A Kingdom that Grows

Today's scripture reading is taken from Mark chapter 4, verse 26 to 34.

Mark 4:26–34

! Please follow along your Bible, and if you don't have one, please do still grab one from the front or at the back of the door.

And the passage today is on page 788.

788.

Hear then God's word to us today.

And he said,

The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.

He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows.

He knows not how.

The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

But when the grain is ripe at once, he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come.

And he said,

With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.

Yet, when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out 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 without a parable, but privately, to his own disciples, he explained everything.

Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word.

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven, thank you for giving us your word.

And thank you for your promise that as rain falls to the earth and waters the earth and makes things grow,

you promise that your word, which goes forth from your mouth, will not return to your void,

but it will accomplish your purposes for which you sent it.

And so would you be faithful to your promise, to accomplish your purpose this morning,

through the preaching of your word.

We pray, give us ears to hear, open our hearts to your word, so that we may hear your voice to us.

We pray all these things for your glory and for your name's sake.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

My father passed away last December.

It was a sad time for me and my family.

But the seeds of God's word was sown by me, by my family members, in his life for many, many years.

But I don't know what happened in the end.

Whether he responded to the gospel, accepted the invitation to come and repent and trust in Jesus.

I don't know what happened in the end.

And perhaps you can relate and you've had similar experience.

You've shared the gospel and you have prayed for other people, perhaps your family members,

and faithfully sown the seed of God's word for many, many years without seeing much fruit.

It seems as though nothing is happening.

Now, every time someone repents and believes in Jesus,

God's kingdom expands.

As another person confesses Jesus is their king, is his king.

The question I want us to consider this morning is this.

Is the kingdom of God growing around us?

Is the kingdom of God growing around you?

In our family, in our neighborhood, at a school, at work, in Hong Kong, is the kingdom of God growing?

In Japan, there's an increasing number of churches that have aging congregations,

and some churches are disappearing.

Some are without pastors and shepherds to lead them.

In the post-World War II history of the church in Japan,

the evangelical Christian population in Japan has never exceeded 1% of the population.

So is the kingdom of God growing in Japan?

What about Hong Kong?

Now, because I know Kevin, and he tells me about what God is doing in your midst,

and I know you have seen baptisms, and people coming to faith, and getting baptized,

and becoming followers, committed followers of Jesus, and that's wonderful.

The church is growing, and praise God for that.

I'm so excited to hear all these good news and good things happening in this church.

But in Hong Kong, at large, according to one research,

between 2014 and 2024, evangelical churches' worship attendance dropped by 35%.

I'm sure there are many, many reasons for that.

But the question is, is the kingdom of God growing around us?

Now, we might still pray,

Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

We might still pray those words and pray those prayers,

but do we pray your kingdom come with the same passion and expectation we had once before?

When we don't see much visible growth and fruit from our sowing of the gospel seeds,

and have our hopes for God to save those people around us,

have our expectations and passion, have those things slowly grown cold?

When God's kingdom, Jesus' saving reign as king,

when God's kingdom doesn't seem to be advancing around us,

it might be easy for us to lose sight of who we really are,

lose sight of and forget that we are citizens of God's kingdom,

and we lose sight of the mission our King Jesus has entrusted to us.

Instead, we might begin to live as though we belong entirely to the kingdom of this world,

and we begin to pursue the things that everybody else in this world is pursuing,

whatever it may be.

Our concern for sharing the good news of Jesus,

and for being salt and light on earth begins to fade,

and rather than longing for the growth and expansion of God's kingdom,

become more concerned and more focused on making our own lives here and now

a little bit more easier, a little bit more comfortable,

a little bit more enjoyable.

Now, these comforts in life and enjoyments in life,

they're not bad things necessarily,

but our lives can easily become more about us

than about God's kingdom and about the expansion and the growth of God's kingdom.

So this morning, we want our hearts and minds to be renewed and reshaped

by God's word and the vision of the kingdom of God that God has given us in his word.

In Mark chapter 4,

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Jesus teaches what the kingdom of God looks like through many parables,

and in today's passage, which we just heard,

we see that the growth of the kingdom of God is certain.

The growth of the kingdom of God is certain.

And we're going to see this certain growth of God's kingdom in four words.

Those are my four points.

And these four words describe how the kingdom grows for certain.

These four words,

mysterious,

gradual,

disproportionate,

and participatory.

Mysterious,

gradual,

disproportionate,

and participatory.

I can't even say.

And I wish I was smart enough to come up with some,

you know,

alliteration or something.

So it's easy to remember,

but I couldn't.

So here we go.

That's all I got.

So here we go.

Number one,

the growth of God's kingdom is mysterious.

Look back at verse 26.

Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like when a man scatters seed on the ground.

And verse 27 says,

we're told what happens to the seed that man sows.

Look at,

look at verse 27.

He sleeps and rises night and day,

and the seed sprouts and grows.

He knows not how.

The man doesn't know how the seed grows,

but it does.

It grows.

It's,

it's a mysterious growth.

And in verse 28,

Jesus says,

the earth produces by itself.

Now this,

this phrase by itself in the original language is the word that became the source for our English word automatic.

In other words,

what Jesus is saying here is that the seed sown on the ground will automatically grow.

Without any help,

it will grow.

That's what Jesus is saying.

You know what,

uh,

morning glory is morning glories.

You guys have that here.

Okay.

All right.

Uh,

in Japanese,

it's called Asagao.

And every elementary school student in Japan,

at least once during the course of elementary school,

at least once they,

they have to grow morning glory asagao in a science class or something.

Now,

I think they use that particular flower in science class because it's so easy to grow that.

Anybody can grow morning glory.

Um,

but even morning glories that anybody can grow need to be watered and placed in the sun for it to,

to,

to grow.

No.

But what is surprising in what Jesus is saying is that the seed sown by the person grows by itself.

Even if that person does nothing.

Now,

it doesn't,

it doesn't say he,

this,

this farmer who went out and sowed a seed,

it doesn't say that he prepared the soil or applied fertilizer or provided adequate water and sunlight,

anything like that.

It doesn't say anything like that.

He,

he just simply scatters the seed and it grows.

And Jesus says,

that person who scatters the seed doesn't know how it grows.

There's nothing,

but he doesn't know how it grows.

That means that it is not by the efforts of the person who sowed the seed or by the wisdom and skill and knowledge he possesses to make the seed grow.

So,

what Jesus is teaching here is that the growth of God's kingdom does not ultimately depend on human effort or human wisdom.

We don't know how,

but the kingdom grows mysteriously by the power and wisdom of God.

Now,

when you hear that,

when you hear God's kingdom grows by God's power and God's wisdom,

we might think,

well,

of course,

of course we know that.

Of course,

the kingdom of God grows by God's power.

Duh.

But the question is,

do we really believe that?

And more importantly,

do we really live as though we believe that?

When someone comes to faith through our evangelism,

our sharing of good news,

or when our children embrace their faith because we taught them the gospel,

when that happens,

aren't we sometimes tempted to give too much,

a little too much credit to what we did rather than God's power,

what God has done?

Or,

on the other hand,

don't we sometimes act as if it's our responsibility and it's up to us to make the seed grow,

especially when it comes to our children.

we pour ourselves into teaching,

teaching them,

praying for them,

and setting an example.

And these are wonderful things that we must do.

But before long,

we can begin to feel as though the outcome rests on us.

But the kingdom of God expands automatically,

by itself,

without help.

It just grows mysteriously by the power of God.

So that's the first one.

Second,

the growth of God's kingdom is gradual.

Look again at verse 28.

The earth produces by itself,

first the blade,

then the ear,

then the full grain in the ear.

Do you hear the gradual nature of this growth?

First this,

then this,

then this.

A crop grows through distinct stages.

It takes time.

There's no shortcut that you can take.

You can't skip from planting the,

the,

the seed to harvest in the grain overnight.

That's what Jesus is trying to say here.

Jesus says that the growth of kingdom is,

God's kingdom is much the same.

It unfolds gradually.

According to God's timing,

there are seasons and stages.

It must go through.

And these seasons and stages that it goes through,

they,

they cannot be skipped or rushed or even delayed.

But if we're honest though,

that's not what we want,

is it?

We want the seeds that we sow to bear fruit immediately.

Wouldn't it be great?

You know,

if you like tomatoes,

I love tomatoes.

You sow the,

sow tomato seeds.

And next day,

next morning,

boop,

ripe juicy tomatoes.

We want that,

right?

Wouldn't it be wonderful

if

we share the gospel with our neighbors,

with our children,

the coworkers,

and almost overnight revival sweep through?

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Revival in Hong Kong,

revival in Tokyo.

Wouldn't it be amazing to see entire communities

transformed spiritually,

morally,

and socially

in a matter of days?

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

But,

perhaps,

our

expectations,

our timetable,

for the growth of God's kingdom,

is not God's timetable.

Jesus says,

just as

a farmer

patiently waits

for the crop to mature,

Jesus teaches his disciples

to wait

patiently

for the growth of God's kingdom.

He wants us to trust

that his kingdom

will grow

and spread

according to God's

perfect timing,

not according to the schedule

we would have chosen.

And in verse 29,

Jesus tells us

how long this kingdom

of God

will continue to grow.

29 again.

But when the grain is ripe,

at once

he puts in the sickle

because the harvest

has come.

Now,

at first glance,

we

might not see

the significance

of these words,

but the first readers

of Mark,

who were much more familiar

with the Old Testament

than we are,

perhaps,

they would have

likely

recognized

that Jesus

was echoing

the language

of an Old Testament passage,

particularly

in Joel chapter 3,

Joel 3:13

verse 13.

This,

in Joel chapter 3,

Joel 3:13

verse 13,

the same expression,

putting in the sickle

at harvest time.

The same expression

is used.

Now,

in Joel 3,

13,

there the image

of putting in

the sickle

at harvest

points to

this day

when God

will judge

the nations

and bring

his people

from all corners

of the earth

to be with him

forever.

That day

when God

will bring

his saving work

to completion.

It refers

to that day.

So,

when Jesus speaks

of the harvest

in this passage,

he's pointing

beyond an ordinary

harvest

to the final day

when he will return.

On that day,

this broken world

filled with sin

and full of brokenness,

he will fully

restore this world

and God's kingdom

will be revealed

in all of its fullness

and everyone

who trusted

in Jesus

will be gathered

from the ends

of the earth

to live with him

forever.

He's pointing

to that day

and Jesus'

point here

is that the kingdom

of God

will continue

to grow

until that day.

It will not

stop short.

It will not fail

and by God's power

the kingdom

will keep advancing

but gradually

until the harvest

that God

has appointed.

So,

the kingdom

of God,

the growth

of the kingdom

of God

is gradual

and third,

the growth

of God's kingdom

is disproportionate.

Look back

at verse 30,

32, 32.

And he said,

with what can we

compare the kingdom

of God

or what parable

shall we use

for it?

It is like a grain

of mustard seed

which when sown

on the ground

is the smallest

of all the seeds

on earth

yet when it is sown

it grows up

and becomes larger

than all the garden

plants

and puts out

large branches

so that the

birds of the air

can make nests

in its shade.

Now,

I know that

many of us

are familiar

with this parable

and Jesus' words

and so

because we're

so familiar

with this parable

we tend to miss

the shock factor

when we read it.

but let's not

skip over

how ridiculously

disproportionate

the size difference

is between

a mustard seed

and a fully

grown tree.

A mustard seed

I looked it up

is about

one millimeter

it's tiny

a fully grown tree

about three meters

tall

and three meters

wide.

Now,

when you hear

three meters

by three meters

you might think

huh

okay

it doesn't sound

like a big tree

to me

right?

But,

however

in terms of

the ratio

in terms of

the volume

difference

I realized

that

a fully

grown tree

is

billions

of times

bigger

heavier

than the seed

the difference

is

astronomical

I was with

mainland

Chinese

pastors

who are

faithfully

preaching the gospel

for a preaching

workshop

this past

week

here in

Hong Kong

and

I've

always

been

fascinated

by

the

Chinese

culture

Chinese

history

who

here

any of you

seen

the Great Wall

of China

have you

visited

the Great Wall

of China

oh wow

so many

of you

that's

wonderful

I would love

to go

at some

point

who can

tell me

how long

it actually

is

no one

all right

here we go

21,196

kilometers

it's

it's so

mind-boggling

it's hard

to imagine

how long

that is

and it

was built

over

2,000

years

brick

by brick

stone

block

by stone

block

it was

built

and

it's

estimated

42

billion

bricks

or stones

were used

in the

construction

of this

Great Wall

now I bet

you

the people

who

laid the

first

brick

they had

no idea

how massive

this thing

will turn out

to be

Jesus

says

just as

something

as small

as a grain

of sand

like a mustard

seed

grows into

a large

tree

so the

kingdom

of God

no matter

how small

and how

insignificant

it may

seem

now

he says

it will

grow

now when

Mark's

gospel was

written

the church

lived under

the rule

and influence

of the Roman

empire

and Christians

were a

tiny minority

and from

their perspective

from human

perspective

it must have

seemed like

as though

God's kingdom

was making

very little

progress

the reality

they experienced

probably fell

far short

of what they

had expected

now at times

we may feel

the same way

in our

context

we look

at our

society

and we

see

increasing

turmoil

increasing

division

instead of

peace

increasing

hostility

toward one

another

instead of

love

and moral

confusion

instead of

righteousness

and when we

see all these

things it can

seem as though

the kingdom

of this world

is gaining

ground

and the kingdom

of God

is standing

still

but Jesus

tells us

to see

things very

differently

God's word

tells us

that even

when nothing

seems to be

happening

from a human

perspective

he says

no no no

God's at work

God is growing

his kingdom

so that means

we must not

judge the

kingdom

by

its appearance

right now

Jesus says

the kingdom

will grow

and in the

end

oh it

will be

so

disproportionate

to how

it started

that's what

Jesus is

teaching us

here

but Jesus

is not

telling us

to just

sit back

and do

nothing

and simply

wait for

the kingdom

to grow

he has

given us

something

to participate

in

so number

four

last point

the growth

of God's

kingdom

is participatory

when Jesus

told his

parable

he wanted

his listeners

to ask

themselves

where am I

in this

story

what character

am I

now notice

there's a role

for us

in this

parable

we're

we're

we're this

man

who

goes out

and scatters

seed on the

ground

notice that

the growth

of God's

kingdom

begins

with someone

sowing

the seed

so

what does

it mean

to sow

the seed

well

Jesus

answers

that

question

earlier

in Mark

chapter

four

he

explained

this

parable

of the

sower

to his

disciples

and he

says in

verse 14

Mark

chapter

four

the

sower

sows

the word

so the

seed

in this

parable

and earlier

parable

represents

God's

word

and to

sow

the seed

is to

proclaim

God's

word

to share

the good

news

of the

gospel

now

ultimately

Jesus

himself

is the

first

sower

of the

word

at the

beginning

of Mark's

gospel

he went

throughout

Galilee

proclaiming

the gospel

of God

saying

Mark

chapter

one

verse

15

the

time

is

fulfilled

and the

kingdom

of God

is at

hand

repent

and believe

in the

gospel

so

Jesus

himself

is the

ultimately

first

sower

of the

word

then

through

the

great

commission

as we

know

Jesus

entrusted

that

same

mission

to

his

disciples

to

go out

and to

proclaim

God's

word

proclaim

the gospel

and to

continue

sowing

the seed

of God's

word

until he

returns

so

God

has

graciously

ordained

our

participation

in the

growth

of God's

kingdom

isn't that

amazing

God

can do

it all

but he

invites

to

participate

in the

growth

of

God's

kingdom

and

giving

us

a

task

but when

we

preach

the

gospel

when

we

share

God's

word

when

we

talk

about

God

and

his

word

with

others

and

sow

the

seed

of

God's

word

we

often

feel

as

though

nothing

is

happening

even

after

many

many

years

of

effort

nothing

there

may be

very

little

visible

change

in our

own

community

in

Tokyo

there

have

been

people

who

studied

the

Bible

with

us

attended

our

Sunday

gathering

heard

the

gospel

for a

time

and

then

suddenly

people

might

stop

coming

or

they

move

away

before

their

faith

ever

seemed

to

take

root

isn't

it

true

that

from

our

perspective

we

often

sow

gospel

seeds

but

rarely

get

to

see

the

fruit

right

away

in

our

children

in

our

friends

in

our

family

co-workers

and yet

Jesus

teaches

us

that

something

real

something

is

happening

actually

happening

even

when

nothing

appears

to be

happening

from

our

perspective

when

we

sow

the

seed

of

the

gospel

we're

not

we're

not

the

ones

that

can

make

the

seed

grow

that

power

to

grow

the

seed

that

we

sow

that

power

belongs

to

God

and

his

word

and

so

we

don't

need

to

be

anxious

we

don't

need

to

be

we

don't

need

to

be

forcing

things

to

grow

only

God

can

do

that

and

when

I

look

back

on

my

own

story

I

realize

how

many

different

people

God

had

placed

in

my

life

and

God

used

those

people

to

sow

the

seed

of

the

gospel

in

my

life

more

than

30

years

ago

I

was

a

high

school

student

I

went

on

this

home

stay

program

during

summer

vacation

and

my

host

family

in

LA

they

took

me

to

church

as

my

very

first

exposure

to

anything

Christian

then

in

my

final year

of

high

school

my

home

!

teacher

!

gave

me

a

Bible

which

I

don't

think

it

was

allowed

but

he

did

it

anyway

and

it

was

through

that

Bible

God

would

later

lead

me

to

faith

in

Jesus

now

at

that

time

I

don't

think

any

of

those

people

who

sow

the

seed

of

God's

word

and

the

gospel

in

my

life

I

don't

think

anybody

had

any

idea

what

God

would

eventually

do

through

those

small

acts

of

sowing

God's

word

but

God

was at

work

quietly

and

faithfully

bringing

me

to

salvation

and

faith

in

Jesus

and

welcoming

me

into

his

kingdom

and

now

three

decades

later

there's

a

small

but

healthy

local

church

in

Tokyo

and

the

kingdom

of

God

is

still

growing

now

three

summers

ago

I

happened

to

be

back

in

LA

as

a

family

and

I

had

the

opportunity

to

reunite

with

the

host

family

after

for

the

first

time

you know

after

more

than

30

years

I

was

able

to

introduce

them

to

Emma

and

my

children

and

shared

with

them

how

God

had

been

leading

me

and

my

family

all

these

years

but

this

raises

an

important

question

those

people

had

no

idea

what

happened

to

me

what

happened

to

the

seed

that

they

sowed

so

how

can

we

believe

how

can

we

believe

that

something

is

truly

happening

when

we

see

no

visible

growth

in

the

seeds

we

sow

how

can

we

be

confident

how

can

we

be

so

confident

in

saying

that

the

growth

of

God's

kingdom

is

certain

when

from

our

perspective

nothing

seems

to be

changing

I

believe

Jesus

would

say

to

us

look

at

me

let's

think

about

this

Jesus

came

into

this

broken

world

as a

small

helpless

baby

no

major

announcement

no

fanfare

he

came

in

quietly

he

came

in

discreetly

and

for

most

of

his

life

he

lived

as

an

ordinary

virtually

unknown

carpenter

in

this

small

town

called

Nazareth

and

when

he

died

on

the

cross

most

people

saw

nothing

more

than

the

execution

of

another

criminal

even

his

own

disciples

who

thought

okay

we

think

he's

the

Messiah

but

he

died

and

they

thought

everything

had

come

to

an

end

and

yet

underneath

what

many

people

thought

was an

insignificant

death

something

massive

was happening

Jesus

himself

became

the

seed

that

fell

to

the

ground

and

died

and

through

that

death

came

eternal

life

for

all

who

believe

that's

what

he

was

doing

and

not

only

that

Jesus

didn't

stay

dead

he

rose

from

the

dead

and

now

he's

seated

in

heaven

on

his

throne

so

we

sang

earlier

Jesus

is

the

king

of

kings

forever

he's

the

king

of

kings

forever

more

Jesus

is

the

king

of

an

everlasting

kingdom

he

is

still

growing

his

kingdom

he's

still

expanding

God's

kingdom

the reach

of his

kingdom

brick

by brick

stone

by stone

through

our

sowing

of the

gospel

isn't

that

amazing

that he

would

use

finite

beings

like

us

sinful

people

like

us

to

expand

his

kingdom

through

our

sharing

our

preaching

of

God's

word

until

the

kingdom

becomes

nothing

like

we

have

ever

imagined

if

you

are

here

and

you're

not

yet

a

follower

of

Jesus

I

don't

know

who

you

are

I

haven't

met

you

but

if

you

are

here

and

if

you're

not

a

follower

of

Jesus

I

want

you

to

know

Jesus

is

inviting

you

into

his

kingdom

Jesus

wants

you

to

come

he

has

opened

the

door

wide

open

for

you

to

come

into

his

kingdom

all

you

have

to

do

is

to

accept

his

invitation

to

come

all

you

have

to

do

is

tell

him

that

you

want

to

turn

from

living

your

life

your

own

way

and

turn

to

him

and

to

walk

with

him

all

you

have

to

do

is

to

accept

his

invitation

you

can

do

that

right

here

right

now

you

don't

need

to

wait

the

growth

of

God's

kingdom

is

certain

it

is

mysterious

it

is

gradual

it

is

disproportionate

and

it

is

participatory

whenever

we

speak

about

Jesus

with

others

whenever

we

teach

God's

word

in

a

home

or

at

a

Bible

study

whenever

we

preach

God's

word

on

Sundays

or

sow

the

gospel

into

the

lives

of

our

children

no

matter

how

small

or

unfruitful

it

may

seem

our

work

is

not

in

vain

because

our

king

is

still

growing

his

kingdom

so

brothers

and

sisters

let

us

be

faithful

let

us

be

faithful

to

continue

to

sow