2020.07.26 Just One Mustard Seed
Notes
Transcript
31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;
32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,
15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”
17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”
18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?”
20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Just One Mustard Seed
Just One Mustard Seed
When we lived in Lawrenceburg, there were two bushes in front of our house. They looked terrible because they’d been many years without any tending. We’d agree to take them out and plant something else. One day while I was working, Annette decided she’d get them out.
Um … they were a little more trouble to remove than we’d thought. They weren’t just unruly above the ground. The root system ran all over the yard, and while it took several hours to get the bushes out, we were finding bits of roots over a year later.
I also took out a tree that had grown unwieldy just outside the entrance to the church building. When you make such an obvious change, lots of people remark about it. And several people referred to this tree as a ‘bush’. I cut it out. I used my chainsaw … because this thing was no bush!
But perhaps it started as a bush, or a small plant.
In today’s parable, God’s kingdom is compared to a mustard seed. Jesus says it’s the smallest of all seeds … that’s not exactly true physically, but Jewish culture regularly referred to the mustard seed as the smallest of all seeds in their proverbs and object lessons.
The mustard plant is not a tree. It’s classified as an evergreen shrub by scientists, and it certainly begins that way.
But look at how it grows.
Jesus says the Kingdom is like this seed.
It starts as the smallest of all. It grows into a formidable bush. Then, it transitions itself into a tree that can provide shelter and food. Where it grows is hot, so the shade would likely be a welcome friend, too. It produces more seeds and wood that can be used for burning or building.
You’ve no doubt at least tried yellow mustard. That mustard is produced from these seeds. It’s a fiery, bitter, vigorous condiment.
Our kids don’t like condiments in general. When we go to McDonald’s or Burger King, they’ll take their cheeseburgers plain, please … and thank you. I can’t count the number of times we discovered a non-plain burger after we’d already driven off. What do you do? You take a napkin or ten … and you scrape off the ketchup and mustard. And your sweet, innocent child takes a bite ... trusting Mom or Dad … and their face contorts wildly because once a sandwich has had mustard on it, there’s no turning back! The slightest remainder of mustard will leave a flavor that doesn’t go away!
The world can dismiss or scrape off the kingdom of God , but once the kingdom has been unleashed into this world, there’s not turning back! There is a remainder and the flavor of God’s mercy and love will not depart from this place. Furthermore, when Jesus returns, the kingdom will TAKE OVER this place!
The kingdom of God may have started small in your life and mine … but God’s desire is that it takes over! ALL! EVERYTHING! He wants us to taste like his kingdom forevermore, so there’s no mistaking that we’ve tasted of his goodness.
But are we ready to take more?
Are we ready for the difficult swallow of being more his?
In the Gospel story, a man comes up to Jesus and begs for his son. He’s mentally ill. He harms himself, and the disciples couldn’t help him!
PLEASE, LORD! HELP MY SON!
And Jesus chastises the disciples. “Bring him here...”
He heals the boy. The demon leaves, and later, they’re hanging out and the disciples, just like last week’s passage, come to Jesus to figure out some things.
Just One Mustard Seed
Just One Mustard Seed
We would assume we CAN’T heal people. This guy comes to one of us and asks us to heal his son, we’d probably send him away! “Why would you ask me? Go ask Jesus. I can’t heal your son!” We just dismiss that God might want to use us to bring healing into others’ life. “We’re too small. God would want to use someone else, someone bigger.”
But the disciples apparently tried. And like a mustard seed, small but mighty, they didn’t understand why they couldn’t heal the boy. So they ask Jesus.
20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows into a mighty tree that animals enjoy for shelter, shade, and food.
If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move a mountain with it.
“Not me, Lord. I’m too small.”
“Yes, you, Son or Daughter. YOU! If YOU have faith the size of a mustard seed, NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO YOU!”
Just One Mustard Seed
Just One Mustard Seed
I read a devotional this week that included this admonition:
“...by the life and death of Christ, [God] has paved the way for his desires to come to fruition. All that’s left is for us to engage fully in this wonderful process he’s created for us.” [https://www.first15.org/11/21/the-parable-of-the-mustard-seed/]
What’s your obstacle? What’s holding you back from asking God for miraculous intervention? If you scratch beneath the surface, you may just find that the obstacle … the REAL obstacle is your own lack of belief that God will work through you. But if he’ll do it through a rag-tag group of fishermen in First Century Palestine … he’ll do it again through a rag-tag group of middle class folk in Northeast Indiana.
Take your mustard seed today and plant it at the feet of your obstacle. Put your faith to action. Ask God for the ridiculous. He may say “no” … but if your faith won’t let you ask … you strip him of the opportunity to say YES!
What’s your obstacle? Will you plant your mustard seed at its feet today?