I saw a video of a mustard bush. One of its branches was loaded with pods, and in each pod, there were six or seven small yellow seeds. One of these tiny seeds, about a tenth of an inch in diameter, has enough power in it to produce another mustard tree, sometimes nine feet tall, which contains thousands of new mustard seeds.
Jesus used this miracle of nature to help describe the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:18-21).
“What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”
There is a disconnect between the word “kingdom” and the word “seed.” When Jesus talked about establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, people naturally thought of a huge territory led by a king and protected by a mighty army. Yet instead of describing something large and powerful, Jesus talked about a mustard seed. At first glance the seed seems insignificant, yet when it grows up it is amazing.
Jesus then used another image:
“To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”
A small packet of yeast is as nothing compared to the heap of flour into which it is mixed. Yet when its presence causes flat bread to expand to many times its unleavened size. Once again Jesus used an example of how something small and insignificant to describe God’s Kingdom.
Today’s first reading (Romans 8:18-25) St. Paul talks about hope.
“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees?”
Hope also is like a mustard seed. It is planted in our hearts at baptism and is so small you can’t see it. Paul points out that if we could see what we hope for, there is no need for hope. A person accepts salvation because they believe it offers than a deeper, richer life than they already have. They expect the seed of the Kingdom of God that is planted inside them to grow and transform them, the way leaven transforms flour. The power of baptism becomes evident only in time.
“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.”
Waiting can be demanding. We wait, however, because we have hope in what is yet to come. Without hope, endurance is impossible.
A gardener hopes that the mustard seed will become a huge bush, a baker hopes that the leavened dough will become delicious bread. What do we hope the Kingdom of God within us will become? Is it not intended to produce saints?
As we watch with distress much of our familiar culture disintegrate, God is busy planting mustard seeds of his Kingdom inside the hearts of human beings. It is the presence of his Kingdom within us that allows us to see into the future. The seed of hope within us knows that God is still in charge and has a plan for our future. His Kingdom will eventually grow into a huge mustard tree that will be powerful enough to change the world.
We rejoice that we are part of God’s Kingdom “project.” In this lies our hope.
“They shall come back rejoicing, carrying their sheaves” (Ps 126:6).
