Luke 13
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast
18 Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches."
20 Again he asked, "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.
For the disciples, as already noted, the Kingdom of God was to be a political, social, and religious entity ruled by the Messiah. It was to be God's answer to the troubled state of the Hebrew people and the problems of the world. But after almost three years of following Jesus the disciples wonder about the coming of the Kingdom. For these twelve and so many others who had hung their hopes on this Jesus, there had to be some feeling that things weren't advancing as they hoped. In these verses and others, Jesus seeks to help them understand how the Kingdom, the actual Kingdom God intends to bring, comes. It grows, develops, and matures as God wishes; by God's timeline; at God's initiative.
There are times in our own lives when we wonder when God is going to do the blessed work of love, peace, and justice amidst so much evil, so many problems, so much difficulty we hear about daily in the newscasts. Will God's Kingdom ever come?
Jesus reminds us all that the Kingdom of God continues to grow, continues to blossom, continues to develop however small and insignificant the moral and spiritual progress seems to be. You've heard of the long look of history, haven't you? When we take the long look of history regarding the values of the Kingdom, we see that much wondrous good has been done. Many an injustice has been met by justice. Many accepted but unfair practices are no longer tolerated. Many unhealthy attitudes (racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) once commonplace are now generally challenged if not negated. I look at history and I see God's hand at work; yes, often slowly, tediously, minimally; but seeds of the Kingdom are blossoming in history and in our world.
And then there are the little things we do in service to Christ which often don't seem to bear the fruit we'd like or which we think God wants. We give our time, our talents, our resources and wonder when there will be the results we know Christ wants. In God's time, however, all we do will bear fruit. In Gods time, every action in faithfulness to Christ will blossom for good. In God's time, every moment we honor Christ's call of love and kindness facilitates a blooming of goodness otherwise not possible.
We people of faith must be just that, people of faith. We must trust God in the present and for the future. We must not waver in our conviction that all things ultimately are in God's hands however it might seem in the moment.
