“A Mustard Seed, Yeast and Flour” 10-17-21
Overview
The Kingdom of God: Small Beginnings, Mighty Effects
When Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven—the terms are interchangeable), he means more than territory. Yes, all creation belongs to God as its Maker. But when John the Baptist and Jesus both proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17), and when we pray "Thy kingdom come," something fuller is in view: God's reign and rule by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of his people—what we also know as the church.
Two short parables in Matthew 13:31-33 describe this kingdom. First, the mustard seed: the smallest of seeds grows into a tree where birds nest. The church's beginnings could hardly have been humbler—a Savior born in a feeding trough, shepherds as the first witnesses, ordinary fishermen as apostles, a small gathering at Pentecost. Yet Jesus declared, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" Matthew 16:18. The rock is the gospel confession of Christ as Lord, and that foundation has held firm against every forecast of the church's demise.
Second, the yeast hidden in three measures of flour until the whole was leavened. The church is meant to permeate and transform everything around it. Historically, the proclamation of the gospel has driven the abolition of slavery, the elevation of women, the valuing of life from the womb to natural death, care for the disabled, the founding of hospitals, and reforms in prisons and justice. But the greatest leavening effect of all is the gospel itself proclaimed: that our sins have been atoned for in Christ, God's wrath satisfied, the tomb emptied, and sinners reconciled and claimed in the waters of baptism.
The temptation for citizens of this kingdom is to domesticate our faith—to keep it private, tucked deep inside, and quiet. But as James reminds us, "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" James 2:17. This is not salvation by works; it is the simple recognition that real faith expresses itself. Luther compared faith to an elephant—mighty, active, never truly tamed. Though Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world" John 18:36, Calvin rightly said the Christian's calling is to make the invisible visible: to let the unseen reign of Christ in our hearts become visible in our time, talent, and treasure; in our homes, workplaces, words, and actions. Rather than lamenting the state of the world, let us change it by living as the mustard seed and the yeast God has called us to be.
Transcript
What you're open your Bibles, please, with me this morning to Matthew the 13th chapter. 2s
If you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 13 in 8s
the New Testament. 12s
Matthew the 13th chapter. 14s
We continue today in our sermon series, Life Management, Living the Stories of the Lord Jesus 17s
Christ. 24s
And last week we took a look at one of his stories in which he talked about laying up treasures 25s
in heaven. 31s
As we talked about last week, Jesus talked about the use of wealth five times more than any other subject 34s
he addressed. 45s
That really is fascinating to ponder, isn't it? 47s
And how instructive that is for us. 50s
And so we took a look at some of the promises of God. 54s
How God calls us to put the wealth that he gives to us, to lay up treasures in heaven. 58s
We do so by investing in the proclamation of the gospel. 65s
Where's the beginning point for giving for a Christian? 71s
Is it the Tithe? 75s
Are we under the law to Tithe? 77s
Absolutely not. 80s
But why we who live now post resurrection, why should we begin our giving any less than the Tithe? 83s
I encourage you, as I did last week in terms of the promises of God, to put that call into practice. 93s
It is a great, great thing to do in one's life. 102s
As our finances are placed under the management of the Lord, Jesus Christ. 107s
To Tithe or to grow toward it. 115s
Well today we continue on in this series and I'd like to talk with you about another subject, 119s
another subject that Jesus talked a lot about. 124s
And that is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. 127s
They're both synonymous terms. 133s
Well we think of kingdom. 136s
We think of a territory, don't we? 137s
We think of a king and having a parcel of land, a territory over which the king is king. 140s
We think of territory. 149s
When we think of kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven, thinking territory is certainly an appropriate understanding. 152s
Because God created the entire earth, right? 162s
Remember in Genesis, God created, and he kept saying, it's good, it's good, it's good. 166s
God created all that there is the entire territory of God is all that he created. 171s
And so one of the uses then that we see of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is creation. 178s
It's all the kingdom of God. 189s
But that being said, what do you do with what John the Baptist says in Matthew chapter 3? 195s
Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near or when Jesus echoes what the Baptist was preaching. 205s
From that time Jesus began to proclaim repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near. 219s
What is it that we pray in the Lord's prayer? 228s
The kingdom come, right? 231s
So if the kingdom is solely understood as creation and the territory over which God is sovereign simply because he made it, 238s
if it's simply limited to that, that buttresses up then against these other references to the kingdom, 249s
it seems doesn't it? 260s
That God is communicating to us a fuller understanding of the use of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. 262s
To explore that, I want to look at these two little parables this morning. 276s
These two little earthly stories with heavenly meanings. 282s
Because it gives to us the understanding and description of the kingdom of God. 287s
The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is God's reign and rule in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. 302s
God brings us to faith the Holy Spirit takes up dwelling inside of us. 316s
The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is God's reign and rule through the Holy Spirit in our hearts. 324s
And the kingdom is understood as the church, the church. 331s
I think for a moment about the humble beginnings of the kingdom of God, the humble beginnings of the church. 340s
The founder of the Christian church, born in a stable and placed in a feeding trough, surrounded by animals because there was no place for him in the end. 350s
Who gets the angelic pronouncement that the Savior had been born, but the shepherds of all people. 366s
Now in ancient day, the shepherds were on the bottom of what was considered the social strata, but it was the shepherds that get the message. 374s
Ponder for a moment, the people that Jesus chose to be his apostles. 388s
Ordinary folk. 397s
When you consider on the first pentacost, this is post-resurrection, the churches gathered. 402s
This is after three years of teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of the miracles, all of the teaching. 412s
And how many gathered? 420s
The church, the kingdom, has such humble, humble origins. 429s
And yet the church grew. 439s
It grew. 444s
And no surprise. 448s
What did Jesus say? 452s
Look at verse 31, please. 454s
He put before them another parable, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. 458s
That someone took and so did his field. 464s
It's the smallest of all the seeds. 467s
But when it is grown, it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. 472s
The kingdom of God is like this mustard seed planted, and then it grows and becomes this great tree. 484s
The humble origin coming from the mustard seed and out of it comes this great tree. 491s
The kingdom of God is like this. 500s
Jesus says, and what a strong tree is the church. 503s
Jesus said, Matthew 16, I tell you you are Peter. 513s
And on this rock, I will build my church. 517s
What was the rock? 522s
The confession of the Lord Jesus Christ is saved. 523s
Your Lord, the rock is the gospel. 526s
That is what the church is built on. 529s
And on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of the Haiti will not prevail against it. 532s
There is always, always, proclamations of the dire condition and the demise of the church. 542s
It has always been, since the earliest of days of the Christian church. 549s
It has always been forecast that the church was simply going to go away. 556s
The church will never go away because whose church is it? 564s
It is God's and the gate of Haiti will not prevail against it. 569s
It is a strong tree. 576s
Humble beginning and the kingdom stretching to far reaches of the globe. 581s
What is the second parable? 595s
And what is the second picture? 599s
In ancient day, one of the most precious gifts that was given was just before a wedding. 606s
It was a gift reflecting the culture of the day between mother and daughter. 615s
The mother would take some of the leavened dough from a batch and give it to her daughter. 623s
It was so valued. It was so meaningful. It was so precious. 632s
And the mother was communicating. Now you take this from our home out of which bread was made. 638s
And you make it for your new home. 648s
As there was love in the first home, now this symbolizes the caring of love. 653s
Into this new home. Beautiful, precious gift that was valued and given. 660s
Jesus is this, verse 33. 673s
He told them another parable. 677s
The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it. 680s
And what was leavened? 690s
The first picture, the humble, becomes great. 696s
His God grows, his church, his kingdom, the second picture. 703s
Is that the church? Is to be that which affects everything around it. 710s
Like yeast in the dough. 721s
The leavening, agent, affecting everything around it. 727s
Consider with me a moment. 738s
The leavening of the church in the world. 742s
The impact of the church in the world. 747s
The abolition of slavery is directly linked to the proclamation of the gospel. 751s
The equality of women and the elevating of women from the subservient role into equality is directly related to the proclamation of the gospel. 759s
The valuing of life in all of its stages from the preborn child until natural death. 777s
The valuing of life is directly related to the proclamation of the church. 790s
The care for those who are disabled is directly related to the proclamation of the church. 799s
The establishment of hospitals. 808s
Have you noticed how many names of hospitals carry Christian names or designations? 811s
Prison reform, justice reform, directly linked to the proclamation of the gospel. 817s
The leavening agent as the church affects the world but the greatest effect. 826s
Is the gospel itself proclaimed to others? Why? 837s
Because that has eternal consequences. 841s
The proclamation that are sins have been atoned for by the Lord Jesus Christ. 847s
The proclamation that the wrath of God has been satisfied for sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. 852s
The proclamation that we have been reconciled on to God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that the tomb is empty. 859s
That we are a forgiven people that the world has been reconciled. 868s
That we are claimed in the waters of baptism the greatest impact of the church. 873s
Is the proclamation of the gospel? 885s
That changes hearts for today and changes eternal destinies for tomorrow. 888s
We are called and made citizens of the kingdom of God. 903s
But what's our temptation? 915s
What's our temptation for us citizens? 920s
It's an active and a busy thing. 935s
And then he said, very in essence, he said, faith is like an elephant. 938s
Oh faith, it's an active and a busy, a mighty thing. 950s
And then he says, and faith is like an elephant. 955s
What's it getting in? 963s
In James, the second chapter. 966s
James writes, so faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. 970s
James is not offering a salvation by works here. 978s
You can't pit pull against James as if they're proclaiming two different things. 982s
This is not a salvation by works. 987s
James is simply revealing here and reminding that where there is faith that faith will express itself. 990s
Can't help but. 999s
Faith is an active and a busy thing. 1001s
So when God by His grace brings us to faith where He transforms our stony hearts of unbelief into hearts of belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, 1005s
that faith will express itself. 1014s
That's all Luther is getting it. 1019s
And then he says, and faith is like an elephant. 1021s
Now that's what particularly caught my eye this week. 1024s
Faith is like an elephant. 1030s
What does he mean? 1034s
The largest land animal on earth is the elephant. 1038s
I also found out that elephants can outrun Olympians. 1048s
They're incredibly fast. 1055s
Elephants are up 20 hours a day. 1059s
20 hours a day. 1066s
And they have been used millennia after millennia. 1069s
They have been used to move heavy objects. 1075s
Sometimes in rescue missions. 1080s
Elephants would be brought in to move boulders and debris. 1084s
But an elephant. 1093s
An elephant can never be domesticated. 1096s
Can it? 1101s
See, a wolf. 1104s
Well, it's been bred out and we get our dog at home, right? 1107s
It's domesticated. 1112s
It's tamed. 1115s
It's a pet. 1116s
But an elephant? 1118s
Never domesticated. 1121s
Even in captivity. 1123s
They are mighty. 1127s
Our temptation beloved is to try and domesticate. 1134s
That's sometimes heard in a comment like my faith. 1150s
It's a very, very personal thing. 1156s
It's deep down inside. 1159s
It's way down in my heart. 1162s
It's very private. 1166s
God will have none of that. 1171s
None of it. 1175s
For he keeps breaking through our attempts to domesticate our faith and bringing forth the faith, 1178s
like an elephant, mighty and expressive. 1191s
Jesus said to pilot, 1202s
my kingdom is not from this world. 1205s
And what he was getting at was the spiritual reign of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. 1209s
But the reformer Calvin said that the call of the Christian is to make the invisible visible. 1222s
You see, the kingdom of God is that spiritual reality of God's reign in rule in the heart and our country. 1240s
And what we call is to make the invisible visible. 1248s
We make the invisible kingdom of God. 1256s
We make the invisible of the faith that dwells in us. 1259s
We make that visible by God's grace. 1263s
In our expression of time that he gives us. 1268s
We make it visible in our expression of the talent that he gives us. 1271s
We make that visible in the expression of the treasure that he gives us to manage. 1278s
We make the invisible visible in our families, in our homes, in our jobs, in our workplaces. 1285s
We make the invisible visible in how we speak and how we talk and the words that we choose to address one another. 1295s
We make the invisible visible in how we act with one another. 1304s
We make the invisible visible and that is the call. 1312s
It is faith like an elephant that expresses itself. 1322s
In fats, what God continues to bring forth. 1334s
Humble, origin, grows, great. 1351s
Like, live, affecting everything. 1361s
Let us not decry the state of the world. 1375s
Enough lament. 1385s
Let's change it by making the invisible visible. 1391s
The kingdom of God. 1405s