Mark 4:26-34
He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
For whom are we providing shade and shelter?
In today's passage, Jesus is exploring what the Kingdom of God is like. He offers the example of the mustard seed. In our much less agricultural setting today, these parables might not connect as easily as they once did, but it is worth considering how welcoming the Kingdom is when it is more and more developed – all the birds of the air find a home.
How are we building a Kingdom that includes? Who's not finding shade and shelter among us? How might we deepen in living in the love and showing the love of Jesus to everyone around us?