“Little is Much with God”
Matthew 13:31-35
From the OT all the way through to the book of Revelation we find story after story of God’s plan for us. There are stories of battle, there are love stories and there are stories children love. When Jesus came on the scene He came as a teacher. 73 times we see this word (teacher). 73 times we see this word used in the gospels. He was creative...He knew exactly how to speak to the people of His day but the amazing thing was that everything He said still speaks to us 2000 years later. Without question He was the greatest storyteller who ever lived. One of the styles he used was to teach in parables. He told at least 55 different parables. The word parable comes from the Greek and means “Para”-next to or alongside of and “ballow” to cast. It means to place beside something else. Jesus used parables by placing something that is familiar beside something that is not familiar....in other words He would compare two things-one we understand and one we do not understand. Jesus used something people could see to explain something they could not see so that they could understand the unknown. At first the disciples really didn’t get it and they came to Jesus and said why do you speak to the people in parables? He said in Matthew 13:10-15 ....
Both of these parables tell us about the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven was promised in the OT and then was ushered into existence with the birth of Jesus. When Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven He is speaking about God and Christianity and Heaven and Judgement and all of these things God relates to and He tells us what He has in store for us.
If we are honest we would admit that we sometimes have questions about God and about our faith. Unbelievers also have questions and they’re not so different. They ask what is God like? What is Heaven like? If I accept Christ...if I become a Christian what will it be like? Jesus answered all of these questions–He taught extensively on all of these topics and He used parables to do so.
Now in the text today He tells two parables, both with the same message first using one of the smallest seeds known to people in that day..the mustard seed. How many of you have ever seen mustard seed? Well for all of you, especially those of you who have never seen one, if you look at your teaching notes today-closely-you will see one. Even for a seed it’s small but Jesus takes this tiny seed and He tells us some important things about the church.
Now the mustard seed has always been used for flavoring food. It is used as a spice. When planted it can grow to a height of 10-15.’ The mustard seed Jesus referred to is very similar to the mustard seed we are familiar with but specifically He was probably referring to the black mustard seed. It grew wild in that area. It was not an uncommon sight to see these roadside trees filled with birds because they also loved the seeds that the tree would produce and they would find shelter there.
The disciples were very familiar with this image. They were also familiar with the images that are behind this scene. In the OT one of the most common references to a great Kingdom is that of a tree. Ezekiel said these words:
Ezekiel 31:5-6 So it towered higher than all the trees of the field; its shade increased
and its branches grew long, spreading because of abundant waters.
[6] All the birds of the air nested in its shade, all the beasts of the field
gave birth under its branches; all the great nations lived in its shade.
This great tree which refers to the nation of Egypt-this tree towered above all the other trees around it. It prospered and grew thick branches because of all the water that was there at it’s roots. The birds nested in it’s branches and in it’s shade all the wild animals give birth to their young. All of the other great nations lived in the shadow of Egypt. What does this mean? Jesus was pointing out to those who were listening that the Kingdom of Heaven was beginning right there and though it’s beginnings were small, all of that would soon change.
This is a profound teaching. The kingdom comes in small, almost unnoticed ways. But it never ends there. We think of that little town of Bethlehem...some shepherds, 3 wise men...the angels and how God used a tiny baby named Jesus to change the world. Now Jesus is planting a seed to tell the disciples that it is this little group of men who would continue to change the world...they must have looked at Him and said, you talkin’ to me?
But you see the Kingdom came to them-Jesus planted the seed of faith, when he went through His death on the cross, the seed was being watered and when He arose from the dead the kingdom sprouted like a tree of hope and it then became the resting place for all of the church. Little is much when God is in it.
I read this week of a church in Ohio who back in the 70’s had 45 people in attendance. Bu revival began in that church and ten people were saved one Sunday- and they quickly grew to 300 people-now they have over 4500 people each weekend. Little is much when God is in it. I see at least 4 things God is telling us here.
1. We must be willing to start small. God takes us right where we are-just as we are but there are no overnight successes. Growth is a process.
2. We can expect BIG results. When God plants that seed He sees into the future what is going to take place. He sees your future....He sees the future for Eagle’s landing...He sees the future for the kingdom and the future is BIG.
3. It only takes a little. A little what? A little faith. A little prayer. Jesus said if you have faith as small as a mustard seed then you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
4. We can make a huge difference. You and I are called to live a life of influence. A life that makes a difference. A life that helps direct people to Christ.
Jesus then makes His point again through a 2nd parable and it’s as though He is saying if you didn’t understand the first story then let me try again. He then moves on to the parable of the yeast.
I believe Jesus took this parable from something that he had often seen His mother, Mary do. Leaven was a small piece of dough that women would keep from a previous baking and in the process, over time, it would ferment. The leaven would transform the dough. Unleavened bread is like a water biscuit, hard, dry, not tasty at all but bread cooked with leaven is soft, tasty. When the leaven is added it completely changes the dough. You can’t see it working anymore than you can see a tree growing but still the work of the leaven is always going on. The kingdom of God is like leaven. The Christian life is the yeast...it permeates the whole culture and causes it to rise. And as it does the world becomes a better place.
In the classic show I love Lucy one episode dealt with Lucy’s lack of cooking skills. As usual she had no clue how much yeast to use. She just kept dumping it in...one box, two, three. She left the bread in the refrigerator for a while as she talked on the phone. When she returned the entire kitchen was filled with bread. The whole lump, see is affected when yeast is added and it changes the bread from a flat unleavened bread to a huge loaf.
I see at least 4 more truths in this passage as well.
1. The presence of faith in Jesus Christ should be very noticeable. I do not believe that you can be a Christian in secret. If you have real faith, people around you should be able to tell.
2. The effect of faith in Jesus Christ is unique. It all depends on one thing. From one religion to the next people debate how we can have salvation. Only through Jesus can we be saved...only Jesus died on the cross for us..only Jesus was resurrected from the grave. It’s unique.
3. Jesus Christ should permeate our entire life. The nature of the mustard seed and yeast is that it fills us whatever it enters. That is how the Christian faith is also. Our faith should touch every part of our lives.
4. The message of Jesus Christ is simple. We make it difficult. But really it is simple.
I read this week of a cemetery in Germany and of a grave there where the deceased had a very strange request. The marker on the grave had these words...this burial place must never be opened. It belongs to a woman who did not believe in the resurrection. She put it in her will though that if she was wrong and there was a resurrection after all...she did not want to leave that spot. On top o f the grave there were placed large slabs of granite and marble and it was fastened with a heavy steel clasp. But in time a seed, covered over by these stones slowly pushed it’s way through the soil and out of the ground. As the tree grew and the trunk enlarge the marble slabs were gradually shifted and each steel clasp was pushed up and torn loose so that the grave was opened. A tiny seed had become a tree that had pushed aside the stones. That is the power of a small seed.
We see it throughout the scripture...after Jesus died and was resurrected do you know how big the church was? The Bible says in Acts 1 there were 120 believers...let that sink in...After all the places Jesus had preached in, all the people who had been healed, all the miracles he had performed there were 120 believers. On a good Sunday that’s about what we have. That is why Jesus said the kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed..it starts small. Then in Acts 2 the 120m became 3000. In the 4th chapter another 5000 were added. Beyond that we are told that the Lord added daily to the number being saved. No one knows how large the kingdom will grow,,,no one knows how large Eagle’s landing will become but we do know it just takes a seed of faith to see great things.
Years ago in the 1970’s in a small college in Wilmore, Kentucky a student stood as chapel services were closing and he confessed to the student body that he was a phony. With tears running down his face he talked about the emptiness he felt and he begged his classmates to forgive him. No sooner had the young man sat down that a young lady stood and made the same statement...she too had been a phony....a hypocrite...then one by one the students rose and began coming forward to pray. The filled the altar, students were standing in the aisles, the front was filled. It was time for chapel to close and the bell sounded but no one moved. For the next 8 days, for 185 hours straight the revival continued in that chapel. Classes were cancelled because the students would not leave the chapel. God was sending a revival and it all started through one student. One seed and it grew into a place where hundreds of students renewed their walk with the Lord.
