18 Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 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." (Luke 13:18-19 NIV)
I'm a lover, not a fighter, not that I need to tell anyone who knows me. I've never liked conflict, physical or verbal. I'm not strong enough for the former or thick-skinned enough for the later. I'm a Rodney King kind of guy. (Google his famous quote if you don't remember) That's what makes my fascination with karate such a disconnect. Years ago I read an article in Boy's Life about Ti Kwan Do and thought it would be so cool to know how to break boards and intimidate friends and, especially, enemies. I heard about a karate school Knoxville run by legendary Issihnryu practitioner Harold Long and begged my mom to take me there. With enough pestering and firmly against her better judgement she took me by his studio one evening to inquire about lessons. I think I was about 12 and probably weighed 80 pounds soaking wet. Mr. Long was gracious but told me to come back when I was 16 and eat a bag of Krystals on the way home.
Fast-forward 20 years or so. I worked at radio station U-102 with Mike Clark who happened to be a 3rd degree black belt in Isshinryu Karate. After some conversations he agreed to give me lessons after work behind the studios which were in Sevierville in the early days. It was a routine that always got a rise out of horn-honking motorists passing by who likely assumed a couple of DJs had "taken it outside." Later, Mike rented a space downtown and took on a number of students. Sometime after I had graduated to brown belt a new student came in who was a brown belt as well. By this time I was six-feet tall, weighed 160 pounds and was working out regularly. The new guy was maybe five-feet-five and 140 pounds and when he invited me to match (fight) I quickly agreed. (After losing so consistently to Mike and a couple of others more experienced than I was, I could smell victory due to my reach and height advantage.) Ten seconds into the match I couldn't smell anything after he broke my nose with a straight right I never saw coming. He was so small that I underestimated his effectiveness. My nose still goes in two different directions.
Followers of Jesus easily fall into the same trap of underestimating their own effectiveness because of the perceived size of their faith. We hear great preachers and teachers, read about committed missionaries who defy all odds to share Jesus' love in so many ways, and inevitably start comparing our own faith to that of the spiritual giants (or so we crown them). Jesus is trying to keep us out of that trap with his parable of the mustard seed which actually has a couple of layers of meaning. Mustard seeds are tiny--it takes about 750 to 800 to make up a gram--yet one seed can produce a bush eight or nine feet tall (New Interpreters Bible IX: Luke, R. Alan Culpepper). Jesus points out that the seed produces a tree that welcomes birds, perhaps a nod toward the welcoming DNA woven into the coming kingdom he is announcing. Later in Luke Jesus will use the mustard seed as a measuring stick for faith saying that faith even as small as a mustard see can accomplish great things in his kingdom.
There is an old saying that proclaims "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog." As clumsy as the comparison may be, the idea of the inner motivation and commitment being more important than the outer size and strength may help us. **Our faith and its ability to create change, in us or the world around us, is not based upon our spiritual development, it's about the extent to which we are willing to yield to Jesus living within us. The coming kingdom is about his power and values being lived out in real time by real people. As we continue our journey toward Jerusalem with Jesus, let's not miss a kingdom-building detour because we're not sure our faith is big enough. True enough, it takes at least a little faith to walk this journey, but because we walk with Jesus, whatever the size of our faith will be just enough.
**In the kingdom faith that changes us will almost always change the world around us.
Blessings,
Larry
I firmly believe that the reason I and many other Christians are left here on the earth is so that we can influence others to tell others about Jesus and his atonement for our sins by his death on the cross. By doing so we will change the world one convert at a time. When my grandfather laid dying in the hospital I couldn't understand why God let him lay there suffering physically but then I noticed how many people came to see him and how time after time my grandfather would share with them that he was worried about them and that he would soon go to Heaven and he wanted them to join him some day. His love for them had played out in providing money for groceries, house payments and many other loving acts through the years in a way that allowed him to really share his and God's love for them in ways that made a difference in their world. When the last person who needed to hear my grandfather's witness came God quickly ended his suffering and took him to Heaven. I only hope that I can be half the witness that my Grandfather was. He literally changed the world for so many of his friends and acquaintances in ways that I would have never known about if I hadn't have heard about it from them. Grandfather was never one to tell others about what he had done to help people. I have always been blessed by his part of my heritage. Thank you God for providing a grandfather whose faith and loving example pointed me towards Go's love and Jesus's atonement for my sin. I can only imagine what jewels are in my grandfather's crown. I can't wait to see him again but I'm certain that there are people left that I am supposed to tell about God's son Jesus before my days are done. Thanks Larry for sharing yet another story that changes me a little at a time. I'm so glad that God is not through with me yet.
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