A Really Big Deal

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Reading: Mark 4:30-34

Reflection: Children enjoy a good story. I know when my girls were little, they would love it when I would tuck them into bed and make up a story. And while every story was at some level unique...most of them were pretty similar. They all included a princess, a castle, a knight, and a villian. I think my girls liked the stories because they captured their imagination. The could find themselves within the story...I'm sure rarely as the villian and often as the princess...and imagine what it would be like to live in that kind of a world. It seems to me that this passage of scripture shows Jesus doing the same thing. I looked up the definition of a parable on the net and it gave me this: a short story that uses familiar events to illustrate a religious or ethical point. In other words, a parable is a story that invites the listeners to learn a lesson from something familiar. In this case, the familiar thing is a mustard seed growing in a garden. It's a seed that begins very small, but in the end overtakes the entire garden, becoming large enough for even birds to rest in its shade. So, what is the lesson for us. I suppose there could be many. However, one lesson for me is that I should not discount something simply because, at the moment, it seems small and insignificant. For the day may come when this little thing grows to be very large. Doesn't life work that way...both in a good and bad sense. Sometimes someone does some small little deed that at the time doesn't seem that significant. However, over time we come to see that it is one of the greatest blessings we have ever received. At other times, we have what seems to be a small problem...so small in fact that we tend to dismiss it as no big deal. Only later do we realize that this little thing has grown into a destructive force. Again, I think God's kingdom is a bit like that as well. It begins like a small thing. So small, in fact, that it may seem to have little potential on either the positive or negative side of life. However, once it becomes full, we will see that on the positive side all those within it will receive indescribable blessing...and those outside of it will gain unthinkable trouble. So, let's take this thing called the kingdom seriously. In the end, it's a really big deal!