Jesus was explaining in his metaphorical, parabolic way, the Kingdom of God to his disciples. He tells them the Kingdom "...is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
I ignored this passage at best for many years, then as God reupholstered my understanding of Him two years ago, I began to scour the words and life of Jesus, seeking to develop an authentic relationship with Him and in turn, His Father. During this time the passage perplexed me.
As I began to understand God’s heart for the poor and the oppressed, the words of Mother Teresa began to inform my thinking and my ambitions, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”
Through this lens, Jesus words about the Kingdom came to life with vibrant passion. Without delving into too much eschatology—for the sake of brevity--Isaiah 65:17-25 & Revelation 21:1-4 share a piece of what we are seeking when we pray “Your Kingdom Come,” no hunger, no tears, perfect justice, perfect shalom with God, each other, the earth, and ourselves…
As we fervently pray for this Kingdom to come, we arduously labor to make His Kingdom a present reality.
As we pass by a homeless man starving in the cold, we feed him, because in the Kingdom, no one will be hungry. And the Kingdom of God crashes into earth through the Body of Christ, being broken and poured out on behalf of others for the glory of the Father.
As we pray with a hurting father mourning his delinquent son, and healing comes, heaven crashes into earth, and the Kingdom of God comes through the body of Christ, being broken and poured out on behalf of others, for the glory of the Father.
As we repent of our sin, and receive a new heart, in the Kingdom, God is worshiped alone, all our idols fall away, supremely, eternally, as the sole object of our affection, the treasure which we give up everything in our great joy to obtain. And heaven crashes into earth, through the Body of Christ, bringing glory to the Father.
The Kingdom comes through the Body of Christ, bringing about redemption and resurrection, in the smallest of ways
through the greatest of love—to lay your life down, for others (John 15:13).
The starving homeless man, the single mom, the hurting father, they are all waiting for Jesus to pass by. For the Body of Christ to pass by.
People look at the suffering in the world and ask “where is God?” One child every 13 seconds will die today from starvation, where is God? Somewhere, at your school, there is an awkward teenager, ridden with insecurity, bullied and abused, questioning whether life is worth living any longer, where is God? Innumerable homeless children and adults are freezing to death tonight, where is God? An abusive, alcoholic father is screaming at his children, where is God? And God, looks at the church and says: Where. Are. YOU? (Isaiah 1:17)
WE. Are. HIS. Body.
Allow that to sink in.
When the incarnate body of Christ passed by, what happened?
The same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is within us (Ephesians 1:18-20) to empower us to love the way he loved us, to serve the way he served, to give the way he gave (John 14:12)… Christ’s body was broken and poured out for the healing of the nations, for the salvation of His people, for the healing of the sick, for the liberation of the captive, for the freedom of the oppressed…
It is through the body of Christ, broken and poured out, that redemption comes. As we, His Body, take on the same mind that was in Christ, and humble ourselves, becoming broken and poured out, on behalf of others, God raises us up and produces the fruit of the Kingdom. Christ put it this way, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies? It produces much fruit.” (John 12:24)
Christ says that it is through these small seeds of love, the cedar trees of the Kingdom are grown.
This is a Kingdom that comes not by might, not by strength, not by strategic business plans and ambitious marketing goals, but by brokenness, humility, weakness and love.
The great theologian, Bob Marley, put it
this way: “If you are a big tree, we are the small axe.”
This is hugely profound. The world and its empire of corporate flesh, is currently the kingdom of satan, his empire reigns through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life, the exploitation of the marginalized—all things that are anti-Kingdom, anti-Christ. When we see the suffering, the sin, the curse of the world, it threatens to overwhelm the remnant of God’s people… But as a small axe, overthrows even the tallest of trees in the hands of a skilled, persevering laborer, so our small acts (wit!) in the hands of God, will overthrow the Kingdom of Darkness.
Jesus is the light of the world (John 9:5), we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Therefore, we seek out the darkness. We redeem and we resurrect. Bringing light where darkness was. Bringing healing where hurt was. Bringing hope where there was none. Bringing fruit where sin was. Bring the Kingdom of God where the kingdom of satan was.
Last night, continuing my study through Ezekiel, God revealed to me what every good Jew in Jesus’ audience would have grasped immediately:
"'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
" 'I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.' " (Ezekial 17:22-24)
This is virtually the same promise. The first listeners would have known immediately Jesus was speaking of this passage. This was their hope. This was their promise. How does the vine grow? How does the cedar reach its fullness?
I will plant it.
It will produce branches and bear fruit, but
how will it accomplish this?
I the LORD will
make it grow.
I make the dry tree flourish.
I the Lord have spoken, and
I will do it.
We work with all hope and passion, confident of the final result, because it is God himself who is working in us to will and to do His good will, we do not faint, we do not grow discouraged, because we are promised the Kingdom, The Lord has Spoken, and He will do it.
The vine grows. And the Lord grows it.
100% God. 100% vine.
We plant the seeds. And the Lord increases.
100% the Body of Christ submitting to the Head of Christ (Father), by the Spirit of Christ (Spirit), made possible by the work of Christ (Jesus) on the cross. The crux, climax, and point of EVERYthing.
Every command compels us to *hope* and to *act*.
Not a pithy, useless hope grounded in “positive thinking” and “human intiative.”
A rock solid, gutsy hope, grounded in the promised outcome of the God-breathed, inerrant words of Scripture.
We do not sit back and say “God’s got this, I’m tapping out.”
We do not freak out and say “I’ve got so much to do, I’m freaking out!”
God *is* doing it. Through His Body.
God has no need of us, but in his great goodness, he has chosen to use broken, clay vessels to contain the greatest treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7). So the clay rejoices and praises God for the grace that he has given them to speak through them and save them and use them for his Glory. And the lives that are impacted through the clay rejoice and praise God for the grace he has given them through the clay.
Therefore we have great confidence (2 Corinthians 4:1), God’s success is sure. His Kingdom will come. Victory has been secured.
Therefore, we work and labor and struggle and fight with all of the strength we have.
We wrestle. And we rest.
Those that wait on the Lord renew their strength, they mount up on wings as eagles, they run and do not faint (Isaiah 40:31)…
Because the Lord is strong. They run. Not by their strength, only by their legs.
Because the Lord does not faint, we fly. Not by our lift, only by our wings.
God causes the grass to grow (Psalm 104:14). And the grass grows (photosynthesis, sunlight, water, nutrients).
God feeds the hungry. When His Body feeds the hungry.
May we labor for the Kingdom with an intensity that is driven by the sureness of its coming. His Kingdom will come. His people will be saved. He will receive His Glory. And His Body will be broken and poured out to accomplish this end.
