It Can't Be Stopped!

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, May 14, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 13:31-35.

            When you hear the phrase “the kingdom of heaven”, what do you think of?

            I suspect that a lot of us think of the place believers in Jesus Christ go when we die.  I don’t know how you picture that.  The cartoon version of it, of course, is people with wings sitting on clouds.  That’s probably not what heaven is really like, of course.  Maybe you picture it as a place where the streets are paved with gold, as Revelation says.  A lot of us picture being with all of our loved ones who’ve passed before us.  And of course, in heaven we’ll be in the presence of the Lord.

            But the thing is, when Jesus talked about “the kingdom of heaven”, I don’t think that’s what he was talking about.  For Jesus, “the kingdom of heaven” is not the place believers in Him go when we die.  For Jesus, the kingdom of heaven was not something that was in some far off place.  It was something that was coming to earth.  In fact, Jesus said in Luke Seventeen that the kingdom of heaven is not something that can be observed.  It’s not something that you can say, “Here it is” or “there it is”.  Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is in your midst.

            Now, don’t misunderstand me.  I do believe heaven is a real place, and that believers in Jesus Christ do go there when we die.  The point is that Jesus was talking about something different from that when he talked about “the kingdom of heaven”.  For Jesus, “the kingdom of heaven” is something that exists on earth.  And we need to know that to make sense of the parables Jesus told in our reading for today.

            Jesus gives two examples of what the kingdom of heaven is like.  The first is the mustard seed.  A mustard seed is a very, very small seed.  Now, technically, it’s not the smallest seed in the world, but it’s the smallest seed that the people Jesus was talking to would’ve know about.  And Jesus goes on to say that this small seed grows into something so large that birds can sit in its branches.  

            The second example Jesus gives is yeast.  Jesus says that when you take a little bit of yeast, and mix it with flour, it’ll eventually work through all the dough.  There won’t be any part of the flour that is not affected by that yeast.

            So, in both cases, we start with something very small.  And that very small thing has a huge effect on everything around it.

            And here’s another thing about this–once that small things starts working, there’s really no stopping it.  Once the mustard seed starts to grow, you cannot stop it from growing, short of uprooting the whole plant and throwing it away.  Once the yeast starts working in the flour, you cannot stop it, short of just throwing it all out.  Once these small things start their work, they continues its work.  It’s inevitable.  There are things you can do to help it along–you can give the mustard seed proper water and fertilizer and such–but again, short of intentionally destroying it you cannot stop it from growing,

            So, what’s the lesson we’re supposed to take from this?  What does this mean for you and me as we live our lives?

            Well, let’s think about this.  Jesus, obviously, started the movement now called Christianity while he was on earth.  And it started out very small.  Yes, there were times when Jesus drew huge crowds while He was on earth.  But as you know, in the end, all those people abandoned Him.  Some of them even called for His death.  Christianity began as a very small thing.

            And even in the time after Jesus’ death, during the writing of Paul’s letters and the other parts of the New Testament, Christianity was still a small thing.  It was growing, to be sure.  But it was still small.  It was not anywhere near a majority, even in the parts of the world where it existed.  A lot of people looked at Christians as this small, strange sect.  It was definitely not a mainstream organization at that point.  People were curious about them, sometimes, but for the most part, Christians were a bunch of fringe people who were really not even worth thinking about very much.

            And yet, Christianity grew.  It was inevitable that it would grow, because it had been planted by God.  There was nothing anybody could do to stop it.  There were things the early Christians could do to help it along, and they tried to do those things.  They tried to spread the word about Jesus to everyone they could.  And those things did help.  But you know, if the early Christians had done nothing–if Peter had not stood up to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, if Paul had not gone on his missionary journeys–Christianity would still have grown.  God would have found another way.  There was nothing anybody could do to stop the growth of the Christian faith.  God had started the process, and nobody could stop what God had started.

            And that’s still true today.  You know, when we look at our world, it’s easy to get discouraged.  We see the world more and more turning away from God.  We see our country turning more and more away from God.  And we feel like there’s nothing we can do about it.  Christians are already a minority group in some ways, and it looks like that will become true more and more as time goes on.  It seems like the world will just keep turning more and more away from God.

            And maybe it will, for a while.  But not forever.  Because what God has started is still going to happen.  It’s inevitable.  There’s nothing anybody can do to stop it.  That mustard seed that God planted is still growing.  That yeast that God put in the dough is still doing its work.  

            We may not see it now.  That’s okay.  When a mustard seed is planted in the ground, you don’t see it growing right away.  You check on it the first day and–nothing.  You check it on the second day and–nothing.  You check it after a week and–still nothing.  

            But through all that time, the mustard seed is still growing.  You cannot see it, but it is still growing.  And eventually, when you go out to check on it, you see something.  You see a little growth.  And later, you see a little more.  And in time, that mustard seed has grown into the full-grown plant that it was always going to be.

            That’s how it is with the Christian faith.  We may not see much happening with Christianity right now, and what we do see may not always be good.  But it’s okay.  Eventually, we are going to see something.  And then, we’ll see more.  And in time, we’ll see Christianity full-grown, the way God intends it to be, the way it was always going to be.

            There’s nothing anyone can do to stop Christianity.  There’s nothing anyone can do to stop the kingdom of heaven.  But there are a couple of things you and I can do to help it along.

            One of those things is simply to continue to be faithful to God.  We can continue to serve God.  We can continue to love God and to love others.  We can continue to keep our faith in Jesus Christ strong.  We can continue to live the way followers of Jesus Christ are supposed to live.

            And just that will help the kingdom of heaven along more than we might think.  Because, as the world does turn away from Christ, those of us who still follow Him are going to be noticed more and more.  People are going to see what we do.  They’re going to see how we live.  And they’re going to be curious about it.  They’ll wonder what’s up with those people who call themselves Christians.  Why do they seem to be happier than I am?  Why do they seem to be more at peace than I am?  What do they have that I don’t have?  People are going to be curious, and some of them are going to want to know more.

            And that brings us to the other thing we can do.  We can spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Not by getting in people’s faces about it.  But by gently, calmly, even joyfully, explaining who Jesus Christ is.  Explaining that Jesus loves them.  Explaining that salvation can be found through faith in Jesus Christ.

            Everyone won’t want to hear it.  Everyone who hears it won’t believe.  As we’ve said before, that happened to Jesus, too, and you and I certainly cannot expect to do better than Jesus did.  But some people will want to hear it.  And some people will believe.  And if we can play a role in bringing even one person to faith, it will be worth it.  Jesus told us in Luke Chapter Fifteen about the rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.  If we could play even a small part in bringing about that rejoicing, that would be an incredibly awesome thing to do.

            The kingdom of heaven is in our midst.  No matter what things may look like, that statement remains true.  It’s inevitable.  God has already decided it, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it.  But let’s do what we can to help it along.  Let’s live the way followers of Jesus Christ are supposed to live.  And let’s do what we can to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Let’s do what we can to bring about that rejoicing in heaven.