Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

June 16, 2024Today's Reading: Mark 4:26-34Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 16:1-24; John 16:1-16And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.” (Mark 4:26)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus spoke to them in parables. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. (4:34) Why did the crowd not get the full picture? What set the disciples apart? Let alone what does the kingdom of God have to do with scattering seeds or a tiny mustard seed?Jesus spoke to them in parables. The crowd was missing the point because they weren’t looking in the right place. Jesus was not telling them these parables because he wanted to make them think about the world or become the next great rabbi for them to follow. No, Jesus, even in the parables, cuts right to the image of the coming of the kingdom and the harvest at the end of the age.The sower sows the seed of the Word of God. From that point on, the sower can care for that seed. How that word convicts or grabs a man’s conscience is not his doing but God’s. Jesus spoke to them in parables because it is through simple words that God is active. Jesus spoke to them in parables so that those with even a mustard seed’s size of faith would hear these words from the Word of God made flesh itself and believe. That those words would take root, that God would grow that seed, care for it, and guide that person through their daily life to the harvest.God does this still today for those with great and little faith. God Himself is the worker and author of faith through the preaching of His Gospel and proclamation of forgiveness of sins. God desires not that man would stand far off trying to discern how to reach God, but that man would hear the words of life from Jesus, drown their sinful flesh, die in the life-giving waters of Baptism, and receive the life-giving meal of Jesus’s Body and Blood under the simple means of bread and wine.Jesus spoke to them in parables just as the Word itself was veiled in flesh so that those who believe would see God’s salvation for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Blessed Lord, since You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.- Vicar Justin Chester, Vicar at Shepherd of the City, Fort Wayne, INAudio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols This collection of over 600 hand-drawn Christian symbols by artist and author Edward Riojas will teach you the extensive history of the imagery of the Church. Each symbol is a beautiful and historical connection to generations of Christians that have worshiped before you. A Complete Guide to Christian Symbols. Now available from Concordia Publishing.