Community Covenant Church - Sermons - Faith In Action: Drop

October 7, 2007

Faith in Action

“Drop”

Luke 13:18-21

For just a moment I want you to pretend you are all in 9^th grade, you’ve come into one of your high school classes, and you teacher has just announced a “pop quiz”. So please turn to your message insert, and there you will find 4 blank lines onto which you can write your answers to the following four questions: (Are you smarter than a 9^th grader?)

1. Which country has the largest population? (China: 1.3 Billion)

2. What is the world’s tallest mountain? (Mt. Everest)

3. What type of tree is the tallest? (Redwood)

4. Who is the world’s richest man? (Bill Gates)

How are we going so far? Does anyone want to share their answer for question #1…#2….#3…#4.

>>> It doesn’t surprise me that together we can come up with the right answers.

Now, how would you answer the following four questions:

5.Which country has the smallest population? (Vatican City: 920)

6.What is the world’s smallest mountain? (Mt. Greylock in northwestern Massachusetts… the highest point in our Commonwealth at 3,491 feet)

7.What type of tree is the shortest?

(Dwarf willow— about 2 inches tall when full grown)

8.Who is the world’s poorest man?

(Jed Matthews owes $22.4 million and has no assets due to

bad investments in an internet company)

Source: Adapted from “Is Bigger Really Better?” by Larry Sarver on sermoncentral.com.

So… can anybody tell me what we just learned about ourselves in answering these two sets of questions?

We tend to recognize, respect and remember those things in life that are big, while we tend to give little thought to the small things.

In nearly every aspect of our lives we seem to believe that “bigger is better.”

- Today, toilet paper is marketed to us in “double rolls, “mega rolls” even triple rolls which barely fit our dispensers at home.

- French fries are made better when we “supersize” them…. Even though we “supersize” ourselves when we eat them.

- Sam’s and BJ’s Wholesale clubs convince us that because they sell in multiple-quantities that we are getting a better deal. (be careful!)

This way of thinking, that “bigger is always better” is evident even in spiritual matters. We think that more people, more money, bigger ministries and buildings, more programs, and greater talent will result in greater effectiveness at God’s work. Whether we voice it or not, do we not have a tendency to view mega- televised churches as being “more successful” in servicing God’s Kingdom?

I remember growing up in the 1970’s in the shadow of Willow Creek in the NW suburbs of Chicago. I saw lots of people leaving their home churches to be a part of this rapidly growing congregation. We often think that God is doing more and can do more where there is something going on that looks grand and marvelous. And we tend to think the opposite about smaller things. We act as though God is not working or could not work though smaller churches and ministries, lesser talent, and fewer programs. We fall so quickly into the erroneous thinking that if it isn’t big, God must not be in it.

But if that were true, tell me something; Why is it that only 1% of churches in our country have more than 700 attendees? Why is it that over half the churches have attendance of 100 or less people? If bigger is always better, then the church is in big trouble!

But hear the good news today: When it comes to spiritual things, Jesus teaches us that God loves to use small things to do big stuff.

Turn with me to today’s passage.

Luke 13:18–21

18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”

20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

In today’s passage, Jesus asks the question: “What is the kingdom of God like?” No one had ever seen the “kingdom of God” Jesus was describing. Ultimately, He never defined it, He just told stories and gave comparisons to help people understand and visualize what it was like.

In his first example, Jesus says that God’s working is like a “mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”

The mustard seed is very, very small. The black mustard seed was the smallest seed ever sown by a first-century farmer in that part of the world.

Because of its size the mustard seed was used figuratively for anything that was small and insignificant. Today, some might rudely say that someone had a “pea brain”; if they lived in Jesus’ time, they would have said they had a “mustard seed brain.”

But even though the mustard seed was small, it grew to be the largest of the herbs grown in that area. It typically grew to be 12 feet high; big and bushy enough for birds to nest in it. This is what the Kingdom of God is like.

In his second illustration Jesus says that God’s working is like “yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Being more of a cook than a gardener, I relate more to this analogy. In Jesus’ day “yeast” was not the dry, granular product so convenient for today’s baking; it was a small moist portion of yesterday’s risen dough, kept safe but then kneaded into tomorrow’s new flour-water mixture. But one thing you may not pick up on in our English translation of Jesus’ teaching is that when Jesus referred to a “large amount of flour”, He actually describes three “satas” of flour; which is equally to about 50 pounds of flour.

So what Jesus is describing here is the effect that something very small can have on something very big. Jesus was not describing the effect that a little yeast would have on a couple loaves of bread. In fact, this small amount of yeast will affect the 100 people it will take to eat all the bread being made.

Do you hear what Jesus is saying about the Kingdom of God?

When it comes to spiritual things, God uses small things to do BIG stuff.

§ When God wanted to create a new nation to call his own, he didn’t start with a large, established family. Instead, he used a nomadic man and woman too old to conceive children.

§ When God wanted to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt, he used a man rejected by his own people, a stuttering man who had spent most of his life leading sheep.

§ As we remembered this morning with our children, when God wanted Gideon to conquer the Midianites, He reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 men to only 300.

§ When God wanted a king to represent his people, his choice was a shepherd boy, the youngest among brothers.

§ When Jesus wanted to feed 5,000 people, he used a small boy’s sack lunch to do it.

§ When Jesus watched people give at the Temple, he wasn’t impressed by the big donors, but by the widow’s penny.

§ And when God came to earth as a human, he didn’t choose a rich and famous family to be a part of. He came as a baby born in a barn to a poor and seemingly unimportant family.

God uses small things to do BIG stuff.

What we might see as too small and insignificant to matter, God sees as something he wants to use to accomplish his purpose.

Do you feel too small and insignificant to make a difference?

If so, that’s Good News, because as 1 Corinthians 1:27–29 says:

God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

God uses small things to do BIG stuff, because when God does, God is glorified, and not us. God is revealed as His blessings and power are reveals amid our limited efforts.

Here is another language-insight: We get our word for “ministry” from the Latin root for “small things,” as in the word “miniscule.” Ministry is involved in small things; “mini” things if you will. We are to be involved in little acts, small gestures, and everyday service.

Few of us have “big lives,” careers that make a huge visible impact in the public sphere. And that can be discouraging if we have adopted the world’s view that “bigger is better”. For if we view the world this way, we tend to view our ministry efforts as “small” and “unimportant”.

But it is amazing what God will do over time with your small and seemingly “unimportant” ministry offerings. Time has revealed to many youth pastors that small ministry offerings are blessed tremendously by God in His Kingdom. If you had asked me, when I left Omaha, if I had accomplished great things, the easy answer would have been “no.” Today, I know that five youth and two Young Adults from that time are now full-time pastors or missionaries. There were a lot of “seed & yeast planters” at First Covenant Omaha, and God used all our small efforts to accomplish great things in His Kingdom.

I also remember in those days a private interest I had in Habitat for Humanity. I had disciple a young man who had had a passion for Habitats work in Chicago. When I initially got involved helping to finish Omaha Habitat’s first home in the poor section known as North Omaha, I had no idea that God would raise up twelve men from my church to become regular volunteers, and eventually (and to this day) the official “dry wall dozen”, called in to work on each house.

I had no idea that when our Omaha church became involved in North Omaha, that we were the first of what would become many churches in Western Omaha that would band with inner city churches who had always had the heart, but not the resources to, build homes for neighbors in need.

I didn’t know that as I came into Omaha with just an interest in Habitat for Humanity that within ten years time God would take a ministry that took 5 years to build their first house, and grow it into a ministry building or remodeling 11 houses a year.

Today, a ministry that began to but a handful of people living in Americus, Georgia, is building tens of thousands of homes a year all over he world, including here in the Metrowest and in Worcester.

God uses small things to do BIG stuff. And God stands ready to do the same with even the smallest of ministries.. the smallest of offering you are willing to give for the work of God’s Kingdom.

One thing we must keep in mind, is that while the world tends to initially give attention to things which are big, and to people who are “famous”, in the long run; over time; we remember the small things, and the people who are not so much “famous” as they were godly to us.

- Five years from now you will forget who the American Idol was, but you will still be able to tell me the name of a teacher who really helped you in school.

- Ten years from now you will forget the MVP of this year’s World Series, but you will still be able to name the friend who helped you through a difficult time in your life.

- Twenty years from now you will have forgotten Brittany Spears, but you will fondly remember that Sunday School teacher who made you feel appreciated and special.

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones who do the little things with a big heart; those who go about doing the “small” work of ministry and thus furthering God’s Kingdom.

So let’s stop thinking about things that are “bigger and better”, and to trust in the One who uses small things to accomplish big stuff. Try not to compare yourselves with “the Jones”, but to recognize that God’s Kingdom is like the little mustard seed or the small lump of yeasty dough ready to affect the world.

I ran across an illustration that Peter Hubbe, or resident “green contractor” will like. Ready?

The September 2006 cover story of “Fast Company” magazine was about light bulbs. In it the author wrote the following:

“Sitting humbly on shelves in stores everywhere is a product, priced at less than $3, that will change the world. The product is the compact fluorescent light bulb, a quirky-looking twist of frosted glass. In the energy business, it is called a “CFL,” or an “energy saver.” One scientist calls it an “ice-cream-cone spiral,” because in its most-advanced, most-appealing version, it looks like nothing so much as a cone of swirled soft-serve ice cream.

“... Compact fluorescents emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75 percent or 80 percent less electricity. What that means is that if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, would be enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.”

Source: Fast Company. “How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take To Change The World? One. And You’re Looking At It.” Issue 108 | September 2006 | Page 74 | By: Charles Fishman.

>>> Makes you want to change a light bulb, huh? Just so you know, our church is now full of these “ice-cream cone bulb”, and we are making a difference for energy consumption! We make a difference whenever we do our small things for God. Today it’s socks & underwear needed by our neighbors; things too small or seeming insignificant that Project Just Because never gets enough to meet their goals. But who knows what tomorrow will bring, when God blesses our efforts.

There is incredible life-changing power when a person grabs ahold of the fact that through Jesus Christ one life can make a difference; one church can make a difference. One church touching its community, joining other churches in a powerful movement of Christians putting their faith into action. It is an amazing thing to watch the Kingdom of God grow.

As we seek to minister in Jesus’ name, let us not forget Jesus’ lessons about the Kingdom. For by God’s grace, one drop in the bucket will become a mighty river which will greatly impact the world. AMEN