In today’s passage, we see that Jesus continues using the analogy of a seed. Why did Jesus choose a seed for His parables? Those who were present with Jesus would easily be able to understand and relate to planting a seed. Farming was and still is a necessary thing needed for a society to flourish. Thus, not only would those with Jesus understand the parable, but we too can understand. The growth of a seed is also a natural comparison to spiritual growth, something we will understand today through this message.
The key verse I chose for this passage is Mark 4:30-32. Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. A mustard seed is a very small and insignificant thing until it grows. In the same way, the kingdom of God may seem small and insignificant until it grows. The kingdom of God is planted in our lives when we accept Jesus Christ, but we must cultivate its growth to see the fullness of its power in our lives. Today, I want to talk about cultivating the kingdom of God (Pray).
During my science fair project, the most interesting part to me wasn’t the erosion. The most interesting part to me was the growing of the grass for the “grassy soil”. Before that time, I had never planted anything in my life. I had seen my mother work in her garden and would help from time to time (cough), but I had never seen anything grow from a seed to a plant. Planting the grass for my science fair was the first and last thing I ever grew from start to finish.
One thing I learned from that experience is that you have to constantly take care of something for it to grow. I had to water the grass every day and make sure it had proper nutrition. You cannot simply plant the seeds and then leave it alone. The same is true for the kingdom of God. Let’s look at verses 30 and 31. Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. The kingdom of God is like a seed that is planted. However, left on its own, that seed will not grow. It needs someone to take care of it every single day. Thus, the first key to cultivating the kingdom of God is consistency.
The funny thing about consistency is that we all know it to be an important attribute but are so resistant to it. Want proof? Think about the last time you tried to start dieting or exercising. If you are like most people, you got really excited at first, thinking about how great you would feel once you lost weight. That first day you probably ate nothing but kale and ran five miles on the treadmill. Maybe even the second day you did the same thing. However, if you’re anything like me, you probably gave up after a few weeks.
The thing about exercise and dieting is that consistency is more important than intensity. Nowadays there are so many advertisements claiming that they can help you lose weight fast, but we all know that isn’t true. You can’t just eat a ton of kale or run five miles and expect to lose twenty pounds. Increased intensity doesn’t compensate for decreased consistency. The only way to truly lose weight and get more in shape is to consistency exercise and eat well.
We can’t expect the kingdom of God to grow in our lives in a day. Even if we read the entire Bible and fast for a week, the kingdom of God will not reach its full potential. We have to read the Bible every day, pray every day, and worship every day. The kingdom of God is not a single step but a journey with God. I would encourage you to look at your life and see if you are building your faith every day. If not, ask yourself what you can do to grow the kingdom of God each and every day.
A few months ago we studied the book of Daniel. I think Daniel is a great example of someone who lived with consistency. Daniel was taken as a captive in Babylon to serve the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. There were many trials in Daniel’s life that tested his faith in God. The most famous event in Daniel’s life was when he was thrown into the lion’s den. Nebuchadnezzar’s advisers despised Daniel and wanted to find something that would remove Daniel from the king’s service. They came up with a plan to trick the king into writing a decree that would send anyone who worshipped other gods to be thrown into the lion’s den.
What was Daniel’s response to this decree? Did he stop worshipping God? Let’s read Daniel 6:10. Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Daniel prayed to God and gave thanks to God. Did you notice something in this verse? It says that Daniel gave thanks to his God “just as he had done before”. This implies that Daniel prayed three times a day without fail. In fact, think about how the advisers came up with this deception. They must have seen Daniel praying three times a day to God, every single day. That’s how they knew their plan would work.
Daniel’s life was not marked by a single event but a consistent life of prayer. During our bible studies in the book of Daniel we talked about “one day faith”. One day faith is faith that we have in the ordinary things of life. One day faith is reading the bible when we wake up, praying on the way to work, or worshipping before we go to bed. Faith doesn’t have to be a grand event. Just like a small mustard seed, if we cultivate our faith with consistency, it will grow. So focus on your one day faith, and see what God can do with your faith one day.
The next part to cultivating the kingdom of God is destiny. Let’s read verse 32. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” Have you ever seen a mustard seed? I never seen one in real life, but from pictures on google I saw that it is about the size of a large grain of pepper. You could probably hold a thousand of them in your hand at one time. Have you ever seen a mustard tree? How many of those do you think you could hold in your hand?
A farmer never values a seed based on what it is but on what it is destined to become. He doesn’t look at the tiny seed and just see a seed- he sees a tree. If a farmer never considered the final result of the seed, why would he ever bother to get seeds? The farmer’s motivation to take care of the seed is the destiny of the seed. He is able to consistently cultivate the seed because he knows the seed will ultimately become a tree that will bear fruit for him and his family.
To further illustrate this point, think about the last advertisement you saw for a weight loss product. Do you know what you can expect to see without fail? A before and after picture. Notice that these advertisements never show you the person struggling during their weight loss journey. Can you imagine seeing one of these ads with a before and day after before picture? Would you ever buy that product? Marketing teams know that people are driven by results, not by process.
Earlier we said that the first key to cultivating the kingdom of God is consistency. Destiny is what motivates consistency. Without a clear view of our destiny, it is nearly impossible to have consistency. People who are successful at weight loss programs are those who can focus on the end result. Once you lose sight of your destiny, you easily lose motivation and passion for the kingdom of God.
Philippians 3:12-14 says: Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Paul knew that the secret to live a Godly life was to strain toward what is ahead and press on toward the goal. He focused on his heavenly destiny rather than his earthly problems.
Even Jesus focused on His destiny while here on this earth. Hebrews 12:1-2. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Jesus focused on the joy set before Him to endure the cross. We too must focus on our destiny in order to live out our purpose and cultivate the kingdom of God.
So what is our destiny? Our ultimate destiny is to become like Christ. Philippians 3:20-21. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Ultimately we desire to experience the fullness of the kingdom of God, where God reigns in His glory, love and power. If we focus on our destiny to be like Christ, it will enable us to experience more of the kingdom of God in our lives.
So far we’ve covered two points: consistency and destiny. However, since I’m a believer in three point messages, I meditated on the passage some more to come up with a third point. I thought more about why Jesus chose to use a seed to compare with the kingdom of God. Maybe it’s because a seed is easily overlooked? Easily undervalued? Easily lost? Why would Jesus choose something so small to represent the kingdom of God?
To answer this question, I thought about why God made seeds small. Then it dawned on me- perhaps the seed is small so it is easily planted. Think about it: a farmer is able to sow a seed because it is small. A farmer cannot sow a mustard tree. Can you imagine how ridiculous it would be for a farmer to try to plant a huge mustard tree? There’s no way he could transport it. Maybe God compares the kingdom of God to a seed because the kingdom of God is meant to be reproducible.
A tree’s main purpose is to bear fruit, but its secondary purpose is to reproduce. Let’s read verse 32. “Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” When the seed grows into a tree, birds are able to perch on the branches. The seed’s purpose was never to serve itself, but to give life to everything around it. Once a seed becomes a tree, it produces more seeds that can be sown in other places.
Consistency and destiny are two factors that help us cultivate the kingdom of God in our own lives, while reproducibility is cultivating the kingdom of God in other’s lives. Our goal should never just be to serve ourselves but to serve others. Jesus didn’t teach His disciples just so that they would grow spiritually, but so that they would reproduce their faith in others. The growth of the kingdom of God was never meant to stop with us, but to overflow into the lives of those around us.
Even’s Jesus’ mission was to reproduce His ministry in others. John 12:24 says “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Jesus was talking about Himself and how His death would ultimately produce seeds of life in those who accept Him. John 14:12 says “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Jesus’ ministry was always meant to produce disciples that would produce more disciples.
Our lives should also be focused on reproducibility. Timothy Keller once said that the church is meant to be a unique organization that is outwardly focused rather than inwardly focused. Most businesses focus on how they can increase their profits, political power, and societal influence. However, Jesus calls the church to focus on reaching those outside of the church, not to just build itself. We should ask ourselves if our lives are being reproduced in anyone around us, and if not, who you can minister to.
The kingdom of God needs to be cultivated in our lives. The kingdom of God is not something that will grow without us working at it. Consistency, destiny, and reproducibility are three components necessary to cultivating the kingdom of God. To be honest, these are three things that I struggle with a lot. I am not very consistent in pursing God because I am always distracted by things around me. One day faith is hard to me to have on a consistent basis. It’s difficult for me to focus on my destiny when life’s problems are so real in front of me. It’s hard to look past the struggles of my work and see the destiny God has called me to. Finally, I struggle to reproduce a life of faith in others. I get so comfortable doing my own thing that I neglect sowing seeds in those around me.
The good news is that there’s one more point to my message, even though I do like having three points. Let’s read verses 26-29. He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” I originally did not expect to have this portion of Mark 4 in my sermon, but as I thought about the passage I realized there is a very important message in these verses. Yes, we should do everything we can to grow the kingdom of God based on consistency, destiny and reproducibility, but the growth of the kingdom of God is ultimately up to God’s mercy. Verse 27 says that the seed keeps growing even though the farmer doesn’t understand how. He can do everything in his power to prepare an environment for the seed to grow, but he cannot actually make the seed grow.
In the same way, consistency, destiny and reproducibility are things we can focus on to prepare an environment for the kingdom of God to grow, but we can’t actually make it grow. The only thing that will truly make the kingdom of God grow is the Spirit of God given to us in His mercy. Just as the farmer may not fully understand the mechanism in which the seed grows, we may not fully understand the mercy of God. However, God gave us His one and only Son to spare us from the eternal punishment for our sins. This is the greatest mercy that anyone could ever show us.
In light of today’s passage, may we live with consistency, focus on destiny, and aim for reproducibility all in view of God’s mercy. Let’s read the key verses, 30-32. Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
-Smart
