Daily Reflection – 10/28/2025
Sacred Scripture
Then he said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and ‘the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.’” Again, he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.” (Luke 13:18-21)
Reflection
I look at our world today and I am touched by sadness. I scratch my head and wonder why, after so much time, we still seem to get so many things wrong. Despite our best intentions, our shared story is often one of confusion and conflict. Wars, famines, and plagues persist, a stark reminder that our world remains topsy-turvy.
It’s in this reality that the words of Jesus, spoken two millennia ago, land with such startling force. He spoke of a new kind of kingdom, a reality that would turn the world’s values completely upside down. He announced that God was coming to lift the lowly and humble the proud, to fill the hungry and send the self-satisfied away empty. This was not a message designed to win friends in high places. From the very beginning, this teaching on God’s upside-down kingdom drew fierce opposition. It was a radical vision that united Pharisees and Sadducees, Jews and Gentiles, philosophers and idolaters, all in their resistance to it.
Yet, Jesus described this world-changing movement with two deceptively simple images: a tiny mustard seed and a bit of leaven. He said the kingdom of God is like a single mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made their nests in its branches. He also compared it to yeast, which a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.
The power is in the smallness. This kingdom didn’t begin with a show of force, but with a nearly invisible seed. And its basic premise is just as beautifully humble: that every single human being carries within them a seed of the divine, an image of God that holds the promise of eternal life. This is not a gift for a select few. It is a grace of transformation offered through Jesus to all of humanity. The inherent goodness we see in people everywhere, across all beliefs and backgrounds, represents a deep yearning for what is yet to be fully revealed.
Yet, if this seed is planted so widely, why does our world still ache? In truth, the responsibility lies closer to home than we often admit. It’s our fault. Not because we are malicious, but because we are neglectful gardeners. Too many of us fail to allow that seed of eternal life to truly take root in our lives.
Think about the things we actively cultivate. We pour energy into the growth of our children. We meticulously plan for the growth of our jobs and careers. We work hard to ensure our relationships grow in love and trust. But when it comes to that divine seed within us? We often leave it unattended in the soil of our hearts. We might read scripture, attend church, or even perform random acts of kindness, but we hesitate to fully commit to its growth. We fail to believe that we, you and I, are truly significant in the flourishing of God’s kingdom on earth. After almost 50 years of active ministry, I believe that as strongly as the day I was ordained.
Jesus promises that this unexpected, order-upsetting kingdom will infiltrate our world anyway. It spreads quietly but persistently, like that mustard seed. It works its way through everything, like leaven permeating the whole batch of our lives. If you and I simply choose to nurture it, it will grow. As it grows, its branches extend, and you become God’s instrument of blessing for others. What a profound and dignifying thought—that your life can become a place of shelter for others.
But this requires a choice. Many prefer the tangible things of this world to the quiet work of God in the soul. We can choose the temporary over the eternal, the worldly over the godly. We opt for the path of least resistance rather than the sometimes thorny path of growth. Perhaps most dangerously, we can drown out the kingdom’s quiet call by living in a bubble of our own making.
Jesus invites us to apply these parables to our own hearts. When we do, we see that the small, often hidden things we do to make ourselves presentable to God can have an enormous impact. To live our lives to the fullest, we must nurture that hidden mustard seed of divine possibility within us. Like the woman who kneads the yeast into the dough, we can do our part. We can contribute freshness, life, and dignity right where we are. Your small acts of kindness, your quiet integrity, your patient love — they all matter more than you know. God’s kingdom begins small in our hearts, but it holds the power to transform the world.
So, the question for today, and for all our tomorrows, is this: will you allow the kingdom of God to have a permanent dwelling in your life, so that God can bless others through you?
Prayer of The Day
“Dear God, overcome our defenses and infect us with your Spirit that sees good where most see evil and offers grace where others would offer condemnation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Daily Note
Our Lord himself was that mustard seed. He chose to be sown like a seed that a man takes and throws on his garden, for it was in a garden that Christ was both arrested and buried. He grew up in this garden and was even raised up again in it. You, too, sow Christ in your gardens, then Sow the Lord Jesus: he was seed when he was arrested, tree when he rose again – a tree overshadowing the world.
Good analogy in the Note.