This is such a powerful saying for me. I was brought up to think that Christians had to be salt and light. And this was often expressed in very aggressive terms - much more so than I believe Jesus meant.  In recent years we have rediscovered the kingdom metaphors of hiddeness. The tiny seed that becomes a vast refuge. The yeast that unseen works its way through the dough. I love the saying - the more momentum you want then the slower you have to start. So.. start with the mustard seed, plant it, be patient, pray over it, and wait for it to grow.

We must be sure the seeds we sow are the seeds that will grow God’s Kingdom.A word, a smile, an act or gift of love may be such. Saint James reminds us that a great stack of timber may be set ablaze by a small spark: he was warning of the sharp or careless word!We have to tune in to God in prayer, not just daily but on the instant; before a potentially fraught meeting, I sometimes arrow the prayer, ‘Set a watch,dear Lord, upon my lips - let me speak your peace!’

What a wonderful description Jesus gives us! And how that kingdom can grow, as we support, nurture and feed the birds in the branches so that they in turn disperse further seeds so that the kingdom will grow. Let us spread out the branches, so that ‘Thy will be done’ through each of us! For isn’t the Kingdom of God about love and caring on earth for each other, through which we come to share everlasting love in God’s kingdom in heaven?

Jesus also said: “… the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20).  Perhaps already, then, we each have a tiny seed of the kingdom of God planted within us, and that seed will grow according to the type of soil it finds and the nurture that it is given, until it may become like a great tree whose roots fill every part of the garden, sturdy and strong to support our fellow creatures, serving them with shade from the sun and shelter from the storm.

Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God,
In every part with praise,
That my whole being may proclaim
Thy being and Thy ways. (Horatius Bonar)

The early disciples could never have imagined the impact which Christianity would have on our world, but the actions they did in the name of Jesus, however small, were essential for the eventual propagation of the faith throughout the world.

Whatever God calls us to do, however small we may think it is, will be a catalyst to bring about something wonderful.  “... and you shall renew the face of he earth”

At times we feel unworthy or incapable of the task which God has set for us - as kingdom people to fulfil the line of the Lord’s prayer “Your kigdom come ... on as as in heaven”.  But then we should remember this verse. If we live as best we can as kingdom people - in the knowledge of God’s love and that he equips us for the task - then our contribution to establishing God’s kingdom here on earth, small though it may appear to us, will be like that mustard seed and our contribution combined with that of other kingdom people will grow and flourish. Plant and nurture that mustard seed today !