ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2024)
Readings:
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Psalms 92:2-3, 13-14,15-16
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Mark 4:26-34
Today’s liturgy is all about growing and flourishing. We all recall that the gospels tell us that Jesus teaches primarily through parables, and those word stories are put together in ways that the average person of Jesus’ day would understand. Agricultural and stories about fishing abound in the Scriptures. Some of the Old Testament provides examples of what would be most familiar to first century men and women. The familiar planting imagery is used by Ezekiel the prophet to show the power of the Israelite God, who promises to break off a “tender” shoot from a lowly Cedar and make it a “majestic cedar.” In today’s parable, God plants it on a high and lofty height, where its majesty and grandeur would be most obvious. It’s not as though Jerusalem needed a new tree, but they needed to be reminded of the God they worship, a God “who brings low the high tree, [who] lifts high the lowly tree, [who] withers up the green tree, [but who can] make the withered tree bloom.” And Ezekiel’s vision sees the tree getting big and majestic, and most importantly, sees “birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.” The salvation Ezekiel looks too is for “birds of every kind,” not just Israelite birds, all birds.
In this first reading, God is at work in creation; creation is meant to reflect God’s glory and grandeur. A very appropriate message at this moment in creation when we have come to recognize what effect our actions have had on the beauty of creation. The psalm response carries through this theme, for it tells us that “the just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.” That is, if man doesn’t destroy the beauty of creation. The war torn areas of the Middle East, including Lebanon, have lost their majestic palms and cedars which have given way to destruction. Perhaps Ezekiel’s prophetic message is meant as much for today as it was in 601 BC. Hard as it is, imagine Israel being a place where “birds of every kind shall dwell” together!
The growing imagery is continued in today’s gospel from Mark, in images which Jesus sees as illustrative of the kingdom he desires to build. It’s unclear whether the disciples knew Jesus was talking about them, for they were the one’s who were meant to “scatter the seed” on the land, and because of God’s nurturing the seed would produce “fruit.”
Further, not to upstage Ezekiel, but Jesus tells us that the “kingdom of God can be compared to a mustard seed, “that when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of a seeds on the earth (“small,” but not the smallest). But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade(thank you Ezekiel).” God’s kingdom is meant for all, and no matter whose ‘boundaries’ it falls within, it needs to be protected and cherished.
The message of our Scriptures today couldn’t be clearer – God’s creation is designed for us to cry out in thanks giving: “it is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to His name, Most High, to proclaim His kindness at dawn and His faithfulness throughout the night.” God’s creation is not meant to be taken lightly, it is meant to be appreciated and preserved, and not needlessly destroyed for profit. Further, it is meant for all people, and fences and barriers, exorbitant admission prices or claims of private domain should not be intended to keep people from enjoying God’s special gift.
We live at a time when God has given us the knowledge to understand genuine climate change (although the foolish and the greedy will see it as myth), a climate change brought on by thoughtless, and sometimes selfish, actions. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is all about growing and flourishing, and if we are to grow and flourish as God intended we need to first recognize creation as the beautiful gift of a God who loves us. Furthermore, it is a gift intended for “all birds,” everyone, not just those with power and wealth. Those birds are meant to live in harmony and peace, not caged in like animals at a zoo, and they should be free to come and go as they please. Nothing could be further from Jesus’ understanding of the kingdom of God, than where homelands are destroyed (Ukraine, Gaza), where migrants seeking a better life are called “vermin” and “criminals,” where the borders of a country are not welcoming. All peoples should be allowed to flourish and grow to their full potential. “They shall bear fruit even in old age, vigorous and sturdy shall they be, declaring how just is the Lord, my rock, in whom there is no wrong” (Ps. 92:15-16).
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