Friday 02 July 2021

Psalm 9:1-11

Background

In a moment of free-spirited association one can imagine that this saying of Jesus is an elegant precursor of chaos theory, wherein a small and seemingly insignificant action can have massive, system-wide consequences. Such is the beauty and possibility of God’s kingdom of love. And for ordinary people who don’t feel empowered to effect change on a scale that matters, who live daily within the constraints of a politico-economic system not run for their benefit, but for that of an elite, such an idea is at once both breathtakingly radical and hugely freeing. It was certainly so for the first-century followers of Jesus subjugated under the might of the Roman Empire, and it remains so today.

 So each individual calling into question the place of culturally abhorrent statues of slave traders in our civic spaces, taking the knee or taking to the streets in protest that Black Lives do Matter, is effecting change at scale, because taken together each and every action is contributing to the collective power of an unstoppable movement. For Christians the motivating power to resist and engage flows directly from the justice-seeking heart of God. And Jesus is its human face.

As he encourages his disciples to embrace the kingdom of God as their reason for being, Jesus is pointing out that an individual’s actions, their words and deeds, can have a colossal impact – way beyond their immediate context. Of course the life of Jesus himself is proof positive of this, as are the lives of the prophets before him. One life changes life for countless others. The Jesus movement of empowered Easter people, each one no different to you or I, eventually proved more than a match for one of the most powerful empires the world has ever seen. Looking at the events recounted in the gospels who would have thought that, within the space of three centuries after the execution of Jesus, Rome would adopt Christianity as its official religion? God’s kingdom is by definition irrepressible, inspirational and impactful.

So, as Jesus teaches, the kingdom of God starts small, with the faith and actions of individual believers who are determined to put the values of God’s kingdom into practice to renew the world, starting where they are, one bit at a time. But it has a vast all-encompassing vision and a limitless purpose. Sowing a single mustard seed allows for startling developments to occur, perhaps way beyond the intention or expectation of the person sowing it.

Jesus’ teaching about God’s kingdom is such an encouraging position to adopt and one which puts a spring in our step, because it values the smallest contribution whilst holding true to the potential for huge consequences.

To Ponder:

• Small changes of attitude can have a huge impact: which such ‘mustard-seeds’ might you be able to plant in your context?
• As you open up more fully to the justice-seeking heart of God, which pressing issues will you now give your time to in order to ‘resist and engage' alongside Jesus?
• What excites you most about the kingdom of God’s vast, all-encompassing vision and limitless purpose? 

Prayer

Creative Holy Spirit, as you continually birth afresh God’s vision, show me how, through my words and actions, I can plant mustard seeds of hope that God’s kingdom of love will nurture so they grow and prosper.