It’s More Important than it Looks

Matthew 13 is where we’re going to be this morning as we continue our series through the Ministry of Jesus. Today we are reviewing, we’re looking at another parable because we’re trying to find places to put them. Here’s the second parable. After that, we’ll continue the story. Just a quick note, it’s always a great encouragement when we hear from all of you about what you’re learning as God is teaching you. So if you have any opportunities to take what you’re learning and put it on Instagram or put it on Facebook and tag the Broward Church. We want to see it. If you want to send us an email because you don’t do social media, that’s cool too. Or you want to do it on the realm, whatever. I think part of being a communicator of the gospel is hearing how the communicators nation is helping people’s lives actually change. Because it’s one thing to listen to a lesson on Sunday morning, and then it’s another thing to hear a lesson on Sunday morning and then be like, you know what, actually, that affected the way I looked at my job. That affected the way I interacted with my children. That affected the way I engage with my coworkers. I just wanted to encourage you to be in the habit of, if you can, just thinking about how the words of God encourage you so that you can encourage others with it.

Okay, Matthew 13:31 is where we’re going to be. If you don’t have a Bible, don’t worry, all the verses will be up on the screen. Here’s what it says, He told them another parable. The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in a field. And though it’s the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds can come and perch in its branches. I’d like to use this text to encourage you this morning on the topic, it’s more important than it looks. That’s what we’re going to talk about. It’s more important than it looks. It’s bigger than it looks. It’s more important than it looks. And as an illustration, I brought you guys some mustard seeds. Who’s on camera three today? Celine, can you come over here and grab it for me?

All right. So this is a mustard seed. They’re quite small. You really can’t see them in my hand. Here, what if I throw them at you? Can you see that? Did you catch it? No, no way. They’re really quite small. Here, I’m going to throw a handful out there. I’m sorry, Mary Haddaway. We will clean it. Ready? Over here to this section. Ready? Did any of you feel that? No? I promise I am throwing something. They’re really quite small, 1.25mm in diameter. As a reference, the smallest mustard seeds are about the size of the period at the end of the sentence there if you have a Bible. So if you open up your Bible and you see the little period there, that’s about the size. Celine, are you here? You want to grab it? Yeah. Come put this in the camera so people can see it. There you go. Good luck. Good enough. Throw it away. That’s a mustard seed. It’s so small, in fact, that the first time I ever did this little prop thing, people thought I didn’t throw anything into the crowd. They’re really small. These are incredibly small. And so I find it fascinating, you should too, that Jesus chose to illustrate the greatness of the Kingdom of heaven by saying, The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.

What an interesting illustration. The size of the Kingdom of heaven, he’s going to illustrate how amazing it is. Here’s the illustration. Are you ready? It’s the size of a seed. Now, this would have an interesting, like an interesting impact on the people who listen to Jesus, especially if you know a little bit more about the context of Jesus’ ministry. We’ve talked about this a bunch, but at the start of Jesus’ ministry, he came preaching a very simple message. Repent for the Kingdom of heaven has come. And everyone who heard him thought, Man, is this the moment where God’s amazing Kingdom in heaven rams into Earth and everything has changed? Is it really coming? Because for centuries, Jewish people were awaiting the coming of a powerful kingdom. They thought it was going to come in the form of military power or national prominence. So they were just waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. Then Jesus is like, Look, it has come. You cannot even overstate how oppressive the Roman government was in Jesus’s time. And so for them to hear, a Deliverer was on its way, and here it comes. It must have been like, This is amazing.

This is incredible. Glory is on its way. Power is on its way. Triumph is on its way. Wonder is on its way. A King has come. He’s going to shift society. He’s going to be a military leader. He’s going to form an army, and he’s going to conquer the world. This is the expectation of the hearers of Jesus’ message. But Jesus, throughout his ministry, kept saying things about the Kingdom of God that were just strange. He would say things like this. He called the little children a little child to him and placed the child among them. He said, Truly, I tell you, unless you change to become like a little child, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. Think about what that sounds like. Jesus hears it must have been an absolute shocker. What are you saying? If we become like little children, we’re definitely not going to be able to fight the Roman army. But that’s the way they saw it, right? Do you remember this? This is a silly illustration, but do you remember when a couple of years ago, not a couple of years ago, maybe 10 years ago, when LeBron James came to the Miami Heat and they talked about how they were going to win 10 championships or whatever because they brought Chris Bosh with them.

This is Chris Bosh, this is LeBron James. Not one, not two, not three. And so Miami explodes in enjoyment. Are you ready? This is amazing. This is going to be the greatest day. We’re going to win a million championships. Now, I want you to imagine, this is what Israel is waiting for. Israel is waiting for LeBron James and Chris Bosh. That’s what they’re waiting for. Now, I want you to imagine instead of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, the Miami Heat were like, We are so excited. This year, we have gotten two toddlers to join our amazing basketball team, and they’re going to win 10 championships. Everyone would have been like, Hooray. They were awaiting a king. And Jesus says, They were awaiting a kingdom. And Jesus says, You know what you need to do? Become like a child and you’ll be a part of the kingdom. You know what the Kingdom is going to be like? A seed. It’s going to be like a mustard seed. Did it hit anybody? No, you don’t even feel it. He comes in a different shape even from his birth, born out of poverty, not dressed like a king, but dressed like a seed.

And Jesus chooses this illustration again and again to illustrate a point that we’re going to make in just a second. Though it says it’s the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest garden plant and becomes a tree. The kingdom, he’s telling them, isn’t coming in the way you expected it. It’s a great kingdom, but it’s going to start really small. It’s going to seem unimportant. There are two parables told in this little section. Both are speaking about this idea of something that’s barely perceptible, beginning to have remarkable transformation. The other one is about the yeast. Yeast that works through the whole batch of dough. He’s saying, Look, something’s going to come in and work through and change everything. The seed that’s so small is going to be planted and it’s going to change everything. And if you think about modern Christianity, you can think that really Jesus’ fulfillment, it was true. From 12 men or from one man came 12 men, from 12 men came 72 men, to just a couple of hundred men, to several thousand men now, to maybe the most dominant religion in the whole world. It’s pretty incredible.

Small things have, just because it looks small doesn’t mean it’s not going to grow into something amazing. But I think the parable also teaches us something about the economy of God and his divinity. It actually shows us something about the way in which we live, about the way God fulfills promises and a way that you and I can engage with him on a daily basis and see small things actually make huge impacts. And here’s the major point that we’re going to circle around for a little bit. The greatness of something has nothing to do with how small it starts. Great things often come from small beginnings. Think about all the profound words that have ever been uttered or written in the English language. They all came from one of 26 little letters. You think about all the music that has ever been written basically comes from one of 12 notes. Great things come from small beginnings. It’s the way it starts. The things that seem insignificant, the things that are written off, the things that are basic, the things that are unschooled, the things that are ordinary, the things that are simple, the unimportant things, the trivial things, with God actually become things that have profound impact on the world.

A small gift, right? The little boy’s lunch. He had two fishes and five loaves. But in the hand of God became enough food to feed thousands. Two small copper coins given by a poor widow in the eyes of God become a greater offering than all of the rest. The greatness of something has nothing to do with how small it starts. It’s a little shepherd boy in the field in Israel that becomes king overall. It’s the scared kid hiding in a press that God calls him a mighty warrior. It’s the woman with a barren womb that gives birth to the redemption for all nations. It’s a baby born during oppression that becomes heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Egypt and then leads his people and sets them free. It’s the seemingly inconsequential decisions to follow your mother in law. You know this story that leads to finding an amazing husband, the book of Ruth, right? And then gives birth to the Savior. It’s a small stone that you find in a riverbed that slays Goliath. The greatness of something has nothing to do with how small it starts. And that’s the point of the parable at the macro level.

The greatness of God’s Kingdom is going to start small, and it’s the point at the micro level. The greatness of something or the decisions that you make that don’t seem very important actually lead to profound transformation. Think about it again. A stable, a feeding trough, a baby born in obscurity becomes the savior of the world. He was just a dot, just a seed planted, leading on to a tree of eternal life. That’s the way the economy of God works. Something that seems small can actually become something great. And if it’s true for the people of the Bible, I’m just going to go out on a limb and say that it’s true for you, too. All of us here have decisions to make. There’s something before you right now, all of you, you have something you have something to do. There’s a thing you have to deal with. There’s a decision you have to make. There’s a change. You’re in the midst of a decision, right or left. You’re right there. Everyone has that. And it may seem like a small decision, but I promise you, if you make the one that God desires for you to make, it’s going to lead to something that transforms your life forever.

It seems like a simple prayer. It seems like a meager sacrifice. But in the hands of God, it impacts your family and your family’s family and your family’s family and your children’s children. And over the course of your whole life, you’re not even going to be able to realize that small little seed that was planted became a bush that changed people’s eternity. God is in the business of doing this. God is in the business of doing this. He takes small decisions, but he also takes small men and women. Small meaning broken. Broken men and women makes them into world changers. Fearful men and women become heralds of the good news of God. He takes seeds. That’s too many. Why do I make that noise? I don’t know. I watched the fight yesterday. The question you need to really think about for a moment is this, what could God do with you? How could God use you for his glorious purposes? You say, but I’m nothing. It’s true. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 22, 26, Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. This is the most discouraging, encouraging passage in all of the Bible.

Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many of you were influential. Not many of you were of noble birth. He’s basically saying all of you were seeds. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are. God takes us just like that little seeds, and makes us into something special for his glory. When he forms you, he takes you from a seed and makes you into something incredible. And you think, Well, I’m foolish, I’m remarkable, I’m not wise, I’m completely ordinary, and I just love this. Again, I always talk about this, but in the economy of God, it’s those little things, it’s those little people that make all the difference. It’s not the kings of the world that actually matter. It’s the simple, normal people, normal people who God transforms into a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people that belong to God. We have to start believing that God actually wants to do something with us.

Because if we don’t, we’re actually undermining God’s purposes. We’re thinking that God is not all that great because who am I? And that’s the whole point. Let’s look at the parable again. It says, The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in the field, though it’s the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it becomes the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree. This small seed becomes a tree. Jesus is the master illustrator. And what is the illustration? We talked about it, what it means, but there’s actually something profound about it. It’s that you are a seed, right? You start out super small and then you become a tree. So the seed becomes a tree and do you know what the tree produces? Seeds. This is a terrible chart but here it goes. Seed, tree, seeds. Seed, trees, seeds. Seed, trees, seeds. Over and over and over and over and over again. The little thing that was once a seed, you make that decision. You turn left instead of going right. You go right instead of turning left. You decide to get on your knees and pray.

You bring your family to church. You start engaging with the body of Christ. You start doing the thing you ought to do. That simple decision, God transforms you into a tree and then transforms you into the person that produces more seeds to encourage more people to become trees. It’s pretty encouraging. If you’ve been changed by God, you are no longer a seed. I want to encourage you, you are a tree, which means it’s your responsibility to make a difference in other people’s lives. If God has changed you, that means it’s your requirement to go help somebody else be changed, to bring something beautiful into this desolate world. Here’s yet another reason why I love this passage. You think, Well, the contribution I give to the church, it may look small, but it actually has some profound effects. It actually produces more trees that then produces more seeds. What seems like a small offering is actually more important than you think it is. What seems like a simple invitation to a church, but to church for somebody to come out seems like a small thing, but it actually is more important than you think it is. The small sacrifice of volunteering with kingdom kids or mentoring a teenage kid or deciding to give your life to somebody else, seems like it’s not that important, but it actually changes people’s destiny forever.

It’s more important than it seems because when it grows, those simple, small, dull, normal acts bring about life change in someone that eventually brings about life change in somebody else. Plant seeds that then become trees that then plant more seeds. I want to show you the last part of this text that I find brilliant. It says, though it’s the smallest of all seeds, when it grows, it becomes the largest garden plant and becomes a tree so that the birds can come and perch in its branches. There’s actually an interesting call back. When you’re man, there are so many seeds on this table. I do not know what to do. They’re all over my computer. I’ll clean them up later. It’s a call back to Nebuchadnezzar and a vision that he has. If you’re familiar with the Book of Daniel, you’ll know that Nebuchadnezzar has a bunch of dreams, and they’re about how… Some of them are about how great he is, some of them about how he’s going to be destroyed. But Nebuchadnezzar has a dream where he sees this tree. He sees this explosion, this beautiful tree, and birds come and plant or nest in his tree.

This is the same illustration Jesus uses later, which is so cool. But there’s one big difference. You know what the big difference is? It’s this, this is verse 20, The tree you saw, this is Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, which grew large and strong with its tops touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the wild animals and having nesting places in its branches for the birds. Your Majesty, you are that tree. That’s like us, right? You are that tree. You have become great and strong. This is what God does. You are the tree, you become great and strong. But I want you to catch what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to the distant parts of the earth. Your Majesty saw the Holy One and messengers coming down from heaven saying, Cut down the tree and destroy it. Here’s the major difference between Nebuchadnezzar and you. When God plants a seed in you and you stay humble and you produce life for other people, God allows you to grow. But when you become proud and arrogant and you think that you are the beauty because you plant seeds everywhere and you’re so amazing, then God cuts you down.

That’s the story here. The Kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar came crashing down. The Kingdom of God will never, never be destroyed. I love also about how it talks about it becomes a shelter from the storm for birds. Really, the church, when it’s at its best, is rest for the weary, isn’t it? It’s shade from the heat of the South Florida Sun. If you ever wonder why just the simple task of inviting someone out to church is important, here it is. Just as the plant in this parable brings rest to the birds that flock into its shelter, so the Kingdom of God becomes a refuge for people who are hurting in the world. You can never forget that the world is hurting. All of us were hurting and we found a home. We found a way to think about life differently. I think people are searching for meaning, they’re searching for purpose, they’re searching for family, they’re searching for shelter. And in the Kingdom of God, they can actually find it if we can be at our best. So I want to encourage you, you have the antidote for the world’s problems, but just become the person that God wants you to be.

Become the seed planter and become the tree where people can nest in your branches. Become the type of people that join together to become a forest where people who are struggling can find some respite from a hurting and depraved world. Aren’t you thankful that God brought you into his kingdom? I couldn’t be more thankful for the day I came under those branches. I couldn’t be more thankful for the day that God lifted me out of the waters of baptism and gave me a chance to have life again. I can’t be more thankful for that because in that I found a home. It’s just a matter of time. If we are the church, we ought to be before the birds of the air will be nesting in the branches of what God has built through us. We’ll read the parable one last time and then we’ll close it out. He told them a parable, the Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it’s the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it becomes the largest of all garden plants and becomes a tree so that birds may come and perch in its branches.

Church, you and I are evidence that God can take small things and make them good. God can take terrible things, broken things and repair them. You and I are evidence that God could take dull things to shame the wise, that God can take inconsequential things and actually make an impact on people’s lives. You and I are evidence of that truth. But it’s on us. It’s our prerogative to be the people that continue to perpetuate the seed planting so that the world can find a place to find rest. You may think it’s small, but again, it’s far more important than it looks. At this time, I want to transition to someone getting baptized, but I want to just tell you their story. Their story is so cool. Here’s the good news. This is Irene Moore, who’s about to be baptized. Some of you may know about her, but Irene’s daughter, Nicole, became a disciple as a young single in Miami. That was about 25 years ago. Nicole battled cancer and died before she turned 25. But what Nicole did while she was living was extend love and compassion. And she wanted more than anything for her family to know Jesus Christ.

And so she just kept planting seeds. And she kept planting seeds and she kept planting seeds. The love and the care of the disciples ministered to Auntie Claudia, who became a disciple. Auntie Clawdette never wavered in her faith. She was baptized, I don’t know, a long time ago. But when she moved to Paris several years ago, she made sure that we as a community could keep on planting seeds and planting seeds. Gayle Young, who was a real hero in the faith, just consistently be friended her and just still made a point to just be engaged with Irene. Here today, we see what happens when God takes people, plant seeds in other people’s lives, and then a tree is grown. Today, we see the fulfillment of the dying wish of her daughter, Nicole, to see her mother become a disciple, and to watch her be buried into the waters of baptism and then raised again. I am so excited to share this with you. Here we go.