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Have any of you ever seen a mustard seed? It's small. Whether or not it is the smallest of seeds depends on what other seeds you have in your hand. But it is definitely small. There is nothing about a mustard seed which would capture your imagination and cause you to expect great things.
Jesus talked about mustard seeds twice.
"What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." (Mark 4:30-32)
From something that would provide no more than a tiny nibble of a snack to a single bird grows something that can provide shelter and rest to a flock of birds.
Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed. An itinerant rabbi and a few disciples and followers may not look like a force to be reckoned with, but just wait; someday the name of Jesus will be on the lips of millions, and the church will have opportunity to provide shelter and rest to millions more. Jesus had great expectations.
Another time, Jesus compared faith to a mustard seed.
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20-21)
On that day the disciples were powerless to rescue a young boy from the demon which had hold of him, but just wait; someday they would command the lame to walk in Jesus' name; someday they would heal the sick in Jesus' name; someday they would pray in Jesus' name and breath would return to those who no longer had breath. "Nothing will be impossible for you," Jesus told his disciples. Jesus had great expectations.
Please open your Bibles to Mark chapter 4. I want to show you something in the flow of the text.
Mark 4:30 begins the parable of the mustard seed-Jesus' announcement of great expectations. Immediately following the parable of the mustard seed are three accounts of miraculous intervention by Jesus in the worldly order of things.
Jesus and his disciples were on a boat in the Sea of Galilee when a terrible storm hit. The disciples, many of whom were accomplished seamen, were frightened for their lives. Jesus rebuked the wind and waves, and immediately all was calm. Jesus displayed authority over nature. (Mark 4:35-41)
Across the lake, Jesus and his disciples encountered a man who lived among the tombs. He was oppressed by a legion of evil spirits and so wild that no one could subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. Jesus commanded the evil spirits to leave, and they did. The man was in his right mind again-not wild, not super strong, with no compulsion to cry out or to cut himself, and able to dress and behave appropriately. Jesus displayed authority over the evil one and his minions. (Mark 5:1-20)
Crossing over the lake again, Jesus encountered a man desperate for help for his sick daughter and a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years. The woman touched his cloak and was healed. The daughter was sick unto death, but Jesus took her by the hand a spoke a word, and she lived again and was hungry. Jesus displayed authority over disease and death. (Mark 5:21-43)
At one point, John the Baptist sent some of his followers to ask about Jesus. Jesus replied to them, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." (Matthew 11:4-5)
Wherever Jesus went, miraculous things happened, because wherever Jesus went, the Kingdom of God broke out. (Where the King is, there is the Kingdom.) Jesus was not limited by visible circumstances. Jesus was not reined in by the power of nature or the enemy or sickness or death. Jesus could see beyond visible circumstances. Jesus had great expectations.
Jesus was revealing the in-breaking Kingdom of God, and Jesus was teaching his disciples that he was in the Father and the Father was in him.
The first account of a miracle in John's Gospel is when Jesus changed water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana in Galilee, displaying his authority over the things of nature. John wrote that through this miracle Jesus "revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him." (John 2:1-11)
Throughout John's Gospel, Jesus made the point again and again that he was one with the Father, and what he said and did was what the Father commanded him and empowered him to say and do. Jesus was the Father's representative on earth. Jesus was the Father's agent. Therefore, when Jesus spoke and acted on earth, he spoke and acted in the authority and power of the Father.
In chapter 5 Jesus says: "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." (John 8:28-29)
In chapter 12 Jesus says: "I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it." (John 12:49)
This ties in closely with the ancient Jewish concept that the one who is sent is completely representative of the one who sends him.
During his ministry on earth, Jesus displayed authority over nature, the evil one, sickness, and even death. Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in him. Jesus was the Father's agent. As the Father's agent, Jesus had all power and authority to carry out the Father's instructions. Why is it so hard for some of us to believe that these miracles really happened? It dishonors the Father for us to have anything less than great expectations of Jesus.
It dishonors the Father for us to have anything less than great expectations of Jesus.
On the last night of his earthly ministry, Jesus said to his disciples: "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves." [Believe me when I say that I am the Father's agent, and I have all power and authority to carry out the Father's instructions. You don't have to take my word for it. Look at the miracles. They are evidence that I am the Father's agent, and I have all power and authority to carry out the Father's instructions.]
In the very next breath, Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do what ever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."
Jesus gave his followers an incredible promise: "You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it."
Listen carefully to the flow of the text. This promise does not come out of nowhere. It is connected to the text that comes before, and it is connected to the text that follows.
In the text that comes before this promise Jesus explains that he is the Father's agent. Because he is in the Father and the Father is in him, he speaks and acts according to the Father's instructions and he has all power and authority to carry out the Father's instructions.
In the text that follows this promise Jesus says to his disciples: "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth. … You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. … On that day you will realize that I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."
In other words: [You are my agents. Because you are in me and I am in you, you are expected to speak and act according to my instructions. Because I am going to the Father, the Spirit will come to you. You are my agents. Through the Spirit you will have all power and authority to carry out my instructions.]
"You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it."
[You are my agents. Because you are in me and I am in you, you are expected to speak and act according to my instructions. Because I am going to the Father, the Spirit will come to you. You are my agents. Through the Spirit you will have all power and authority to carry out my instructions.]
Why is it so hard for some of us to believe that miracles still happen? It dishonors the Father for us to have anything less than great expectations of the Spirit of Jesus.
The famous evangelist to Korea, R.A. Torrey, wrote these words (R.A. Torrey, The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power, pgs. 109-110.): "There is no use in our trying to approach God in any other way than in the name of Jesus Christ, and on the ground of His claims upon God, and on the ground of His atoning death whereby He took our sins upon Himself and made it possible for us to approach God on the ground of His claims upon God.
"While we have no claims upon God because of any goodness or service of our own, Jesus Christ, as we have said, has infinite claims upon God and has given us the right to approach God in His name, and we ought to go boldly to God and ask great things of God.
"… Do you realize that we honor the name of Christ by asking great things in that name? Do you realize that we dishonor that name by not daring to ask great things in that name?"
Francis MacNutt is another person who experienced an awakening to the reality of Christ's power to heal. It took several years, but when he finally became convinced that Christ's power to heal is no less today than it was two thousand years ago, he devoted himself to prayer ministry. Once, in a TV interview in Australia, he was asked: "Don't you think it's unusual that you, a Catholic priest, are a faith healer?" He responded, "I think it would be even more unusual if I were not!" (Francis MacNutt, Healing, pg. 18.)
In many parts of the world, it is a normal part of Christian faith to acknowledge that the risen Christ, through his Spirit and to the glory of the Father, has authority over nature, and the evil one, and sickness, and even death.
In the west, in the world that you and I are a part of, this is not generally the case. We seem to have more trouble than our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world believing that the power of Christ to intervene in worldly matters is entirely real and relevant.
In part, we do not believe because we have seen believers crushed with doubt and despair, and even guilt and shame, when their fervent prayers for physical healing have gone unanswered. May the church, its pastors and its people, repent of every word or act that has placed the blame for such occurrences on the one whose prayers were not answered in the way that was asked.
The name of Jesus is not a magical incantation that brings an automatic response dependent only on the quantity of faith of the one who intones it. The amount of faith required is miniscule-only the size of a mustard seed. What truly makes a prayer one that is in the name of Jesus is not the rote verbalization of those words, but rather the union of the pray-er with Christ in such a way that what is asked is in accordance with his instructions and will result in glory to his name. We are called to ask with great expectations! We are equally called to leave the response in God's hands!
In part, we do not believe because we do not see. We are like Thomas being told of the risen Christ: "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." (John 20:25)
Why do we not see?
Sometimes we do not see simply because our eyes are blinded to the miracles that happen all around us. Our rational, scientific worldview simply prevents us from noticing that which does not fit.
Beyond that, I propose that there are two reasons.
The first reason I propose is that Jesus has become too familiar to us. We know him too well, or at least we think we do. The Bible says that Jesus was unable to perform many miracles in his hometown because the people could not see past their familiarity with him as the son of Mary and Joseph. They had no expectation that he would do great things in their midst. Therefore, he did few great things in their midst. We are called to ask with great expectation!
The second reason I propose is that we in the west have become hesitant to teach and to learn the demands of discipleship. We want to be Christians by label but not necessarily by lifestyle. We want to follow Jesus on Sunday and go about our usual lives Monday through Saturday. The church has hesitated to call people to such complete surrender that they might truly be agents of Christ in this world.
The name of Jesus is not a magical incantation that brings an automatic response dependent only on the quantity of faith of the one who intones it. The amount of faith required is miniscule-only the size of a mustard seed. What truly makes a prayer one that is in the name of Jesus is not the rote verbalization of those words, but rather the union of the pray-er with Christ in such a way that what is asked is in accordance with his instructions and will result in glory to his name.
I am left with two questions for myself: (1) Have I really surrendered so fully to Jesus that I have no agenda of my own but only a desire to speak and act according to his instructions? (2) When I pray, do I pray with great expectations (while leaving the response in God's hands)?
Lord, give me the grace, give us the grace, to answer those questions: yes!
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