Mark 4:1-10,13-20 (NRSV)
Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold." And he said, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!"
When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables.
And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."
"A parable" according to The Oxford Companion to the Bible, "is a picturesque figure of language in which an analogy refers to a similar but different reality." "In the Gospels it can refer to a proverb (Luke 4.23), aphorism (Mark 9.5), metaphor (Mark 7. 14-17), similitude (Mark 4. 30-32), story parable (Luke 14. 16-24), example parable (Luke 10. 29-37), or allegory (Mark 12:1-11)." (Written by Robert H. Stein, page 567).
Philip Van Linden, C.M. in The Collegeville Bible Commentary, New Testament Volume quotes from C. H. Dodd, the renowned British Scripture scholar. "At it's simplest, the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought." (Page 912).
About the parable that is part of today's Gospel and Commemoration of Alexander Crummell the Collegeville Commentary continues. "In Jesus' first parable (vv. 3-8), Mark's readers hear that something small, like a seed (or like the small Christian community of A.D. 70), could grow (or not grow) and yield (or not yield) much grain depending on whether the soil was good (or thorny or rocky or hardened like the footpath). A good parable, by its nature, is open-ended and gives the hearer the choice to respond on various levels." (Page 912).
Alexander Crummell was born on March 3, 1819 in New York City. He struggled against racism all of his life. He was driven out of an academy in New Hampshire, and dismissed as a candidate for Holy Orders in New York and rejected from admittance to General Seminary. He was ordained a Priest in 1844 in the Diocese of Massachusetts. He later left for England after being excluded from participating in diocesan conventions.
After receiving a degree from Cambridge, he went to Liberia as a missionary. Crummell believed that the African race "possessed a warm, emotional and impulsive energy, which in America had been corrupted by oppression. The Episcopal Church, with its emphasis on rational and moral discipline, was especially fitted for the moral and spiritual regeneration of Afro-Americans.." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 572).
Alexander Crummell committed his work to advancing the faith of Episcopalians among the Liberian people. As a result, Crummell also advanced the acceptance of Afro-Americans within the Episcopal Church.
Crummell is an example of one who "wants to hear the word, take it to heart, and be" among "followers of Jesus' way." (Collegeville Commentary, New Testament Volume, page 913). He accomplished this in an era when many within the Episcopal Church believed that if someone was Afro-American they could not accomplish much good, just because of their skin color. Crummell battled racism by demonstrating himself above and beyond what those who were prejudiced against him thought. In so doing, Crummell helped Jesus spread other new seed so that the garden of inclusion and an intolerance for oppression could begin and continue to grow.
In today's Episcopal Church we have exceptional individuals such as Bishop Gene Robinson, Bishop Mary Glasspool, Rev. Susan Russell, Rev. David Norgaard, Rev. Timothy Hodapp, Rev. Jeff Nelson, Rev. Gayle Marsh, Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, John Fortunato, Bonnie Anderson, Rev. Canon Gray Temple and the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, who are among those who are openly LGBTQ and those who support LGBTQ people and their full inclusion in the Rites and Sacraments of the Church. Thanks to the work of so many who have gone before these individuals, there are also now many Bishops, Priests, Deacons and lay people who support the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the Episcopal Church. But the seed planting had to begin somewhere. Thank God there were those who began the work so long ago, to help us to where we are now.
As we move forward, how will generations after us, see the work we are presently doing? How will generations to come view the work of the Church if we do not speak up about the terrible evil of the burning of the Quran's that may still take place tomorrow on the Anniversary of September 11th? What will the Church and America look like in the next decade when they hear that Pastor Jones used the burning of the Quran as a potential hostage to get Muslims to move the Park 51 Islamic Center away from Ground Zero? When the choice is before us to help work towards peace and justice for all people, and we make the choice to choose evil, exclusion, to scapegoat people of other religions, sexual orientations, gender expressions/identities, genders, classes, races, cultural backgrounds, challenges, are we not looking more and more like Jesus' description of: "These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing."?
The Bible, the word of God, the Gospel are not to be used as opportunities for scapegoating, or taking others different than ourselves hostage until they yield to our wishes. Jesus himself, did not even do that. Instead, he presented the truth before his hearers, and left it to them to decide how to respond. Their response was how they received and understood the words and actions of Jesus. Jesus, however, did not condemn those who understood what he said or did, differently from anyone else. Jesus understood that within his audience there were many who have different abilities to understand what and how something was said. Jesus would have known that within his audience there were those who were well educated and those who were what we might call "common thinkers". There may have been a woman in his assembly who had had an abortion, but that does not mean he loved her any less, or used her situation to suggest that a man should bomb an abortion clinic. There may have been a eunuch (a homosexual) within his hearing who was feeling left out by his faith, but Jesus went and gave her or him the opportunity to Commune with Jesus. Who then are we in the Church to refuse Holy Communion to LGBTQ people? The Gospel, the Cross and the Sacraments are not to become instruments for us to make scapegoats out of anyone.
Last night a wonderful thing happened. A Federal Judge in California ruled that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is "Unconstitutional." And already organizations from the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America are calling the Judge an "activist judge." How sad!
How are we responding to the words of Jesus? Do we receive the words of Jesus and have compassion on others that are different from ourselves, or are we using them to find excuses to scape goat? What seed describes us in the Gospel reading? How do we see ourselves in the work of Alexander Crummell?
Have you ordered your copy of the Quran yet? If not, please consider going to Gain Peace and ordering one. Yesterday, I called and ordered my copy. When I spoke to the receptionist, I told him that me and my partner are Episcopalians. I further told him that we do not condone this heinous hate language being hurled at the Islamic people. The receptionist asked me to write into my blog today that the United States Constitution protects the Islamic people the same rights to build community centers and Mosques as it grants to Christians. While someone may have the right under "free speech" to burn the Quran to state their displeasure for what is happening, it doesn't mean that is what some one should do. Just because you have the right to yell FIRE in a movie theater, it does not mean that you will not be escorted out by an usher, because of the terror that yelling FIRE in a movie theater will cause. The terror that is being hurled upon people who worship in the religion of Islam by those who are threatening their peace by burning their sacred book, is not a good example of Christian charity. It is also not a good example of how Americans exercise our freedom.
Today, we are challenged to examine our response to Jesus. We are asked to know who we are as we respond to Jesus' invitation to love and serve Jesus in others. We are challenged to examine what is in our own hearts and minds as we seek to prepare our world for the Reign of God. How ever we respond, Jesus welcomes everyone. Should we not do the same?
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 18, Book of Common Prayer, page 233).
Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Alexander Crummell, whom you called to preach the Gospel to those who were far off and to those who were near. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Alexander Crummell, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 573).
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