The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
The Kingdom of heaven starts out from what appears to be a disadvantaged seed. It is the smallest of all seeds leading one to naturally assume that a small plant would be the result. One would assume that a large plant would need a large seed from which to grow. How comforting that what is seen in early stages of Kingdom growth is not expected to look impressive or competitive.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
We might imagine that the disciples took this to heart. Their little movement did appear after all to be only a very small seed in a very large world. Romans, Herodians, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others already filled the fields with seeds that were large and promising. But what of those seeds today? And what of that small seed planted by Jesus in the heart of those first disciples? The former have more or less vanished while the later has become the promised "large bush" that now supports "the birds of the sky" "in its branches".
The Church is now this large bush that supports a vast diversity of life within her auspices. But she seems to sometimes forget her small origins and humble beginnings. As she seeks to grow and spread she often insists on mimicking the growth strategies of the world, insisting that early visibility and success are a necessary part of the strategy. She is not always able to invest in the hidden or to be patient with slow growth when she feels at risk of being outcompeted by hostile plants that spring rapidly from seed to plant. She doesn't always feel at liberty to nourish that which is beneath the soil because she fears that which surrounds her. But the Church will only grow when she follows the program Jesus laid out for her. And while this may describe the hierarchy to some degree it is even more indicative of lay activity in the world. Insofar as we try to help spread Kingdom growth in our own spheres we seem to only want to pursue proven programs that can demonstrate immediate results. We want to have great confidence at the beginning before anything is even attempted. And here is the lesson for us: Christian beginnings almost always look tenuous and risky.
He spoke to them another parable.
"The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened."
The Kingdom of heaven is able to exert a positive influence even when it is acting as a creative minority in the world. But does this seem to be the case for us today? Is the Kingdom acting as leaven, causing favorable growth for the whole society? Or are we rather insistent that if we can't have everything our way we might as well spoil the whole batch? In past societies Christians were able to make positive contributions even to societies that persecuted them. And the positive cultural heritage of Christendom continues to provide some benefit even in our own time to people who have no idea that they are drawing upon that source. Yet the ways in which Christians are now willing to contribute to society at large seem narrow and constrained. They must be obviously labeled 'Christian' and follow very specific formulas, having control over the process from beginning to end. This parable of the yeast and wheat flour seems to call us to a more creative form of cooperation with the world around us. Which is not to say we are free to allow our energies to be repurposed to give growth to the evil in our world. But it seems certain that there must be more ways in which we can contribute to nourishing and sustaining the world by our presence in it. But then again, perhaps this is still happening to a greater degree than we realize. It is, after all, often quite hidden. It may be that those Christians that are bold and loud on our news feeds are not the ones causing this kind of growth but rather those hidden and humble members of society who simply try to live the Gospel in their daily lives.
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.
The parables are meant to open up important truths to those who are willing to receive them while remaining closed to those whose hearts are closed. But this probably means that the parables have greater significance than we assume, even we who have heard and read them time and again. On the surface they too look like small seeds. But if we plant them, they grow beyond our expectations.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
Moses was an example of being a positive sustaining influence when the almost the whole of his small society of Israel seemed to have succumbed to corruption. May we become like him, advocates for those who are deceived and who have gone astray, rather than their antagonists.
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