The leadership team at a local Baptist church set a goal in early 2012 to double in size over three years, from an average of thirty on a Sunday to an average of sixty. Unfortunately, over the year the church declined from thirty to twenty. The church did not have a fight that caused the decline. People left for good and understandable reasons, having finished their studies, relocating elsewhere for other, further studies, or deciding to participate in a church more local to their home. It was a challenge for the church to consider how to make the most of the opportunity to encouraging people to grow in their faith for the time that they do attend the church, and a challenge to engage fresh, local community outreach. But the question hung in the air, what to do with that growth goal of doubling?
This local church was one where both of the present authors ministered, Darren as the pastor and Julia as a member of the leadership team. In wondering how we might grow and branch out as a corner boutique church in our local community, we have been surprised and encouraged by the picture painted in Luke’s gospel of the great things that can be achieved not only when a large wealth of resources is at one’s disposal, but also when very few resources are mobilized. In the commonly-termed “Parable of the Mustard Seed,” Jesus says:
What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches. (Luke 13:18-19 NRSV)
The mustard seed—small, tiny and seemingly insignificant—is a very humble picture of what kind of resources we need if we are to enact change in our world. God’s Kingdom—an analogy for the time and place when God’s dreams for creation are fully realised—can spring from seemingly nothing at all, provided it is “sowed” in hope and faith. But a further challenge lies in considering the result of the mustard seed’s transformation, and thus the nature of the Kingdom of God that we as local churches, as well as a broader Baptist tribe of churches, the BUV, seek to cooperate with God to advance.
Humble Hospitality
The parables of Jesus inspire a process of rethinking by turning things on their head and challenging assumptions, both of the gospel writer’s first century audience and also of readers today. While it may be tempting to read the parable as just another illustration of the truism “from little things big things grow,” it is surprising to find that a fully-grown mustard tree is not a large and domineering plant that towers above over other trees. It is in fact much more like a shrub that stands, at its tallest, at around nine feet. This begs the question of why Jesus picked the mustard seed as the foundational metaphor of the parable, if not to champion the tree’s grand height and hence the impressive outcome of the seed’s transformation.
The parable concludes in v.19 by referring not to the size of the mustard tree but rather to its role as a place of rest and hospitality: “it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” While a mustard tree, or mustard shrub, on its own is not that impressive, its place as a house for the birds of the air allows it to embody something of God’s reign because it is a symbol of God’s hospitality.
Moreover, this is a hospitality that creates meaningful and sustaining frameworks for those who are vulnerable or in particular need. This becomes clear when we read the parable in its wider context. In the verses immediately prior, we read:
10[Jesus] was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’ 13When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.’ 15But the Lord answered him and said, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?’ 17When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
18 He said therefore, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? 19It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.’ (Luke 13:10-19 NRSV)
When read as part of this larger episode, the parable of the mustard seed forms an integral part of Jesus’ criticism of his religious counterparts on account of their failure to care for the marginalised in their midst when it compromised their sense of religious piety. Acts of kindness and hospitality, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, go a long way in God’s eyes, and the failure to reach out to the vulnerable in one’s midst amounts to hypocrisy and shameful conduct. God’s Kingdom is actualized by the “someone” who gives whatever she or he has so as to make a place for someone in need, and is willing to bear the social, material or religious consequences.
A Challenge for Mission
We are inspired by Jesus’ vision for a world where all people can belong, and his particular concern for the poor and marginalized. At the same time, we are convicted by his criticism of those who participate in any system that perpetuates injustice. In our shared church life, Jesus inspires us to place our lives, our little seed, into the ground of God’s nurturing, so that we might become a tree that gives hospitality to all the neighbourhood. We are encouraged that neither the origins nor the end product in realizing God’s reign are necessarily all that big and impressive. We don’t have to strive to become a huge, grand superstructure; the mustard tree is, from certain angles, a pretty humble outcome. Mustard Tree aspirations are about existing to feed and house others, to provide a place where healing happens, where the lonely find community and where the stranded can make a nest. This is an aspiration to be a vibrant, multi-coloured space of hospitality. We live in an age where the end product of successful Christian ministry is often measured according to numbers, growth, financial measures or social media presence. The parable of the mustard seed, and the pericope of Jesus healing the crippled woman before it, challenge us to get over our idolatry of size (whether large or small), and reframe our community aspirations to be mainly about hospitality and inclusion.
A hero of ours, Jean Vanier, wrote:
“In the midst of all the violence and corruption of the world God invites us today to create new places of belonging, places of sharing, of peace and of kindness, places were no-one needs to defend himself or herself; places where each one is loved and accepted with one’s own fragility, abilities and disabilities. This is my vision for our churches: that they become places of belonging, places of sharing.” (Befriending the Stranger, Mahwaj, NJ: Paulist Press, 2010, 12)
This was an inspiration for “Slow Church” advocates C. Christopher Smith and John Pattison to encourage churches to generously share the resources God gives us. Hospitality, especially to those who are different from us, is a key way of bringing new life to others, and a way of discovering Christ among us in fresh ways. Slow Church advocates urge us to avoid the temptation of modern hospitality which keeps the other at arm’s length, and to instead sit patiently with those around us, with a genuine willingness to share life and “waste time” together. (See their Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus, Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014, 192-207).
For our local, corner church, we are learning the beauty and blessing of opening our doors and lives to international students. English classes and Bible studies are programmes that our new friends welcome, but it’s more often in relaxed conversations over coffee or social get-togethers that we see glimpses of where God is working and Kingdom life sprouting forth. While we still pray and plan to grow and double in size, we also welcome and celebrate the signs of growth in hospitality and the connections we are making outside of Sunday gatherings that might not translate into numerical growth at this stage.
As a tribe of Baptist churches around Victoria, we hope our communities will be stretched to flourish in more inclusive directions of hospitality to those who really need it. This doesn’t require a wealth of resources, but simply the willingness to use what we have to do humble things for God and our neighbour. Moreover, our voice as followers of Christ can bring important critique of broader Australian policies that fail to care for the orphan, widow and stranger of our time and treat hospitality as though it was a dirty word. We believe that Australian Christians can make a real, positive difference in discussions concerning asylum seeker and immigration policy in particular by boldly insisting that our resources be planted in ways that bear the fruit of hospitality, refuge and welcome.
We pray, “Gracious God, enable us to become people and communities of hope and life, who plant the seeds of your earthly garden for the benefit of all who need a home and a nest. Fill us with your gentle love, that we may cooperate with your intention of abundant love and life.”
Julia Rhyder is a member of AuburnLife, but spends most of her time in Lausanne, Switzerland where she is completing a doctorate in Biblical Studies.
Darren Cronshaw is pastor of AuburnLife and Mission Catalyst – Researcher with BUV.
Picture by Beth Barnett, reflecting on Auburn’s repeated engagement with the parable of the Mustard Seed.
Source: BUV News