Sunday Sermon | The Gospel of Mark: Unmet Expectations

Mark 4:21–34 | Pastor Jason Smith
FBC Boerne — Gospel of Mark Series

Corrie ten Boom was furious about the fleas. Imprisoned at Ravensbruck, assigned to a barracks crawling with them, it felt like the final evidence that God had abandoned her. Her sister Betsy quoted 1 Thessalonians 5:18 — give thanks in all circumstances — and eventually, reluctantly, Corrie did.

Months later she learned the guards had refused to enter Barracks 28 because of the fleas. The very thing she'd raged against had been shielding hundreds of women as they read Scripture together, worshipped, and came to faith in Jesus.

At the beginning, all she could see were the fleas. At the end, she saw the hand of God.

In this Father's Day message, Pastor Jason Smith opens Mark 4:21–34 — the lamp on the lampstand, the growing seed, and the mustard seed — and works through the question the disciples were quietly carrying: if the kingdom of God is here, why doesn't it look like it? The crowds are shrinking. The opposition is growing. This is not what they expected.

Jesus answers with parables that reframe everything. The kingdom isn't hidden — but it requires ears to hear. It grows even when no one can see it. And what looks impossibly small today will one day be the place of refuge for people from every tribe, tongue, and nation on earth.

A message for anyone in a season where faithfulness feels fruitless and the harvest seems a long way off.

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Transcript

Father’s Day Prayer For Dads

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This is the Gospel of Mark. Alright, good morning, church family, and happy Father's Day. As a public service announcement and in honor to my own father, every year I like to say this because uh my dad used to say to me that men are simple creatures, and what they really want on Father's Day is just to watch the US Open. That's what he wanted every year for Father's Day, and uh there you go. I've said it in honor of you, Dad. All right, good morning. Glad that you are here. In fact, um uh I want to do something special to start uh for Father's Day. Um if you are a father and you are able to stand, would you stand right now? I don't want to embarrass you, but I want to pray over you. Church family, I want us to spend just a few moments praying over our fathers. Okay. Uh you can extend a hand, you can hold a hand to someone near you, uh, and let's pray for them. Heavenly Father, uh, right now, here in our service, we lift up our fathers and we pray for them. Father, uh, we pray that you would give them strength to lead and to love like you, King Jesus. We know that there is a pressure and a weight that is upon them, that there are attacks culturally for them to chase all the wrong things. Father, we pray that they would stand strong in their provision, in their protection, and in their leadership of their home. That they would be the husbands that you are calling them to be and the fathers that you call them to be. We pray all of this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Thank

Mark 4 And A Hard Pivot

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you. All right, church family, turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter four as we continue our walkthrough, our sermon series in the book of Mark. Uh, thank you for praying for me while I was gone last week on the mission trip. I was informed that there was a ruffian from the backwoods of Tennessee that had a few things to say about the state of Texas while I was gone. And to that, I only have to say anyone who says that McDonald's is better than Whataburger has told you all you need to know about their opinion, okay? We can leave it at that. All right, I don't know how to transition back to the sermon, but let's make a hard pivot.

Corrie Ten Boom And The Fleas

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Mark chapter 4. Hold your spot in verse 21. I'll read it in just a second. Corey Tinboom was a Dutch Christian that was hiding Jews during World War II. And eventually she and her family got caught. Uh and in her book that she wrote, The Hiding Place, she tells a story about her and her sister Betsy being imprisoned in Ravensbrook concentration camp. And there they were assigned to Barrack 28. And the conditions were unbearable. They were absolutely awful. They were overcrowded, they were smelly, they were full of filth, and worst of all, they were infected, infested with fleas. And Corey was furious. And she began to ask the question God, where are you? As if it's not bad enough, right, to be fighting the Nazis, to be uh caught for protecting Jews, to be taken to a concentration camp, she gets a barrack that is infested with fleas. God, why would you allow fleas on top of everything else? Now, Betsy, her sister, reminded her that they had just read the scripture passage, 1 Thessalonians 5.18, to give thanks in all circumstances. And so Betsy said to her, Corey, we have to give thanks for the fleas. She's like, Absolutely not. I will not, I cannot do it. But eventually, reluctantly, she gave thanks for the fleas. Now, weeks turned into months, and something very unusual happened. That is, that the guards almost never came into Barrack 28. They never came in there. Now, Corey and her sister Betsy had smuggled Bibles into there. And so they began reading scripture out loud. They began praying out loud. They began having worship services right there, sharing the gospel. Hundreds of women coming to faith in Jesus Christ, and the guards never busted in and stopped them. Now they would not discover till after the war when Corey came across a guard and asked him, to which he replied, it was the fleas. Of course, we didn't come in. It was infested with fleas. You see, the very thing that seemed like the evidence that God had forgotten them was actually God's way of protecting them. At the beginning, all they could see were the fleas. At the end, they saw the hand of God. What looked like a problem was actually God's purpose and provision for growing his kingdom.

When The Kingdom Defies Expectations

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And that brings us to Mark chapter 4. Because people who are the disciples who've been following Jesus, they have a picture in their mind of what the kingdom of God should look like. When the Messiah comes, right, they expect power and victory and immediate success. But instead, Jesus is rejected by Israel's leaders. His own family misunderstands him. Crowds come, but then they go. But Jesus, if God's kingdom is here, we're going to need an army to march against Rome, to fight, to overthrow. But the disciples are left looking around, saying, What exactly is God doing? The kingdom has arrived, but it doesn't meet anyone's expectations. In Mark chapter 21 through 34 of chapter 4, Jesus begins teaching the disciples that the problem is not with the kingdom. The problem is with our expectations. God is at work. According to timeline and expectation. So listen as I read, Mark chapter 4, beginning in verse 21.

The Lamp Is Meant To Shine

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And hold your spot there. I'm just going to read 21 through 25. Hold your spot there. I'm going to come back and read the parables as we come to them. And Jesus was saying to them, A lamp is not brought out to be put under a basket, is it? Or under a bed. It is not brought to be put on the lampstand. For nothing is hidden except to be revealed. Nor is anything been secret but that which would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. And he was saying to them, Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given you besides. For whoever has to him more shall be given. And whoever does not have, even what he has, shall be taken away from him. Will you pray with me? Father, as we read your word, we beg that your spirit would teach us about your kingdom. That we would be teachable and that we would have humble hearts that are eager to hear what you are doing and how we can join. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Take Care How You Listen

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Alright, do me a favor. Everyone here, if you know that you are called into ministry, will you raise your hand? Every hand should be raised. Because every disciple is a sent one. And Jesus is preparing his disciples to be sent. Okay? And before he sends them out, he begins to teach them about what the kingdom is actually like. So listen, this isn't just for pastors and for missionaries, this is for every Christian. You need to know what the kingdom of God is like. So listen carefully. Now picture the scene. Jesus is sitting there with his disciples and they are confused. Jesus, where is the kingdom? Why are you rejected by all the religious leaders? Your family? They're not following? Why do so many people hear? But Jesus, they don't end up believing. You see, the crowds, they come and they go. Jesus, if the kingdom is here, why is it so small? Is it hidden? Now to answer their question, Jesus starts with a surprising illustration. And he said to them, A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it? Or to be put under a bed. It is not brought to be put. Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? You see, Jesus' statement is very clear. The kingdom is not hidden. The kingdom is in plain sight. No one lights a lamp and covers it up. That defeats the purpose of a lamp. So I recently got this amazing new light-up Texas AM football helmet for my office. It lights up. And it is amazing. It's amazing. You're supposed to be seeing a video right now. There you go. My goodness. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's light up football helmet. So right now, my entire thought is how can I rearrange my office so that this is front and center? Okay? Because that's what you do with lights. You don't hide them, you display them. And that's Jesus' point. The kingdom has come. The kingdom is not hidden, its light is shining. But look at verse 22. For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nor has anything been secret but that which has come to light. But you see, right now, no one truly understands the kingdom. But one day, after the cross and resurrection, then it will be crystal clear who Jesus is and what God has been doing all along. See, the problem is not that the kingdom is hidden, the problem is that people are not listening. Which is why Jesus immediately says, if anyone has ears, let him hear. And then take care what you listen to. Or as Luke records it, take care how you listen. That's the issue. It's not intelligence or education. The issue is the heart. Will you and I allow Jesus to teach us about what the kingdom of God is like, or will you only hear what you want to hear? Think about everything that we've seen in Mark. The Pharisees, the crowds, Jesus' own family. Everyone is hearing about the kingdom, but not everyone is listening. And then Jesus says something remarkable. By your standard of measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you besides. In other words, the one who comes humbly, wanting to learn, will be given more understanding. But the one who comes with a closed heart, determined to only hear what you want to hear, will lose even what little understanding he thinks he has. And then verse 25 for whoever has to him more shall be given. And whoever does not have, even what he has, shall be taken away from him. See, the question is not whether the light from the kingdom is shining. The question is whether you have ears to hear.

A Teen Testimony From Mexico

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So I saw a beautiful example of this on the recent mission trip that we took to Mexico. Because one of the young ladies in our youth group shared one of the most powerful testimonies that I've ever heard from a teenager. Her story is one of adoption and never knowing her biological father. So she shared with us the hurt, the questions, the longing to be loved. She even shared that while playing sports, she would look up in the stands, wondering if her father would be proud of her. And then a season of crisis hit. And she began opening her Bible and listening. Not just reading, but listening. And as she did, she began to hear the voice of her heavenly father. And truth after truth, passage after passage. And she realized something. It was incredible. Moving. Friend, do you see what happened? You see, the light didn't suddenly turn on. God hadn't been hiding from her. The truth was already there. But as she listened, more was given. That's exactly what Jesus is talking about. That the one who comes with an open heart, humbly, receives more. Because the kingdom of God is not one truth, it is a treasury of truths. Like a diamond with countless facets. That every time you turn, there's a new, magnificent truth that you see to the glory of God. That Jesus died for your sins. That God is your Father. That the Spirit indwells you. That He has made you for mission. That His strength is found in weakness. That greatness comes through service. That joy comes through surrender. And on and on and on. You see, the kingdom is filled with glorious truths that Jesus deeply wants his disciples to know and to understand. But before he can teach us what is true, so often he must destroy our misconceptions, correct our expectations. And church, that requires humility, ears that are willing to hear. And so then Jesus gives his disciples two parables to describe what the kingdom of God is like.

The Seed Grows By Itself

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The first, look at verse 26. And he was saying, The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil. And he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows. How? He himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself, first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. Now, before we jump into the parable, let me say a quick word about interpreting in parables, because they can be tricky. So throughout church history, sometimes people have approached parables like they were some sort of spiritual treasure hunt where you're supposed to find secret meaning in every detail of the parable. One famous example of that is the Good Samaritan. Origen taught that the wounded man represented Adam. And the Good Samaritan that came along and found him represented Christ. And the inn represented the church. And somehow the Apostle Paul was the innkeeper. So now that's creative, but that's not what Jesus is saying. In our day, some have turned parables into parables like this into a detailed mission strategy or church planting models. Now there may be wisdom in those approaches, but that is not Jesus' point either. The goal of understanding a parable is to understand the main point that Jesus is making. So as one pastor said, don't make parables walk on all fours. Look for the central truth. And context is king. So notice in this parable how Jesus tells the story. See, the farmer scatters the seed, but then he goes to bed and he wakes up, he goes about his life, and all the while the seed is growing. The farmer doesn't make it grow. In fact, Jesus tells the story. He says, he doesn't even know how it's growing. The soil produces crops by itself. First the blade, then the head, the mature grain in the head. Do you see the point? The emphasis isn't on the farmer, the emphasis is on the mysterious power of God. That the kingdom grows because God causes it to grow. And that's what the disciples needed to hear. They're looking around, wondering why the kingdom seems so small. And Jesus says, in effect, you know, my kingdom is growing, even if you can't see it. And friend, that's an important reminder for each of us. Because God's kingdom is not dependent upon culture wars. God's kingdom is not dependent upon which political party is in power, who's in the White House, who's on the Supreme Court. God's kingdom is not dependent upon church growth conferences or the latest mission strategy. Those things have their place. Hear me, I'm not saying they're not important, but they are not ultimate. This is God's kingdom, and we do not build it. But only God can make It grows. And God invites us into his work. We sow, but he saves. We announce, but he changes hearts. A few weeks ago I received sobering news about a good friend of mine. Now, he's incredibly gifted, highly connected, and remarkably effective in ministry. The kind of person that you look at and you say, the kingdom needs this guy. And when I heard the news, my heart sank. If I'm honest, my first thought was, God, not him. He's too important. What would we do without him? And almost immediately the Spirit brought Paul's words to my mind. I planted, Apollos watered, but it is God who causes the growth. The kingdom of God has never rested on one pastor, one missionary, one leader, one church, even one generation. Because ultimately, the kingdom belongs to the king. And he has never stopped growing it. And then Jesus gave a second parable. Look

The Mustard Seed Becomes A Tree

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at verse 30. And he said, How shall we picture the kingdom of God? Or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the other seeds upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches so that the birds of the air can nest underneath its shade. Now, here in Texas, we like things big, right? Big trucks, big stadiums, big success. And if we're honest, so did the disciples. When the Messiah came, they expected immediate victory, power, and glory, an impossible-to-miss kingdom. So Jesus addresses their expectations with a parable about contrast. It's like a mustard seed. And the point is simple, isn't it? It starts incredibly small, easy to overlook, easy to dismiss, but in the end it becomes remarkably large. And Jesus says that's what the kingdom of God is like. It looks small now, it looks insignificant to you, but do not judge the ending by the beginning. And then Jesus adds a fascinating claim. You see that at the end it says, the birds of the air will nest under its shade. That's actually an Old Testament quotation. And a couple times in the book of Ezekiel, okay, the uh great kingdoms are symbolized as trees, and the birds that come to nest in the tree are other kingdoms that come. They are the nations that come because this kingdom has become so large and so awesome that it protects the other kingdoms. In other words, what Jesus is saying, my kingdom may look small now, but one day it will be the place of refuge for people from every tribe, every tongue, and every nation of the world. So

Trust God When You Cannot See

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let's go back to the beginning of the disciples' question. Jesus, where is the kingdom? Why does it not meet human expectation? And Jesus answers, the kingdom is not hidden. You have to have ears to hear. The kingdom is growing even when you can't see it. And one day the kingdom will be far greater than you could ever imagine. But the disciples look around. A couple fishermen, a tax collector. Jesus saw the final harvest. The disciples see the shrinking crowds, growing opposition. But Jesus sees that one day his kingdom will fill the entire earth. Now, two thousand years later, whose perspective was right? So let me ask you, are you and I willing to let Jesus correct our expectations? Are we willing to listen when his kingdom doesn't appear the way that we think it should? When growth seems slow, when faithfulness appears fruitless, will we trust what Jesus says is true even if our eyes tell us otherwise? Beloved, you and I cannot judge the kingdom based on what we see. Remember Corey Tinboom. Remember the fleas. God is often doing his greatest work long before we can ever see it. So listen. Trust. Keep sowing faithfully. Because the kingdom belongs to the king, and his glory will cover the earth. Will you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we come to you, we love you. We do surrender our expectations at your feet. We say to you, King Jesus, teach us. You who loved us and gave your life for us, laid it down so that we might know you. We trust you in the trials, in the things that we can't see and do not understand. We trust you. And we trust that you are the one who is authoring our lives for the glory of your name and your kingdom. That you can take the messes that we are in and you can use them for good, just like you've promised. And so, Father, we pray right now all across this room, and we give to you our hurts and our confusion, the circumstances that don't make sense to us. We give them to you. And again, we say we trust you. Father, make much of your name and allow us to see your kingdom. Give us ears to hear so that we can see what you are doing and we can join you. Father, we want to be humble. We want to be teachable. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church

Prayer And A Songful Response

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family, the praise team is gonna come and lead us in two songs of response. We do this at the end of every service. We give time for you to respond to whatever the Spirit of God has prompted in your heart. I can never tell you what that looks like. We'll have ministers down here at the front who would love to pray with you. If you have a burden that you carry, you don't have to carry that on your own. We're a family. Let us pray together. If you want to use these steps as an altar to pour out your heart to the Lord, whatever the Spirit of God has said to you, you be obedient, you be teachable and respond to Him. Will you stand?