“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that someone took and sowed in his field.”
–Matthew 13:31b
As a 6th grader, I began to play the trumpet. I was part of the school band for the next two years, too, and enjoyed it, but stopped before high school. When my band friends asked me about that decision I probably told them I didn’t want to give up part of my summer vacation for band camp, but the real reason was that I suspected I wasn’t coordinated enough to play an instrument and march at the same time! While seated though, my three years with the trumpet were great fun.
One night before a concert, our band was in position on the stage at Clubview Elementary School in Columbus, Georgia. Our director entered and the audience began to clap as he moved to the microphone. He started to offer some words of welcome, but it was soon apparent that the mic had not been turned on. My chair was directly behind where our director was standing and I whispered to him that the switch was on top, but he didn’t hear me. After a couple more attempts on my part to get his attention and a few more futile efforts on his part to correct the situation, I stood up and reaching in front of him flipped the switch on. The sound of feedback filled the auditorium. The audience laughed along with the director who made some comment about who was the teacher and who was the student. With the sound system now active, we settled in for our concert which I suspect only a supportive parent or grandparent could have truly loved!
In addition to the real possibility of that moment marking the last time I offered helpful technical assistance, that occasion from my past also highlights those times when a small act makes a difference. Long ago, Jesus implied that such deeds even represented God’s eternal realm.
That message came as part of a chapter in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus offers a variety of images for the Kingdom of God. He begins with the parable about a sower of seed and then goes on to offer another one about a person who sows weeds among the wheat. After our passage, he talks of the eternal realm being like yeast mixed into flour or finding buried treasure or casting a net and catching all kinds of fish. None of those parables gives a full description of the Kingdom of God and the same is true of the image we just read above when Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed into the field.” He adds that such a small seed can grow into a great shrub, providing a place for birds to build nests.
Experts with that plant note that it takes 750 mustard seeds to weigh a gram and that the bush of that annual herb can reach a height of six feet. Thus, while clearly there are all kinds of ways to interpret Jesus’ point, I resonated with the one offered by a scholar who said simply that Jesus is making a “contrast between the littleness of the means and the largeness of the ends.” (Bruner, Dale. Matthew: A Commentary, Volume 2. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1990, p. 502) In other words, that small beginnings, including small human acts can further God’s purposes.
With that image in mind I ask what small deed might you carry-out today? What act is within your abilities that could make all the difference for someone else?
It might be taking a meal to a family going through a hard time. It could be writing a note to someone who played a significant role in your life, yet a friend with whom you have lost touch. It might be giving credit in a meeting to a co-worker for an idea that was a joint effort, yet one for whom a public word of praise could make all the difference to him. Or it might be some other gesture that takes little of your time or creativity or energy, but brings much needed comfort or joy to another.
Whatever pops into your mind, don’t wait, but instead, as that ad campaign from the past encouraged: “Just do it.” Especially if the gesture seems exceptionally small. It might even provide a glimpse of God’s eternal realm.
Eternal One, thank you for how you take the smallest of acts and transform them. Guide me to respond with one small deed that you can change into a glimpse of your kingdom. Amen.
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