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Jason Jonker's avatar

I work with addicts, sharing Biblical wisdom and the good news of the gospel. It can be a pessimistic, morally ambiguous door to the Kingdom. Many are called, few are chosen. But the yeast parable keeps me going. It can take generations for the fullness of Kingdom to work It's way through a family or community.

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Lars Coburn's avatar

One of my favorite children's books to read my kids is the "Marvelous Mustard Seed" by AJ Levine: https://www.amazon.com/Marvelous-Mustard-Seed-Amy-Jill-Levine/dp/0664262759

“A child plants a mustard seed in an empty garden. It is an itty-bitty seed. It isn’t anything very special—yet.”

She concludes with "The kingdom of God is like a mustard see in the garden right outside our windows, growing from itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny to colossal, from impossible to see to unable to miss...it is not at all what we expect to find and yet there it is, surprising us, helping us to imagine what can be...

but isn't...yet!"

I think the kingdom and the good news is amazing - but Jesus hasn't come back yet. When I read Jesus' parables I sense so much of the work of imagination he is getting at has eschatological layers. Sure, there's some good news for today, there's gonna be some growth, but ultimately we're not gonna see the colossal tree until Jesus returns. For now we've got to put up with ordinary mustard bushes.

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