The Mustard Seed

Well, hello again. This is Dave Scherrerrer, and you've found your way to Kingdom Offerings. This is the podcast place of 100 Full Ministries, and we are pounding our way through the kingdom parables. So grab your Bibles, your phone app, and turn with me to Mark chapter 4. We're going to keep reading there yet today, and let's look at another one of Mark's kingdom parables. So the last time we were together, we looked at a parable that, frankly, actually doesn't fit the definition of a parable. Most parables have a moral to the story, and they use the story to paint a word picture of a truth or a theme that Jesus would have us understand about God and his kingdom. They help us understand the kingdom in a small way so that we can eventually understand the kingdom in a large way. And then, eventually, we come to understand the big idea of a very big idea. So the last time we looked at Jesus's exhortation that light comes into a room, and it ought not to be hidden. The moral of that story, I guess, for most of us, lands on the idea that God gives us light, the light of Jesus, and we ought not to hide it. And that's true, and that's good. But there's more to this story. What we figured out last time was that this was really a story about Jesus, about Jesus coming into a dark world and bringing his light, and he was declaring his intention to shine brightly. He was going to refuse to be hidden, regardless of the cost. His light would not be hidden, even though it would cost him dearly. His light, his truth, was saving souls, and believing in Jesus set you aside for his kingdom. It was his light that started the kingdom fire. So that was the last time we got together, but Mark continues to build on that idea. These parables are grouped on purpose by Mark. So with that story and meaning in mind, let's go ahead and look at two more parables, two seed parables. And spoiler alert, I want to give you the moral of these stories before we even read them. The moral of these stories is actually found in Paul's letter to the church in Rome. You will find it in Romans 9, verse 16. It reads, Let me read that again. Romans 9, verse 16. It, and that means the kingdom of God. When you look at it in context, it means his work, his compassion, his mercy. It, the work of the kingdom of God, depends not on human will or exertion, exertion on our part, but on God who has mercy. Romans 9, verse 16. So that's the moral of these stories. Let's go ahead and pick them a little bit. These stories that we're about to explore want us to understand that this Jesus, this light of the world, is the author and instigator of all that has to do with his kingdom. He's in complete control. He causes it to grow on his terms according to his purposes. It's not that we take ourselves completely out of the kingdom equation, but our role is to simply trust and obey as he builds the kingdom through and with us in the power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So let's get on with it. The first one is found in Mark chapter 4, verses 26 through 29. Four verses, four whole verses committed to the parable of the growing seeds. Starts in verse 26, and Jesus said, The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seeds on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, and he doesn't know how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the air, then the full grain in the year. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. Okay, that kind of makes you stop and go, hmm. And directly following that parable is the parable of the mustard seed, a pretty famous parable, I think. And it reads in verse 30, and he said, Jesus said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we use for it? You see how he's introducing the kingdom through these stories. He's trying to help us understand the big idea of the kingdom using the smaller idea, the simile of this parable. Of what parable shall we use for it? Hmm, let me think, he says. And then he says, It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is the smallest of all seeds on the earth. Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants, puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. In the parable of this growing seed, the one we spoke of first, the kingdom is compared with the mysterious unseen growth of the seed, where we compare that to the mysterious unseen growth of the kingdom. We're seeing that all of it is according to God's good pleasure to the son's plan from the beginning of time, actually before time, I might say. Jesus is saying, Don't be lulled into a sleepy headed state. I'm doing a work here. Pay attention. Kingdom is growing. And someday there'll be a harvest. Then in the second parable, the parable of the mustard seed, he's building on that truth that the kingdom of God is growing. He's building on that truth that God is in control. From our perspective, God is starting pretty small. But Jesus is telling us from the well-placed light. Remember, the light is put on a stand, not hidden. From that well-placed light of Christ coming into the world at just the right time and boldly sharing the gospel of the kingdom, he will not stop being this brilliant light and darkness. His mysterious plan, that's that second parable of the growing seed, his mysterious plan is securing a kingdom of immense eternal proportion. And it will be the safe home of his kingdom citizen chickadees, I would say, in this beautiful tree that represents the kingdom of God. The mustard seed is indeed small. It's the size of a well-sharpened yellow number two soft pencil point. You remember those yellow two pencils? You take that and you put it on a piece of paper kind of lightly, and that's the size of a mustard seed. And of course, it's not the smallest seed. Jesus knows that. But it was a parable of the day when you were thinking about small things, you would think about the mustard seed. So Jesus is saying, this is how I do things. I choose small and weak and seemingly inconsequential things and seemingly inconsequential people to invest in. And my light will mysteriously grow in them and build them into a mighty eternal kingdom. From the humble beginnings of the Lord's kingdom to its final consummation, those two forms aren't different. The seed and the gigantic kingdom are the same. They simply need time for the plan to work its course. And sometimes this is hard for us. When life turns difficult, when there is injustice in the world, when we see evil, this world tells us to attack, to come on strong. It tells us that if I just work harder and longer, I can make my world better. It can be more comfortable and more profitable. It's really all about me. And these stories tell us that the kingdom of God does it different. It does it different than this fallen kingdom does. Jesus is saying, patience, I have a plan. I am working the plan. You should renounce the old kingdom of darkness and embrace my authority and my kingdom and join my plan. That is what he's saying in these parables. He started out with 12 ordinary men with whom he appointed as apostles and just a handful of followers. He lived and died in what was considered kind of a backwater province of the Roman empire up way north in Galilee. And he is mentioned only in passing in the secular historical sources, the non-biblical sources of that time. He's there, but apparently the world doesn't see him as a big deal. And since then, since the time of Jesus' ministry and death and resurrection and ascension, the kingdom of God has been steadily growing. His church is found around the globe and it grows even in the midst of hostile lands. And the mustard seed is well on its way to becoming the mustard tree. Then we'll return to the harvest to rule and reign. Amen to that. Thanks for coming. I'm Dave Scherrer. This is Kingdom Offerings. And we'll see you back here in a couple of weeks to explore a little bit more about the kingdom of God and the parables that Jesus used to teach about it. Peace to you. You