Brothers+

The Christian cannot but wonder "What am I really
doing here?  What will last?  

The Mustard Seed sayings of Jesus are used in
interesting ways by the Evangelists. All three report
the saying as one of the Kingdom Sayings.  

Jesus said, "How shall we liken the kingdom of God? or
in what parable shall we set it forth?  It is like a
grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the
earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are
upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth up, and
becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out
great branches; so that the birds of the heaven can
lodge under the shadowthereof."  (Mark4:30) 

Luke heard the saying from eyewitnesses, and recorded
it similarly to Mark and Mathew.   He later used the
saying again and prefaced it with this:  "The apostles
said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!'  So the Lord
replied 'If you had faith the size of a mustard seed,
you could say to this black mulberry tree, 'Be pulled
out by the roots and planted in the sea,' and it would
obey you.'"  (Luke 17:5)

Matthew similarly repeated the saying in another
context.  He used it after Jesus cured an epileptic
which the disciples had been unable cure.  They ask
"Why could not we cast it out?"  Jesus' response was
"Because of your little faith:  for verily I say unto
you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye
shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be
impossible to you."

Jesus apparently used the illustration of the mustard
seed often in his teaching.  The apostle's faith
smaller than a mustard seed?  Can so small a faith be
of any use?  Jesus indicated it can.  There is no
merit or importance in the holder of the seed size
faith, but in the mercy and generosity of God who
sends sunshine and rain and urges growth, even small
things can be effectual.  The key is not the size of
the faith, for that would lead to boasting arrogance
and self-serving idolatry.  The key is the grace of
God that responds to the smallest trusting obedience.

Below is an account of the faith of one whose mustard
seed faith has touched the lives of millions of our
contemporaries in the 3rd world.

Cheers!

Charles+

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It helps now and then, to step back and take the long
view. 

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even
beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only
a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is
God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is
another way of saying that the kingdom always lies
beyond us. 

No statement says all that could be said. No prayer
fully expresses our faith. No confession brings
perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness. No
program accomplishes the church's mission. No set of
goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about: We plant seeds that one day
will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing
that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that
will need further development. We provide yeast that
produces effects far beyond our capability.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do
something, and to do it very well. It may be
incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the
way, an opportunity for the lord's grace to enter and
do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the
worker. We are workers, not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a
future not our own. Amen.

The words of Archbishop Oscar Romero who was martyred
in San Salvador in 1980



		
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