Mark 4 -- ignorant growth

What advice can you give desperate people, who wonder if deep-seated political, personal, economic, and spiritual struggles will ever break through into resolution? One answer that is sadly too prevalent in American Christianity is -- wait for the Second Coming! Everything will be all right then! Meanwhile, just grin and bear it![1]

Jesus seemed to have a different understanding of the Kingdom. It was, he said, like a seed. Give it good soil, and things will take care of themselves. God works quietly, secretly, and over time.

Here is one of the rare chunks of Mark that is not also found in Matthew or Luke:

Mar 4:26 Sonra İsa şöyle dedi: "Tanrı'nın Egemenliği, toprağa tohum saçan adama benzer.
Mar 4:27 Gece olur, uyur; gündüz olur, kalkar. Kendisi nasıl olduğunu bilmez ama, tohum filizlenir, gelişir.
Mar 4:28 Toprak kendiliğinden ürün verir. Önce filizi, sonra başağı, sonunda da başağı dolduran taneleri verir.
Mar 4:29 Ürün olgunlaşınca, adam hemen orağı vurur. Çünkü biçim vakti gelmiştir."

Let's look at a key concept here:

• Gece olur, uyur; gündüz olur, kalkar. -- Night / comes, / he sleeps; / Daytime / comes, / he wakes up.
  
• Kendisi nasıl olduğunu bilmez ama, -- By itself / how / it happens / he does not know / but,
  
• tohum filizlenir, gelişir. -- The seed / sprouts, / comes forth.
  

The universe does not depend on us. God's work keeps on keeping on, without our attention, while we pursue the routines of life.

__________

[1] A woman was married for the fourth time. To her husband's astonishment, she was still a virgin. "Well," she said. "My first husband and I really loved each other, but he'd had a terrible accident. But, he was a kind man, a good man, a good provider, so our marriage worked. After he died, I married again. Right after the ceremony, my second husband told me that he really preferred boys. But, he was a kind man, a good man, a good provider, so our marriage worked. My third husband was a (fill in party label of choice). He just sat on the bed and talked about how great it was going to be!"