mark 4:30-32 30 "and he said, “with what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? it is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
everything in this world is done to the max. $500,000,000 movies, 110 story buildings, double-decker planes, mega-churches, etc. Jesus came announcing something totally different.
Jesus gave us a way out of the empire. he gave us a way to escape the onslaught of massive production and hype. the lowest of the low are exalted in this mustard seed kingdom. everyone who is seemingly meaningless and insignificant will be called great and mighty.
i love this upside-down kingdom that is the polar opposite of what we have been taught to be the way, the truth and the life.
the way is not the pursuit of happiness.
the truth is not whatever our "leaders" tell us.
the life is not the path to money, power and fame.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. his kingdom is one that teaches us to love in an extravagant and unrelenting way. it is one that teaches us to judge ourselves over others. and it is a kingdom that brings a peace that cannot be understood or explained.
this kingdom calls us to die so that we can live. to be small so that he can make us big. may we find that death and embrace the suffering that the messiah embraced for all of us...
be as small as you can be.
-dave-
2 opinion(s):
When the exiles came back and rebuilt they Temple, they wept because it was so much smaller than Solomon's magnificent Temple. God rebuked them: "Who despises the day of small things?" (Zech 4:10) and "Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it seem to you like nothing?"
In this rebuke He states that it will be His presence that will be the distinguishing factor, the empowering force. Not the size or magnificence of the building. I think we all need to learn that.
The American Church and Way, ironically, doesn't leave room for "small."
question...so how does this understanding of the Kingdom get expressed by the thing we are a part of called church...not just theologically and conceptually, but practically...hit me with some dave, tdags, levi, ange...ANYONE :)
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