The Mustard Seed Isn’t What You Think

Sunday, March 22, 2026

Scriptures: Luke 13:10-16, 13:17-19, Ezekiel 17:22–23, Daniel 4:10-12

• Sermon Summary

  In part 5 of our Parables of Grace series, we look at the Mustard Seed in Luke 13. The seed's smallness was a well-known cultural reference, so Jesus adds a subversive "twist" to the story. He uses the Old Testament prophetic imagery (Daniel, Ezekiel) of a "tree" where birds perch—but instead of a majestic cedar, he describes a scrubby, invasive bush that pops up where it isn’t expected and welcomes those who are not supposed to be there.

  Jesus shows us that grace is like that shrub: it is messy, it spreads, and it gives shelter to the very people we’d rather shoo away. The context for the parable is this: Jesus heals a woman who was crippled for 18 years, he heals her on the Sabbath, making a point that God’s Kingdom always welcomes those our systems often reject. Jeremy’s invitation for us was in allowing this imagination of the kingdom inform the ways we live our lives and interact with others.

• Discussion Guide

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

  Connect: Take a moment to think about this question:

  • When you picture what God’s kingdom should look like in the world, what comes to mind?

  Share just one word that describes God’s kingdom for you , it will be fun to see what initial associations and images come up for people.

  Share: Take time to expand on your perspective on the kingdom of God.

  For the religious leaders Jesus is interacting with, their imagination of the kingdom of God was shaped by the imagery from their tradition, in particular, the words of the Old Testament prophets (Daniel and Ezekiel) and the evocative  imagery of a strong and splendid tree where birds find shelter. That imagery corresponded to their vision of a great and powerful nation that one day will attract all other nations.

  • How has your imagination of the kingdom of God changed, or been challenged and reshaped, recently or over the years?

  Reflect: First, reflect together on the context for this parable. And then if you want to, you can talk about the reaction of the religious leaders to the correction that Jesus has offered them.

  • How does the act of Jesus’ healing of the sick woman on the Sabbath correct the understanding and practice of the law of the religious leaders, especially their perspective on rest on Sabbath?

  • How does Jesus expand the idea of rest? What do you think about the link between rest and justice? (Jermey said, “your rest cannot come at the expense of someone else, in this case the woman who was bound by a disease for 18 years.”)

  Now, turn to the reception of correction.

  Jeremy said:
  “I don't think Jesus is trying to humiliate anyone. First, his priority is clearly the woman not these men, the person who is being subjected to scriptural interpretations that value pedantry over care.

  But still in everything, I've come to understand about Jesus, and watching the way that he interacts even with his critics, I have to imagine that his hope here in this moment, it’s not that they're humiliated but that they actually hear what he's saying.

  Changing your mind based on new information might be humbling but it is not a humiliation to admit that you were wrong. In fact, it’s actually in refusing to admit our mistakes where correction shifts from a blessing to a curse.”

  • What helps you feel less vulnerable or on guard when a correction is offered?

  • Can you share a time when you had a 'theological' or personal bias overturned? In what was it was a blessing or did it feel like a curse at the moment?

  Engage: So, in the story, the religious leaders rebuked the woman who was healed instead of rebuking Jesus.

  • Why do you think they target the person who received grace instead of the one who extended it?

  • What is attractive about the image of God’s invasive and unexpected grace? And how does this parable challenge our desire for a “manicured” (or should we say controlled) community and our attempts at it?

  • What feels personal about this parable and its context for you?

  Take away: Read this quote from Jeremy’s message:
  “This story isn't about a kingdom that surprises us with scale,
  it’s about a kingdom that surprises with it’s character.

  This isn't a story about a kingdom that overwhelms us with majesty and spectacle,
  it’s about a kingdom that looks decidedly ordinary.

  This isn't a story about eschatology. It’s not about— one day when the kingdom will take over - because this is a story about Grace.
  A kingdom that exist, right now, in our midst, popping up and poking through all around us all the time.
  And our consistent ability to constantly overlook it.”
  
  Then think about the areas of you life in three concentric circles.

  You personally at the centre, your loved ones in the middle circle, the people you work with or who are part of your life in the most outer circle.

  Take a minute to quietly pray for one thing in each circle where you do not want to miss and overlook God’s grace or surprising appearance of God’s kingdom.

  Benediction based on the sermon:

  As you go into your week, may you have the eyes to see:
  A kingdom that pops up unexpected
  A kingdom that tends to cross our manicured lines
  A kingdom that provides shelter for the ignored
  And food for the hungry.

  That kingdom would look absolutely gorgeous in any garden
  Jesus would be interested in planting,

  So may that kingdom shape the way we care each other in the meantime. Amen

• Service Songs & Prayers

  CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 146

  MUSIC Curated by Curt Muller
  Elevation Worship - God Is Not Against Me
  Commons Worship - Restore My Soul
  Bethel Music - If The Lord
  All Sons & Daughters - Great Are You Lord
  
  RESPONSIVE PRAYER
  Written by Scott Wall
  Adapted from St. Anselm's 'Lord, Teach Me To Seek Thee
  
  On this fifth Sunday of Lent, I invite you to pray alongside St. Anselm — who, in the 11th century, composed a prayer entitled “Lord, Teach Me To Seek Thee.”
  
  In adopting some of his words today, perhaps you’ll hear the echo of your own heart’s longing — or, at the very least, sense that your weakest, quietest capacity for prayer is a sign of grace.
  
  I will offer some of Anselm’s adapted words, which will appear on the screen.
  And I invite you to respond together with the words of the Jesus prayer.
  
  Let us pray.
  
  Leader:
  Lord, teach us to seek you - and reveal yourself as we do.
  For we cannot seek unless you teach us, nor do we find you unless you reveal yourself.
  
  All:
  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
  
  Leader:
  Lord, I thank you that you’ve made me in your image — and that this helps me be mindful of your presence.
  Even as I confess that your image in me is shadowed and obscured by both vice and sorrow.
  
  All:
  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
  
  Leader:
  Oh, supreme and unapproachable light - oh holy and blessed truth -
  You are far from me, and yet so near to me.
  You are present everywhere, and yet I see you not.
  In you I move and have my being, and yet - so often - I feel you not.
  
  All:
  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
  
  Leader:
  Oh teach me Lord to seek you.
  Amen.
  
  SERIES BUMPER
  Parables of Grace