Notes on “The Mustard Seed”

I remember when I was in middle school, I went to my school’s library and grabbed a few books from the shelves.  Needless to say, they were all books about plants.  I read about how plants use water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to make sugar and oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis.  I was so intrigued by all the diagrams of how everything works and even the chemical reactions themselves.  The process of how plants utilize photosynthesis to create energy and release oxygen seems so organic.  

Being a nature person, I love plants, trees, soil, water, rocks, and all-natural elements of the earth, but plants and trees have always had a special place in my heart.  Perhaps, it is because I connect with God through them. My daily spiritual practice is praying while looking at a tree.  Every movement from the branches or the leaves is a constant reminder of how God is listening to my prayers.

 This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine.  We’ll get to explore another parable about the kingdom of God. The Scripture is from Mark 4:30-32, the parable of the mustard seed. 

 In this passage, the kingdom of God is compared to a small mustard seed being scattered on the ground, where it eventually grew into a big plant with large branches for birds to nest in its shade.  I will not focus on the exaggerated, if not illogical process of how a mustard plant or shrub, is able to produce large branches, or even how the mustard plant is morphed into a giant tree in some gospels.  However, I will focus on the process of how a small mustard seed is able to grow into a large plant over time and provide a nesting place for birds of the air.  It reminds me of the way the kingdom of God works.  It starts out as a small seed of faith planted in all our hearts, but it grows over time and eventually becomes a loving and nurturing community for all who rest in its shade.

Mark 4:30-32 (CEB)
30 He continued, “What’s a good image for God’s kingdom? What parable can I use to explain it? 31 Consider a mustard seed. When scattered on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; 32 but when it’s planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants. It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade.”

Consider these questions:

1. Have you ever planted something and watched it grew from a seed or seedling to a plant?
2. What did you do to help it grow?
3. How can you relate that process with the way the kingdom of God works?
4. How does the mustard plant providing a nesting place for the birds of the air (and home for so many other critters) make you feel? How does that relate to the kingdom of God?