Inauspicious beginnings

Matthew 13: 31 - 35

Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch on its branches.

What catches the world's attention is usually outstanding and conspicuous, more so something that is carried out on a large scale. The advertising industry knows this. They work hard to produce advertisements that catch a person's attention in the first three seconds. If it takes longer than this to draw attention, the advert is probably ineffective. Can the kingdom of heaven measure up to these standards? Well, not if it works like Jesus described.....from small, insignificant beginnings, through slow but steady growth. This was a stumbling block for many in Jesus' time. For the Jews, the arrival of the kingdom meant the transformation of the order of things in this world. But Jesus' arrival did not bring about immediate or dramatic change. Some were not prepared to accept such an insignificant beginning as evidence of the kingdom. It did not meet their expectations and they despised such a manifestation of the kingdom.

Even today, I am sure many of us are somewhat impatient with the kingdom's slow growth in our world. I know I hope for greater success when proclaiming the gospel to the people around me. Sometimes, years pass and there seem to be few, if any obvious results. Just like the early Christian community, we are still the minority and are surrounded by people indifferent or even hostile to the gospel. However, we can take heart when Jesus says that like a small amount of yeast permeates and brings growth to the whole batch of dough, so can his people work (often unobtrusively) within society to bring about his kingdom's transformation. Perhaps some of the changes are not immediately observable because they involve the inner transformation of the heart. It is encouraging to know that our efforts will one day, like a large tree be clearly evident by its presence and effectiveness.

'Slow' and 'inauspicious' are not words the world would appreciate. More so in our modern technological culture. As in many other aspects of life, those of us who live for the kingdom of God listen to the beat of a different drummer. We know and follow Jesus our Messiah, the Son of God who humbled himself to take on human flesh, who through his life, death and resurrection brought about a kingdom that will never end.