Faith that Grows Theme: Stories that Change the World Scripture: Matthew 13: 31-32 Things I d like to remember from today s sermon: Meditation Moments for Monday, June 2 Read Matthew 13: 44-46. These are two short parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. The two parables call us to pursue the Kingdom of Heaven the reign and rule of God in our lives, more than anything else. What needs sorting out in your garage or basement? What is most likely found in the area where you store things: trivia, trash or treasure? With the proceeds from a garage sale or moving sale, what worthy item would you purchase? What do these two parables teach us about the values of the Kingdom of God? With what emotion or energy should it be pursued? Read Matthew 6:25-33. Why did Jesus need to give this teaching? In what way does it speak to you? Challenge you? How do these verses tie back to the two parables of hidden treasure and pearls? Ask God to help you worry less about things, and to seek his kingdom his reign, rule and will, above all else. How would you feel if you found a buried treasure? What do you think Jesus is trying to teach us in Matthew 6:25-33? Prayer: God, help me to keep life in perspective when it comes to my treasures. Help to discover your hidden treasure of faith and love for me that has no limits. Then help me to share that love with the world. Amen. Tuesday, June 3 Read Matthew 6:19-24. What alternatives does Jesus propose with respect to treasures, desires and masters in this passage? What is the link between treasure and heart? Heart and eye? Eye and body? Master and money? How does your choice of treasure, master and perception affect your attitude toward life? What does verse 21 mean and how does it relate to the parables from yesterday on the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price? Why does Jesus say we can t serve two masters? What is Jesus teaching you about money in this parable? How do people struggle in making money more important than God? Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 1
What does God s care for the birds and lilies teach us about the nature of God? Prayer: Lord, you have provided for the birds of the air and lilies of the field. Help to trust that you will provide for me, especially when I feel afraid. May your perfect love cast out my fear. Amen. Wednesday, June 4 The parables of the mustard seed that we looked at last weekend is part of an entire collection of parables found in Matthew 13. Read Matthew 13:24-30. This picture of a wheat field that had large weeds growing in it is not hard to imagine though modern chemicals have made this less familiar, we still see this sometime. Here Jesus was noting that good and bad people will live side-by-side until the last judgment. It is interesting that he seems to be discouraging his followers from thinking their job is to sort out who is good and who is bad in which case this parable teaches the same thing as Matthew 7:1-5 that our task is not to judge others. Read Matthew 13:47-50. How is this parable parallel to the parable of the weeds? In both cases Jesus is urging restraint from judging or separating from others who are not in the kingdom of God. Remember, Jesus devoted his life to reaching out to lost people. Jesus both promises that there will be a judgment day someday, when we will all be judged, but he is also, in these stories, encouraging us to not judge others but to let God do this. Are you ever tempted to judge others? When does that usually happen for you? Prayer: God, help me to see people with your eyes and love them with your heart. I know that sometimes I do judge because I m human so forgive me when that happens. May I accept your assurance of forgiveness today, amen. Thursday, June 5 Read Matthew 13:31-33. These are two more short parables about the Kingdom of God. When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God he is referring to God s reign and how things work in God s Kingdom as opposed to the little kingdoms we create here on earth, whether it be in our hearts or in a nation. What was Jesus trying to teach by these parables? Mustard seeds are very small but they produce a good-sized bush in some varieties. When have you seen something in your life start out small but grow into something large and very important? How did you see God at work in that time in your life? Knowing what you know about yeast and how it works to make bread rise, how is the kingdom of God like yeast? How does a little yeast affect a batch of dough? How might a little yeast affect the Kingdom of God? Prayer: Lord, may I be yeast in today s world, helping your Kingdom to rise in my heart and in your world. Take even the smallest gifts you have given to me and do great things with them. Amen. Friday, June 6 Read Luke 14:28-33. When Jesus asks us to give up everything, what do you think he means? Do we give away everything, or do we offer everything up to God to use for his glory, honor and purposes? Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 2
Read Philippians 3:4b-13. How is Paul an example of one who gave up everything? How is he like the person who found the hidden treasure or the pearl of great price from the parable from a few days ago? Prayer: God, help to hold loosely onto this life so I can experience your life to the fullest. Help to give up those things that keep me from receiving your peace. Amen. Saturday, June 7 Read Genesis 4: 1-8 and Matthew 17:18-20. One of the traditional interpretations of the story of Cain and Abel is that God accepted Abel s offering due to Abel s faith (Hebrews 11:4). Jesus compared faith to a mustard seed which, even when small, it becomes a great tree. Today you have an opportunity to think about your faith journey. How is your faith different from five years ago? Also think about times when you have been tempted to give up on your faith. What can help you hold onto your faith when you are tempted to let it go? Prayer: At the end of your devotional time pray with our Church Fathers and Mothers, Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Stories that Changed the World Faith that Grows Sermon preached by Jeff Huber May 31-June 1, 2014 at First United Methodist Church, Durango Scripture: Matthew 13: 31-32 31 Here is another illustration Jesus used: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches. VIDEO Faith that Grows Sermon Starter Faith that Grows TOP 10 CLASSIFIED ADS From true classified ads in daily newspapers 10. Wanted. Man to take care of cow that does not smoke or drink. 9. Try us once, you ll never go anywhere again. 8. Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children. 7. Illiterate? Write today for free help. 6. Stock up and save. Limit: one. 5. Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be willing to travel. Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 3
4. Semi-Annual after Christmas Sale. 3. For sale: antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers. 2. We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand. 1. Used Cars: Why go elsewhere to be cheated. Come here first Many of those classifieds are funny, because somebody left out, or misspelled, one small word or phrase. Sometimes, it s the things you don t notice - the little things that have greatest value. In our text today, Jesus tells a parable using one of the smallest of seeds known to the people in that day: the mustard seed. How many of you have ever seen a mustard seed? It s not much bigger than a speck of dust, and yet Jesus uses this small, seemingly insignificant little seed to tell us something about His kingdom, the Church. Let s remember that parables were stories that Jesus told where he used common items that people often saw every day, such as birds, flowers or seeds, to describe spiritual truths and realities they d never seen or would never see. No one had ever seen the Kingdom of God Jesus was describing, SO, he told parables like this to help people visualize what it was going to be like. But, why use an item like a mustard seed? It was a small, insignificant, relatively unimportant seed. It wasn t highly prized. It was useful for flavoring food. Its leaves were edible, and some believed (if prepared properly) parts of the plant had medicinal properties. BUT, it was also something of a nuisance plant. Jesus calls it a tree here but it s actually more of a shrub. It grew sometimes to a height of 10 to 12 and its stem often could become the thickness of a man s arm but it was still a shrub. And it wasn t an overly attractive plant. In fact, at times people regarded it as a bit of a weed. You didn t dare plant it in your garden, it would crowd out all the other plants and literally and take over. I should tell you that while searching the internet for pictures and information on the mustard seed, I found that some skeptics felt they had really found an error in scripture because Jesus had called this mustard plant a "tree." It should also be noted that the mustard shrub - commonly believed to be the Black Mustard plant - sometimes grew to heights of up to 15 in the Holy Land. In other words, the mustard plant could tower over people much like a tree would, and Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 4
there is no doubt many Jews of that day may have called it just that - a tree. For Jesus to have called this shrub a tree, therefore, would not have been an error in scripture if it were commonly referred to by others in that fashion. The mustard plant was a common, ordinary shrub that had things about it that people liked, and things about it that people didn t like. So why did Jesus choose the mustard seed to represent the Kingdom? Why choose something so common and so ordinary to paint a picture of the powerful and majestic Kingdom Jesus would soon invest so much to create? It just doesn t make any sense or does it? I believe Jesus chose the Mustard seed in part because it was so small, so insignificant. Turn with me in your Bibles to I Corinthians 1:27-29. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. Why did Jesus choose the mustard seed to represent His Kingdom? Jesus chose the mustard seed because God is consistent. Adam Hoffman graduated from college last year. Many said he would never be able to complete high school, let alone get a college degree. You see Adam was born with autism. From early in his childhood people wrote him off, thinking that he would never amount to much. His parents however noticed that Adam loved computers. He would play on them for hours and could even help other people get their computers working again when they had broken. He eventually finished his schooling and he went on to invent a computer program that was a huge benefit to people and companies. Adam was someone who was seemingly insignificant and yet he became very significant. In the kingdom of God there is the same principle. God can use people and circumstances that seem hopeless and insignificant and bring about amazing results. Today we are going to be encouraged from a passage in the gospel of Matthew that explains this exciting spiritual principle as we continue in our sermon series on the parables of Jesus: stories that change the world. Mustard Seed (Graphic) Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 5
When God is involved, something small can be transformed into something great. A mustard seed was an expression of the time to signify something small or of little significance. If you were to look at a mustard seed you would think that not much could become of it. It is not something that exudes expectation. This is a kingdom principle. What does it mean? In God s kingdom, people, situations, and circumstances are not limited to how they appear in the natural. We see God using Gideon and 300 men to defeat an army over insurmountable odds. Moses was a stutterer and yet God used him to speak to Pharaoh. Esther, a slave, becomes queen and saves her people. Jesus fed 5000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. The Samaritan woman at the well becomes the first preacher of the Gospel. The Bible is one story after another of people who seemed to have no future, but were lifted up to an amazing future no one would expect. These circumstances and situations seemed small and destined for insignificance but they all had one common factor, God was involved. Jesus makes it clear through many of his parables that we are living as members of Gods Kingdom here on earth. The things we do and say and our circumstances, when done according to the will of God, are subject to this truth that with God great things are possible. God specialized in picking up the lowly and bringing about greatness. Sometimes churches and pastor s forget this principle. We go to conferences to learn how to do church. We want our church to be the "in place" to be where all the "pretty people" go and all the influential gather at the doors. Politicians and businessmen go to that building because that s where everybody else is. I was at a conference last week where the pastor admitted that he secretly wanted Mariano Rivera to come to his church. We get to thinking that what s best is for people to see our church as a mighty oak, or a towering Redwood, or a spreading Chestnut tree because it has great influence and power in the community. But when our church becomes like this we run into the danger of being a place where people go to see each other but not to see Jesus. Jesus didn t build the church to be mighty oak. He wanted it to be a humble mustard shrub. He doesn t want people to go to church and be impressed with how important they are and valuable the people around them are. He wants people to bow in modesty before his throne. IN SHORT, Jesus doesn t want us to get excited about ourselves. He wants Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 6
us to get excited about what he can do thru us what he can do in our lives and the changes and healing only he can bring. That s part of the reason Jesus chose the mustard plant to represent the Kingdom. HE wanted us to keep our eyes off of ourselves and focused on his him. But there s more Jesus chose the mustard seed for this parable because of its size. He used it because even something as small as a mustard seed had miraculous power within it. Think about it. A seed not much bigger than a pinhead - had within it the power to become a towering plant. Do you want to know how big a mustard seed really is? Mustard See (Graphic) Now if you ve done much work out in the garden, you ve grown used to the idea of being able to put a seed in the ground and then watch it grow into a plant. In fact, you might not have thought much about it. BUT, let s say next week Bill Gates gathers all the world s most brilliant scientists together and tells them "I ll give you all the money you could possibly want if you make something for me. I want you to create an item the size of pinhead that I can bury in my back yard out in the sun. And I want this item to grow up out of the ground to become a living, life giving plant." Will he be able to do it? Will his brilliant scientists, having untold billions of dollars at their disposal, be able to take inanimate material and produce something as simple as a garden variety seed? Of course not. Gates is perhaps the richest man in the world. AND, he s a certified genius who s done things no one ever would have thought possible. BUT I m here to tell you, I don t care how smart he is, or much money he has, he s not smart or rich enough to create anything as amazing as a little seed. There s no scientist alive that can duplicate that kind of miracle. Likewise, the Kingdom of God - the church has the power to do things that no human institution can emulate. You can t duplicate what God intends to do in His church. God s power in the church has a life within it that defies understanding, AND IT ALL STARTS with faith that is a small seed inside the heart of an individual. Once that seed takes root and begins to grow, that which was lifeless and empty becomes filled with the power of God. What causes the seed to grow? Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 7
Water, sunlight, but ultimately God is what makes things grow. God is the one who causes the seed to grow. The farmer can t make it grow. God causes the smallest, most insignificant seed to grow into something that is the biggest and greatest tree. There is no limit with God. We read these words in 1 Corinthians 3:4-9. 4 When one of you says, I am a follower of Paul, and another says, I follow Apollos, aren t you acting just like people of the world? 5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God s workers. And you are God s field. You are God s building. Charles Spurgeon the famous theologian once said: Do what you do thoroughly, pray over it heartily, and leave the result to God. God can take whatever we do as Christians, no matter how small, and turn it into something great. Charles Spurgeon came to Christ in 1850 at a small church with 10 people. We each have our parts to play. As Christians, we become anxious over things that are not our responsibility. If someone does not respond to an invitation we give to come to church, we might think, Where did I fail? We might offer to pray for someone and if they don t get healed we might be hesitant to pray for someone again. That s not how it works. In the kingdom of God we have our part and God has his part. God calls us to preach and share the Good News and so we do. We are called to pray and so we pray. As C.S. Lewis wrote, I don t pray because it changes God. I pray because it changes me. God tells us to pray for people and if they don t get healed it could be for a number of reasons, but it s not because you don t have enough faith. How much faith does the Bible say you need? You only need faith the size of a mustard seed! Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 8
It s not the size of the faith in our hearts that counts. We leave the results up to God. It s the Holy Spirits job to work in people s lives. I can t save a single soul and neither can you. All we can do is have faith, and sometimes all we have is a tiny bit and we are holding on by our finger nails. Just hold on! When we do hold on, the seed then has the chance to grow into something great that brings life. Why would birds flock to the tree? The tree provides shade and protection. We could stretch this to say that the tree brings life because without it the birds would die due to exposure from the heat. If a bird is in a situation where it s hot, they are going to look for a tree that is big enough to protect them from the sun and provide shelter. The tree does that for the birds and isn t it ironic that something so small and insignificant now is the thing that brings shelter and life? Back in 1995 in Christianity Today - Harold Miller told of the change that God brought to the natives in the Peruvian Amazon. He wrote: Just one generation ago these were fearful, aggressive, and animistic people; all their contacts with outsiders were marked by violence. But now they ve been transformed. One missionary writes that since embracing faith in Christ, the men of those tribes are more tender with their wives and children. The native believers have problems like Christians anywhere else, but they, more than most, can appreciate the difference between "before" and "after" Christ. An anthropologist recently visited a Bora tribe and started criticizing the missionaries. He said: "Christianity is for the white man. You people should go back to your old religion and your old ways." One of the tribal church leaders, looked at the anthropologist for a moment. "Yes, and if we did, you d be the first one in the pot." Jesus chose the mustard seed, because of the humility it represented, and because of the Life giving power it had within it. Finally, I think Jesus chose a mustard plant to represent His church, because the mustard seed has to die in order to give life. In I Cor. 15:35-38, Paul writes: 35 But someone may ask, How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have? 36 What a foolish question! When you Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 9
put a seed into the ground, it doesn t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. In other words, a seed has to die to bring life. Was it possible, Jesus was saying (that in the same way) in order for the Kingdom of God to come into being something had to die? Several times in his ministry, Jesus told his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Luke 9:22 In other words, Jesus had to die and be buried in order to give life to his church and to us. It s amazing how a tiny mustard seed could say so much about Christ s Kingdom. The very idea of using a small seed a little larger than a speck of dust to describe power and the mystery of what Jesus did to create His Kingdom is pretty amazing and powerful. Was there that much power in a tiny seed that Jesus would want to use something so small to represent something so majestic? I think the answer is yes. I don t think there s anything on earth that has the ability to bury the power that lies within one tiny seed. In a cemetery in Hanover, Germany is a grave on which were placed huge slabs of granite and marble, cemented together and fastened with heavy steel clasps. It belongs to a woman who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Yet strangely, she directed in her will that her grave be made so secure that if there were a resurrection, it could not reach her. On the marker were inscribed these words: "This burial place must never be opened." In time, a seed, covered over by the stones, began to grow. Slowly it pushed its way through the soil and out from beneath them. As the trunk enlarged, the great slabs were gradually shifted so that the steel clasps were wrenched from their sockets. A tiny seed had become a tree that had pushed aside the stones. I believe that s what God longs to do to each of our hearts and lives. No matter how far away from God we might feel, no matter how little faith we may feel we have, God can take that and work with it. Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 10
So I invite you to bring that faith forward with you as we celebrate Communion together Communion Jeff Huber s Sermon May 31-June 1, 2014 Page 11