Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Mark 4:26-34
Pastor: Pastor Nathan Berg
Sermon Date:  June 27, 2021

Contrary to Popular Belief: Size Doesn’t Matter

When the year began in 1848, there were no bridges across the Niagara Falls Gorge. To go from Canada to the United States or vice versa required you to go around the gorge, a long way around. But William Hamilton Merritt wanted to change that. He received permission from both nations to build a bridge. But how? The width of the gorge was 800 feet at the bridge site which was too dangerous to attempt to link the two sides by water. So how could they span the gorge? How were they going to build the bridge? The answer: a kite. On January 30, 1848, fifteen-year-old American Homan Walsh flew his kite named Union from one side of the gorge to the other. Someone on the opposite side caught the kite and tied a stronger string to the end of the kite string, and Homan pulled the new, thicker string back across the gorge. The process was repeated with an even stronger string, then a cord, then a thin rope, then thicker rope and eventually a steel cable which was strong enough to support workers, tools, and materials. Finally, a sturdy bridge, which held trains and trucks was completed. And it all began with such a little thing, a piece of string. 

There is power in little things, things that seem insignificant and unimpressive. And it’s the power of these little things that really matter in your Christian life. We love to spend time talking about taking down giants, dividing seas, calming storms, worldwide floods, fire from heaven, legions of angels, and driving out demons. Yet, it’s not any of those massive and monumental miracles that make a difference for you. Contrary to Popular Belief: Size Doesn’t Matter. It’s a much smaller miracle–at least in the eyes of the world–that makes all the difference. Things like the seeds that Jesus talks about the two parables before us today.

“He said, “The kingdom of God is like this: A man scatters seed on the ground, and while he sleeps and rises, night and day, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. The ground produces fruit on its own: first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head. When the crop is ready, he swings the sickle without delay, because the harvest has come.” It’s amazing, isn’t it, how little things have changed since the time of Jesus when it comes to planting seeds. Oh, you could argue that things have changed dramatically. We no longer broadcast our seed–we plant it in nice, neat rows. We fertilize it and protect it. We’ve been able to increase the yield dramatically. And yet, when it comes right down to it, nothing has really changed at all. Once the seed is in the ground, whether you sleep or get up, whether you forget about it or fret over it, it’s out of your hands. The seed grows by itself. And from that small little seed comes a much greater yield. And if you don’t think that’s true, just think of all the weeds in your yard that you’ve haven’t taken the time to water and nurture. How many of them continue to live even after you’ve tried to stamp them out! There’s great power in little things!

Why all this talk about seeds and little things? Well, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to seeds scattered on the ground. Whenever we talk about the kingdom of God we need to remember that you can’t point to the kingdom of God and say, “There it is, or here it is!” For as Jesus tells us, “The kingdom of God is in you!” The kingdom of God is Christ’s rule in our hearts. We’re talking about a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom of faith. And here, Jesus tells us that contrary to popular belief, size doesn’t matter. The most important thing that we need in this kingdom is a small seed. And what is that seed? It’s the Word of God. Peter writes, “For you have been born again, not from perishable seed but from imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God…[which] endures forever.” 

That small seed of God’s Word has great power when it is planted inside your life. It grows within you, changes you, plants its roots inside of you, strengthens you and gives you the ability to produce the Holy Spirit’s precious and valuable fruit. And how hard do you have to work to make the seed do all that? Well, ask yourself how hard the soil has to work to make the seed grow. The answer is: “It doesn’t work at all.” What did Jesus say? “And while he sleeps and rises, night and day, the seed sprouts and grows…on its own.” Just think what that means! For all of those people who think the Christian life is just one long “to do” list–I have to be kind, I have to ready my Bible, I have to pray, I have to give more money, I have to conquer giants like David and lead people like Moses and be wise like Solomon–this is wonderful news! For all those people who look at their lives and wonder if they are good enough Christians, if their life has enough purpose, Jesus tells them that their responsibility for growing their faith is not working harder and harder to please him. What this means is we are the soil! We are the soil that receives the seed and the seed does all the work! Great Christian growth is not accomplished by us working and working, but by us resting in God’s Word while it does the work!

And that sounds simple, doesn’t it? Almost too simple. And perhaps that’s why we take this little thing for granted and why so many people won’t rest in the Word. In the next couple of weeks the skies will be filled with fireworks, maybe more this year than ever. Have you ever been to Shake the Lake here in Madison or maybe the Lakefront Fireworks in Milwaukee? People will walk for miles in the middle of oppressive heat, carrying heavy loads just so they can see this once-a-year event of the dark sky filled with this huge display of colorful light. Why don’t those same thousands make the same journey every day to sit and be fed with God’s life-giving Word? It just doesn’t seem to have the same impact. It doesn’t look colorful. It doesn’t make people ooh and ahh. It’s just a book. It doesn’t look like anything special. But God has a history of providing for his people through small and unimpressive things. Contrary to popular belief: size doesn’t matter as we see in Jesus’ second parable.

“Then he said, “To what should we compare the kingdom of God? Or with what parable may we picture it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is one of the smallest seeds planted in the ground. Yet when it is planted, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out branches so that the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.” I’ve never held a mustard seed in my hand or even seen one in person, but Jesus wasn’t kidding when he called the mustard seed small. The average mustard seed is about 2 mm long. If you can picture a poppy seed on top of your hamburger bun, a mustard seed is ⅓ the size of a poppy seed. I could have thousands of them in my pocket and you’d never know it. And yet from that infinitesimal seed comes a plant that is strong enough to break through concrete and can grow up to 15 feet tall. Don’t let it’s small size and meager appearance fool you. Size doesn’t matter. Don’t let his humble birth in a Bethlehem stable, his small following of uneducated disciples, his poor upbringing in a carpenter’s home, or the fact that he fell into the hands of his enemies and gave up his life on the cross fool you. God designed the small, unimpressive mustard seed to grow up and provide security for the birds of the air that perch in its shade. God sent his humble, unimpressive Son to grow up and provide something even better–rest for the weary sinner. “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

You see, it’s not the size of our faith that matters. Jesus uses the mustard seed in another illustration. He says in Luke 17: “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could tell his mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” No, the size of our faith isn’t what matters, it’s the object of our faith. And that’s Jesus’ point as he shares these parables. The kingdom of God doesn’t look like much of anything. It often seems small and weak in the eyes of the world. But the ruler of the kingdom, though seemingly weak, is the Almighty God. And when our faith is focused on him and his all-powerful Word, there’s nothing he can’t do. It’s there in the seed of his Word that we see Jesus accomplishing our salvation. It’s there in the seed of his Word that we find rest from our sins. It’s there is the seed of his Word that we find contentment for our souls. It’s there in the seed of his Word that we find the answers to fear and loneliness and despair, because it’s there in the seed of his Word that we find Jesus. And he’s the only thing that matters.

“With many similar parables he continued to speak the word to them, as much as they were able to hear. He did not speak to them without a parable. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.” When Jesus sent out his disciples, he told them not to take along any money, supplies, or extra clothes. He simply sent them off with the Word. And what did that Word accomplish? In the face of generations who have tried to silence it, the mustard seed of the Church has spread that seed to every land, language, and continent. In the first parable, the farmer planting the seed went to be. He let the seed do all the work. 

And that’s what God has called us to do. Sow the seed and let the seed do the work, as hard as that might be. God alone grants growth to what we sow and harvest. And while that may seem like an inconvenience, it is really the greatest comfort. Size doesn’t matter when it comes to the kingdom of God. God uses even the smallest of seeds to accomplish his purposes. We can lie down and sleep in peace at night because what has been sown in us and what we have sown in others is in God’s hands. And in whose hands would you rather be? Amen.