Sunday Reflection: A visit to Creator’s kitchen

Today's reflection is brought to you by 
Luke 13:18-21 and Luke 17:5-6.

Jesus said to the crowd, “What is the kin-dom of God like? To what can I compare it? It’s like a mustard seed planted in a garden which grew into a large bush, and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”

Then he said, “To what else shall I compare the kin-dom of God? It’s like yeast that a woman mixed in three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”

Later, when the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith, Jesus said: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to [this] mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

As Jesus continued on the journey to Jerusalem, the Pharisees questioned him about when the reign of God would come. He answered, “The reign of God is not something that can be observed. Nor will people be able to say, ‘Look, it’s here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ God’s reign, God's kin-dom, is already within you.”

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It was my Sunday to lead our Morning Prayer Service at Sanctuary of Peace, and people were very attentive to the reflection below... and appreciated the surprise at the end!

Maybe you’ve already heard about the mustard seed Jesus mentions in today’s gospel reading. His words might make you think of the church building down the street that’s going to be demolished soon… it was named the Mustard Seed because of this passage from scripture. If we back up 2000 years, the little mustard seed Jesus talks about is a tiny thing that grows into a shrub big enough for birds to rest in. 

Fast forward to 1993, a small group of people start the Mustard Seed organization, its name signifying a small place growing out of faith, a shelter where people who struggle could rest and get food and clothing in hard times. That Mustard Seed gathered people who did a lot of good work together, and still exists here in Edmonton, and other cities in Alberta. I mention this because it’s important to honour their work. 

Photo by KWON JUNHO on Unsplash

And then there’s Jesus’ image of a woman putting yeast into flour. Yeast is tiny too, smaller than a mustard seed, almost invisible stuff that grows and makes dough rise into something light and delicious when it’s baked or fried. 

With these examples of tiny mustards seeds and almost invisible yeast, Jesus is telling us that when it comes to faith, we don’t need a great big whack of it. A little seed, a little dab’ll do ya. He’s not expecting us to walk around uprooting mulberry trees and planting them in the North Saskatchewan. He’s reminding us that faith can be a powerful thing when we let it grow in our lives like yeast and mustard seeds do. But what is faith, and how do we help it to grow? 

Faith, in dictionary definitions, is belief and trust, loyalty and fidelity. And these things are easily applied to things we can see, people we know. I trust in Quinn as an excellent pastor and friend to our community, his bad jokes aside. I have faith in Evan and Chuck’s ability to make amazing music. And I believe in our Sanctuary of Peace community, especially when I see you caring for each other both here and outside on the streets. You are “God-with-skin-on” for each other, and for me. Every smile, every fist bump, every hug lifts my heart. 

As human beings, we find it easy to believe what’s in front of our noses. But when it comes to Creator’s presence in all that’s going on, we might have to make a leap of faith. To find God in the places where life is hard and nothing seems to be going right is a huge challenge. It requires that we suspend our pessimism, our catastrophizing, our disbelief, and wait for Creator to show us Her presence in the little things, to somehow reveal His presence in each person, to offer Their presence in all the beauty and goodness and truth that exists in spite of the messiness of life. 

As human beings, we want certainty. We want to know for sure what’s going on, what’s going to happen. But Jesus is reminding us, “There is no certainty in this life. Faith the size of a mustard seed is all you need,” because it brings other things with it. And you know what those are. St. Paul nailed it when he said, Three things matter – “Faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is?” (And the people replied...) LOVE. 

So, when the Pharisees ask Jesus about when God’s reign will arrive, you can almost hear him rolling his eyes. They know as well as he does that there’s no certainty when it comes to this life, and that faith, that Creator’s reign can’t be nailed down. They’re imagining a messiah to magically save the world, and they want to know when. 

But God’s reign doesn’t operate that way. Jesus is basically saying, “You guys have it all wrong. The reign of God is not a certain place or time that can be announced. There won’t be one human being in charge of it. It’s not even a churchy idea. It’s an experience that’s available to everybody. The reign of God is now, right here, in the hearts of people who have faith. People who love the way Creator wants everyone to love.” 

Jesus is actually telling us all, “The reign of God is within you.” 

How does that make you feel? 

Let’s sit with that for a few minutes, and with the Creator of the universe. 

I invite you to straighten your backs if you can, and settle into your chairs. 

Put your feet flat on the floor, and take in a deep breath through your nose, and let it out gently through your mouth... a couple of times, and then just breathe as is comfortable for you. 

Relax your body into stillness, and clear your mind if you can. 

Follow me to Creator’s kitchen. It’s warm and full of sunlight, and there’s a heavenly smell of fresh bread that She has just pulled out of the oven, steaming hot. 

Creator smiles at you, and He invites you to sit on a padded rocking chair in the corner. They hand you a mustard seed. See its littleness, just a tiny thing in your hand. Look at it closely. It wouldn’t exist if God didn’t love it. Neither would we. Neither would our faith. 

Do you have this seed-sized faith in your heart? Or maybe a little more? 

Can you trust that Creator wants only goodness for you? For the world? 

Creator has been bustling around the kitchen, and They give you a piece of warm, fresh bread. Its yeasty fragrance makes your mouth water. Looking at it, you see where the yeast left little air pockets to make the bread light and fluffy. 

Does your faith in God ever lighten the heaviness of life for you? 

Creator pulls up a chair and sits with you. 

Now is your chance to tell God how you are feeling about life right now. How is your faith doing? 

Is it a lamp for your feet, or burning so dimly that it’s hard to find your path? 

What is weighing you down? 

Is anything lifting you up? 

Is there someone or something that you want to give into Creator’s caring hands? 

Talk to Creator about what's in your heart in the next few minutes of silence...

....

...And now I invite you to thank Creator for your time together, and slowly bring yourself back to this space. 

And let's pray together... 

God of all things and all people, 

We offer you our little mustard seeds, our small yeast of faith. 

We ask you to turn them into bigger faith, hope and love 

that our world, our country, our community needs. 

You love us exactly as we are and give us what we need to love you back. 

Help us to share our faith in you and to be your beauty, goodness and truth for others. 

Bless this Sanctuary of Peace and let Creator’s reign be visible in the way we love each other. 

We ask this in all your holy names, 

God forever and ever. 

+Amen.

At this point, I opened up a bundle of towels that was keeping a loaf of French bread warm from my oven at home, and everyone had a small piece (with just two crusts left over, whew... I was afraid there wouldn't be enough, but of course the Holy Spirit worked it out). You can't invite people to visit Creator's kitchen without sharing bread!