Parable of the Mustard Seed

Conversations with the Messiah: The Parable of The Mustard Seed Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ, it is difficult to find an Indian curry especially a south Indian curry which does not have mustard seeds floating on the top or sticking to pieces of vegetables. Often the last stage in the cooking of dhal, sambhar, coconut chutney or upma involves spluttering mustard seeds in a few teaspoons of oil along with curry leaves and chilies. It is difficult to find an Indian kitchen without a jar of these tiny black seeds stored in a shelf along with cumin, turmeric, coriander and other spices. Apart from its subtle ubiquitous presence in most Indian savory dishes this humble seed has another claim to fame. Lord Jesus himself noticed this humble seed and used the life cycle of this seed to illustrate an important truth about the kingdom of God. The parable of the mustard seed is very familiar to all of us. In this parable Jesus said that amongst other seeds it is tiny. It is tinier than coriander seeds. It is tinier than grape seeds. Or apple seeds or cantaloupe seeds or any other kind of seeds. It can even be said that it is tinier than the cumin seed. If you plant this tiny seed the tree that eventually emerges from this seed is larger according to Jesus than other garden plants. It has long branches and the birds of the air can make nests in this tree. Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ what a wonderful picture of a tree. A tree with long branches where nests for little birds can be found.

The parable of the mustard seed is recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The most common interpretation of this parable is the idea that great entities have small beginnings. Thus even the biggest hulk of a man started his life journey as a baby. A bank with branches all over the world started in a one room office or as an idea in a person's mind. Even Jesus started his life on earth as a tiny baby born into stable.

Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ, there is more to this parable than growth from small beginnings. Very often we look around us and see rich and mighty people. We see their confidence, we see their easy ability to socialize, we see their carefree comfort, we see pictures of families at tables laden with gourmet food. Everybody else seems cool and successful. Our own lives seem to lack carefree comforts, or the cool factor of confident success. Often we feel that way because we focus on what we don't have. Many gifted children feel insecure in an environment where being average or mediocre is celebrated. We look around us and see what we don't have being celebrated and considered most awesome. Thus we may be in a milieu that celebrates athletic ability when our abilities are not athletic. We may think we are flawed because we don't have athletic ability. We forget we have poetic ability. And just because poetic ability is not celebrated where we are it does not mean it is not important. And athletes also probably feel sad in an environment where only poetic ability is honored. If we are parents let us not forget to encourage our athletic children and our poetic children. We may be in a milieu that celebrates home making abilities when our talent lies in poetry. When we consistently try to do things we are not naturally good at, and fail at things where we are not good at, all the while suppressing that which we are good at, then we may end up believing that we don't have what it takes to become successful in this world. Jesus tells us that the abilities and skills we intrinsically have are good and that they will lead to something good if we persevere in them. Sometimes we have a talent which cannot even be classified as a talent but is still very important. It could be a way of being in this world. And just because others who are not like us are successful we try to become like them. But we ourselves do not recognize that skill which is within us and look at ourselves through the eyes of those who value other skills. We may look at moms who make lots of delicious meals for their children and envy them because they are able to cook well, but we feel more comfortable reading endless story books to our children and feed their imagination. We may feel we are not as good as moms who make lots of delicious things for their children. Jesus tells us that we can give our children that which we are best at. If we work hard and try to make healthy meals and at the same time read books to our children then there is nothing like it but let us never forget our natural skills and abilities.

The parable of the mustard seed, in a way celebrates the simple, the insignificant, and the small. And thereby accept ourselves as we are. We all have a mustard seed within us. Jesus tells us to look within ourselves and look at what we do have. A talent which in the eyes of the world is as insignificant as the mustard seed. But if as the man did in that parable, if we plant the mustard seed, which means take steps to nurture it and work toward a goal that exemplifies that talent Jesus says we will surely reach success. We may have a simple talent. Let us sow that seed. To sow means to plant or place in the soil. Sowing results in growing. When we take steps to grow in the area that we are good at, accepting ourselves as we are, we could perhaps grow something that gives shelter to others.

Another idea in this parable is that if we sow a seed we get a tree and the tree is beneficial to humanity. Trees also give shade and shelter to birds of the air. Birds make nests in trees. A nest means a snug and secluded retreat. Birds make nests in mustard tree branches. The kingdom of God is then perhaps a place where we humans can have a snug retreat. A place of seclusion and quiet. The word kingdom connotes pomp and grandeur and all earthly kingdoms are associated with grandeur yet Jesus explains that the kingdom of God is simple and natural, like the long branch of a tree where birds come to find shelter from the storms and stresses of life. Every time we take the mustard seed of a talent or skill or something else within us and do something with it we are able to grow something good, on other hand if we do not sow, or if we do not take steps to reach a worthy and noble goal, we will not be in a position to be beneficial to ourselves or others and we are not working toward building the kingdom of God.

Sowing or planting the mustard seed takes a bit of effort. It takes effort to get up from the couch and pick up the seed and actually step into the yard. It takes effort to find a spot with good soil to plant the seed. It takes effort to water it. It takes effort to fence the young sapling when it sprouts. It takes effort to put fertilizer on the soil. But yet it is not a striving kind of effort, but just a simple kind of effort to make the best of your assets or talents. Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ what Jesus really means is that with very simple effort with the things we already have at our disposal we can have a kingdom of heaven like experience.

We can also sow great things into the lives of our children. The most important being love. Love does not cost any money. If we give our children love, not in the form of expensive material gifts only, but also encouragement, godly character, our talents, faith, time spent with them, and being involved in their lives, then we are growing mustard trees who in turn will give shelter to birds of the air. Children learn a lot by imitation. Every time we model godliness to our children we are planting a mustard seed of godliness in our children's hearts. Every time we work hard on our talents we plant mustard seeds of hard work in our children's hearts.

Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ, today let us take the decision to plant the mustard seeds in our lives so that we too can become the long branch of a tree that gives shelter to the birds of the air. Between planting a seed and the seed becoming a tree there is a journey. The journey of the seed as the seed becomes a tree depends on how well the journey is conducted. The journey consists of days, months, and sometimes years. In many ways we are all on a journey. Don't we all have mustard seeds growing into trees inside of us? Let us conduct our journey of becoming mustard trees well. And we can conduct it well because we have Jesus with us.