Several years ago, it was the week before Father's Day and the children and I were looking for a gift for their dad. As we strolled through the men's section of a department store our eyes spotted the perfect gift at the same moment. It was a bright, splashy Hawaiian style shirt with matching shorts. We giggled as we purchased it because Dan is a pretty conservative dresser. As I was handing the money to the woman at the cash register, I asked our oldest daughter, "But, do you think he will actually wear it?" She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's anybody's guess."

That phrase, "It's anybody's guess," keeps coming up. We don't have to read far in the newspaper these days before we see it. Despite the advanced science of weather forecasting, the final path of a hurricane is anybody's guess. The direction of the housing market in our area is anybody's guess. Next year's property taxes and windstorm insurance are anybody's guess. Some things really are anybody's guess, like whether a certain book will sell well or a new Broadway play will make it to a second season. But, there are some other things in the moral and spiritual realm that are not a guess at all. The kingdom of God is one.

Jesus' disciples were feeling discouraged. Sure, crowds were gathering to hear their teacher, but there was little evidence of progress and a lot of evidence of resistance. The upper classes were rejecting Jesus and the capitol city acted as though he didn't exist. The Greek and Roman centers of culture paid no attention at all. If someone had asked the disciples what they thought about the future of the kingdom Jesus was speaking about, they may well have responded, "It's anybody's guess."

Jesus doesn't agree. He says firmly that the kingdom of God has already begun. Then to dispel the disciples' doubts and doldrums, he tells them a story. There was a farmer who reached into a seed bag and tried to pull out one Super Grade A Golden Mustard Seed. It was quite a trick to get just one because they were so tiny. You need your bifocals to see one seed. A small handful looks like a little finely ground pepper. It's amazing that such a tiny seed grows into such a large bush. A fat sparrow, who has to pick hundreds of the tiny seeds just for its breakfast, can sit comfortably on its sturdy branches. Best of all, when the farmer has put the seeds into the ground, he can go home and take a long nap because the seed will grow whether he worries or not. That's how the kingdom of God works.

In the Midwest, they plant more corn than mustard seed. One variety of corn is called Golden Bantam. Apparently, all the Golden Bantam corn in this country came from one stalk discovered on a Vermont hillside. How it got there is anybody's guess. But appreciating its special qualities, the person who discovered it carefully preserved its seed and planted it year after year. Now it is available to the whole world. That's how the kingdom of God works.

There are some things that are certain. Jesus says the kingdom of God is one of them. Our job is to plant the seeds of the kingdom and then trust God to bring in the harvest. Trust is a helpful ingredient. If we have it we can go to bed and sleep well. Columbus had it. When he set sail, there was a group of people gathered to watch him leave the harbor. They were probably saying it was anybody's guess whether he would find anything out there besides scary storms and fish and boring food. Columbus had just enough evidence to trust that there was another continent waiting and risk everything to find it.

At the harbor in Philippi, there were people standing around when Paul got off a ship. He was the first Christian missionary to Europe. By his own admission, he wasn't very impressive to look at. The people standing around were probably thinking, "Whether anyone listens to this guy is anybody's guess." But it wasn't a guess at all. Paul was a force to be reckoned with because he was so certain that God was bringing in the kingdom.

With very small things and a little trust, God can do some very big things. With Moses' rod, God divided the sea. With David's slingshot and stone, a great giant was killed. A small boy donated five loaves and two fish, and 5,000 people were fed. A poor woman put two pennies in the treasury and received the highest praise Jesus ever gave.

God is still bringing in the kingdom through small things, through people like us. We get discouraged too. We think our small contribution to world hunger won't make a difference. We complain that the kids don't listen when we teach Sunday school. We wish we could find the eloquent words we want to say when we visit the sick or the shut-ins. "I haven't done much," we say. "Whether it has any effect on the kingdom is anybody's guess." But Jesus disagrees.

Part of the reason we get discouraged is that we are victims of bigness. Cities vie with each other to claim the greatest growth and the fanciest entertainments. Corporations are proud when their company occupies the tallest building in the city. Every day we read in our newspapers about famous people doing famous things. We have megamalls, megachurches, and megastorms. In contrast, Jesus spoke of the importance of small things: a mustard seed, a cup of cold water, a widow's mite, a kindness done to the least of these. Jesus knows what we too often forget: the size of the bush, the healthy spread of the branches depends on the vitality of the seed. When it comes to the seed of the kingdom of God, Jesus speaks of it with an unshakable confidence, as though he held the future — and the seed, and you — in the palm of his hand. That's how much he trusts you to go on planting the seeds: a mother's prayer, a father's encouragement, a little girl's joy, a young boy's imagination, a vacation Bible school teacher. That's how much Jesus trusts God to bring in the harvest. Just keep planting the seeds of the kingdom. Leave the outcome in God's hands.

Pope John XXIII was one of the great leaders of the last century. Someone said that he ended his prayers each night by saying to himself, "But who governs the church, Angelo? You or the Holy Spirit? Very well then, sleep well, Angelo."

Let's plant the seeds of the kingdom and sleep well. God will bring in a harvest way, way beyond anybody's guess. Amen.