Amazing Growth: Mark 4:30-32
The life cycle is an amazing thing. Science can explain about how organisms grow, yet it is amazing that most life on the planet starts off as a single cell, growing piece by piece for millions of cycles until it becomes complex and amazing. I’m a rather big guy, yet I originally came from a single cell. The massive oak tree in my front yard came from a single acorn, and while an acorn might be a multi-cellular structure, it developed from a combination of simple pollen from one tree meeting pollen from another. Even the huge dinosaurs that roamed the planet, some of which weighing over 60 tons, started life as a single cell developing slowly as they grew.
Jesus talks about this with the mustard seed. The mustard bush starts off as a tiny little seed that is easily overlooked. This tiny seed can be trampled on without notice, swallowed without notice, and brushed off clothing without knowing it was even part of the dirt to begin with. Yet this single seed, when given enough time and the right conditions, can grow into a large bush. This single seed can make branches large enough to hide birds, allow them to nest, and help start the next cycle of life. It is an amazing transition when you think about it.
I love placing this parable alongside the parable of the sower. As Mark wrote this letter, he put these teachings near each other as well. It is amazing to see something huge develop from something small; it is also important to realize the growth is not by random chance. The growth happens because the right events happened along the way.
The only way a mustard seed can grow into a mustard bush is if the seed falls into good soil. The seed can’t get choked out. The seed can’t be in soil that is too dry or too wet. The seed, and subsequent plant, needs access to sun. The sapling cannot get trampled underfoot. It cannot have all its leaves eaten off by some grazing animal when it is young.
Our faith is like that seed. When it has access to all that it needs, faith is amazing. Our faith starts from a humble beginning, trusting God with small things or easily understood themes. Soon, we find ourselves able to overcome doubts by finding our identity in God and His love. Then we find ourselves capable of loving others. This is followed by forgiving others – sometimes forgiving them of quite substantial transgressions. We find joy in serving, thinking of others before ourselves, and sacrificing ourselves so that others might have. We realize that in God, we already have all we need.
Our faith grows through small and consistent steps. In fact, this is the idea behind Drops Forge Rivers. Through consistent and small steps, we grow in unimaginable ways much like the mustard seed. The life cycle is an amazing thing.
