3rd part - Sabotage and Mustard Seeds

(a not very brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr ... in parts)

In the previous installments, I told you about sabotage and the labor situation in 1920, and then promised I would relate it to mustard seeds.  To do that, I started writing about faith; specifically, "as much faith" as a mustard seed, and the guilt we experience because we don't seem to be able to perform to the standards (moving mountains with such a small amount of faith).

If we're being honest with ourselves, I think we can all agree that we tend to put "mustard seed faith" on the "No Can Do" list.  Let's face it.  It sounds so surreal!  Who goes around moving mountains?  And on top of that strangeness, why did Jesus use such an obscure metaphor?  Yes, it IS small, but there are smaller things around.  Jesus once used a mote (speck of dust) to suggest how picky we can be when searching out the sin in OTHER people's lives.  A mote is a lot smaller than a mustard seed.  Of course, if you are already feeling guilty about having too little faith, the mote thing doesn't help.  Why not use a pebble?  They were quite common in Jesus' time and have remained so.  We would all recognize a pebble.  In fact, if SIZE was all that mattered, Jesus could have chosen any number of small items which have endured right up until today: grain of salt, grain of wheat, speck of dirt, particle of sand, drop of rain.  

I don't think anyone would accuse Jesus of being haphazard.  It's really no stretch to believe he intentionally selected the mustard seed as the metaphor for effective faith.  So what is it about mustard seeds?  I think you see where this is going.  It CAN'T be just a matter of size.  There must be something about the mustard seed, itself; some inherent quality other than its size.  Knowing more about them may help clear all this up.  

First, Jesus himself tells us (Mark 4:31-32) a mustard seed "is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.  Yet when planted it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."  That is how Jesus illustrated the Kingdom of God.  And it can serve as a way we can view faith.  When it is very small, we are to plant it; to initially shield it from the harsher elements by placing it in a nurturing environment, an environment designed to facilitate its growth.

The other side of this illustration is that the properly nurtured faith can grow into a very strong faith.  Like the resulting mustard PLANT, it will not only grow larger than anything else in the garden of our lives, it can become SO large that others can find shelter, protection, and rest there.  This is God at work in a most mighty way.

One more thing you may not know about a mustard seed is its inherent strength.  And in this way, we are VERY like the little tyke.

But, what does any of this have to do with sabotage and the 1920 labor scene?  Be here next time for the wrap-up where we tie it all together.

In the meantime, if you are in Waco Friday morning, join our little band at Cafe Cappuccino (8:00 a.m., downtown on 6th Street, near the Courthouse) for breakfast and a great time kicking around this week's Lectionary passages.

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 13 (18) (July 31, 2011)
Genesis 32:22-31 and Psalm 17:1-7, 15  
Isaiah 55:1-5 and Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21  
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21