The Kingdom Is Like a Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32)

Push record. Gosh, I almost blew it again. Pin. All right, so recap. Today we're going to be in Matthew 13 31 and 32. And in this chapter, Jesus is using many parables about what the kingdom of God is like. And so, um, let me let me read this and and it's just it's so interesting. Um, but anyway, let me read So, so Matthew 13:31-32 and it says another it says, "So the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and swed in his field which indeed is the least of all the seeds but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air can come and can nest in the branches." So, I know that today probably most of us, including myself, had no idea what a mustard seed was or what it did or how big it grew or I didn't know any of that until I I learned it.

And so, I'll give you guys a little couple things about a mustard seed. Number one, it is not the smallest seed in the botany kingdom. And that's not to say that Christ is lying to the masses. You have to remember who his audience is. They're farmers. He's not talking about the orchid, which no one back then planted to grow to sell in florist shops. That actually is technically the smallest seed. But but Christ is talking to a group of farmers. He's talking to simple people. And so he's he's putting this in a parable in language that he's trying to get them obviously to to understand.

And so how big does a mustard seed grow? So unlike a you know some other herb that you might grow which might grow a foot or two or maybe spreads out in the ground a mustard seed literally grows into a tree. It can grow into an 8 to 10 foot tall tree huge in one season over magically almost overnight it becomes enormous and it provides shade for the garden. It provides a place for birds to nest or or to or to come in out of the heat or or or predator or whatever it might be. And so so a mustard seed is just that. It's the tiniest of the planted seeds.

It can grow into this massive uh tree in your garden. And so Christ is using this parable and he says that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and swed in his field which indeed the least of these seeds when it is grown and is greater than the herbs that become a tree. And I want to talk about something in the and and the almost kind of like give the punchline here before we talk about the the process of this scripture at this time. Rome is the empire. It is massive. It is it's controlling. It's where all the wealth is.

Rome is it. And and the reason why I say on top of the punch line is because where is Rome today? It's nowhere. It's nothing. Um it was huge back then. The Jews when they were thinking about their savior coming, they were thinking about a charismatic leader. They were thinking about an Adonis. They were thinking about someone who was strong, who was going to take them into battle, into war, who was going to do politics. They were thinking something big. And what we find in scripture is God often uses the least likely to do the thing that is the most likely.

And so here, what does he do? Christ is literally using the smallest thing you can use. And what he's doing, he's comparing that to what the kingdom of heaven is like. Well, Dwayne, how how does a mustard seed reference the kingdom of heaven? Well, first of all, there's a lot that goes into this if you think about the about the the word text that Christ uses here. So, he says here that that a man took and swed it in his field. had to be buried as most seeds do in order for anything to happen. And the moment that you bury that seed, you now lose sight of it.

It's gone. And so now what we have to do is we have to operate on faith that something's going to happen because you you now are no longer in control. If we look at 1 Corinthians 3:6 and 7 and it says says, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." Right? And so when we plant seeds, i.e. uh how the kingdom grows, we may never see that plant even come out of the ground. It it may not it may never be anything that we witness, but it doesn't mean that God's not giving the increase. It doesn't mean that somewhere down the road that this this this thing that you started that is your responsibility to do which is to plant that it doesn't take root and grow might be next month, next year, 10 years from now.

Um but that's not on us. That's God. And he says it here clearly. Paul talks about it in first Corinthians that we have no control over that. But what does it do when we bury it in the ground? Now all of a sudden we can't naturally see it. And so we have to trust that God is at work in this process. Um there's so so small is not necessarily insignificant. You may think that greeting people at church is the least of the services that you can do. But that smile, that that greeting, that remembering someone's name the next Sunday they come may be the very reason why they stay at your church.

maybe the very reason why they come back the following Sundays because they now know that love is it does exist and it is unconditional and that these people remembered my name and so that's not a big significant thing. You didn't just stand up on stage as as Jonathan Ster did at our church this weekend. And he he rarely is on stage, but he he he delivered a fantastic message. And no, that that's probably more impressive and wow than it is just to greet someone by name when they walk in on a given Sunday. But but God's not interested in the big, he's interested in the small.

And so he go so Christ uses this as the parable in this process. And if we think about this, don't I I'm sure that we all have this this seed in our life. And whether it's a whether it's a a conversation that you're having with, you know, maybe someone at work and you're you're maybe, you know, over some period of time sharing the gospel message with them. May maybe it's just a habit that you're trying to develop. Maybe you're 30, 40 days into this habit and you're and you're not quite seeing the result of it. Maybe it's a workout. Maybe it's a diet.

Maybe it's something that's going on that you have to you have to give faith. You have to trust that this little thing is going to take seed and it's going to grow. Maybe it's maybe it's a marriage that you're working on and you're trying to rebuild it and you've gone through the season of dryness. Uh maybe it's a a business that you're launching and you've got this idea and you're struggling and and you have to have faith and and and again maybe you know if we fast if we could fast forward 10 years down the road we could see you've built this great big thing with God at the at the helm you know and maybe giving it to God your marriage has blossomed and grown far better than it ever was even the day that you got married.

But but it all starts with that mustard seed. It all starts with the the little thing that that God asks us to put in the ground, right? And and you can even look at the analogy there. Christ had to be buried for him to be resurrected for the kingdom of heaven to be where it is today for us to for us to have a seat and a space there. And so this little mustard seed that Christ started with 12 unschooled, ordinary um unremarkable men has grown to what Christianity is today. And it all started from a simple beginning. It didn't start with a powerful army or gigantic political clout.

It started with something very small. And to see the power in that is to see the number of churches and number of people who give their life to Christ on a daily basis throughout the world. So there we go. Mustard seed as an analogy for the kingdom of heaven. So thoughts, comments, suggestions. That was a good mic drop. All right. Mic drop. Anybody? We I got thumbs up from Phil. I like it. All right. Well, good. Okay. Well, I mean that sometimes they don't, you know, we don't all need to jump in and and have a comment or or maybe it just hit home for everybody or maybe maybe there's a group on here that that need to go and digest this and and think about the things in their life that they expect an immediate uh an immediate success or an immediate reaction and and sometimes God just says that that that's it's you're not going to get that right now.

do the thing and and we put it in God's hands. Yep. So, all right. All right. Well, then let's bow our heads. Let's pray out. Father, thank you so much for today and and and thank you to know that that you've taken that responsibility off of our shoulders, that you've taken that weight away from us, that that worry, that anxiety, that that it's not up to us. um that we're just responsible to plant the seed and that that someone else might water it, Father, but ultimately you're going to be the one that gives the increase. And so I know for me that that takes a lot off of the pressure off of me.

I I know that I don't have to be perfect in that regard that that I just have to do what you've asked me to. I have to listen to your voice to the Holy Spirit guide me and then know that I'm I'm walking in your walk and know that what comes of that is on on you, Lord. It's not on us. And so, Father, I thank you for that. Give us today. Allow us to be able to do exactly that. That that we can plant the seeds where you're telling us to when and where and and how you want them done. And then sit back, Father, and just watch what you have the ability to do.

Father, uh, guide us. All right. So, so watch over all of us today. guide us, direct us. Um, we love you, we praise you, and it's in your son Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, all see you guys tomorrow, same time. All right. Thank you. All right. You guys have a great day. Have a good day. Bye.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly edited for readability.