ONCE UPON A TIME, a boy named Jack went to town to sell the last cow his family had. On his way, he meets someone who offers him five magic beans for the cow. Jack accepts the deal and his mother, dismayed at what her son hands her, throws the five seeds out the window. That night, if we remember the story, the beans grow into this enormous stalk that stretches into the clouds. Curious, Jack climbs the stalk, encounters an angry Giant who says, " I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he 'live, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread." After stealing gold coins on his first and a hen that lays golden eggs on his second successful trip, Jack tries to steal a golden harp. The harp, however, does not want to be stolen and, because it could play by itself, sounds an alarm to the Giant who follows Jack. Beating the Giant down the stalk, Jack chops down the mighty plant using a nearby axe, subsequently sending both the Giant and the enormous stalk to the ground.

Grinding bones and chopping down a stalk to make a Giant plummet to his demise speaks of questionable violence, no doubt, but Jack, in the story, never questions the power of those magic seeds. He believes in them. Perhaps there is someone you can believe—or believe more fully—in your journey, or on your climb. Like a character in this fable of a boy and a beanstalk, someone has a message for you. There is falling in his story, but the falling is our fall into sin. And, while the giant dies in the fable, there is no giant-sized fear of death. Instead, there is new life with him. But we have to walk with him.  And here, today, this man we believe in, this one sent by the Father to journey with us, helps us understand the Kingdom of God (as he mentions in verse thirty) by talking about seeds, mustard seeds.

In our scripture reading today, our Savior tells us he uses parables such as seeds to help us understand the realm of God. But do we get it? Do we buy into what he's saying? In this fable, Jack did. In that one important yet deemphasized part of the stalk story, Jack, with cow in tow, trades his last precious family possession for just five seeds. Jack buys into what the stranger says of the seeds.  Jesus isn't a stranger, yet I wonder: do we buy into what our Lord says in our scripture passage of the seeds?

Since we live in an age where some of our major motion pictures become sequels, let's see how much we are—or aren't—like Jack. To do so, let's continue this plotline much in the way that author Alexandria Ripley wrote the novel Scarlett in 1991, after Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize winning success of Gone with the Wind, which was written in 1936.

So, here's Jack and the Beanstalk, part two, the later years. The sequel starts with Jack standing by a stump of the enormous stalk. The gold coins and the hen that lays golden eggs are nearby, as is the harp that, forlorn, no longer plays by itself, or, for that matter, at all. Hardened by the tragedy, the strings become steel and make no sound.

A harp that doesn't make music isn't worth much, but Jack did have those gold coins and the hen did lay a few eggs until Jack realized that she needed special food that only came from the place Giant's unique farmland.

Jack continued to live in Harford. He continued to farm, occasionally entering one of his best cows in the Harford Fair. After running up a hill to fetch a pail of water, he married Jill here at First Congregational, of course, and Jack was careful to give a percentage of his earnings each year to the church.

But gold is gold, and his lump sum was pretty substantial. While he used some of it sparingly—it was just a beefed-up, zero-turn lawnmower he had to have, a cruise he had to celebrate, and a posh 2009 car so that he would look good to his neighbors—Jack really held on to that wealth because God is God and that's one thing, but he never wanted to be at a place where he was once when his family was down to their last cow.

So when it came to the church and the message about seeds and growth, he wondered, what would more spending do, anyway? Sure, over the years, things in the community have changed, sometimes, actually, things seemed to be worse, at least in certain areas.

But the church, through storms and sunshine, always survived, even though Jack barely did his part. See, deep down, Jack knew that, if he were really honest, he didn't give all that he could, both financially and spiritually. Depending on the minister or the season of the year, or even the year itself, Jack would have to admit that he had an on again, off again relationship with the church.

But hey, he rationalizes; the church does well with, and even without him, right? It keeps rolling on, even when he's not here. In fact, Jack remembers when the Lecture Hall once housed upwards of 100 Sunday school students in that one building on any given Sunday morning. Different grade levels met at different tables in one room and the place was joyously packed. Why embrace this message of seeds and growth? Why change something now? Again, he asked, what would more spending do, anyway?

Sure, both Jack and Jill have heard about the need for a handicapped restroom. Sure, they've seen that specially allocated fund grow, but again, they've come this far without it—the church family has made out okay without it—why change now?

And ramps...oh my...ramps!  Forget that at any moment something could happen where anyone in Jack and Jill's family might have to use one, even temporarily. Forget that during the ecumenical Lenten service held here in March there were a few here in worship with mobility issues. Oh, fee-fi-fo-fum, no one here needs a permanent ramp. No one here reaches for the rail at the front of the church when leaving the sanctuary.

Jack doesn't buy into what the parable of the mustard seeds can do for First Congregational Church. He holds onto to his money even more tightly because, he insists, we are fine just the way we are. After all, we've made it this far without these changes. Why plant something new? Why take these steps toward change?

What's sad is that Jack forgets the time when his world literally changed over night. Five seeds one evening became a beanstalk tower the next morning. This ladder of opportunity wasn't everything; the journeys up and down the beanstalk certainly presented challenges; but Jack came out of that venture with what he didn't have before: money. And, it seems like if we stop this sequel now, that is all Jack has.

If anyone should understand the power and the opportunity of the seed, in this case, the mustard seed, it would be Jack, right? Jesus says it's the smallest of the small seeds, but, take a look at verse thirty-two. Our Lord and Savior tells us that it becomes the largest of all garden plants. It grows long branches and the birds make nests in its shade. In verse thirty three, if you follow along on your scripture sheets, it says that Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand.

How much does Jack understand? How much do you? Let's break this down. Today, the gist of this parable is not that we have to beat ourselves up in our giving, but we do have to give. We all have to give. We have to be like Jack in the moment he traded the cow for the seeds. We have to have faith he had in what was to come of those seeds. We have to have the hope that those seeds, when given water and light, will let this church grow. It's only going to take a little bit from each of us for great things to happen.

Hear this parable in light of where we are now. The little bit that we have to give is our faith and our hope in the future. The little bit that we have to give is the acceptance that Jesus' truth is revealed to us in the story of these seeds; it is not hidden. We may not be able to see or use all of this truth right now. But as we put God's teachings into practice will we understand and see more of the truth, which, like a seed, grows.

Jesus says this correctly. The truth is clear, but our ability to understand is not clear. It is imperfect. As we obey, however, as we not only listen but also do what the word says we should do, we will be clear. We will be clear because we will sharpen our vision for this church, and for ourselves. We will be clear because we will sharpen our mission for this church, and for ourselves.

Let the Bible's truth speak now by listening to this supporting passage from James, chapter one, verses 22 and 25. This timeless passage from James instructs us to obey the word.  Don't just listen for God's word, James writes. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. If you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

Let me repeat this. Don't just listen for God's word, do what the word says. Be like the seed and with faith, grow. Otherwise, really, it's just a joke. It's just a façade, an empty shell, an old, white, empty church. But no. Jesus tells us to look carefully into the perfect law—that perfect law being the Bible—and you will be set free.  If you follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, if you hold on to what you've heard, then blessings will come to you.

Obey the word. Don't forget what you've heard. Instead, take home the hope of this parable of the seeds. Take it home, spread it and watch it grow. Take it to the next church meeting or gathering you have. If we look carefully at the perfect law, it will set us free for worry, doubt, skepticism and questions like what would more spending do, anyway?

Jack saw magic in those five seeds. He must have. Otherwise, that cow would have made it do the market. God's word not magic; it is truth. We can see a miracle if we trust the seeds in this story. Like the beanstalk, we can grow.

Be in ramps or restrooms, or ramps and restrooms, we only have to give a little bit at first because, with God, the seed will grow.

Take the seed of hope, which is another name for the seed of our future, and plant it. Don't be like Jack in the possible sequel. Instead, find what you need to find within yourself so that you, in your heart of hearts, can be like he was at the moment he traded the cow for seeds.

Let's grow. By obeying the perfect law, let's watch how we burst through ground and bloom.