The Mustard Seed
A seed is a mysterious thing. A grain of wheat. A mustard seed. Each seed contains instructions for how to reproduce itself. Not only that, each seed contains the instructions for the next generation to do the same. In other words, a seed stretches into the future, generation by generation. A seed also stretches into the past. Each seed contains the memory of the failures and successes of previous generations. This is the miracle of replication.
The parable of the Sower explains how the kingdom can start in the hearts and minds of each and every one of us. Someone-a minister, a parent or another faithful servant of God-plants a tiny seed of faith in each and every one of us.
It doesn’t matter how the seed is planted, only that it is planted. Those of you who have planted any type of seed know that it can take a long time for the seed to grow into a strong, vibrant plant. We can water and fertilize it all we want, but nothing can speed up the process. It has to grow on its own. The parable of the mustard seed is a good example of the old saying that “big things come in small packages”. A mustard seed is very small, but it grows into a shrub so large that even birds can make their nests in its branches-a symbol of the seed of faith being offered to everyone, including the Gentiles. The seed of faith is like that.
Mark uses Jesus' parable of the growing seed (Mark 4:26-29) to comfort those in charge of guiding his endangered church. Mark's gospel was written in a time of high anxiety. Church leaders felt vulnerable and helpless. We can see why seed parables, while present in all three synoptic gospels, are particularly prominent in Mark. Seeds are small and vulnerable but can sprout and grow even in tough times. Seeds are a good image for a mysterious reality whose growth occurs without our prompting and often without our knowledge.
Much of life's biggest lessons and learnings come with patience. Faith, too, grows in the ebbs and flows of the lives of each of us. God is not impatient with our growth. God is the one who creates us from nothing and creates us each day of our lives. God grows love in us, so that adult love can shelter and comfort many others.
Seeds grow when the conditions are right. They need light, heat and energy. God’s kingdom of love grows slowly and demands patience and faith. He reminds us we cannot short circuit God’s timing. Humbling as it may be, God has only commissioned us to sow the seed by sharing our knowledge of Jesus with other people. The results, the harvest of new souls and transformed lives, is the work of God, mysterious, momentous, miraculous. That is why I don’t count attendance figures or conversions any more – Because I know that if there are many, I will become proud. If there are few, I will become depressed. I don’t count because kingdom growth is not a result of human efforts. Success in witnessing, is sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a very humbling but reassuring principle that we can never talk anyone into the Kingdom of God. We are saved by grace through faith, not by argument or explanation.
Only God can raise the dead.
Only God can open blind eyes.
Only God can make the seed of the word germinate.
Only God can bring us to new life.
That is why we must have confidence in the seed – the word of God – and share it liberally, indiscriminately, widely and repeatedly. Why? Because it is living and active. It has great power to change lives, to transform whole communities, to influence entire nations.
These two little parables, remind us that,
The growth of God’s kingdom is mysterious.
The growth of God’s kingdom is momentous.
The growth of God’s kingdom is miraculous.
We in the 21st-century want our lives to be full of successes and significance. Jesus calls on us to have more patience with and respect for failure, hiddenness, and insignificance. For they can point beyond themselves toward the reality of the kingdom of God already in our midst.
If we examine our lives in prayer and study, if we trust that God truly has something wonderful in store for us then we can bloom. And if all of us allow what God has planted within us to bloom, imagine the glorious garden of peace, love, and joy that our world can become.
So let us thank God and let’s cultivate an umbrella faith. Praise be to God for that seed of faith that he causes to grow, leading up to eternal life!
