Our Saturday evening services, held once a month, are informal and the “sermon” is really a discussion among those gathered about one of the lessons for the day. This month we talked about the “mustard seed” parable found in Mark 4:26-34. We identified the various people and things in that passage (e.g. Jesus, seed, harvest, quick action, scythe, birds, seed-to-bush, etc.). Then we talked about what role each had to play in the whole and the relationship of each to the others.
We passed out sunflower seeds and raisins to each group (people sit in small groups around tables rather than in pews). We asked each person in the group to take a seed and name a blessing or thanksgiving; the next person did the same and so on until everyone in the small group had a chance to name a blessing/thanksgiving. A raisin represented something that had died or something that needed new life in our parish or in our lives. We were asked to name three blessings or thanksgiving for each raisin (keeping in mind the story of the farmers who planted who reaped 40-60-100-fold results versus the seeds that scattered or died). The 3:1 relationship was to help us focus on blessings and thanksgivings rather than complaining – while also recognizing that we do have legitimate complaints or sorrows that need to be addressed to help us grow stronger as a community of faith.
After that, we shared among the larger group our blessings/thanksgivings as well as our wishes for new life or our grief at things whose time has passed. Learning to let go, and trust in God’s provision for our future, is part of our task during this transition period.
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