Some things just can’t be
described; they have to be experienced. For example, if someone asked me to
describe riding a horse, I would have difficulty putting that experience into
words. The best I could do would be to compare the feeling of riding to
something more familiar. “Well,” I might respond, “riding a horse is like being aboard a boat. To keep
your balance – on a horse or on a
boat – you follow the motion with your whole body. Otherwise, you risk falling
off.” Riding a horse is like being
aboard a boat. I can’t describe the experience of riding; but I can compare it
to something else.
Jesus told us that being a part of the Kingdom of God is
something like that. Have you ever noticed that Jesus never offered a
“twenty-five words or less” definition of the Kingdom? I expect that’s because
defining God’s Kingdom is ultimately impossible. Like riding a horse, it can’t
be described; it has to be experienced. The best that we can do is to compare
it to something else. “The Kingdom of God is
like…” Jesus said that over and over and over again. He told parable after
parable comparing the Kingdom of God to things that were more familiar to his
audience. Over the next several weeks, I’m going to preach on some of those
parables. I’m going to consider what the Kingdom of God is like. Jesus told us that it’s like some very unexpected things. It’s
like a dinner party that nobody attended. It’s like a woman who pestered a
judge until he finally gave her what she wanted. It’s like a man who cooked the
books when he was sacked from his job. But I’m going to start today with one of
the most familiar parables of all. The Kingdom of God is like… a weed.
I’m referring, of course, to the parable of the mustard
seed. The Kingdom of God, said Jesus, “is like a mustard seed, which a man took
and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air
made nests in its branches.” Like a mustard seed? What’s that all about? What is it about a tiny grain of mustard that makes
it a good comparison for God’s Kingdom? It turns out that the original Greek text
of this parable can help us to start to answer that question. The text that we
read is, of course, a translation of that Greek into English. As in many cases,
some of those Greek words are packed with meaning that we have to tease out like
a jeweler untangling a knotted golden chain.
One of those words is the one
that is frequently translated “planted” or “sowed.” In this parable, a man
“planted” or “sowed” that mustard in his garden. No he didn’t – at least, not
according to the Greek word that Luke uses here. The verb that Luke uses is “ebalen,”
and that verb doesn’t mean “to plant.” It means “to throw,” or even “to throw
out.” The image is one of a man getting rid of the day’s trash. Apple cores,
potato peelings, watermelon rinds… out it all goes, together with the mustard
seed that he probably never even noticed. After all, mustard seeds are one of
the smallest seeds around.
And where did he throw it? Why,
he threw it into his “garden,’ his “kapos.” A “kapos” isn’t a field. A “kapos” is
an area that many upper-middle class people of Jesus’ time had in the courtyard
of their home. Ornamental plants grew in a “kapos.” You’ve all seen pictures of
Roman villas with fountains and flowers in the middle of the courtyard. Those
flowers were growing in a “kapos.” But not mustard. No one would have put a
mustard seed into a “kapos” on purpose! That’s because mustard is a weed. It
grows quickly and soon takes over the area where it is planted. All the carefully
organized flowers and ornamental plants would be crowded out if a mustard plant
showed up in a “kapos”!
But there’s one more curious
thing about this parable. The mature mustard plant is called a “tree,” a
“dendros.” Mustard seeds don’t grow into trees. They grow into annoying bushes
that you can’t get rid of easily; but never in the history of the world has any
mustard seed grown into a tree! But this one did. This one grew into a tree so
big that birds were able to come and make their nests in its branches.
The Kingdom of God, said Jesus, “is like a mustard seed, which a man took
and threw out into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the
air made nests in its branches.” A tiny mustard seed… thrown out with the
garbage into an organized, well-manicured urban garden… growing not only into a
plant, but into a tree that was so big that it became the home of the birds in
the area. Hmmm…. What does that suggest about the Kingdom of God?
First of all, is it possible that
many people of Jesus’ time saw God’s Kingdom as something worthless, fit only
to be thrown on the trash heap with the morning garbage? That Greek word ɛβαλεν certainly suggests something like
it. “This Kingdom of God,” said many people who heard Jesus’ message, “is trash.
Who wants to live in a kingdom where the meek will inherit the earth and the
peacemakers are blessed? I don’t want anything to do with that kind of kingdom!
Give me money and power, thank you very much!” Do we still hear that today? Are
there still people who discard Jesus’ message of love and compassion because it
doesn’t suit their lifestyle? Well… it’s just a thought.
Second, the mustard seed that was
discarded – that weed seed – quickly took
over the urban garden where it was thrown. All the careful planning, all the
organization, all the human thought that went into the garden – it all went out
the window when the weed took over! It seems to me that the Kingdom of God does
the same thing to many of our own careful plans. “My life is going to be like this,” we say. “I’m going to live there and behave like that.” But then God’s Kingdom lands
right in the middle of all our plans, and takes over our lives. At least, if
we’re lucky, it takes over our lives.
Finally, this mustard plant is not content to remain a bush. It insists on
growing into a tree – a tree that offers shelter to all kinds of creatures. The
birds of the air are the only ones that Luke mentions, but I’ll bet that
chipmunks frolicked around its roots, cicadas buzzed from its leaves, and
squirrels peered out from holes in its trunk. This tree offers not just
shelter, but a home – a home for anyone who cares to live there. Is that the
Kingdom of God for us? Is it a home where we can live safely, secure from all
those who might want to harm us? This parable certainly suggests that it is.
Parables are powerful in that
they don’t nail things down. Parables are open-ended. Parables suggest all
kinds of interpretations! I’ve just offered three of them for this parable, but
there are more. After all, the Kingdom of God is all kinds of things! “The
Kingdom of God is like a weed seed that a man threw away into his well-thought
out, organized garden. It grew until it took over that garden; and it offered a
home to any creature who came by.”
He who has ears to hear, let him
hear.
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