The parables are descriptions of the kingdom of God. Now, when we hear the term, kingdom of God, we should think of two places; kind of without, and within. The kingdom of God is wherever God reigns. God, of course, reigns in the world and the church, without, but he also reigns within, in our hearts. These descriptions of our Lord through the parables, are describing how the church is going to be, but also how we are going to be in our souls, in our hearts.

Here we have, this morning, parables of growth; the mustard seed. First, our Lord says kingdom of God is like a plant that starts with a little seed, and then becomes the blade and the grain and the ear, and then finally it’s ripe, ready for harvest. It shows progression. The church is going to grow through progression. It’s not going to come to its fulfillment or fruition all at once right at the beginning of time. It’s going to start small like it was 2,000 years ago in the ancient Roman empire. It’s going to grow through the Middle Ages, and then the way we have the church today.

And who knows? Maybe the church is going get cut down, and it’s going to grow again. Same with our own faith, right? Again, the kingdom of God is within, so our faith progresses. We don’t have it all figured out at one moment in time; when we’re baptized, or when we’re confirmed, or if we have a conversion experience, or faith-test, to grow. Just like that seed. We have to be patient with ourselves. We might not figure all out, the entire faith, at one point in our lives.

It’s kind of like one message, and then a second message is the size. Starts with a mustard seed, as Jesus says, and the mustard seed grows to one of the largest bushes, and then birds of the sky dwell in its shade. Same with the church. The church started very small, tiny. 12 Apostles in Palestine, 2,000 years ago, and now we’ve got over a billion members worldwide. Church has grown, people dwell in the church’s shade.

And then our own faith; our own faith starts small. When we were little children, when we were baptized, when we young adults, whatever it might be. But our faith will grow. And eventually, and here’s what’s beautiful, brothers and sisters, our faith will grow so abundantly that people will rest in the shade of our faith. I think that’s one lesson we can walk away with today. That our faith is not just meant for ourselves, remember Jesus says the mustard seed grows into a bush, birds dwell in it. Our faith is meant for others, as well. Our family members, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, maybe the people that we’ve been estranged from, hopefully will see our faith, be inspired by it, and will dwell in the shade that we provide.

Thanks be to God. Amen.