Matt 13:31-32-Big Things Come In Small Packages 3/6/16
A mustard seed. An ordinary item in our everyday world and yet used to teach us extraordinary truths.
Often we read in Scripture the stories about God using people, and we think “man, I wish God would use me the way He used so and so”
What we forget is that these people in the Bible, they were just ordinary people like you and me. They had shortcomings and flaws yet God still used them. In fact, God has a history of using the most unlikely of characters to get the job done.
I believe He does this to show us two deep facts. 1) No matter what it takes all things are possible with God. And second, 2) No matter your past mistakes, never think God can’t use you. He will
He uses us in big ways and small ways and always to His glory, so with that as an introduction, let’s take a look at this parables.
I think the mustard seed is meant to show us who really deserves all the credit for using us to build His kingdom.
Remember David and Goliath? David did not stand a chance, but with God all things are possible, and I believe God used David to show David and his people and all of us that “it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” that these impossible tasks are accomplished.
The mustard seed was the smallest seed a farmer used, yet it grew into a pretty big shrub (from 4-15 feet high!) and it got so big, birds would perch in it. So what does this have to do with the Kingdom of God?
Like the mustard seed, the Kingdom was not all that impressive when it first arrived. Why not try to spread this kingdom in some other, more powerful way?
Yet God does not operate like us. He chooses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. The mustard seed was small, just like the Kingdom of God started out small. But the seed grew and produced great results, and it was just being faithful as a tree. Likewise the Kingdom of God started out small, yet because those disciples were faithful to the king, in the end it grew and grew and produced us!
So what is the deal with the birds? Well to Jesus’ audience (who were mostly Jews) thought the kingdom of God was only meant for them, not for Gentiles. Gentiles to their minds were the enemy, the Romans. Gentiles to them, were the heathens who didn’t bother to worship God.
-Could the Gentiles really be included in God’s kingdom too? Well, if one looks back at the Old Testament in Ezekiel 17:23; 31:6 and Daniel 4:21, that is exactly what God’s plan was all along.
Jew and Gentile, all perching in one tree, all in one kingdom, all calling on one King for salvation.
All of us know groups of people in our lives who maybe we don’t know well, or don’t even like, and we may be tempted to think, “Can the Kingdom of God really be open for them too?” If they come to Jesus and submit to Him, then yes it is! And we can celebrate the miracle of someone being saved.
We don’t have to be always perfect, we just need to always point to the one who is perfect.
See Kudzu plants, like mustard shrubs, grow pretty wiled and cannot be contained. You cut Kudzu, it grows back, and nothing can stop it. It is the same with the Kingdom of God. Try to cut it back, it keeps growing, and nothing can stop it!
Remember this: For the first 300 years after Jesus and the first disciples walked this early, the church was powerless and up against the biggest empire of the day: The Roman Empire. Yet how did it survive?
3 ways.
-1) Outhought-They knew the Bible and their faith for why they believed what they believed
-2) Outloved-They showed that faith in their actions to others
-3) Outlasted-They were determined to never give up no matter what
So when you think that Christianity is losing ground in the world today, take heart, people are still coming to faith in Jesus, and we still have a mission to do.
Remember the Kudzu plant, remember the kingdom of God cannot be stopped, and remember these truths about this parable.
–The Kingdom of God starts small but His mighty power grows it big and deep.
-All Things are possible with God.
-It may attract people we expect, and we say AMEN, and it may attract people we don’t expect, and we still say AMEN
-God can use any of us to do anything, so let us not be discouraged.
-The kingdom of God can never be stopped.
-Out-think (know the Word), out-love (show charity), and outlast (never give up)