Later, working in a large corporation, the reality was similar. What could the parable of the tiny mustard seed offer? Those who were smart, athletic, talented or beautiful were the ones who seemed to get the attention, to get ahead, to be seen as winners and destined for success. We were competing with each other at some level: vying to get into top schools, getting good grades, securing high academic rank, being popular, achieving success in sports or extra-curricular activities. In my high school and among my peers, striving, reaching for success and comparisons were a daily fact of life. I grew up in a wealthy suburb of New York City where parents were doctors, lawyers and successful business people. Being smart, strong, rich, powerful, and beautiful is what makes mountains move. When has small and understated ever been rewarded in our culture or even desired? It is not the way we are taught to make things happen. The first thing that strikes me is how weird this parable is relative to the world we live in and I grew up in. A small seed of faith grows exponentially and is capable of achieving great things and small seeds of action bring about a kingdom of love. To me, they are two sides of the same coin. I like these two verses together because one deals with personal faith and the other deals with personal actions that bring God’s reign of love (or kingdom of heaven) on earth.

It is found in Matthew 17:20, “ For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” When I think of this scripture I also think of another reference to a mustard seed in the New Testament. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” It is found in Matthew 13:31-32 and goes like this: As I looked over the various scripture readings for this Sunday, the parable of the mustard seed stood out for me.

Mustard seed bible verse