"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.

"The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough."

         Jesus takes two simple images from the common life in order to speak of the Kingdom of God. The first comes from the garden. Standing tall in the family vegetable garden would be a few mustard plants. They grew quickly from seeds so small you could hardly see them. And yet these plants could grow to a height of ten feet. The people did not grow them so they would have something to put on their hot dogs; mustard was used for medicine. There is no story with a plot here. Just amazement that such a tiny seed could produce a plant as tall as a tree.

         The other image comes from the bakery. This is quite a woman that is described, making bread for the whole village with 60 pounds of flour! This is not the kind of yeast we would buy at the store today. It is leaven, or sourdough starter. Our son Timm the Alaskan likes to make sourdough pancakes. So he keeps a jar of starter on the shelf, and then mixes it into the flour, and when the dough is ready, fills the jar again for the next time. That is how bread was made in Jesus' day. The point is that the leaven mixes all through the dough. It is in fact everywhere you search, and yet you can't see it in the dough.

         What is the point of these little parables? The Kingdom of Heaven was present in the ministry of Jesus, and yet it was not recognized by many. Klyne Snodgrass explains that some felt the miracles and teachings of Jesus were good as far as they went, but where was the rest of the story? Where was the defeat of Rome, the victory over the nations, the establishment of God's justice? Yet Jesus seems to be saying in these parables that "the Kingdom of God is present even if hidden, unnoticed or ignored, and its full revelation with its benefits will come." We could say that what seems small or unseen in human perspective is in fact transforming and purposeful in God's time and God's plan.

         Through the years the church has had trouble applying these parables. On the one hand, some have taken these parables to refer to Christian triumphalism. So in this view it is Jesus who plants the seed of the Gospel and then the church grows triumphant over all the other religions. On an individual level, this might be seen as the Gospel coming into a person's life, leading to a maturity of faith that achieves sinless perfection. The small beginning becomes great, becomes big, and becomes the best. We like big and best and so these interpretations have had support over the years.

         But there is a problem with triumphalism, with shouting to the world, "We are the best or the biggest." Such statements do not look like Jesus. A lot of young adults do not want anything to do with that type of thinking today. So there is going on a re-thinking of evangelism and mission. The "triumphal church" is becoming a "Christ-following" c hurch. Instead of saying "Our religion is the best," the emphasis has become one of humbly doing the will of God, of obeying the words of Christ, of acting the way he did. This often happens in small places, even "invisible" places. It does not seek publicity. It does not demand the limelight. The emphasis is less on telling people the truth so they can believe it, and more on joining God in his work in people's lives. For instance, on the recent trip to Louisiana, our group not only brought help to people who had lost everything, but our group also was profoundly impacted by the work of God in the lives of the people they served. In some ways they encountered a deeper generosity in those they served than what was in their own hearts.

         Those who follow Christ also find they are being kneaded into the world in places where there is despair, where there is a lack of hope, where no one seems to have the answer. The school system in Waukegan called the churches of that community together to ask for their help. So the response has been things like the school supply drive, the school workday, and volunteers who come to tutor or simply be present in school so it is a safer place.

         In many ways, then, this parable is speaking to the body of Christ, as people are giving themselves to serve in ways that may seem small or insignificant or humble, and yet in Christ become transforming in lives and communities. We are learning to live as leaven in the world.

         The other danger in applying this parable is to become content with that which is small or insignificant. Jim Hawkinson tells a lot of stories from our Covenant heritage. They are often humorous because they come from a time when these people were switching languages, from Swedish to English, and that is difficult to do. So one story I remember him telling is of the pastor who greets people at the door after worship, and one Swede comes by and says "Thank you for the little you do." That phrase has stuck with me, "the little you do." Sometimes in the church we have come to believe that a mustard-seed-sized effort is all that is required. We have relished our role of being invisible in the work of Christ. We have even felt permission to ignore the commands of Christ to clothe the naked or feed the hungry. Some of what Christ commands us to do seems too big for us, and we have settled for easier tasks. We hide behind this parable. "I am only a little mustard seed, don't ask too much of me."

But the parable does not call us to intentional small effort. The seed, though small, has a great vision for the future, and there is this mysterious power to make it happen. With the aid of sunshine and water and good soil, the tiny seed in fact becomes a great, leafy plant. So we are not called to make a contribution the size of a mustard seed; we are called to have the vision of a mustard seed.

The leaven is small and soon becomes invisible in the dough, but the point is the leaven works throughout the whole lump. We are not called to be so quiet in our faith that no one can see us; we are called to permeate the world with love and good deeds so that the transforming power of Christ can be known in all the earth.

         I think these parables take us to the cross. How can something so ignoble, so brutal, a symbol of utter defeat, truly make a difference in the world, and in fact become the center of God's plan of salvation for the whole world?

The seed must fall into the ground and die before it can live. We can focus on the potential for life in the seed, but in fact it remains alone until it goes under the ground. We can talk about how remarkable leaven is, a living substance that has potential for unlimited numbers of loaves of bread, but in fact it must come off the shelf and be poured out of the jar so that the bread can rise and become a loaf.

Here is where I am on this. When I realized that I was not involved in any hands-on, face-to-face ministry in the community, I made a commitment to find a place of service. We began the furniture ministry with LoveINC., and so I joined and went once. But I have not been back since, because every time it is my turn to go, something else is in the way. What I have discovered is that it is not convenient to get off the shelf! But I am not going to give up. I will get my priorities in the proper place and follow through on my commitment.

We are called to be people with the vision and faith of a mustard seed, and a presence in the world like that of leaven in a batch of bread dough.

"Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee."

Amen.