There comes a time in everyone's life when they are just about at wit's end. Teachers have certainly experienced this. Helen Mrosla remembers teaching a ninth grade class "new math" a number of years ago. Her students were working hard, but she could tell that they just didn't understand the new concepts. And they were growing more frustrated and edgy with each passing class. Then one Friday afternoon Helen decided to depart from her lesson plan. She instructed each student to list each person's name in the class on a sheet of paper and then write something nice about each one. The unusual assignment took the entire class period for them to complete.
The next day, Saturday, Helen took those papers and compiled a list for each student of what others in the class liked about them. On Monday she gave each student a paper with what other classmates had written about them. The atmosphere in the class changed instantly; her students were smiling again. Helen overheard one student whisper, "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" The students were happy with themselves and one another again. It was time to continue with their math lessons, and no one ever said anything about those papers again.
Years passed. Students came and went. Then the class was suddenly brought together again as young adults, and Helen's former students gathered around her. One of them had something to show her. Opening his wallet, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped and refolded many times. Helen knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things of each classmate. She was amazed as another former student told her that she still kept her list in the top drawer of her desk at home. Another had placed his list in his wedding album. Still another classmate took out her wallet, showed her worn and frazzled list to the group, and said she carried it with her everywhere she went. Helen was simply overwhelmed. (1)
Whoever would have thought that what a teacher did out of desperation on a Friday afternoon would have such a lasting effect on her students? You never know. You never know how something you or I might do might affect someone else. The funny thing is that we may not even think that what we did was all that important, but to another person it made a world of difference. Jesus taught us that the kingdom of God is like that.
I. The Kingdom of God Is like Seed Scattered on the Ground.
Now listen to Jesus' words, "The Kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground." Now you and I would call that very inefficient farming. A lot of good seed would be lost if we simply scattered seed upon the ground. But Jesus is not giving us lessons on agriculture. He is telling us about the kingdom of God. And he is saying that the very tiniest of seeds can produce an enormous harvest.
One June morning 145 years ago, Jean Henri Dunant woke up and opened his window in his beloved Switzerland. He heard an excited babble down in the street and quickly went down to see what was going on. He didn't hear much at first, but he caught the words "fighting" and "war" through all the confusion. Eventually he was able to determine that a war had started in Italy. So he hastily packed a few things and set out. He wanted to see for himself just what was going on.
Henri arrived in Italy where he saw soldiers fighting on the side of a hill near the town of Castiglione. It seemed that everyone was shooting at everyone else. He watched as men were hit by bullets, gave horrible cries, and fell to the ground. Henri had never seen anything like this before. He felt that he should do something to help the wounded men. So when the fighting stopped at dusk he went to the nearby town to ask people to go to the battlefield with him. Ordinary citizens: farmers, bakers and tailors responded at once. They spent the night there giving as much aid as they could to the wounded men.
It was hard for Henri to forget what he had seen once he returned home, so he decided to write down his experiences. He described the horrible sight of battle and men being shot. He also suggested that every country should have a relief society, a kind of emergency aid service to help wounded soldiers.
It was five years later before the first rescue society was organized in Geneva, Switzerland in 1864. It was called the Red Cross. And soon other countries joined the society. Everyone forgot all about Henri until an article appeared in a newspaper in 1895. In 1901 he was given the very first Nobel peace prize. (2)
Whoever would have thought that something as seemingly insignificant as watching a battle would bring about so much good? But Henri planted a seed that would germinate and help millions of people all over the world. That's the way the kingdom works ” great harvests from tiny seeds. That's the first lesson from this parable. But there is a second lesson that is equally as valuable.
II. Growth Is Happening, Even if We Can't See It.
And that is that growth is occurring even when it is not evident to us. Jesus said, "The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head." It is a mystery; centuries later we still don't know what causes a seed to sprout. So far scientists have not been able to create a synthetic seed and make it grow. Growth is a mystery.
Now our task is to plant seeds. We don't know if the seeds we plant will ever take hold, but that should not discourage us. Growth doesn't take place because of our understandings or manipulations; it is God's initiative that brings forth growth.
It is often easy for us to lose patience and wonder what the use is. We don't see anything coming from our efforts and be ready to give up. But wait! The parable of the scattered seed teaches us that just when we are ready to give up some seed will sprout. Just when we think nothing will happen, growth will take place. We need to be patient and not give up, because sometimes growth takes longer than we expect. God works in ways we don't understand, often hidden from view. And we have to be patient.
Clarence and his wife adopted a daughter whom they were told had emotional problems. The administrator at the orphanage told Clarence frankly that the child would be better off staying there. But Clarence and his wife said faith and love would conquer any problems, and they adopted the child. But it didn't take too long before they realized they had made a mistake. As year after impossible year passed, they consulted with principals, counselors, and teachers. Terms such as "character disorder," "sociopath," and "psychopathic personality" were used to describe their daughter's behavior. The experts all agreed that there was no hope for improvement.
Over the years Clarence and his wife prayed, prayed long and hard, with no observable results. Eventually the girl ran away. A short time later she was caught and placed in a detention center, and later into half-way houses and foster homes. Clarence and his wife lost track of her, and they lost all hope of ever seeing her again. However, years later they did manage to reestablish contact with their daughter. They discovered, much to their amazement, that she had finished high school, attended college, married, and was raising two well-adjusted children. "We lost faith," Clarence says, "but God was faithful. God never stopped answering our prayers." (3)
Whoever would have thought their daughter could have changed so much? It must have been the seeds of love that they planted and their prayers that made the difference. God works in ways we do not understand. God's ways are not our ways, and He works slowly but surely to achieve His will in this world.
III. Great Things Happen from Small Beginnings.
Now the upshot of all of this is that great things happen from small beginnings. Jesus explained that the kingdom of God is "like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground is the smallest of all seeds on earth." But from the smallest seed known in Jesus' day grew a large shrub. The mustard seed is only a tiny, tiny speck of a seed, yet when it grows, Jesus tells us, it is, "the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." It is hard for us to get excited about this, since we live in an age with all sorts of amazing discoveries, but for people living in prescientific days it must have truly baffled their minds ” that something so large could come from such a small seed.
The parable of the mustard seed is a word of encouragement for us. Things might not be what you and I want them to be, but there is still hope. God works in mysterious ways. God is still with us even when our efforts are frustrated, because He is the source of growth. Growth often starts out small like a mustard seed and then blossoms into something huge.
You probably don't recognize the name, Rita Rizzo. Rita had a rough childhood which she spent mostly in poverty. When she was a young woman Rita decided to become a nun. Thirteen years ago she believed that God was calling her into television ministry. At the time she didn't know anything about television except how to turn one on. But she prayed about it and decided to go ahead with the project, believing that everything would fall into place. With only two hundred dollars and a handful of other sisters, she became the only woman in religious broadcasting to own a network.
Today this sister is seen by millions of people on her twice weekly program, "Mother Angelica Live." Visitors to the Eternal Word Television Network complex in Birmingham, Alabama cannot help but be impressed with what God and this little nun have accomplished ” a monastery, network facilities complete with satellite dish, a print shop and a chapel.
Mother Angelica doesn't take herself too seriously, which is probably why viewers enjoy her show. It features a studio audience, and call-ins from across the country, as well as popular guests. However, the show is sometimes less than polished. Mother Angelica offers firm and no-nonsense advice on morality, yet is quick to encourage and express compassion. Often on her program she ministers to anonymous callers, or counsels couples whose relationships have become strained, and at times even gently scolds drug addicts, bringing God's healing "to those who, perhaps, can't reach out any other way." (4)
Whoever would have thought that Rita Rizzo, coming from an impoverished background, and starting on her own with only a few hundred dollars, could reach out and help millions of people? Whoever would have thought that from such a tiny seed would come such a large shrub? That is the way the kingdom works. Tiny seed. Mysterious growth.
And that is the story of the church as well. Whoever would have thought that from the often inept disciples, the gospel message would spread to all the corners of the globe? Yet you and I are here today because twenty centuries ago a tiny seed was planted. They planted the seed. God gave the growth.
Are there some tiny seeds that you and I could be planting? Some word of love, some act of encouragement? Is there some ministry you and I could be involved in, realizing that from the tiniest seed great growth can come? The kingdom of God is like seed scattered on the ground. Have you some seed that you could scatter today?
1. Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hanen, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL. (Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc., 1993), pp. 126-128.
2. Peter J. Dyck, A LEAP OF FAITH. (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1990), pp. 74-78.
3. "Faithful When We Are Faithless." Clarence E. Drumheller. UPPER ROOM, January/February 1994, p. 22.
4. Joan Wester Anderson, WHERE ANGELS WALK (Sea Cliff, NY: Barton & Brett, Publishers, Inc., 1992), pp. 104-105.