony but it’s true. I’ve learned that what we need most is also what we can offer to others. We can only offer kindness – not just being polite or nice but a genuine kindness based on concern for everybody - when we know the pain of negligence or indifference. I remember walking down the street downtown Vancouver while attending an English language school as a newcomer to Canada. I remember my longing for a community. I tried to enter some church buildings to pray only to discover the doors were locked tight. Before we know the importance of welcoming strangers, we must know what it is like to be a stranger in a foreign land. I can’t forget the hospitality my wife and I received by a couple from a church in Geneva, Switzerland. We were backpacking in Europe in January. There was unexpected freezing rain, so we went to a nearby church. The service was just finished. This couple noticed us half-soaked. They provided us a warm tea and a tour of the building. It’s a strangely beautiful feeling to be welcomed by sisters and brothers I’ve never met before. Before we hand out a muffin to somebody we barely know, we must know what it’s like to be hungry. We can only understand how life-giving unconditional love is when we know how conditional love can damage our relationships. We know why a sense of belonging is crucial for our spiritual lives after we’ve been through the pain of loneliness and isolation. Now nobody can deny the gift of connection during this time of physical distancing. We can’t take anything for granted: our connection to loved ones, our community, and the whole creation. We live off those connections. When those connections are healthy and secure, nothing else matters. When those connections are weak and fragile, everything else matters.
Today we are celebrating Emilia’s baptism. We celebrate the very connection that makes all the other connections possible, our connection with God. We recognize the invisible and invincible connection that Emilia is born with. Whether we call it the image of God, the spark of the soul or the true self, we declare publicly that Emilia is born of God, and that she belongs to God. We acknowledge the spiritual realm within Emilia that none of us can fully understand. We can only honour such realm by embracing its mystery. Baptism is so much deeper than having a church membership. It’s about our solemn and delightful response to God who is already present in a child who is among us. Who are we to say yes or no when it’s God who loves and welcomes the child? Through baptism we either as participants or witnesses commit ourselves to demonstrate the radical hospitality of God in all we say and do. It’s a life-long journey. And that’s why we need a community who can walk alongside us.
Emilia, you are blessed to have a loving family. Many of your family members are already experts in staying connected beyond the physical distancing all the way from Germany! Their constant love, care, and prayer will continue to nurture you into what it means to be a beloved child of God. Emilia, you are also surrounded by a caring community. This congregation is also your family. We love to feed one another. We can’t wait to see you eating our famous homemade cookies or joining us for our monthly luncheon after church. We also have lots of fun with music. I hear you already started your concert on your grandmother’s piano. We can’t wait to hear your music in our sanctuary.
Emilia, we praise God for you are fearfully and wonderfully made. The world may see you as a baby. But to God’s eyes, you are full of possibilities. Meister Eckhart, a 14th century theologian, also from your mother’s land, talked about our everlasting connection to God with a seed. Eckhart said, “The seed of God is in us. Pear seeds grow into pear trees. Hazel seeds into hazel trees. And God seeds into God.”
Jesus also described the kingdom of God, where love and justice reign, with a seed. He said, “It is like a mustard seed, 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.”
What this passage tells us is not to jump to conclusions based on what we can see but to be open to what is yet to come. With one tiny seed, Jesus could see a full-grown tree and the birds that make nests in its shade. When we see you, Emilia, we can see how God is present in you. We can also see what God will create with you. God has blessed and will continue to bless your family, your community, and your world through you. When we see a small act of kindness for the community and for creation, we can also see the whole world that is sustained by so many kind hearts and caring hands. This insight gives us hope. It keeps us going, keeps us planting seeds – the seed of love, peace, and kindness - that will one day will benefit so many others. It may sound like irony but it’s true. What we need most is what we can offer others right now.