One of the interesting things that has come out of the last couple of years is that many of us have found our perspective has been changed. We now value different things. And one of those things is the small pleasures of life. Things we used to take for granted, like hugging a family member, having coffee with a friend, or visiting a neighbour, are more precious now, because they were denied for a time.
Alongside this change in perspective in our everyday lives, God is inviting us to see other things differently too. To take another look at our lives, and begin to see from His perspective. Could it be we’ve taken some things in our walk with God for granted? That maybe in our rush to be used by God, we’ve run right past Him in this season of change? Are we open to following Him into something new?
Re-thinking the Kingdom of God
The Jews of Jesus’ time expected the Kingdom of God to come in a dramatic, earth-shattering way. They thought the Messiah would come and overthrow their Roman overlords, and set them free politically. They had a totally wrong expectation of God’s Kingdom and what the Messiah would come to do.
Time and again Jesus taught on the Kingdom of God, using parables to illustrate his point.
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.”
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
Luke 13:18-21 (NIV)
I wonder what Jesus’ hearers thought of what He said here. How could the reign of Almighty God be like a mustard seed? Surely this was blasphemy? And then to have some unknown man come and plant this seed of the Kingdom in his back garden!
Even worse, yeast is a fungus. During Passover they ate unleavened bread – that is bread without yeast. In fact, yeast wasn’t even allowed in their houses during Passover. How could God’s Kingdom reign be associated with anything like that? And to top it off, for Jesus to say that a woman in her kitchen puts God’s Kingdom into a large bag of flour and leaves it there.
In providing these illustrations, Jesus was deliberately challenging the expectations of His Jewish listeners. He was inviting them to see differently.
Seeing differently
Even the disciples, Jesus’ closest companions, got it wrong or simply failed to understand the Kingdom (Mark 9:32). For instance, they encountered Jesus’ displeasure when they tried to stop people bringing children to Him (Mark 10:13-16). Very possibly, the disciples thought that little children were unimportant in the big scheme of things.
However, Jesus did not view the children as unimportant. In fact, he said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (verse 14). Jesus was pointing out that the reign of God was for those who came to Him like these children. And this was what the disciples still needed to learn.
So how can we make sure that we don’t fall into the same trap as the disciples? How can we begin to see differently, so that we don’t miss the small things – those things that God values?
Don’t despise the small
I find it interesting that songs currently being published by worship bands are beginning to change, and many are in a simpler, more intimate style. And have you noticed there is a proliferation of devotional material available now? We should take note of how God is bringing His message through these things. Just as we have learnt to value the small pleasures in our lives that we used to take for granted, we also need to come back to valuing the small things God is pointing us to today. If we’re looking for the big, the exciting, the dramatic, we could very well miss some special, intimate, transformative Kingdom moments with God.
So let’s not look for the full grown tree, when God has given us a mustard seed to plant in this season. Let’s be faithful to take up that small mustard seed, and plant it in the familiarity of our own back garden. And let’s expect that God will grow it in His way and in His time.
And let’s not look for the loaf of bread, when God has given us some yeast. Instead, let’s be faithful to take it into our own kitchen and mix it in with the “flour” we have immediately around us. And then watch and wait as God’s Kingdom permeates.
Right now, God’s kingdom is at work in our back yards, in our homes, in our neighbourhoods and in our communities – in ways that we may not even suspect. And we dare not despise this, or we are despising the work of the Holy Spirit. We are devaluing the Kingdom and the reign of God.
It’s probably going to begin with your own personal time with God. Start to see it differently. Value it, like you now value time with your family, or going out for coffee with a friend. And as you plant that seed, He will grow His Kingdom in you and through you in ways you never thought possible.