Mustard. Yeast. Kingdom?

Well, how many of you like growing things?

Few.

That's good.

It's good to see those whose livelihood depends on it.

Put their hands up there.

How many of you like baking things?

Yes.

Right on, Landon.

I see that hand.

How many of you have never watered a plant or baked anything in your life?

Okay.

Pretty much all of us have.

Maybe it's not all of our favorite things to do, but certainly we enjoy, I think all

of us, the things that come from baking and gardening, whether it's flowers or a tasty

loaf of bread.

Well, this morning we're going to be hearing from Jesus on the subject of gardening and

baking.

And some of you, when you hear that, might be wondering, did I come to the right church this

morning?

Don't worry.

This sermon is not titled, Five Pro Tips to Get Better Yields in Your Garden.

Jesus had a way of taking the ordinary and everyday stuff of life and using it to teach

important truth from God.

We've been doing a series on the kingdom of heaven and some of the parables that Jesus taught

on the kingdom of heaven.

And this morning, baking and gardening are simply the ordinary things that Jesus has chosen

to communicate that truth.

And so if you have your Bibles, please open them up to Matthew chapter 13, verse 31.

Matthew 13:31

Matthew chapter 13, verse 31.

Matthew 13:31

Jesus told them another parable.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.

Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants

and becomes a tree so that the birds come and nest in its branches.

He told them still another parable.

The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour

until it worked all through the dough.

Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables.

He did not say anything to them without using a parable.

So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet.

I will open my mouth in parables.

I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.

So these are the parables that we're looking at this morning.

And even as we've read through them, you'll notice that they're quite different from the

ones we've looked at so far.

These are very short and sweet.

They go right to the point.

They're kind of mini parables.

And we also notice that there's no explanation given.

The last two that we've looked at, Jesus actually explains in detail what they mean to his disciples.

But here, whether he did or not, we don't know.

We're kind of, we're on our own here.

So we're going to have to look carefully at the details of each of these.

Because the big question is, well, how is the kingdom of God like that?

Like a mustard seed?

Like yeast?

So let's start with the parable of the mustard seed.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.

Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants

and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch in its branches.

So the first thing we notice is that Jesus is talking about a mustard seed.

Now, there's been all kinds of research and scholarly conjecture as to what species of mustard plant this was.

You know, of the seeds we know about today, there's consensus that it probably isn't the mustard plant that gets sown into farmers' fields here in North America today.

That much we're pretty sure about.

But of the other choices, which one is it?

You know, there's conjecture about the seed.

I mean, is it really the smallest of all seeds?

What exactly does that seed look like?

There's some good options.

There's the black mustard seed plant that apparently grows in the Middle East, and it gets to be about 8 to 12 feet high, a small tree.

Is that what Jesus was talking about?

There's another one called Salvadora Persica.

I'm sure that's its technical name.

But it apparently grows to be quite large, 20 to 25 feet, and it has these pungent berries that have a mustard flavor on it.

Is that the mustard seed tree that Jesus was talking about?

At the end of the day, we kind of have to admit this is 2,000 years after the fact, and we don't know exactly which seed and tree Jesus was referring to.

But the point here is not so much to look at the accuracy of the Bible or the archaeology of the Bible.

I mean, we could come to this to critique Jesus' use of metaphor.

I mean, is there really such kind of seed or tree?

Or are we here to hear from Jesus the point that he is trying to make about the kingdom of heaven?

I mean, Jesus was using common, everyday things to teach, and it's doubtful that he would have chosen something that a guy would be like,

well, a mustard seed doesn't grow into a tree.

So let's give Jesus the benefit of the doubt and assume that there was some species of tree grown in the Middle East,

typically in people's gardens or fields or near or around them,

that had a very small seed, smaller than all the other garden variety plants,

and yet it grew to be larger than all the other typical Middle Eastern garden plants,

large enough that birds could come and nest in it.

And so what are the details that Jesus highlights for us in this little parable?

The first thing that we notice is the size of the seed.

He says, though it is the smallest of seeds, the size of the seed compared to other seeds.

So in your mind, most of you probably like to eat fruits and vegetables, I hope.

Think about your seeds.

You've got your pumpkin seed.

It's pretty large.

You've got your watermelon seed, your apple seed, kind of about the same size, little black things.

Then you've got your cherry tomato seed.

Now we're starting to get small.

And then you've got your mustard seed, the tiniest of all seeds.

And now there's some conjecture here.

Is he talking about all seeds everywhere in the world?

Probably not.

The orchid seed, people have been quick to say, oh, that's smaller, so Jesus is wrong.

But when he talks about plants, the word he uses is the word that typically describes garden or herb kind of plants.

Okay, so this is probably referring to the smallest of seeds that would go into the garden.

So you've got your mustard seed, this tiny seed.

Think of a peppercorn, but even that shrunk down into just a little black speck.

The smallest of all seeds.

The next thing he emphasizes is what that seed grows into.

It grows into the largest of all garden plants.

You can imagine a garden.

Maybe they planted it at the edge of the garden and kind of a tree, a large plant.

Everything else is smaller.

It's the largest.

In size.

Even though it started as the smallest, it became the largest.

And, of course, Jesus is not just comparing seeds and plants.

The point he's trying to make is look at how it started and how it ends.

It started as the smallest.

And it grew and became the largest.

And that's the first truth that we really see coming through here about the kingdom of God.

It's a kingdom that has surprisingly humble beginnings.

But it grows to be the greatest and largest kingdom of all.

It's a kingdom that has surprisingly humble beginnings.

Think of Abram.

A nobody to the world.

A guy from Ur of the Chaldeans.

A shepherd.

A nomad.

A guy who lived in tents and rented.

Who was he to the world?

By the end of his life,

he'd finally earned the respect of the people in the land in which he lived

enough that they let him buy a place to bury his wife.

He owned nothing except his flocks and his household.

The kingdom of heaven has surprisingly humble beginnings.

Think of a baby in a feeding box.

The son of, as far as it would seem to the world, a carpenter.

Born in Bethlehem.

A nothing town in a backwater region of the Roman Empire.

He grew up in Nazareth.

Can anything good come from Nazareth?

It's a kingdom with surprisingly humble beginnings.

Yeah, there's a guy named Jesus out there at the lake with a bunch of fishermen and a tax collector and some others.

Pretty pathetic movement, if you ask me.

I mean, three years after it started, their leader was executed.

Executed.

And it all came to nothing.

To some.

It was a kingdom of surprisingly humble beginnings.

And yet, the point that Jesus is making.

There's an element of surprise here.

Because even though that's how it started, it ends as the greatest and largest and most glorious kingdom of all.

This is not the first time that the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, has been compared to kingdoms.

If you remember back to the days of Daniel.

Daniel was in exile.

He was one of the king's wise men and advisors in the Babylonian Empire in the days of King Nebuchadnezzar.

And God gave Nebuchadnezzar two visions to remind him that even though his kingdom was great and glorious,

it was not the greatest that this world would yet see.

The first was of a statue.

Nebuchadnezzar had a vision or a dream from God of a great statue.

And various parts of the statue, Daniel interprets this vision, represent various kingdoms that would follow.

And none of them compare to the splendor of the first, which is the head of gold.

Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian Empire.

A great and glorious kingdom.

And then the vision takes a turn.

And a rock comes and smashes the whole statue to pieces.

And the rock grows and becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth.

Daniel interprets the vision for King Nebuchadnezzar.

He says that the rock represents how the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.

It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will in self endure forever.

A kingdom that will be far greater and fill the whole earth.

God gave a second vision to Nebuchadnezzar.

I guess he needed the reminder.

He didn't get the point of the first vision.

He was thinking to himself,

Oh, I'm so great.

Look at what I have done in my kingdom.

It's the greatest kingdom this world has ever known.

So God gave him another vision.

And interestingly, this time in his vision, he sees a large tree.

I looked and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land.

Its height was enormous.

The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky.

It was visible to the ends of the earth.

Its leaves were beautiful.

Its fruit abundant.

And on it was food for all.

Under it, the wild animals found shelter.

And the birds lived in its branches.

From it, every creature was fed.

And Daniel interprets the vision for him.

This vision also takes a turn for the worst.

An angel of the Lord comes down in the vision and calls for the tree to be cut down.

Daniel says that the tree represents you, King Nebuchadnezzar,

and your kingdom, your dominion, which is spread out on the earth.

And until Nebuchadnezzar was willing to acknowledge that God was the true King of Heaven

and that He rules, He would be humbled for a time.

And eventually, Nebuchadnezzar did just that.

I, Nebuchadnezzar, at the end of that time, raised my eyes toward Heaven

and I praised the Most High.

I honored and glorified Him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion.

His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

The kingdom of God, the kingdom of Heaven, is the greatest.

And when it comes in its fullness,

will very obviously be the greatest, the tallest,

the most glorious kingdom that this world has ever seen or known.

But it doesn't start that way.

It's a kingdom that grows, just like a tree grows,

from the smallest and most humblest of beginnings.

One of the things that Jesus said in His teaching,

He said,

I say to you, many will come from the east and the west

and will take their places at the feast

with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven.

The kingdom of Heaven has been a long time in the making,

all the way back to the days of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

It's not something that just,

and it's here,

like a flash of lightning.

It's something that grows

over a period of time.

The last detail that Jesus mentions about this mustard plant

is that it becomes a tree

and the birds come and nest in its branches.

What does that mean?

It's kind of a weird thing.

What does it mean the birds come and nest in its branches?

I think the most helpful place to go

to get Jesus' meaning

is right back to that vision

that we were just talking about of Nebuchadnezzar.

Some striking parallels there.

The tree that Nebuchadnezzar saw,

under it the wild animals found shelter,

and the birds lived in its branches.

From it every creature was fed.

This is a positive thing.

This is a good thing.

Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom,

his dominion was one in which

people,

people groups,

found a home to live in,

a place to take refuge.

And that was a good thing.

It's a very positive image.

And if the tree represents the kingdom,

then the birds in the tree represent the citizens

who come to live in the kingdom.

I got to thinking about that this week.

What is a bird?

What is a tree to a bird?

I mean, you could even back up a step.

Where will you find birds?

Here in town,

I notice it right away

when I'm going down Hamilton,

kind of towards,

what is it, railway?

or the beginning of Washington,

there's kind of those huge

kind of canopy of trees

over top of the streets there.

Those streets,

they're covered

with little birds

dancing around

and flitting to and fro.

Other streets

that have

almost no trees

have none.

What is

a tree

to a bird?

One of the details

that Mark mentions

in his gospel

when Jesus

told this parable

is that

it grows into a tree

and it has large branches

that give shade

under which the birds

can nest.

We can kind of

go off of that

a little bit.

A tree

is a place

for a bird

to find shelter

from the elements,

shade

from the heat

of the sun,

a hollow

to nest in,

to be out of the storm,

branches to

hold fast to

when the wind

is blowing crazy

and it's not safe

to be flying out

in that.

It's a place

high up,

safe

from the predators

on the ground.

It's a place

of refuge,

a place of shelter

and protection.

It's a many-perched

thing,

numerous perches

and sometimes

I just saw this

the other night,

a whole bunch

of wax wings

perched

in my neighbor's

tree

together.

In the winter

in Edmonton

we often saw

them,

just hundreds of them

would descend

on some of those

trees that had

little berries.

It's a perfect place

to find some fruit,

some berries,

some seeds

to eat,

to find some

leaf-eating insects

for a meal

or to get some

vantage point

down on where

they might find

food on the ground

or find materials

to build a nest.

it's a perfect place

for a whole flock

of birds

to perch

and sometimes

I just wonder

what are they

doing there?

They're hanging

out.

They're singing

together.

They're making

music.

It's the ideal

place for a bird

to carry on

its life

to find

its need

the place

where it'll find

its needs met

a place

to build a nest

and a home.

So too

is the kingdom

of God

to the citizens

of the kingdom

of God.

It's the ideal

place

to build a home

to live in

where all of our

needs are met

a place that's safe

where we have

no fear of

danger or threat.

Such will be

the kingdom

of God

for the citizens

of the kingdom

especially when

it comes

in its fullness

as Jesus

is talking about

with this parable

of the tree.

So to sum up

this parable

the mustard seed

the kingdom

of heaven

will be

the greatest

and most

glorious kingdom

that this world

has ever known

a perfect place

to live

for its citizens

but surprisingly

a kingdom

that came

from the smallest

and most humblest

of beginnings.

the next parable

that Jesus

tells

changes things

up a little bit.

We go

from outside

into the kitchen

baking

and this time

it's a woman

rather than a man.

The kingdom

of heaven

is like yeast

that a woman

took and mixed

into about

60 pounds

of flour

until it worked

all through

the dough.

Yeast

is fascinating

stuff

and I didn't

even realize

just how

fascinating

it was

until this week

when I was

trying to

figure out

what exactly

it is.

Most of us

probably just

know it

as that stuff

that you get

in a jar

from the store

and then you

put that

into your baking

and it rises

and it is

that

but there's

so much

more going

on with yeast.

It has

some surprising

characteristics.

You just

put a little

bit in

and it

can affect

a lot

of flour

a lot

of dough.

Why is that?

Why is it

so potent?

There's

just something

about it.

The first

thing I learned

this week

and I'll

give the

disclaimer now

I am not

a baker

or a biochemist

but yeast

is actually

alive.

It's a

single cell

living organism

and

essentially

what it does

is it eats

sugar

and then

produces

carbon dioxide

and those

become little

bubbles kind

of entrapped

in the dough

and it's

those bubbles

that cause

the dough

to actually

rise.

Apparently

in one

teaspoon

of active

dry yeast

there's

an estimated

amount of

40 billion

yeast cells.

cells.

And so

you can

imagine

when you're

mixing

even just

that little

bit

all of

those cells

you can't

see them

but they're

going all

throughout

the mixture

so that

once you

have this

lump of

dough

it rises

you put it

in the oven

you bake

it

it comes

out

and you

look at

your bread

and you

wonder

where did

all those

little holes

come from?

that's

where they

came from.

So next

time you

have a

freshly

sliced

piece

of

bread

don't

look at

the

bread

but look

between

the

bread

look at

the

holes

each

one

of

those

holes

when you

take

them

all

together

are

evidence

of

just

how

thoroughly

that

little

amount

of

yeast

worked

through

the

whole

dough

leavened

the

whole

lump

it's

potent

stuff

so too

is the

kingdom

of

God

the

stuff

from

heaven

the

stuff

from

God

it's

powerful

stuff

and it

only

takes

a

little

bit

to

make

a

huge

difference

a

surprising

difference

we could

talk about

this in

terms of

the

number

of

people

we

started

with

just

a

little

bit

Abram

Isaac

and

Jacob

one

family

and

over

time

from

generation

to

generation

as

Nebuchadnezzar

said

the

kingdom

has

been

rising

and

growing

so

that

at

the

end

when

Jesus

returns

and the

bread

comes out

of the

oven

and the

world

will go

whoa

where did

that come

from

there's

millions

of them

not

holes

in the

bread

but

citizens

of the

kingdom

this

thing

is

huge

where

did

this

come

from

just

from

that

little

bit

that

God

sowed

in

at

the

beginning

you

could

talk

about

this

in

terms

of

one

person's

life

I

mean

we

all

want

to

have

to

be

I

hope

live

godly

moral

Christian

lives

we

wrestle

with

sin

we

want

to

do

better

all

it

takes

is a

little

bit

of

God's

power

little

word

that

he

speaks

and

it

can

do

amazing

stuff

in

the

life

of

one

person

and

bring

great

change

but

as

with

the

yeast

and

as

with

the

tree

it's

not

something

that

happens

in

an

instant

the

dough

takes

time

to

rise

it's

a

gradual

process

you can

stare

and look

at the

dough

as much

as you

want

but you

won't

see

anything

happen

because

it's

gradual

so too

is it

with the

kingdom

of God

this is

a kingdom

that is

very

gradually

rising

so much

so that

to

many in

our world

it's

totally

imperceptible

it's

invisible

they

can't

see

it

there's

an

invisible

quality

to

the

kingdom

of

God

just

like

yeast

you

can't

see

it

in

the

mix

and

if

you

didn't

know

that

it

was

in

there

you

wouldn't

expect

that

when

you

came

back

to

look

at

that

dough

it

would

be

twice

the

size

that

thing's

growing

how

because

of the

yeast

in

it

I

see

this

when

I

look

at

my

kids

you

know

every

day

I

see

them

and

every

day

they

look

just

the

same

as

they

did

the

day

before

but

then

I

go

back

and

I

look

at

a

picture

of

Callie

when

she

was

one

year

old

and

I'm

starting

to

look

at

everything

else

in

the

picture

like

where

was

this

when

was

this

because

is

this

Callie

when

she

was

one

or

is

this

Laura

when

she

was

one

I

can't

even

recognize

the

kid

in

the

picture

anymore

that's

how it

is

with

the

kingdom

of

God

the

change

is

happening

and

it's

drastic

it's

going to

surprise

us

but

when

we

try

to

look

right

at

it

and

see

it

we

don't

see

it

it's

something

that

God

is

growing

and

bringing

gradually

over

time

Jesus

once

had a

little

bit

of

a

conversation

with

the

Pharisees

and

I'll

read

this

for

you

it's

interesting

once

on

being

asked

by

the

Pharisees

when

the

kingdom

of

God

would

come

Jesus

replied

the

coming

of

the

kingdom

of

God

is

not

something

that

can

be

observed

nor

will

people

say

well

here

it

is

or

there

it

is

because

the

kingdom

of

God

is

in

your

midst

I've

always

found

that

to

be

funny

in a

sense

you know

you're

the

Pharisees

when's

it

coming

Jesus

is

like

it's

here

it's

already

in

your

midst

but

you

can't

see

it

just

like

the

yeast

and

the

dough

you

can't

see

it

it

has

an

invisible

quality

to

it

it

begins

with

something

small

and

insignificant

and

it

rises

gradually

over

time

but

at

the

end

it

will

be

undeniable

and

it

will

take

the

world

by

surprise

what

God's

power

has

done

and

so

what

are

there

in

these

parables

for

us

today

I

mean

this

is

interesting

learn a

little

bit

about

yeast

and

a

little

bit

about

trees

and

what

is

there

for

us

today

in

it

why

did

Jesus

tell

these

parables

as I

think of

the

Pharisees

and

their

question

I

wonder

if we

kind of

think

the

same

way

the

kingdom

of

God

kingdom

of

heaven

like

that

that's

all

future

when

will

it

come

what

difference

would

it

make

in

our

lives

if

we

really

embrace

the

reality

that

Jesus

is

teaching

here

and

that

he

says

to

the

Pharisees

that

the

kingdom

is

here

it's

now

it's

not

just

a

future

thing

that

you

know

our

faith

is

is

a

ticket

to

get

into

that

kingdom

someday

and

in the

meantime

we

just

go

about

our

lives

no

the

kingdom

is

here

it's

now

it's

been

in

the

works

all

the

way

back

to

Abram

should

it

not

should

we

not

be

able

to

say

that

through

us

those

of

us

who

belong

to

Christ

and

believe

in

him

to

our

world

that

the

kingdom

of

God

is

in

your

midst

I

was

trying

to

think

what

what

analogy

can

I

give

to

describe

this

and

the

only

thing

that

rider

nation

I

have

always

liked

that

term

rider

nation

even

though

the

fans

of

the

riders

are

mostly

from

Saskatchewan

rider

nation

is

bigger

than

that

it

allows

for

fans

from

all

over

the

country

from

any

province

you

could

be

of

rider

nation

even

if

you're

living

in

Quebec

and

surrounded

by

Alouette

fans

I

think

that's

what

the

kind

of

thing

that

Jesus

is

driving

at

here

the

kingdom

of

God

is

in

your

midst

a

nation

within

the

nation

and

at

the

end

a

nation

from

among

the

nations

which

means

that

we

are

citizens

we

are

sons

and

daughters

of

the

kingdom

those

of

us

who

believe

and

belong

to

Jesus

today

right

now

we

got

thinking

about

this

in

terms

of

sports

do

you

wear

your

favorite

colors

to

your

team's

game

proudly

do

you

wear

them

proudly

even

when

you're

not

at

the

game

whenever

the

conversation

turns

towards

that

do

you

take

the

opportunity

to

remind

people

about

how

awesome

your

team

is

and

what

they

did

right

in

the

game

does

your

heart

swell

with

pride

whenever

they

score

a

goal

whenever

they

win

a

game

that's

just

sports

and

recreation

how

much

more

should

it

be

with

our

belonging

to

the

nation

of

God

the

kingdom

of

heaven

do

we

wear

our

colors

proudly

because

we

belong

to

Jesus

nation

do

we

take

the

opportunities

when

the

conversation

comes

up

to

tell

people

about

the

nation

the

kingdom

that

we

belong

to

ah

but

there's

the

rub

the

kingdom

that

we

belong

to

is

invisible

it's

seemingly

imperceptible

many

people

deny

its

existence

we

don't

necessarily

want

to

make

much

of

or

sing

the

praises

of

something

that

people

don't

believe

in

can't

see

or

oppose

don't

agree

with

the

values

of

Peter

described

it

this

way

in

his

letter

1

1 Peter 2:9

Peter

2

verse

9

he

said

but

you

are

a

chosen

people

a

holy

nation

God's

special

possession

that

you

may

declare

the

praises

of

him

who

called

you

out

of

darkness

into

his

wonderful

light

and

he

wasn't

talking

to

the

Israelites

he

this

letter

was

written

to

the

churches

in

Asia

Minor

whole

mixture

of

believers

different

nationalities

you

are

a

holy

nation

you

belong

to

a

nation

that

doesn't

have

geopolitical

boundaries

just like

rider

nation

this

is

Jesus

nation

do

you

wear

your

colors

proudly

and

it's

not

easy

when

many

in

our

world

don't

see

it

just

like

with

the

east

don't

see

it

Peter

also

said

this

in

2

Peter

3

3

above

all

you

must

understand

that

in

the

last

days

scoffers

will

come

scoffing

and

following

their

own

evil

desires

they

will

say

where

is

this

coming

he

promised

ever

since

our

ancestors

died

everything

goes

on

as

it

has

since

the

beginning

they

don't

see

it

they

don't

see

the

kingdom

but

as

Peter

says

the

day

of

the

Lord

will

come

like

a

thief

it

will

take

the

world

by

surprise

and

on

that

day

which

side

do

you

want

to

be

on

whose

kingdom

do

you

want

to

belong

to

the

kingdom

of

heaven

is

not

like

any

kingdom

this

world

has

ever

known

if

you

could

spend

your

life

for

one

cause