According to Luke: Tiny Faith Yields Tremendous Fruits!

According to Luke: Tiny Faith Yields Tremendous Fruits!

Illustration:

My wife was given a bread starter by her mother a few months ago. From that simple bread starter, dozens and dozens loaves of bread have been made. My wife took that starter and has passed it out to her friends and more family. She continues to feed this small sour dough bread starter and it continues to produce and spread. 

Interestingly enough, I read a story about a woman named Lucille Clarke who lives in Newcastle, England. She claims to have the oldest known bread starter. It is said that it is 122 years old. 

It was created before the rotary dial, airplane and modern assembly line. Someone first stirred its ingredients together the same year the Eiffel Tower opened and Vincent van Gogh painted “Starry Night.”

It has lived through the turns of two centuries, the Great Depression, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam and beyond, blues, jazz, rock ’n’ roll and 23 U.S. presidencies.

It’s older than the state of Wyoming.

Lucille Clarke Dumbrill of Newcastle got it from her mother, who got it from one of her husband’s students at the University of Wyoming. The student’s family could trace it back to 1889.

Whether you are my wife or Lucille Clarke of England, isn’t it amazing that something starting so small, so insignificant, so ordinary could grow to something lasting longer than the test of time. 

Friends, you cannot judge the potential of something at it’s infancy. You cannot measure the future at the beginning stages of a person’s life. Just because something is tiny at it’s origin, doesn’t mean that it cannot grow into something special. 

After all, do you know what Apple, Amazon, Hewlett-Packard, Google, Walt Disney, and Mattel have in common? Yes, they are all some of the largest, most profitable companies in the world, but they all started in a garage. Facebook, yes the same site that boasts roughly a billion users, started in a college dorm room. Mighty oaks are birthed from small acorns. 

Even the Universe itself is something to marvel at. According to Genesis, God took the void of nothing and turned it into what we know today. 

Even the Kingdom of God started with a carpenter and 12 sinners from the Middle East. Who would have thought? 

This morning we are looking at God’s Kingdom. Sure, it did not start off in impressive facilities with high powered people, but God grew it from nothing to something fast.

God’s Kingdom Started Small But Replicated Rapidly and is Ever Expanding!

Background and Context:

We have the luxury of hindsight. But the disciples are having trouble understanding the nature of the Kingdom of God that Jesus is proclaiming. Oh, they have their own views, of a messianic overthrow of the Roman oppressors and a restoration of David's throne. But they have little understanding of the true nature of the Kingdom of God of which they are ambassadors-in-training.

Jesus searches for a comparison to help them understand, and so gives two brief and familiar parables: the Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Leaven (or Yeast).

Scripture:

Luke 13:18-21 ESV

18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

3 Heavenly Truth’s From Jesus!

Truth 1: There Is Potential In The Puny vs. 18-19

Luke 13:18-19 ESV

18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

Point:

There are many reasons why I love Jesus. He was the Sacrifical Lamb of God sent to earth to die for me and to restore my relationship with His Father. I am so thankful for my salvation. Yet, I am also thankful for His education. There are so many times where we try to take the simple truths of Christ and turn them into something deeper than they were meant to be. 

Illustration:

It reminds me of a story that a preacher once told me. He told me that it was a true story. He said that after he finished preaching on a Sunday morning that a member of the church came up to him and told him that his teachings were to shallow and simple. He chastised him because his preaching style was not deep, at least in the eyes of the critical congregations. Well that preacher thought for a moment and responded saying, “Sir, with all due respect, when you start living daily the simple teachings from today’s sermons, I will gladly teach deeper lesson, until then you will have to settle for simple.”

Ouch.

Point:

Truthfully, Jesus used really simple teachings to illustrate powerful points. In this passage, Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God. How in the world could He possibly illustrate such a massive spiritual concept? How could he unpack what the Kingdom of God is like to someone who has never witnessed it or a person who has never been there? So, Jesus reaches for the most simple, the most identifiable thing, that the people would understand. He reaches for a mustard seed. 

This tiny seed, if placed in the right soil, the right time of year, the right climate, and given the right amount of sunshine and water will grow into salvadora persica, a tree that reaches an astounding 25 feet in height. These trees are common in the middle east and they do provide shade and shelter to animals and birds. 

By the way, this is not the first time the Kingdom of God has been compared to a small seed. If you rewind to the Old Testament Prophet of Ezekiel, you will see his description in Ezekiel 17:22-33. 

Ezekiel 17:22-33 NLT

22 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take a branch from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. 23 It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 And all the trees will know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts the tall tree down and makes the short tree grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives the dead tree new life. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said!”

Point:

In Jesus day, if people defined the Kingdom of God by the followers of Christ, it would have seemed small and insignificant in the shadow of the world’s population. However, Jesus promised that that small group of rag tag misfit believers would be used, replicated, duplicated, millions of times over. No the group that possessed the message was not impressive, but the message was and boy did it ever grow. 

Point:

Jesus was trying to help the disciples understand that they were not to judge anything according to size. Size does not matter to God, in fact, God find potential in the puny things of life. Take David for example. 

David was the youngest of his brothers. He was the weakest of his brothers. He was the most distant from his family and found himself often times alienated from his family because he was a shepherd. David was not a mighty warrior, he enjoyed music and the arts. He was not a mighty hunter. 

In contrast, Saul, the first King of Israel, was strong, a warrior, and tall. 

I Samuel 9:2 NIV

Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.

The Israelites wanted Saul because he looked the part. They would have never accepted David because he was nothing short of small in comparison to Saul. 

Yet God has a new plan in store for the people of Israel. He chooses young, weak, David to be the next King. David was the perfect vessel for God’s work. He even reminds Samuel not to look at the outside of a person because you miss the person’s true potential if all we do is witness the exterior. 

I Samuel 16:7 NIV

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Point:

Friends, this is still true today. It is true of God’s Kingdom. This little Jesus movement has impacted the world on a global scale. Billions upon billions walk in faith today because of one man and 12 disciples. The same holds true with people. People have massive potential but we often miss it because we judge by the outward trappings. 

Illustration:

Not long ago they found a seed deep within a pyramid in Egypt. It was estimated to be 3,000 years old. Just for the fun of it they planted it to see if it would grow and reproduce, and it did! That’s one of the interesting things about seeds, is that they can store for a very long time the potential to germinate. People are just like that. People have the potential, no matter their age, to do great things for God. Just like God’s Kingdom, it started off small but expanded. 

3 Heavenly Truth’s From Jesus!

Truth 1: There Is Potential In The Puny vs. 18-19

Truth 2: There Is Time To Be Taught vs. 20-21

Luke 13:20 ESV

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Point:

Yet again, Jesus uses another really simple thing to explain the Kingdom of God. He compares the Kingdom leaven or yeast that a woman takes to make her bread rise. In Jesus’ day, leaven or yeast was symbolic of evil, sin and wickedness. The Pharisees would have never drawn such a comparison but Jesus is again breaking the rules. In fact, the Pharisees would have maintained that it was best and even Biblical to throw out the yeast in a persons home because of what it symbolized. 

Exodus 12:15 NLT

For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel.

Jesus would eventually turn the tables on the Pharisees calling their teachings yeast and demanding His followers to forget it and dispose of it accordingly. 

Luke 12:1 ESV

Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy.

Mark 8:15 ESV

As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

Jesus is showing us this morning that the Kingdom of God is made up of sinners, wicked people who were redeemed and saved. There will not be a space in the Kingdom of God reserved for anyone perfect or flawless save Jesus Himself. Everyone in God’s Kingdom will be a transformed sinner like me and you. God will use these sinners to help His Kingdom rise from nothing. 

Point:

Jesus was so great at finding teachable moments in everyday things, people and practices. You know, there are teachable moments about this Christian life everywhere if we are looking for it. If we look at this world with spiritual eyes, we can see them and we can hear God’s voice. We see God reveal Himself in music, in our children, at work, at school and certainly in others. Jesus was able to illustrate the Kingdom of God in the simplicity of yeast and bread. 

Point:

Again, Jesus wants to illustrate that God’s Kingdom is made up of sinners, not saints. Who the Pharisees would through away, God wants to build a Kingdom with. Again, this is a picture of the church. God does not desire for the church be a country club for saints but a hospital for the sinner. Trust me folks, we all have leaven in our lives, but it is not in the leaven that we are judged. Thankfully, we are judged by the life of and death of Christ that God redeems us all. 

Ephesians 1:7 ESV

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…

3 Heavenly Truth’s From Jesus!

Truth 1: There Is Potential In The Puny vs. 18-19

Truth 2: There Is Time To Be Taught vs. 20-21

Truth 3: There Is No Stopping The Savior vs. 21

Luke 13:21 ESV

21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Point:

Now Jesus is being somewhat funny in this passage. We don’t get the joke but His contemporaries would have most certainly laughed at that last statement. A woman hid three measures of flour. Friends, that is a lot leaven. A measure is equal to a peck and a half of flour, about 13 liters in total. Three measures of flour would have weighed 50 pounds and would have made enough bread for 150 people. If the lady doing the baking was hiding something, it would not stayed hidden for very long. After baking the bread, what she was hiding would have been easily discovered as the bread rose. 

Point:

What is Jesus trying to say here? Jesus is telling His followers that you can no more stop the Kingdom of God from growing then you can stop yeast having a chemical reaction to flour and making bread rise. 

Point:

Jesus had brought God’s Kingdom to earth. It is now our job to help it grow. 

Mark 1:15 ESV

And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Point:

Sure, the Kingdom of God is small now, but just wait, it will be growing soon and there is nothing that can be done about it. You can persecute it, it will grow more. You can martyr the followers of Christ, new followers will spring up in their place. You can burn down the churches but the churches will just continue to grow underground. You can take it out of the school but you cannot take it out of our hearts. You can remove it from the courtrooms, but God’s Word is stamped and seared in our conscience. You can outlaw it but God’s laws are supreme. 

You cannot stop the Kingdom of God from growing. 

Action Point:

Friends, what are you doing today to help God’s Kingdom grow. Apparently there are only two types of people in this world, there are those who are about the business of spreading the Gospel and there are those who are trying to hinder it. Doing nothing is hindering the message. So today, be about God’s call, share your testimony, and push the darkness of the Devil back. 

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

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