Parables aren’t supposed to be transparent. They aren’t meant to be easily understood.  They are supposed to make listeners think and even argue. They are puzzles, koans, poetry, and word prisms. They are intended to unsettle us, raise questions, and confront our certainties. In today’s Gospel Jesus uses parables to describe the Kingdom of God in ways that challenge us to question what we think we already know.

One of my dad’s favourite sayings was “mighty oaks from little acorns grow”, meaning not to underestimate the importance of small things or small efforts. As a passionate gardener, I don’t think he would have applied the same principle to mustard seeds. A mustard seed is microscopic and yet when it is fully grown --  I’ve never see one but I’ve read that it is somewhere between four and five metres tall.

During the time of Christ, to say something was the size of a mustard seed  was to say that it had no great significance, and to those early followers of Christ, the church probably did seem very small and insignificant, especially when measured against the might and power of the Roman empire, or the Jewish temples, or some of the pagan cults of that time. To answer their doubts, Matthew recalls Jesus’s teaching about the Kingdom as a means of encouragement. Remember the context in which Jesus is speaking these words, the context for which Matthew is writing his Gospel. There is a small band of genuine followers of Jesus. He has been rejected by the religious leaders and he is doing his teaching outside in the open air, outside the walls of the temple. He is essentially preaching to a minority. He has already left Galilee and has begun his journey to Jerusalem where he will be rejected, persecuted, and ultimately put to death on the cross.

A mustard tree is not what is expected when a farmer plants a crop, but nobody notices the tiny mustard seed. It is hard to see, hard to keep an eye on, but it has a way of mixing in with other seeds, germinating and sprouting and eventually, dominating and taking over. It is in fact an invasive species. Knowing this, I’m sure the disciples were shocked to hear Jesus say, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed,” because they would have assumed that the planting of the kingdom of heaven would be more orderly and predictable, laid out in neat rows like lettuce, or tomatoes or spinach!  What is planted is what grows. It is predictable.

However, when Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the implication is that those neat and tidy rows will be invaded and overturned in ways that are unpredictable and unexpected. Just as mustard seeds may be mixed in with other seeds. So maybe there is a deeper meaning for us in this parable. In the church, we want to be able to define what belongs, what fits. We want to have clear definitions. Part of this is the specific way we pray:  we have Scripture, we have creeds, we have liturgy, we have tradition. We have convictions about Baptism. We have boundaries:  nice, neat rows of carefully tended doctrine and practice. And we have buildings:  lovingly constructed churches where we gather to worship as the people of God.

But just to keep us honest, and just when we are least expecting it, God pushes us beyond our carefully constructed boundaries, forcing us to consider whether our boundaries are also God’s boundaries.  “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed,” a tiny symbol of how God is forever invading our nice orderly sense of things. Like a mustard seed hidden in a sack of seed, in the hand of the Sower, in the church, in the mind of God – like a mustard seed, like a treasure hidden in a field, like a pearl of great value hidden among the rest,  like the tasty fish hidden among the total catch, like yeast in rising bread.

The kingdom of heaven, like the mustard seed, penetrates the cultivated soil of our certainties and our boundaries, and creates out of it something entirely new and unexpected. Hidden within what we think we see so clearly; it grows in unexpected ways until what we thought we knew is transformed by our surprising God. Our God who is always calling us to surrender, to go beyond our comfort zones. To be open to new possibilities. So let us not reject the symbolism of the mustard seed which, like us, given the right conditions, can grow and mature and  amaze with its strength.

Jesus offers other metaphors for the kingdom:  people discovering treasure – how they are willing to give up all that they have in order to gain a certain treasure, how they sort through their “catch” to keep the good and throw out the worthless. Furthermore, he describes the Kingdom of Heaven as being like yeast:  in Judaism, all leaven had to be scrupulously removed from a house before Passover could be celebrated. So again, Jesus’s followers would have been surprised to hear Jesus using this metaphor. A small amount of yeast mixed into the dough is enough to transform the dough. So the work of Christ’s followers in the community is enough to transform it.  Often our efforts seem very small and go unnoticed, but since the dawn of creation, God has been at work in the world as yeast in dough. One day, this will become very clear to us and in the meantime, we do get glimpses of the Kingdom of God in our midst.

We have been given many treasures; life, talents, family, friends, faith, community…and the list can go on. The Word today challenges us to reflect on these treasures. Do I really value what God has given me? What is my attitude toward these gifts? How do I use these gifts, these treasures? St. Paul reminds us often in his letters that the gifts given to us are for the building up of the body; they are not solely for our own good, but shared with us for the good of all. As disciples, we are called to use our gifts, our treasures in a way that benefits others as well as ourselves. Jesus shows us the way in his interactions with the people he meets on his journey, in the words that he speaks. We, in turn, are called to  build up the kingdom,  ensuring that each person we encounter experiences the unconditional love of God.

And so I invite you today to consider what has been given to you and how you using what you have been given to further the Kingdom of God. In our parish we have many people who contribute to the life of the parish and as well as beyond the parish walls. Some of these ministries include Parish Council, warden, taking care of the physical plant and its many aspects, serving low-income seniors on the Board of Rogers Court. Many of you are involved in liturgical ministries, as readers, sidespeople, and ministers of the cup. Others contribute through the prayer ministry and the ministry of healing.  Others are engaged in the committee that is helping Niall to discern a call to the Diaconate. The ministry of hospitality is offered regularly during Sunday morning coffee hour as well as for special occasions like Christmas and Shrove Tuesday. Still others take care of the liturgical vessels and linens and the setting up of the altar for worship.

Our call to ministry shifts and changes during our life and we find ourselves called to serve in different ways. I invite you this morning to consider your own ministry in the parish and whether you might be ready to take on something new. We could use some new members on parish council and Cory who has done an outstanding job as people's warden has a very full commitment beyond the parish walls and would step down if someone would step up! Niall has been assisting me at the altar since becoming part of this parish, but I would like to see others step up to this role. The diocese is offering the lay formation program again in the fall to prepare laity to lead some worship services.

But there is no service too small to make a difference. This is the message of today’s Gospel. In the words of Mother Teresa: “We are not asked to do great things for God but rather to do small things with great love”.  So give it some thought. We all have gifts to offer and in a parish, it’s a good thing every now and then to shake things up a little, move things around and take on new roles. It’s how we keep things live, how we keep growing.

I invite you all to consider.  Amen.

 

Ministries
Faith in Formation