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The Kingdom of God: Unstoppable Growth

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches. Matthew 13:31-32

Jesus used several parables to describe the Kingdom of God/Heaven.  It is notable here that Matthew never used the phrase "Kingdom of God".  This is most likely due to the fact that Matthew was speaking to a Jewish audience.  Jews out of reverence  for the  name of God would not speak God's name like that.    The Kingdom of Heaven is synonymous with the Kingdom of God.  One in the same.  

In this parable, Jesus says that the "kingdom of heaven" is like...... a mustard seed.  As Jesus said, this seed, is the smallest of all the seeds.  But yet when it grows it becomes the largest of all the garden plants/trees.  It is quite the contrast.  The mustard seed goes from the smallest to the largest.  It goes from what appears to be the weakest......to the strongest.  It grows from being "bird food" to a "bird perch".  It goes from being unseen to being a can't miss object.  Jesus says this is how the kingdom is like.  Crazy.  True.  

Jesus also shared this parable.

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.  Matthew 13:33

Here is another example of a "small" thing compared to the Kingdom of God.  According to Wikipedia, Yeast are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi.   It is used as a leavening agent where it converts fermentable sugars in the dough into carbon dioxide.  This allows the dough to rise and become larger and tastier.  Once the yeast starts doing it's thing...it's impossible to separate from the dough.   Jesus says that the yeast works it way until it's through the whole dough!  

What do we take from these two parables?  Well I say that the Kingdom of God is an unstoppable force!   The Kingdom begins spreading small  (Jesus & the 12 disciples) and ends up with billions of people later through history.   The Kingdom is growing and nothing can stop it!  As the mustard tree becomes the largest in the garden...so will the Kingdom be the biggest & greatest.   As the yeast permeates the dough and spreads like a wildfire....so will the Kingdom spread throughout the world.    The rule of God is spreading throughout creation and the Gates of Hell won't be able to take it!

If you were to use a parable to describe the kingdom...how would you do it?   Try to use the same train of thought Jesus was using with the yeast/mustard seed.  I'll share my parable with my next post. 

But I don't even like mustard.....

Mustard.  It's a strange word.  Just stop and say it out loud.  Mustard.  LOL...thanks I feel better now.    As I kid I hated mustard.  I could never understand why some people would dare put it on a hot dog or pretzel.   The only way I could even hack mustard is in the honey form.  But anyway...that's not the point of this particular posting.   

This past Sunday during our Fusion Church worship gathering, my daughter said something quite enlightening.   We were in the middle of talking about faith. What does it take to have faith in God and the faith to live life?   Russ, who is a part of our Fusion family, began to refer back to the parable of the mustard seed. 

  

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."  Matthew 17:20

  

Russ reminded us of Jesus' words of how much faith it takes to be used of God.   Jesus used the most insane example.   The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds.   Yet, Jesus said that if our faith was the size of this seed we would have incredible results.  It it fantastic truth....and yet one not fully realized by so many people. 

 

Brianna, after hearing about our faith being compared to a mustard seed, said something I will never forget.  She said....."But, I don't even like mustard".  Now of course she was talking about real mustard.  But we can apply this truth to our life.  In fact that is how many people think.  They believe in God....but find it very hard to trust God.  How true is that of so many people today?  They talk about faith, they talk about trusting in God, but they don't.  It's because having Faith in God...is hard.  It's difficult because we make it difficult.  

 

I believe true faith begins with honesty.  It's the honesty that says that I am not in control and there is something bigger than me.  We love to be in control, don't we?   We love to have it all figured out and put together our way.  We love to do things our way.  The honesty begins when we realize that we actually need God.  It begins when we realize that life is not about me.  For some that's a hard pill (or seed) to swallow.  

 

Let's face it.   Sometimes, it's hard to have the faith to even get out of bed in the morning....let alone to move mountains.  How can we trust God in those big   things (mountains) when we can't trust Him in the day to day things?  A mustard seed is small, but the end result is a tree that is huge!  Simply, what Jesus was saying, is that our little faith can be used of God, and by God to do tremendous things.   God expects greater faith than that of a mustard seed...however he can use one the size of a mustard seed.  Even if we don't like mustard.