Plant It and Mix It

Luke 13:19, 21 – “[The Kingdom of God] is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches… It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Parables are short stories Jesus told to make a point. In his Gospel, Matthew tended to put them together. Luke spread them throughout his account. These two parables above sit by themselves in Luke 13 and are worded slightly differently than their parallel accounts in Mathew 13. Matthew’s account of the Parable of the Mustard Seed contrasts the seed’s small size with the huge tree it produces. Luke does not deny this but does not seem to stress the contrast as much as the action it takes to produce a big result from a small beginning.

This emphasis is picked up in the Parable of the Leaven (or yeast as we might better understand). The man sows (plants) the seed. The woman hides (mixes) the yeast. The final outcome does not happen until the people who possess the small things take action.

When the man takes the small mustard seed and plants it, a huge tree eventually grows. When the woman take the small bit of leaven and mixes it in her dough all ten gallons are leavened.

Jesus’ lesson for us is to take the small things we have - our talents, our time, our finances, our courage, our training, our words, our relationships, etc. – and take action with them – serve, give, share the truth, teach others, invest, write, etc. The outcome for his Kingdom will be much more than we can imagine. We must plant and mix to see all God can do through us. The impact will be huge and complete.