What did you make of the reading from Matthew’s gospel this evening? Perhaps you thought to yourself - is that it? Just five verses. A wee short reading. Nothing much to it. Just a couple of wee stories from the garden and the kitchen. Something small, and seemingly insignificant.
But that’s the very thing that Jesus is teaching us tonight - that just because something is small, barely noticeable, doesn’t mean that it is insignificant. Rather, these small things become very noticeable, and very significant, in the course of time and the purposes of God.
Over these summer evenings, we’ve been listening in as Jesus tells some stories. They’re kingdom parables - stories of ordinary, everyday events which teach us something about the kingdom of heaven. So far we’ve heard the parable of the sower - that when the seed of God’s word is sown there are different reactions (but we shouldn’t give up). We’ve thought about the purpose of the parables - so that some hear but don’t hear, while others listen and understand. We’ve also heard last week of the wheat and the weeds - that the children of the kingdom and the children of the devil are growing up side by side, but by harvest there’ll be a separation.
The stories so far have all been about farming - sowing seeds and the wheat and the weeds. They’ve been about growing - and we see that theme continuing tonight, in several different ways. Again, we find ourselves in the field for the first story, so if you’ve got your wellies on, let’s head out onto the farm.
‘He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.”’ (31).
What is the kingdom of heaven like? It’s like a mustard seed. And what’s the point that Jesus is driving towards? ‘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.’ (32).
So the mustard seed starts off small, very small, the smallest of all your seeds. Jesus is talking to people who would plant these seeds. They know just how tiny they are. They’re 1 millimetre in size, or about half an inch. So small. You wouldn’t think much of it. You mightn’t even be able to see them very well.
But that’s not the case when they grow. Then you can’t miss the plant that comes from the seed! When it grows, it’s the largest of garden plants, it becomes a tree. Those small mustard seeds - the plant can grow up to ten or twelve feet in height. Something so large coming from something so small.
And it becomes so large that it’s not just a plant, it’s a tree, and a place for birds to come and perch. I wonder did you notice that phrase ‘the birds of the air come and perch in its branches’? Jesus is referring back to our Old Testament reading, from Ezekiel 17:23. In the prophecy, God says that he will take a cutting from a cedar tree, and plant it in Israel, and the tree will grow, so that birds come and nest in it.
He’s speaking of the Gentiles coming and taking shelter in Israel, being joined and included in the kingdom. And that’s the point Jesus is making here too. The kingdom starts small, like a mustard seed, but it grows so big that others are included, the Gentiles (you and me) come for shelter. Jesus speaks of the mustard seed. We have a similar saying - great oaks from little acorns grow.Both have the idea of something big coming from something small.
In the second story, we come in from the field to the bakery, or even just the kitchen. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.’ (33).
Have you ever tried to make bread? I’ve not tried it - it’s much easier to buy a loaf and the kitchen is less messy than if I had a go... But I might know something about making bread - but only by watching the Great British Bake Off. They would always have a bread week, and there’d be some challenge where they had to use yeast, and prove the dough, watch it rise, before it went into the oven. It seems that you only need a small amount of yeast for a big amount of flour.
If you went with the same amount of yeast and flour, then it would be like a dough monster, growing and expanding far out of the mixing bowl. A large amount of flour only needs a small amount of yeast. But when the small amount of yeast is mixed into the flour, then it impacts the whole batch. The yeast affects everything it comes in contact with, it makes its presence known, even if you can’t see it.
In other places in the Bible, yeast is used as a symbol of evil, and the way it spreads as a sign of the danger of evil in our lives. That’s why those verses in 1 Cor 5 talk about getting rid of the old leaven / yeast of malice and wickedness; and having the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
But here, the same spreading and growth and influence shows us how God’s kingdom spreads through the world - unseen, perhaps, and yet very real - and eventually the impact will be seen and felt.
So when you read the newspaper, or watch the evening news, you might see a world where bad things are happening, where God doesn’t seem to be in charge at all. It might look as if God’s kingdom isn’t here at all - but it’s here, it’s working, from small beginnings, perhaps unseen, but with sure and certain results.
This is the way that God works in the world. The same God spoke to the prophet Zechariah when the destroyed temple in Jerusalem was being rebuilt. It didn’t look anything like it did before, less impressive, and yet God says to Zechariah: ‘Do not despise the day of small things.’ (4:10). Great endings come from small beginnings. As a Chinese philosopher once said, ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.’
This is the way God works in the world. And it’s why Jesus spoke in parables. He was fulfilling what was spoken by the prophet. Matthew, in verse 35, quotes Psalm 78:2 - words we opened our service with: ‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.’
Psalm 78 is the second longest Psalm in the Bible (so don’t worry, we’ll not read it all). But as the Psalm starts, we find that line - speaking parables, utter things hidden since the creation of the world. The Psalm is a recap of the story of God’s people - how he rescued them from Egypt, how they grumbled in the desert, how he brought them into the promised land, how they rebelled against him... And the whole Psalm is leading to this conclusion - page 592: ‘He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them.’ (Ps 78:70-72)
Do you remember when Samuel goes to Jesse’s home to anoint the next king of Israel? Samuel looks at the oldest boy, Eliab, and thinks - this is him. But God says, don’t look on the outward appearance - the Lord looks on the heart. So Eliab is rejected. So are his next six brothers. Samuel gets to the end of the line and asks, have you any more sons? Well, yes, there’s David, the baby brother, but he’s out with the sheep. The smallest, least thought of, unnoticed, is anointed, and becomes king.
Or think of the very start of God’s chosen people. God chooses Abram, a man who is 75, with a wife but no children, and God promises him a son. And so he waits for the son to be born... for 25 years. As Hebrews 11 puts it: ‘And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.’ (Heb 11:12).
One seed, small and unimpressive, becomes unmissable. God’s kingdom may be hidden, but it is working towards its eventual conclusion. It’s the way God has always worked. And we have the opportunity to be part of his kingdom, to see how the mustard seed can grow in our lives, how we can be the yeast working in our village and our world, bringing influence and change, and fulfilling God’s purposes.
To be here on a Sunday evening in August, rather than sitting in Newcastle eating ice cream and watching the world go by. To be doing something the world thinks - why would you go to church? It’s boring. It’s a waste of your time. But the seed is taking root, and growing, and will one day be seen by all.
To struggle to say a word or two about Jesus to a friend, or with a colleague; to mention that you were at church; to seek to live out your faith in the way you work or the way you treat your neighbour - these might seem like small things, but they can have a big impact as the kingdom influences and the kingdom grows far beyond all that we can ask or imagine.
God’s kingdom is like the tiny mustard seed; it is growing. God’s kingdom is like the yeast; it is working unseen. Jesus calls us to be part of his kingdom. Jesus calls us to be working for him, perhaps unseen, perhaps in what we think are unimpressive ways, but all used by him, as his kingdom stands and grows forever, till all his creatures own his sway.
Last week, I was coming down from the north coast, and stopped at Junction One for a wee walk about. Looking for a wee bargain. I didn’t buy anything, but I did notice the advertising at the Regatta shop. They sell outdoor clothing if you’re going up a mountain or going camping. And the window display was all about how a group of friends had got together to make great affordable outdoor products. And a whole blurb about their passion, their technology, their quality and their design. But it was the line at the bottom of the window that stood out: ‘There were 12 of us. Now there are millions.’
Isn’t that us? That could be the strapline for the church. There were 12 of us - just a mustard seed start, as Jesus told the disciples to bring the good news to all nations. Now there are millions. So let’s get out there, like mustard seed and like yeast, and see God’s kingdom grow.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 13th August 2017.
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