Welcome to the Foundations daily podcast. My name is Helen, and I’m part of the team here at STC Sheffield. It’s great to have you join us this week as we continue our journey through the Gospel of Luke. Today our passage is Chapter 13 v 18-35, and we will be focusing on the first two verses:

“Then Jesus asked, ‘What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

REFLECTION:

I wonder if you made any New Year’s Resolutions, and if you have managed to stick to them? My resolutions are the same every year: eat less chocolate, and try to reach the bottom of the washing basket at least once in the next 52 weeks! Those of you working full time, with 3 kids, know this last statement is more of a fantasy than a resolution!

However, at the beginning of this year I felt God asking me to reflect on 3 questions. These were: Where am I called to create something with God? What am I cultivating? And how am I helping others to flourish? In today’s Bible passage, we see these same three themes: Create, Cultivate and Flourish.

As Christians we all have a calling, and that is to see the Kingdom of God grow and become more evident here on earth. The way we live out or express that calling is different for each one of us, but the calling itself is the same – we are called to help create the kingdom of God.

The man in verse 19 has a mustard seed. It is tiny, brown and dry. In the palm of his hand it would seem insignificant and uninspiring. He could have looked at that seed and thought nothing great would ever come from it.

But the man took a step of faith. He planted it.

Rather than leaving it as a tiny, dry seed in a packet, he chose to put it in the soil.

He chose to work with God to create something new, to release the potential of the seed, to discover what it would grow to become.

And so the first question from these verses is where am I, or what am I, called to create with God?

We may not be a farmer with a mustard seed……perhaps you’re an accountant balancing the books, a shop assistant stacking shelves. Perhaps we are just trying to reach the bottom of the washing basket. We may look at what God has given us to do, and think that it is uninspiring and insignificant.

But today, be encouraged that this is not how God sees us. God sees us as co-workers, people he wants to partner with. He has a plan to create something of the Kingdom of God with us and through us. It might just need us to take a step of faith first.

The second thing we see in this short passage is linked to cultivation.

When the farmer looked at the mustard seed, he wouldn’t necessarily be filled with joy. I have never grown a mustard tree, but the internet tells me that it is wise to keep them in pots in a greenhouse for 3 years before you plant them outside. 3 YEARS! That is long haul gardening! And even after that, the tree can grow to 20ft high and 20 ft wide. Growing a mustard tree means a commitment to years of tending and pruning.

The story of the woman kneading dough, gives us the same sense of commitment. In the NIV it says there was “a large amount” of dough. However, the actual translation makes it clear that there was enough to feed about 150 people! Kneading one loaf is strenuous, let alone the time and effort it would take to work yeast through 30 kilos of dough.

Jesus’ words are a reminder that we are called to create; but also to cultivate…..and cultivation takes time, effort and commitment.

The farmer could have thought of the long years of labour ahead and put down his trowel. The woman could have looked at the huge amount of dough, and just walked away. I could think that reaching the bottom of the washing basket is impossible, and give up before I even get started.