Mustard With Relish
June 14, 2009
30He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Mark 4:30-34
“Learning to do a lot with a little.” Some of you may think that’s the name of my autobiography, but actually it’s the title I’ve given to a new series of sermons that I’m beginning this morning. With the economy in the shape that it’s in, it seems that there is suddenly quite a bit of interest in learning to do a lot with a little. For the first time in a long time, people are talking more about quality and less about quantity. We’re learning how to cut back, how to save, how to live within our means. And so, I thought it would be appropriate for us to spend some time thinking about this topic, not only because it’s culturally relevant, but also because of where we happen to be in the life of our church.
If you were here the last two weeks, you heard some pretty big plans for Park View Baptist Church. We’re talking about refocusing our ministry and renovating the building. And although I’ve heard lots of positive feedback, many of you in here are probably still wondering—How? How are we going to do all this stuff? Given the number of people that we have and our age and our financial resources and all the other obstacles, how are these things going to happen?
I think those are legitimate questions. And so, for the few weeks, I want to try and address some of those concerns in my sermons. Specifically, I want us to look together at what the Bible has to say about doing a lot with a little. Is it even possible? And if so, how do we learn to do that in the church?
That’s where we’re going during the month of June. But the place I want to start this morning is the Gospel of Mark. In Mark, Chapter 4, Jesus tells several parables and they all involve images of seeds. It’s an image I personally struggle with because I am a lousy gardener. For starters, I don’t like dirt. You can call me girly if you want to; I don’t care. I just don’t like dirt. It’s dirty. And if you’re going to be a good gardener, you have to get dirty.
Of course, over the years, I have tried on a few occasions to grow something, only to discover that I am capable of killing almost any growing thing. In college, I used to have a little cactus in my windowsill. Now, it takes talent to kill a cactus. But I managed to do it.
So, these stories about seeds that Jesus tells in Mark Chapter 4 are somewhat removed from my everyday experience. And I don’t think it’s just me. I know that some of you in here do have gardens, and that you enjoy keeping them up. But by and large in the year 2009, people in America are more removed from the land than they have ever been before. These days, it’s hard to find a real farmer. Most farms in America are owned by huge corporations and most of us buy our food from those corporations at huge supermarkets.
Now, I’m not going to get into any arguments this morning about sustainable farming, but suffice it to say that parables about seeds are probably harder for us to understand than they might have once been. Remember that most of Jesus’ original audience were farmers of some kind. Most of them made their living by the land, and so, using an illustration about planting seeds made sense. But for us, these stories that Jesus tell are somewhat unfamiliar. And that’s especially true for the last story, the one I’m focusing on this morning, commonly called the parable of the mustard seed. Jesus says that the mustard seed is the smallest seed around. I looked it up on Wikipedia and discovered that Jesus was pretty much right. The mustard seed is actually one of the tiniest seeds found in nature. In fact, it’s so small that people in Jesus’ time used that expression whenever they wanted to describe something particularly tiny. Today, we might say that something is as small as a cell or an atom. But back in the 1st century, folks said “small as a mustard seed.”
That’s important as we think about this parable. The mustard seed is not just tiny; it is the absolute tiniest thing that Jesus can possibly imagine. And yet, it is this tiny thing to which Jesus compares the kingdom of God. Let’s stop and take that in for just a minute, because it pretty much contradicts all the ways we usually think about God’s kingdom. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like something completely insignificant. It is like something so tiny that most people never even notice it.
That’s an amazing claim for Jesus to make, because most of us in here believe that a kingdom is by its very nature large and imposing. Kingdoms have vast territories and loyal subjects. A kingdom the size of a mustard seed hardly seems worth bothering with. And yet, it is the mustard seed that springs to mind when Jesus describes God’s kingdom. Not the Roman Empire. Not the twelve tribes of Israel. Not even a vegetable garden. A mustard seed. The tiniest thing imaginable.
What a challenging idea for those of us who are still caught up in the old counting numbers routine. The truth is that it’s hard for us get by with a little because we’ve been spoiled by having a lot for so long. Oh sure, we may talk about living within our means during a recession, but it’s only out of necessity, right? We certainly wouldn’t choose to have less money or fewer church members. That would be crazy, wouldn’t it?
Maybe. But maybe the parable of the mustard seed is crazy. Because it shatters all our preconceptions about bigger being better. According to Jesus, smallness is one of the characteristics that most clearly defines the kingdom of God. And I believe we have to keep that in mind as we consider our future together here at Park View. In all our panic about how we’re going to do what we need to do, sometimes we forget that having to do a lot with a little is not a bad thing. On the contrary, it is the way the kingdom of God works.
But Jesus doesn’t stop there. In verse 32, he goes on to say that although the mustard seed is the smallest of the seeds, it grows up and becomes the greatest shrub, with even enough room for the birds to nest in it. To our ears, that may sound just grand. But once again, we may miss out on the radical nature of Jesus’ parable unless we have a degree in horticulture.
As it turns out, mustard was a particularly troublesome plant in 1st century Galilee. It was basically a weed. And like any weed, mustard was hard to get rid of. Although the Gospels of Matthew and Luke change this parable so that the mustard seed grows into a tree, in actuality, Mark is more accurate. The full-grown version of mustard is more like a scrubby bush or shrub than a tree. And the folks listening to Jesus would have known that fact. So, we go from a parable about a mustard seed to one about a mustard weed. By the way, when we read these parables it really becomes apparent that Jesus must have had a good sense of humor. I mean, why else would he choose such outrageous examples when talking about God’s kingdom?
Jesus could have said that the kingdom of God is like an acorn that grows into a mighty oak tree or a thistle that grows into a beautiful rose. But that’s not what he said. Because even though those things might have sounded better, they didn’t describe the kingdom in the same way as mustard. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is more like a pesky weed that starts out small, but eventually spread to infiltrate the whole yard. And no matter how many times we may hack it off with the pruning shears or spray it with Round-Up, that mustard weed is going to keep coming back again and again. It’s going to take over our azaleas. It’s going to give refuge to the birds that drop surprises on our cars. The mustard weed is a nuisance.
But it’s like the kingdom of God. And I think that by using this odd comparison, Jesus gives us some insight into our own situation. I don’t want you to get the idea this morning that just because we are small, we will succeed. I don’t believe that and I don’t think that’s what this passage is saying. I do think it says that even though the kingdom may be small, it grows and prospers because it is persistent.
In other words, I think that we here at Park View Baptist Church are called to grow like a weed. Now, that’s very different from the steady growth of other plants. But it is even more effective, because a weed will find a way. A weed may get plucked over here and pulled over there and may even be thrown into the compost pile. But it’s not done yet. A weed is going to try something new. A weed is going to find a crack in the ground, and even though it’s tiny and insignificant, it’s going to keep at it until it infiltrates the whole yard.
An oak tree can die. But a mustard bush is just about impossible to get rid of. And Jesus says that’s how it is with the kingdom of God. It starts out from something so small that you hardly notice it’s there, but before long, it’s taken over.
As we think about the next steps in our life together at Park View, I think that’s an image we should keep before us. Doing a lot with a little might mean that we take one step back for every two steps forward. It might mean that it will take a long time for us to blossom. But ultimately, if we remain persistent and keep pushing, we will grow. Of course, it might not be the kind of growth that everybody wants. After all, not many of us celebrate when weeds overtake our yard. But at the end of the day, it’s those scrappy weeds that are left standing.
These parables are amusing, but they are also challenging. Because by using these parables, Jesus helps us see that the kingdom of God is often made visible in surprising ways. Sometimes, it’s just the opposite of what we might expect. And so, as we get ready to shake things up here at Park View, I think it is important for us to remain open to the surprising and unexpected movement of God in our midst. Unfortunately, our tendency in the church is to get hung up on those “How are we going to do it?” types of questions. Legitimate though they may be, when we worry about those questions too much, we are in danger of putting boundaries around God’s work. We become guilty of reducing God’s imagination to mere numbers and logistical details.
But this passage confronts all our trite interpretations of God’s kingdom. The parable of the mustard seed may be short, but it is not simple. Manifesting the kingdom of God as a mustard seed or mustard weed here at Park View may prove to be quite challenging for many of us. But if we are serious about learning to do a lot with a little, I believe we can relish this as the moment to fulfill our calling. Who knows what surprises God has in store for us? I don’t. But I’m looking forward to finding out. AMEN