(Chp 14) The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Sermon based on Chapter 14 of Scot McKnight's Jesus Creed

Title: The parable of the mustard seed (Mt 13:31-32)

Let's read this description from the Prophet Isaiah and imagine the vision.

(Isaiah 65:17-25)
17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.
20 "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.
23 They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD.

The Jews in the first century knew about the kingdom of God. It had already been prophesized in the Prophets. And they longed for it to happen because they had suffered five hundred over years of oppression and humiliation since the fall of Judah by the Babylonians. They had hoped for the exact description in Isaiah. It will be paradise. There will be no more weeping and crying, but rejoicing. There will not be death but longevity. There will not be oppression, but enjoyment of the fruits of your labor. The animals, wolves and lambs will live harmoniously, just like back in the time of Eden. When the kingdom of God comes, it will be paradise. And the Messiah will bring about the kingdom of God. God will once again reconcile with his people, the Jews. And they will be redeemed from their sufferings. The Jews are waiting to see the Messiah bring about this paradise.

I think such a hope and longing is not just peculiar to the Jews. It is only human to dream about living in a paradise. No wars, no pain, no suffering, and in perfect relationship with God. People will work well and live well with one another, and also with the natural world. God is fully in charge, and everything is in the right order. I think this is a universal wish. The kingdom of God should be such a paradise, Utopia itself.

And with such a mindset, it is natural to heap all our expectations on the Messiah to bring about such a transformation. The Messiah will bring paradise to us. Pain to joy, sickness to health, death to life and suffering to happiness. The Messiah will bring Eden back to us. The kingdom of heaven is like a never ending beautiful garden. The kingdom of heaven is like a huge and strong oak tree that reaches all the way to heaven above. Well, good news, the Messiah did arrive. He is Jesus. And this is what he brings to us.

(Mt 13:31-32)
31 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.
32 Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

Did I hear this right? The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed? A mustard seed? Not an endless garden, not a giant oak? A mustard seed? I think we should be ready for a huge shock today. The Messiah has spoken and the truth is shocking. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. If you had all the wrong expectations about what Jesus is bringing, a different kind of kingdom of God, it is time to drop them and think about what Jesus is actually describing. It is definitely not sudden paradise on earth. It is not back to Eden. It is very far from a special instant evil-removal product. It is like a mustard seed. And there are three things about a mustard seed that I wish to share today.

Point 1: Mustard Seed: The smallest of seeds
The first thing about a mustard seed is how small it is. In fact, it was the smallest seed known to the first century world then. Not only it is small, it is also ordinary, almost like a weed to some farmers. There is a great significance in describing the kingdom of God as a mustard seed. The kingdom of God begins from the most humble and ordinary. It began with Jesus, the son of a carpenter. To the direct audience of Jesus, it began with unschooled fishermen. To the Greco-Roman world then, it began with a defeated Jewish race. The kingdom of God is not an immediate paradise. Instead it is like a mustard seed, small and ordinary. Brothers and sisters, do not be deceived by appearances. All that is grand and pompous may not be long-lasting, and good things can come in small packages. In thinking about this, I am reminded of this story.

150 years ago, the mighty Niagara Falls, once known only to the local Native Americans, was being transformed. Sightseers packed the banks of the gorge, with their numbers doubling every five years. Tourism was exploding upon this natural wonder. A bridge spanning the turbulent gorge was envisioned. It would provide a highway over the gorge and allow commerce and people to pass more freely between Canada and the United States. The leading engineers of Europe and North America were consulted and quickly gave a negative response and opinion of the project’s viability.

A young daring engineer, Ellet, eventually tried and was about to begin construction in January of 1848 when he was faced with his first obstacle. The building of a suspension bridge commences with the stretching of a line or wire across the stream. However, the turbulent roaring rapids, the 800-foot wide gap, and the 225-foot high shear cliffs of the Whirlpool Gorge made a direct crossing impossible.

Someone suggested offering a cash prize to the first boy who could fly his kite to the opposite bank. And Ellet invited the area’s youngsters to a kite-flying contest. A 10 year old boy named Homan Walsh responded. On Walsh’s second try he succeeded in flying his kite to the opposite shore of the river.
The kite was caught and attached to a tree on the other side. He won the kite-flying contest on (or about) January 30, 1848, and was awarded the cash prize. His cash prize was either five or ten dollars (US).

Eighty years later, Homan Walsh, then living in Lincoln, Nebraska, recounted that his most precious memory was this exploit of his boyhood – his part in starting the first bridge over the gorge. The day following the successful kite flight, a stronger line was attached to the kite string. A rope followed, and eventually a cable consisting of thirty-six strands of number 10 wire. And with that cable, the bridge could be built.

A bridge that can span an 800 foot gap began with something as light as a string and a kite. All the sophisticated engineering ambitions began with the work of a ten year old boy. It is hard to imagine something as enormous as a bridge across the Niagara Falls beginning with something so small and ordinary, but yet it is the truth. Jesus makes the parable very plain to us. The kingdom of God is like the small and ordinary mustard seed. Jesus at that time, was referring to himself, and the humble beginnings of his earliest disciples. They were the small and ordinary mustard seeds that will manifest the kingdom of God.

Point 2: Mustard Seed: The planted seed
But Matthew in relating this parable added an additional dimension to the parable. This mustard seed is one in which a man took and planted in his field. The mustard seed does not become what it was meant to be, it was not fully actualized until it was planted by a man. And Matthew in relating his gospel was speaking to his readers, the early church, that the kingdom of God was not just about Jesus and his disciples, it was also about them. They were the small and ordinary mustard seed that will manifest the kingdom of God. But that will only happen if they took it and planted it into their lives. So brothers and sisters, just as it is for Matthew’s church, it is the same message for us today, the modern readers. The small and ordinary mustard seed that is to resemble the kingdom of God, it can refer to any of us, no matter how insignificant you think you are. But for that to happen, you have to take it and plant it.

The late US president Kennedy had a story he liked to tell:
If you travel through Lorraine, between Neufchateau, Toul, Epinal, and Nancy you find the Chateau de Thorey-Lyautey, retirement home of the French Marshal Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey. Around 1930 the nearly eighty year-old Marshal had a conversation with his landscaper: Lyautey asked his landscaper if he would on the next day start planting a row of oaks to line the road up to the chateau.
"But Mon Marechal," said the gardener, looking at the aged Lyautey. "The trees will take more than fifty years to grow." "Oh," said the Marshal. "In that case, we have no time to lose. Plant them this afternoon!"

The first point about the mustard seed is about its smallness and how ordinary it is. But I think herein lies the power of the message. Precisely because it is so common and usual, it can apply to everybody. Therefore, we all have this potential to manifest the kingdom of God in our lives. And when we all do it, since it is for everyone, then truly we have a phenomenal impact upon the world. And we can see for ourselves, a tiny group of Christians in a remote corner of the world, took the entire Roman empire by storm. But we have to note the second important point about the mustard seed. And it is that it has to be planted for transformation to happen. And if you think there is truly a lot of work to be done to see the kingdom of God in your life, that we have no time to lose, plant it today!

Point 3: Mustard Seed: The growing seed
What happens when this seed is planted? Well we have come to the final point about the mustard seed. It grows. The small and ordinary mustard seed, when planted, grows into the biggest of all the plants of the field, almost to the size of a tree. And that is miracle of the kingdom of God, it is not about instantaneous revolution, it is about a slow and steady evolution. I have a clip here that I hope will fire up your imagination about what a small and ordinary planted seed can make happen in your life. *shows clip
(Clip can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWMEBbkxsq8 The shown portion starts at the 4 min onwards)

I think that the third element of the mustard seed is the most important element that we need to realize today. We can identify ourselves as the people of God in the kingdom of God, and we can plant certain elements of the Christian culture into our lives. But unless we allow it to constantly grow, we do not fully realize the immense glory that God has intended the kingdom of God to be. If you are complacent and comfortable about how your spiritual life is right now, it is time to remember the clip and challenge your perception of how great God’s eternal plan really is.

A man, after 25 years with one company, was still doing the same old job and drawing the same salary. Finally he went to his boss and told him he felt he had been neglected. “After all,” he said, “I’ve had a quarter of a century of experience.”
“My dear fellow,” sighed the boss, “you haven’t had a quarter of a century of experience, you’ve had one experience for a quarter of a century.”

Brothers and sisters, think about what it would be like if you were to meet your boss from above today. If you were to share about your experience of the kingdom of God, would it be a quarter of a century of experience, or is it really just one experience for a quarter of a century? If you have not truly tried to understand more about God’s plan for mankind, and how he intends to use your life, I think it is time you start to grow once more. The small and ordinary mustard seed can become the biggest of the garden plants, as long as it never stops growing.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to share one last interesting story:
In the course of their conversation at a dinner party, Albert Einstein’s young neighbor asked the white-haired scientist, “What are you actually by profession?”
“I devote myself to the study of physics,” Einstein replied.
The girl looked at him in astonishment. “You mean to say you study physics at your age?” she exclaimed. “I finished mine a year ago.”

We may think that the girl in the story is very ignorant. But I think we too sometimes get caught in the same trap when we limit God’s world into the perspectives of our own world. Today, let’s get shocked by Jesus’ revelation about the kingdom of God once again. It begins small and ordinary, and that means it begins with everyone of us, in our mundane, seemingly trivial lives. But we have to plant it, it is our responsibility to do so, the bigger the task, the sooner we plant it. In this case, plant it today. And from then on, never be contented to stop growing. The kingdom of God starts with you, and it will never be completely fulfilled, till it ends in God.