Third Sunday of Pentecost

It Grows With God - No Matter the Size

Mark 4: 26 - 32 “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

It's easy to see the big things that can grow into bigger things. It is easy to miss the small things that do just as great a thing.

Take for example:
Each one of those white spots in the dandelion picture at the right is the seed head. There are at least 30 visible in the picture. We all know that there are a great deal of these seeds in one dandelion and countless more in a small yard of but a few dandelions.

That's why homeowners who want a pretty green lawn go absolutely ape when a neighbor doesn't take care of his dandelions and let them grow. Disaster. BIG disaster, unless you're making dandelion salad or wine.

It doesn't take a lot to make a big thing.

And that includes our faith. I know my faith is far smaller and far weaker than I would like it to be sometimes. Yet I also know how there have been times, more than I will ever know, when sharing what little faith I have has led to some wonderful things. Even big things that have made the difference for someone else. And for me.

Which most days is what keeps me going. I haven't sprouted many big trees, but those bushes from little seeds sure make my life better because someone else planted them first.