Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Confidence in the Future
What can two university nerds do with an esoteric idea for searching internet sites? If you are Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Sanford in 1996, you'll turn it into multi-billion dollar Google, Inc. What can happen when a small-town preacher reads a sermon in monotone? If you are Jonathon Edwards preaching “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in 1741, you help spark a national spiritual “great awakening.”
Occasionally, small and insignificant events or ideas ignite something big, even altering the trajectory of world history. Jesus claimed that the kingdom he preached, while it might look puny then, would come to dominate the world’s landscape. It was with this confidence that he charged 150 about-to-be-filled-with-the-Holy-Spirit disciples to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.
Two thousand years later, Christianity is the dominate religion on the planet.
Two mustard seed ideas lodge in my thinking today. First, when I’m discouraged about the state of authentic Christianity in the world, I have to remember that the spread of God’s kingdom will not be stopped by forces either inside or outside of it. There are no grounds for a defeatist attitude because of our own failures as Christians, or worry about the future in the face of either Islamic or secular aggression.
Second, living in a society where Christianity dominates, I cannot succumb to an attitude of dominance and power. The kingdom of God is the rule of Christ in individual hearts and minds but it is also humble service to surrounding society. During his wilderness temptation, Jesus did not accept Satan’s offer to rule the kingdoms of the world. The posture of his spiritual kingdom toward political kingdoms would be one of servanthood. This dominating garden plant would provide shade for all those in the vicinity.
Ruler of my heart, grant me supreme confidence in the unstoppable spread of your rule from one heart to another. At the same time, defeat arrogance and the temptation to power. Instead, keep me a humble servant to the world around me. –Mike Leamon
The God-Crowded LifeThe last of the seed parables is perhaps the most troubling. The farmer recklessly scatters seed everywhere, what does grow germinates inexplicably, resulting in the biggest plant in the whole field. The whole thing is turned upside down.
Perhaps this is what attracts us to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is for the little guy. It is for the one who at first sight seems out of place, not wanted; discarded. What starts small finishes big, in fact bigger than anything. The mustard plant crowds out everything else around it, hogging all the sun to itself. The plant is so dominate, even birds nest in its branches.
The Kingdom of God is like this. I thought when I accepted Christ in my life I was just giving him a small part of my life. I could do the church thing as long as God let me do my thing. Keep the seed in the right row. NO! God started crowding my life, reaching into areas I had not asked him to go. He even was so bold as to suffocate my dreams with the tentacles of his dream for my life. I tried resisting, but he was too strong. He dominated me.
Looking back I see how God knew best, but there are still times when I wonder what the other seeds planted in my life might have grown to be. It is good to know Jesus explained the parables to the disciples; I need them explained in my life too. I did not understand the Kingdom growing in my life until later when Jesus pulled me aside and showed me the birds that have taken shelter in the branches of the mustard seed planted in me.
Divine mustard seed grower, help me to trust you when you crowd out my ideas, plans, and ambitions with yours. Please take me aside regularly to explain your purpose so I will not be afraid of what you are growing. –Dan Jones
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