BIG LESSONS IN SMALL PACKAGES
Part 2—Biscuits and Mustard
Luke 13:18-21
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Pastor Brian Matherlee
Lk 13:18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?
Lk 13:19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”
Lk 13:20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to?
Lk 13:21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
There’s nothing very noble about Jesus’ description here. But Jesus was trying to make the people understand and relate truth to their everyday life in a way they could apply it!
It will help us understand the point Jesus is really making if we understand some background.
• Jesus is teaching these principles in light of what has taken place in just a few verses earlier.
• We have the same kind of problem here that we saw last week in the story of Zacchaeus—religious establishment raising a fuss about the actions of Jesus.
• Luke likes to group contrasts together. Zacchaeus’ story, Luke 19 was in contrast to the Rich Young Ruler of Luke 18.
• Here in 13 we see a contrast between the power of the kingdom of heaven with the impotence of the religious establishment.
We discover several things about the religious people:
(13:10-17)
1. They value their traditions over people (vs. 10-14)
2. They value their traditions over principle (vs.15-16)
3. They value their traditions over praise (v. 17)
Now that the people have seen the power of the kingdom at work Jesus seeks to give them greater understanding to the ways of His kingdom.
In verses 18-21 we see three principles of God’s kingdom:
1. Power of the seed
a. The primary point of this passage is about the power of the seed. The kingdom of God is power and the presence of God in the life of every believer is power. Think about these Scriptures
i. Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” (NIV)
ii. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” (KJV)
iii. Ephesians 6:10-12, “God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.” (The Message)
iv. I John 4:4, “…the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world.”
b. What I want you to see this morning is your position as a child of God. You are in a position of strength.
c. Maybe you feel behind the 8-ball. Maybe you feel everyone and everything has their sights aimed on you. But you are a person of faith.
d. It is a life and death struggle. The very fact that you are living for God and are up against difficulty will drive you to your knees and when it does, the power of God will be manifested many times over.
e. When Elisha’s servant was terrified of the armies surrounding them, Elisha prayed and asked God to open the eyes of his servant so he could see the armies of the living God poised to strike! (2 Kings 6:17)
f. Don’t give up. The power of God is in you and for you!
2. Provision of growth
a. Two ideas come from this picture of a tree:
i. The size of the tree is exponentially larger than the size of the seed. But that is true with all seeds. The point Jesus makes here is that the smallest seed these people would have been familiar with became the largest garden plant they would have been familiar with. The faith that we may possess may be small but God can do great things we the offering of faith, no matter how small.
ii. The growth of the seed is for the plant to bear fruit for the farmer but it also demonstrates God’s provision for those who need comfort. God cares about those who are helpless. The growth and expanse of God’s kingdom is for all who need and want it.
b. Don’t worry about the amount of faith you have. Be faithful and see what God will do with your faith to make it productive.
3. Practice of application
a. The illustration of the dough is to show the power Christ and his followers can have in impacting the world around them.
b. Yeast is a naturally occurring fungus in the fermentation process that causes a chemical reaction and makes carbon dioxide. Yeast in bread makes it rise and bread is much more palatable this way than unleavened, which is flat and hard.
c. The influence of Christ’s kingdom is one of practical impact. We are to be involved in our world.
d. The separateness the Scripture calls us to is one of heart and lifestyle purity. We are never called as Christians to refuse to engage our culture. Where the church has been mistaken is thinking that our many meetings are testimony to the world that we are changed people. We would make a far greater impact on people who need Christ is we were engaging them on their turf.
e. But we can become ineffective even though we don’t want to. There are many things that can impede our effectiveness in wooing others to Jesus. Two are evident in this illustration of yeast and dough. Yeast has two things that will impede its work in baking…
f. Two barriers to effectiveness
i. Abrasive (salty)
1. Salty personality vs. the salt of the earth
2. complainers, backbiters, spiritual snobbery
ii. Lazy (fat)
1. Glad for our salvation & have forgotten others
2. Impeded by fear
3. Full of excuses
Start with the faith you have and go from there.
With the kingdom of God anything is possible.
A son asked his father, ’Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?
The father, despite having a heart condition, says "Yes". They went onto complete the marathon together.
Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying "Yes" to his son’s request of going through the race together.
One day, the son asked his father, "Dad, let’s join the Ironman together." To which, his father said "Yes".
For those who don’t know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile bike
ride, ending with a 26.2 mile marathon along the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.
(show video of “Team Hoyt”)
The kingdom of heaven is glorious. It is life changing. It isn’t some far away place—it can be present in the lives of every believer, if they’ll offer themselves to be used.
