Matthew 13:31-32 (KJV) 31Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
The people of Israel were looking for someone big called the Messiah who would do something big that they called “the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God would be that day when God would swoop down from heaven and drive out Israel’s enemies and establish Jerusalem as the new center of the world. And there would be a time of unsurpassed peace and prosperity.
Then came Jesus, a carpenter turned preacher claiming that the kingdom of God had come. And the people wondered, “where? I do not see the Romans fleeing. I do not see any significant changes going on, just a scattered miracle here and there.” Jesus came saying the kingdom of heaven is “here,” and the people did not see anything big happening.
Do we still want God to do something big? Heal my disease; save my parent from dying; get me a job at a better company, bring a little justice to the poor. Big is a tough trend to buck.
But Jesus said, “the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed.” And that is what we see in Jesus. He was born in the small town of Bethlehem, where no one noticed. They were too obsessed with the big stuff like the movement of Roman legions and how to rid their country of them. The Carpenter grew up to be a teacher, surrounded by a small group of followers and an occasional crowd. But the size of the crowd steadily dwindled, until Jesus was condemned as a criminal, and executed on a Cross, surrounded by only a few of the small group that once listened to him.
Then came a surprise. The small group of people who followed Him were convinced that Jesus was alive. They talked about it. They lived it. Their words and actions seemed puny compared to the imperial might of Rome, but that has always been God’s way. God changes the world through the conspiracy of the insignificant. Small acts of kindness, small projects of hope, small struggles for peace and justice in the name of Jesus. These are the mustard seeds that God uses and they grow. Through a series of small seeds being planted in our life, we are where we are today.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 14, 1999
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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