Tawa Baptist

Lost & Found

Scripture: Luke 15:1-10

Video Link: https://youtu.be/jqYP-goOQk8

Audio Link: Stream Sermon – 15 Feb 2026 – Lost & Found by tawabaptist | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The lost leaders
  • The lost sheep
  • The lost coin
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Over the years the metal flashing above our ranch slider has deteriorated.

The purpose of the flashing is to keep the rain out, which makes the flashing fairly important. Rust was showing through the paint. Not only did it look rude, but if I let it go too long, the rust might make holes in the metal.  

So, I decided to restore it. This involved grinding away the rust with a wire brush, then applying a special rust converter to the metal, followed by a rust kill primer and two topcoats of rust kill paint.

Although I’m not ready to quit my day job, just yet, I did enjoy the work. There is a certain pleasure in restoring things. Hopefully my restoration efforts last.

Today we continue our series on the parables of Jesus. Last week we heard about the ten minas and this week our focus is Jesus’ twin parables of the lost sheep and lost coin in Luke 15. These parables are primarily about heaven’s joy in seeing the restoration of people. From verse 1 of Luke 15 we read…

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coinsand loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

The lost leaders:

Having purpose in life is like carrying a compass. Purpose helps us to remember the direction we are headed so we don’t lose our way. Jesus’ parables, in Luke 15, are like a compass, they remind us of our true north. They point to our true purpose and direction.

The 13th Century Sufi poet, Rumi, once wrote: “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.”

This quote speaks to a person’s purpose in life. It helps us to remember the direction we are headed so we don’t lose our way. Rumi was not a Christian, he was a Muslim, and yet his words in this instance are in line with the true north of Jesus’ teachings.

To be a lamp is to help someone find their way in the darkness.

To be a lifeboat is to save someone from drowning.

To be a ladder is to lift someone out of a hole.

And to walk out of your house like a shepherd is go into the world with the purpose of caring for others.    

Luke introduces the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin by pointing to Israel’s lost leadership. From verse 1 we read…

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Tax collectors were part of the machinery which oppressed the Jewish people. They were often suspected of theft, taking more than they should to line their own pockets. Not surprisingly, tax collectors were hated and ostracised.  

The term ‘sinners’ included two groups of people. Those who broke the moral law and those who broke the ceremonial law. The ten commandments are an example of the moral law. Rules about what you can and cannot eat or touch are an example of the ceremonial law.

Those who broke the ceremonial law were not necessarily immoral or unethical. They might be honest hard-working individuals who kept the ten commandments. It was simply their misfortune to work in a trade that made them ceremonially unclean, therefore prohibiting them from gathered worship.     

The Pharisees and teachers of the law were among Israel’s leadership.

They were a religious sect, known for their strict observance of the Jewish law. Not just the written law of Moses, but also the oral tradition that had evolved around the law of Moses. The Pharisees had added a lot of their own rules to God’s law and anyone who did not keep their rules they labelled a sinner.

The Pharisees believed God’s purpose was to destroy those they considered to be sinners. They thought nothing gave God greater joy than annihilating people who sinned. And so, they separated themselves from large sections of society. Sadly, the Pharisees had lost their way.  

Jesus was very different from the Pharisees. There was something attractive about Jesus and his teaching. Tax collectors and sinners were drawn to Jesus and Jesus welcomed them. More than simply welcoming them, Jesus ate with them. And to eat with someone in that culture was to basically make friends with them, to accept them.

In the minds of the Pharisees, Jesus tarred himself with the same brush when he ate with these people who broke their rules. That’s why they muttered against Jesus.     

Jesus spoke these parables (in Luke 15) to show the Pharisees were wrong about God’s purpose. God does not derive joy from destroying people. Quite the opposite in fact. God does not want anyone to perish. God’s purpose is to restore creation, especially his human creatures. Heaven rejoices when the lost are found and people are restored to right relationship with God.

If the Pharisees really wanted to please God, they would not separate themselves from the world. They would join God in his redemptive purpose in the world. They would be a lamp or a lifeboat or a ladder to help others heal. They would walk out of the house (of their manmade rules) like a shepherd.

The lost sheep:

Jesus addresses the lost Pharisees by saying in verse 4, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them…”

Now, when we read this, we think nothing of it. But to the ears of a Pharisee this would grate. It might even sound offensive.

Abraham was a shepherd. Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd.

The Old Testament prophets sometimes referred to Israel’s leaders as shepherds. But despite this, the Pharisees despised shepherds. A shepherd’s work often prevented them from participating in ceremonial worship and, when a sheep went missing, the shepherd was suspected of theft.

Jesus asks the Pharisees to imagine being a shepherd who loses one of their sheep. A shepherd who loses sheep is failing in their job. Jesus seems be implying here that the Pharisees (who are among Israel’s leadership) are like shepherds who lose sheep. In which case the Pharisees have forgotten God’s restorative purpose and are failing in their responsibility to the people.  

Jesus continues his parable saying: Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

Now when I first read this, I thought, that doesn’t make sense, leaving the 99 to fend for themselves in the wilderness, while you go searching for the one lost sheep. The shepherd would probably return to find more sheep missing.

Reading the experts on this passage though, I learned that with a flock of 100 sheep in the middle east there would likely be at least two or three shepherds, so the 99 would not be left on their own. They would still be protected.

Even so you might wonder why the shepherd would go to the trouble of searching for one sheep. I mean, is it worth it? The wilderness is not a safe place. Not only was the shepherd risking his own life, but he could spend many hours searching only to find the sheep dead, killed by a wild animal or something.

Well, shepherds in the first century needed to find the lost sheep, whether dead or alive, in order to exonerate themselves. If you could bring the sheep back alive, all well and good. But even if you brought the sheep back dead, at least then you could prove you had not stolen it and so preserve your honour.      

Before I took to the metal flashing on our house with a grinder, I didn’t know what I might find. Was it just surface rust or was the flashing rusted right through? If it was rusted through, then I had a bigger problem. Still, I needed to find out, so I proceeded in hope and my hope was rewarded with joy.     

The shepherd in Jesus’ parable has an attitude of hope. He is prepared for the worst but hopes for the best. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Jesus’ attitude toward people is one of hope. He doesn’t write a person off as irredeemable. Jesus holds out hope for people.

Everyone, I believe, has at least a little bit of Pharisee in them. Jesus is inviting the Pharisee in each of us to live in hope. Hope for ourselves and hope for others. Do you know someone who is lost? A friend or family member or perhaps someone you don’t like that much. Hold out hope for them.

Pray for them. Who knows what God might do.      

The shepherd’s hope is rewarded when he finds the lost sheep alive. Of course, finding the sheep is one thing, restoring it is another. After finding the sheep, the shepherd then puts it on his shoulders and carries it home.

Carrying a sheep is heavy, dirty work but the shepherd does this joyfully.

He is happy to find the sheep alive, yes, but he also enjoys the work of restoring the sheep, as messy and difficult as that work is.

Restoring the metal flashing on our house was dirty work. I got proper grubby. But there was a certain satisfaction in the process as well. Restoring people is not as straight forward as removing rust or carrying sheep. People are more complicated. We have set backs but, by God’s grace, we also make headway sometimes. We need to be kind to ourselves and celebrate the little wins along the way.    

The shepherd’s joy does not end there. When he gets home, the shepherd calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

Jesus is saying to the Pharisees here, you should be happy that I am welcoming sinners and eating with them. I know it appears dirty to you, but this is what the work of restoration looks like. You shouldn’t be muttering behind my back. You should be celebrating with me.

I’m fulfilling God’s purpose. I’m being a lamp to those in darkness. I’m being a lifeboat to those who are drowning. I’m being a ladder for others to climb out of a hole and heal. I’m walking into the world with the mindset of a shepherd.

In verse 7 Jesus explains the main point of the parable, saying: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Jesus is letting the Pharisees know that their values and priorities are very different from heaven’s values and priorities. The Pharisees have lost the compass of God’s purpose and in so doing have become lost themselves.   

Given that heaven rejoices when a sinner repents, so too should we. Perhaps for those in heaven, seeing a person repent is like watching someone on your favourite team score a goal or a try or hit a six. The crowd goes wild.

What then does it mean to repent? The word repent literally means to turn around and go in the other direction. Do a U turn basically. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in how one lives.

For a gossip, repentance means learning to be discreet. For someone having an affair, repentance means stopping the affair and remaining faithful to your spouse. For someone prone to arrogance, repentance means being honest with yourself. For the Pharisee in each of us, repentance means trusting Jesus and not relying on our own rules or righteousness.

Repentance happens in a moment but it’s also the work of a lifetime. What is the focus of your repentance right now? What needs to change in your life?    

The interesting thing about the lost sheep is that it does absolutely nothing to be found. The sheep does not know which way to turn. It is powerless to save itself. The sheep’s restoration relies on the shepherd.

Does that mean we don’t need to do anything to be saved? Well, no, our salvation is not automatic. We still need to repent. The point is we cannot repent without God’s grace. God’s grace comes first, before we repent. It’s like Paul says in Romans 8…

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Luke 15 is heavily pregnant with God’s love for us personally. God’s grace in reaching out to save us, before we even knew we were lost and needed saving, speaks to his deep love for humanity. God loves people.

I know it’s difficult to comprehend, but God does not restore us because we repent. No. God restores us because he loves us and delights in restoring people. However, we still need to repent. Faith in Christ and repentance from sin is the right and proper response to God’s prevenient grace and love.

In verse 7 of Luke 15, Jesus says a curious thing. He talks about the 99 being righteous persons who do not need to repent. Hmm? Jesus is probably being ironic here. The wider testimony of Scripture teaches that no one is righteous. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Most people do think they are righteous though, or at least not as bad as others. The truth is most of the time we don’t realise when we are lost. The Pharisees thought they had a monopoly on being right. Little did they know they were more lost than the sinners they despised. We call that dramatic irony.

At the end of the parable the one lost sheep is returned home, while the other 99 are still in the wilderness oblivious to their true condition.     

The lost coin:

We’ve heard about the lost leaders of Israel and the lost sheep. Now let’s consider the lost coin. The parable of the lost coin reinforces the message of the parable of the lost sheep. Heaven rejoices when the lost are found and sinners repent.

If the Pharisees did not like shepherds, they despised women even more.

So Jesus makes a woman the hero of his second parable. Jesus means to challenge the prejudices and misconceptions of the religious leaders. He wants to get under their skin. How else will they realise they are lost?

Anyway, this woman has 10 silver coins and loses one. It could be she was poor and could not afford to lose any money. Or it might be the coin was part of a necklace and losing it would ruin the whole piece of jewelry, like losing a diamond out of an engagement ring.

Whatever the case, the coin is precious to the woman and she searches the house carefully until she finds it. We note the woman is hopeful in her search. It’s not a long shot. The chances of finding a lost coin in a small house are far greater than the chances of finding a lost sheep in the open country.

We also note that finding the lost coin is dirty work. It requires time and effort, not to mention patience and lighting a lamp.

As with the lost sheep, the lost coin does nothing to save itself. The coin cannot move by itself. It is completely powerless and reliant on the woman for its restoration. The woman searches for the coin because she values the coin and cannot bear to lose it.

We are like the coin, powerless to save ourselves. God searches for us because he loves us and doesn’t want heaven without us. 

The search is successful and (like the shepherd) the woman celebrates with her community.

Once again Jesus is saying to the Pharisees, you should be happy that I am welcoming sinners and eating with them. I know it appears dirty to you, but this is what the work of restoration looks like. You should not be muttering behind my back. You should be celebrating with me.

I’m fulfilling God’s purpose. I’m being a lamp to those in darkness. I’m being a lifeboat to those who are drowning. I’m being a ladder for others to climb out of a hole. I am cleaning house. I am helping people to heal.

Jesus concludes this second parable in a similar way to the first, saying:

I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.  

God’s grace comes first but we still need to repent. Repentance, turning away from sin, is the right response to God’s love and grace. The angels of God rejoice over our repentance because they know the obedience of faith pleases the Lord.    

Conclusion:

Jesus practiced what he preached. Later in Luke’s gospel, in chapter 19, we read how Jesus searched for Zacchaeus, the tax collector, and invited himself over for dinner.

Zacchaeus was thrilled by the Lord’s prevenient grace for him and responded with repentance saying: ‘Look, I give half my possessions to the poor and if I have cheated anybody, I will pay back four times the amount.’   

Jesus declared: ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.’

And heaven rejoiced.

Let us pray…  

Loving God, we thank you for sending Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners and powerless to save ourselves. Grant us a growing awareness of your love and grace. Move us to respond with faith and repentance. May our lives bring you joy. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Have you ever restored something? What did you restore and how did you go about it? How did you feel throughout the process of restoration? 
  3. Discuss / reflect on the twin parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. Why did Jesus tell these parables? Compare and contrast the two parables? In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they different?
  4. Why does the shepherd search for the sheep? Why does the woman search for the coin? Why does God go out of his way to restore us?
  5. Do you know someone who is lost? Who? Pray for them. What does it mean to live in hope for ourselves and others?
  6. What does it mean to repent? Why do we need to repent? What is the focus of your repentance right now? What needs to change in your life?   
  7. What examples can you think of (in the gospels or in your own life) where God’s grace comes before repentance?
  8. Who do you identify with most in these parables? Why

Bibliography:

  • William Barclay, ‘The Gospel of Luke’, 1965.
  • Leon Morris, ‘Tyndale Commentaries: Luke’, 1976.
  • Kenneth Bailey, ‘Poet & Peasant’, 1976. 
  • Fred Craddock, ‘Interpretation Commentaries: Luke’, 1990.
  • Darrell Bock, ‘NIV Application Commentary: Luke’, 1996.
  • Joel Green, ‘New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel of Luke’, 1997.
Tawa Baptist

Liminal Experiences

Scripture: Acts 1:1-11

Video Link: https://youtu.be/x8IwMmDbypc

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Proof of life
  • Promise of Spirit
  • Purpose moving forward
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Our lives are peppered with liminal experiences. A liminal experience is a time or place of transition and change. An in-between moment, a period of waiting.

The word “liminal” comes from the Latin word “limen,” which means threshold. A liminal moment therefore is one in which we stand on the threshold of something new and different.

A liminal experience may last only a few seconds or it could last many years. 

The days a caterpillar spends in a cocoon, before it becomes a butterfly;

the years it takes to go through adolescence; the minutes you spend waiting at the bus stop or the train station; these are all examples of liminal time.

Indeed, bus stops and train stations are liminal spaces, places of transition. Pregnancy is a liminal experience, an in between time, when you are waiting on the threshold of a significant life change. The seconds between when a baby is born and takes its first breath is a liminal moment.  

That imperceptible time between waking and sleeping, when your mind is half half-conscious, emerging from a dream; that’s a liminal experience.

Routine, stability, normality are the opposite of liminal experiences. Life in the liminal can feel exciting, like you are on the cusp of realising a long awaited hope. But it can also feel a bit disorienting or scary, because your regular routine is unsettled and you are not sure what comes next.   

Last Thursday was Ascension Day, that day in the Church calendar when we remember Jesus’ ascension to heaven. We usually celebrate Ascension the following Sunday (which is today) because hardly anyone is at church on Thursday.

According to the Bible the risen Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples for 40 days after his resurrection before being taken into heaven. The time in-between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was a liminal period for his followers.

With this in mind we take a break from our series in First Corinthians to focus on Acts chapter 1, verses 1-11, which describes what happened during those 40 days of liminal time. From Acts 1, verse 1, we read…

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized withwater, but in a few days you will be baptized withthe Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Quite a bit happens in the liminal moments of our lives, although we are often unaware of it. There isn’t time now to cover everything Luke writes about in Acts 1, so we will focus on three of the main things that Jesus did in those 40 days of liminal time.

Firstly, Jesus presented himself to his followers, proving that he really is alive and well and risen to eternal life. Secondly, Jesus promised his followers the gift of the Holy Spirit. And thirdly, Jesus gave the apostles purpose moving forward. Let us begin with Jesus’ proof of life.

Proof of Life:

Learning things, taking in new information, is a liminal experience. Learning so it becomes second nature, involves a process of change. With any real learning there is an uncomfortable in-between moment when we are leaving what is familiar to venture into unknown territory.

Take learning to drive for example. Knowing the road code is one thing but actually getting to a place where you feel comfortable behind the wheel is another thing altogether.

If you learned to drive in a manual car, then getting the hang of synchronising the clutch and the accelerator smoothly probably took months of practice.

That practice time was a liminal experience. It may have felt uncomfortable at first, but now you change gear without thinking about it.  

Or take marriage as another example. You have the wedding and become husband and wife, and its lovely and all that, but holding a marriage certificate doesn’t automatically make you a competent marriage partner.

There is a liminal period, which may last a year or two, when you are adjusting to married life. Getting used to living together. Abandoning a single person’s mindset. Sorting out roles and responsibilities. Learning to say, ‘Yes dear, you were right’, and settling into a new rhythm and routine.

Luke, the author of Acts, starts by saying: In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

Luke’s former book is the gospel of Luke. The significant thing here is that Luke says he wrote about all that Jesus began to do. The implication being that Jesus’ earthly ministry was only the beginning. And in fact, what Theophilus is about to read in the book of Acts is the continuation of Jesus’ deeds and words.

Jesus’ ministry on earth was followed by his ministry from heaven, exercised through the Holy Spirit by his apostles. [1] The apostles (empowered by the Spirit) function as Jesus’ hands and mouth. Of course, this all points to the fact that Jesus is not dead, he is very much alive.

Luke draws attention to Jesus’ resurrection in verse 3 where he writes that after his suffering, Jesus presented himself to his apostles and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

As I said earlier, the initial 40 days after Jesus’ death and resurrection was a liminal time. It was an in-between moment, a period of adjustment and learning for Jesus’ followers. 

The apostles had seen Jesus brutally murdered, his body dead and buried.

Then on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead. Even though Jesus had predicted this would happen, it was still a lot for the disciples to process. They needed time for this new information about Jesus to sink in.  

Grief is a liminal experience. It takes time to accept the fact of someone’s death. Have you ever had the experience of losing someone you love and then seeing them in the supermarket or across the street. But it’s not them, because they are gone. Your mind is still in liminal space; still catching up with the reality of what’s happened.  

The apostles had no real chance to come to terms with Jesus’ death, before they had to adjust to his resurrection. Their minds were in liminal space, disoriented, standing on the threshold of something entirely new. 

Learning to trust the reality of Jesus’ resurrection was like going through the grieving process in reverse. It was conceptually more difficult. Death is normal for us, it is commonplace. But Jesus’ resurrection was a first. Yes, people had been resuscitated before but not resurrected to eternal life, like Christ.    

In the same way you don’t learn to drive after one lesson, so too it wasn’t enough for the apostles to see Jesus once. They needed to see the risen Christ several times doing normal things with them (like eating and talking about the kingdom of God) before they could comprehend the reality of his resurrection.

You know, by God’s grace we can believe in the resurrection of Jesus in our head, but it can take years (and much suffering) for that belief to descend into our heart. The journey from the head to the heart is a liminal experience.

The reality of Jesus’ resurrection puts us on the threshold of eternity and all the mystery that entails. 

Okay, so that’s the first thing Jesus does in the 40 days of liminal time prior to his ascension; he offers proof of his own life, helping his followers to adjust to the reality of his resurrection.

The second main thing Jesus does is to promise the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is essential to the work Jesus will do through the apostles. Without the Spirit the apostles have no power or agency, no connection with the living Christ.

Promise of Spirit:

Whenever you go to the beach you become aware of the tidal system. Most of the day the tide is on the move, either going out or coming in. There are times in the day though when the tide is slack. Around high tide and low tide the water is relatively still.

A slack tide is a liminal period for the sea. It’s a time of waiting in-between tidal changes. This liminal time, when the tide is slack, provides a kind of smoko break for sea life. It allows sediment from the seabed to settle so water clarity is restored.   

One of the key characteristics of a liminal experience is having to wait.

Waiting for exam results. Waiting for a break in the traffic. Waiting to hear whether you got the job you interviewed for. Waiting to find out if you have kept the job you’ve got. Waiting for the doctor’s diagnosis. Waiting for the next Covid lockdown announcement.  

Waiting can feel tense or stressful but, if we don’t overthink the unknown, times of liminal waiting also allow the dust to settle. And when the dust settles, we receive the gift of clarity and perspective.    

In verse 4 we read how the risen Jesus said to his apostles, wait for the gift my Father promised, by which he meant the gift of the Holy Spirit.

There were 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and another 10 days between his ascension and the day of Pentecost. Those 50 days (in total) were like a slack tide. They were a liminal time of waiting.

In that time of relative stillness, the sediment stirred up in the apostles’ minds by recent events was allowed to settle, giving them clarity and perspective before the tidal change brought by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Jesus wants his apostles to wait during these 50 days of liminal time, because as any good fisherman knows, you are not likely to catch much when the tide is slack. That is, until the Spirit gets the waters moving.     

Unfortunately, the apostles aren’t quite getting it. They ask Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time give the Kingdom back to Israel?”

In other words, are you now going to boot the Romans out of Israel and put us in charge of our own country again? (Like when David and Solomon were king.) The disciples had confused the spiritual kingdom of God with the political kingdom of Israel.

Jesus’ response shows they were asking the wrong question. First Jesus says, “The times and occasions are set by my Father’s own authority, and it is not for you to know when they will be”. Jesus is basically saying here, ‘forget about the political situation of Israel. That’s not what is important right now’.

Jesus then goes on to show the apostles what is important. He says…

“…when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”    

The apostles’ purpose, their mission, is to be witnesses for Jesus. They are to pass on Jesus’ teaching, tell the truth about his death and resurrection and proclaim salvation through faith in him.

The disciples had been thinking about power in a narrow political sense. They didn’t realise it at that time, but they were standing on the threshold of receiving a different kind of power, the power of the Spirit. The power to bear witness and proclaim, not the power to control or coerce.  

Jesus dismantles the apostles’ nationalism telling them plainly that they will be witnesses, not just to Israel but to the ends of the earth.

I like what John Stott says about these verses: The Kingdom of God is… spread by witnesses, not by soldiers, through a gospel of peace, not a declaration of war and by the work of the Spirit, not by… political intrigue or violence. [2]

Witnesses, not soldiers. The word for witness in Greek is martys, from which we get martyr. To be a witness for Jesus in the first and second centuries was to be a martyr, someone who suffered for their faith. The fact the apostles were ready to die for their witness concerning Jesus, shows their witness is true.

Purpose moving forward:

Although liminal experiences are necessary in helping us to make transitions in life, it’s not good to become stuck in a liminal experience. We need to find our purpose moving forward.

The butterfly can’t fly unless it emerges from the cocoon.  Eventually you have to deliver the baby and when the baby is born it needs to take its first breath. At some point we must leave adolescence behind and accept the responsibilities of adulthood. You can’t live in a bus stop or at the train station. And if we don’t find a way to let go of our grief, well, we get stuck in the past. 

The apostles needed to witness the miracle of Jesus’ ascension, so they didn’t get stuck in their liminal experience. For 40 days since his resurrection, the risen Jesus had been appearing and disappearing. If Jesus just disappeared one day without explanation, the apostles would be left in confusion, stuck in liminal time, not able to cross the threshold and move forward with purpose.

After proving his resurrection and promising the Spirit, Jesus was taken up to heaven as the apostles watched him and a cloud hid him from their sight.

In the Old Testament the presence of the Lord guided the Israelites through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day [3] and when Jesus met with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration a bright cloud enveloped them. [4]

Now, at his ascension, Jesus is taken into a cloud. It was no ordinary cloud that hid Jesus as he ascended. It was a supernatural cloud, a sign of God’s presence.

Jesus’ ascension was a miracle of God, just as the resurrection was a miracle. And because the ascension was a miracle, we don’t need to try and find a materialistic explanation for it. We don’t need to think of heaven as some place up in the sky or in space. Better to think of heaven like another dimension, hidden from our eyes. And the cloud is like a curtain into heaven.   

For the early Christians, Jesus’ ascension was very important. For them the ascension went hand in hand with the resurrection. The disciples would suffer much as witnesses for Christ. The memory of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was an anchor for their faith; something real and tangible they could hold onto when all else was against them.  

Jesus’ ascension means he sits at the right hand of God in heaven, interceding for us with the Father. We do not need to fear, for our best friend (Jesus) is the Lord of the universe.

Verses 10 and 11 of Acts 1 tell us how the disciples were still staring up into the sky (apparently stuck in a liminal moment) when two men dressed in white suddenly appeared beside them and said…

“Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken away from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”

The men dressed in white were probably angels, heavenly messengers sent to help the disciples move forward with purpose. Angels announced the birth of Jesus. Angels announced his resurrection too. Now there are angels again at Jesus’ ascension.

There are two points of application here: Firstly, the apostles were not to become so focused on heaven that they were no earthly use. By the same token they still needed to keep the end in sight. They were not to become so busy ‘witnessing’ that they forgot why they were doing it.  

Like the apostles we need to find our purpose moving forward. We do this by looking outward in compassion to a hurting world and forward in hope to the return of Jesus who makes all things new. 

Conclusion:

Acts 1 describes the liminal experience of Jesus’ apostles in-between the Lord’s resurrection and ascension. What liminal experiences are you going through? What life transitions are you navigating? What thresholds do you stand on the edge of?

Don’t rush it. It takes as long as it takes. Wait for the Spirit. But don’t get stuck in your liminal experience either. When the Spirit comes, move forward with him. Next Sunday is Pentecost.

Let us pray…

Eternal God, help us to wait for you. May the risen Jesus be real for us and may we find our purpose moving forward by your Spirit. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Can you think of some liminal experiences from your own life? What happened? How did you feel? How did you make your way through?
  3. Why are liminal experiences necessary?
  4. Why did the risen Jesus appear to his disciples repeatedly over a period of 40 days?
  5. Why did Jesus tell his disciples to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit?
  6. Why did Jesus ascend to heaven? What difference did Jesus’ ascension make for the disciples? What difference does Jesus’ ascension make for you?
  7. Why is it important not to get stuck in a liminal experience? How might we know when we are stuck? How can we move on?

[1] Refer John Stott’s (BST) commentary on Acts, page 34.

[2] John Stott’s commentary on Acts, page 42

[3] Exodus 13:21

[4] Matthew 17:5

Tawa Baptist

The Mustard Tree

Scripture: Matthew 13:31-33

Video Link: https://youtu.be/kEpEo0T-vtg

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Transformation
  • Abundance
  • Usefulness
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

In our fridge at home, we usually have three different kinds of mustard: mild mustard, which we use on hot dogs and sausages, whole grain mustard, which has a bit more of a kick to it, and Dijon mustard which is useful for making salad dressings.  

Mustard is used all over the world as a condiment or a spice in cooking, from India to Europe, to the Middle East and the Americas, as well as Tawa.

Mustard requires just four ingredients to make: seeds from the mustard plant, vinegar, salt and water.

Today we continue our Testimony of Trees series by focusing on the mustard tree. Three of the four gospels record Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. Our message today draws on Matthew’s version, which also includes Jesus’ parable of the yeast. From Matthew 13, verses 31-33 we read…   

31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” 33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty poundsof flour until it worked all through the dough.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

If you google images of heaven you tend to get pictures of blue sky and rays of light shining through the clouds. But this is not the image Jesus gives of heaven. The images Jesus uses for the kingdom of heaven are very down to earth. A common mustard seed and yeast for baking bread. 

The kingdom of heaven is not so much a geographical location. It’s more a state of being in which God’s will is done perfectly. The kingdom of heaven (also known as the kingdom of God), is characterised by justice and mercy, truth and grace. It is a community of lasting peace, joy and love.

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast are both telling us something about the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven (come to earth) is about transformation, abundance and usefulness. We begin with transformation…

Transformation:

Most of you will have heard of the story of the Ugly Duckling. A mother duck is sitting on her eggs and one of the eggs is larger than the rest and takes longer to hatch. Then, when it finally does hatch, out crawls a drab grey looking creature, not a beautiful yellow chick.  

The ugly duckling looks and feels different to everyone else and because of this he is teased and taunted by the other ducks until finally he leaves home.

But the ugly duckling doesn’t fare much better out in the wide world, because all the other birds he meets also point out his flaws.  

The ugly duckling manages to survive one catastrophe after another until eventually makes it through the winter. Then one spring day, when the lake has melted, some children start throwing bread for him to eat.

And as they do they say to each other, ‘look at that beautiful swan’. The ugly duckling thinks the children are talking about someone else and so he looks down. But as he does, he sees his reflection in the water. He can’t believe his eyes. He was never a duckling in the first place. He had always been a swan.

Now he is able to find his own kind and is welcomed by them

The story of the Ugly Duckling is a parable of transformation, from humble beginnings to a beautiful end. The kingdom of heaven (or the way of God) is like the ugly duckling: different, misunderstood, abused and rejected at first. But in the end God’s will proves perfect and pleasing.

How often do we resist or even despise the will of God, finding it too distasteful, too difficult, too embarrassing, too small or too inconvenient, only to learn in the fullness of time that God’s will was the best thing to have happened to us, better than we expected or imagined.

Although the kingdom of heaven starts out small (like a mustard seed) it finishes up the largest of all garden shrubs. Likewise, although only a small amount of yeast is used in baking, it permeates through a large amount of flour, transforming it into delicious, nourishing bread. 

We note that the yeast permeates the flour from the inside. The kingdom of heaven is not a violent take over from the outside. The kingdom of heaven (like yeast) transforms the world, quietly, from the inside out.

Implied in these parables is an encouragement to persevere. It’s like Jesus is saying, I know the kingdom of heaven doesn’t look like much to start with, but don’t despise small beginnings. You will be surprised to see what comes of it. God’s kingdom (in its fullness) is worth remaining faithful for.  

Jesus was the original ugly duckling.

Jesus was born of a virgin and people questioned his parentage.  

Jesus came as a carpenter, when people were expecting a warrior king.

Jesus spoke the truth, and people threw him out of the synagogue.

Jesus cast out demons, and people accused him of being the devil.

Jesus ate with sinners, and people called him a glutton and a drunkard.

Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, and people crucified him.

But that is not the end of the story, for Jesus embodies the kingdom of God in himself. Jesus is like the mustard seed and the yeast. Jesus’ coming has a transformational effect on the world.

After Jesus died, they laid him in a tomb and on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead, the first of many. If you confess with their mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast show us that the kingdom of heaven, coming to earth, involves a process of transformation. Heaven’s humble beginnings on earth are a complete contrast to its glorious end.

So hang in there – persevere – for God’s kingdom is worth it in the end.           

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast show us the kingdom of heaven is about transformation and abundance.

Abundance:

In verse 32 of Matthew 13 Jesus says that though the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree…

Now in reading this we need to remember, Jesus is not giving a scientific lecture on seeds and plants. This is not a botany lesson. This is a kingdom of heaven lesson. It would be a mistake to test the truth of Jesus’ words using a scientific method. A parable is like poetry, it uses a certain amount of creative license to get the point across.

Jesus’ point is not that mustard seeds are the smallest seeds in all of creation. Mustard seeds are about 2-3 mm’s in diameter. Obviously there some seeds (or spores) which are smaller.

Nor is Jesus saying that mustard trees are the tallest of all trees. A mustard tree might grow between one and two metres tall, maybe more if conditions are right, but we are not talking the height of a kauri tree or an oak.  

Nevertheless, in the context of a herb garden, mustard seeds are tiny in comparison to the size of a mustard tree. And that is the point. From one tiny seed comes an unbelievable transformation and abundance.

You don’t see a lot of mustard trees growing in New Zealand, but you do see quite a bit of gorse. Gorse is not like mustard in every way, but it is similar in some ways.

Gorse and mustard plants are around the same size and both come out in a bright yellow flower. What’s more they are both abundant. Gorse and mustard plants are so quick to self-seed and spread they are considered an invasive weed by some people.  

As many of you will already know, gorse is not native to New Zealand.

Gorse was introduced to New Zealand a couple of hundred years ago from Scotland, I believe, where it is used as an ornamental hedge.

The settlers who introduced the gorse plant to New Zealand did not expect it to become so pervasive. The climate in New Zealand is warmer and so gorse plants grow more rapidly here and are harder to control.

Despite the millions spent on herbicides, slashing and burning, gorse is still found everywhere in New Zealand. In fact, gorse is so resilient that burning just makes it spread further

I imagine it must have come as quite a shock to Jesus’ first century listeners when he compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard plant. They would have been expecting Jesus to say the kingdom of heaven is like a tall cedar of Lebanon, just as we might expect him say the kingdom of heaven is like a mighty Totara of Aotearoa.

Instead, Jesus uses a far more ordinary image, the image of a common shrub that was actually unwanted by many. It would have seemed strange to Jesus’ original audience when he said, a man took a mustard seed and planted it in his field. Why would anyone intentionally plant mustard seed in their field. That would be like a farmer intentionally sowing gorse seed.

But despite being unwanted at first, the kingdom of heaven is resilient.

Not only do we get such an abundance of it from a small seed, once the kingdom of heaven is sown it is practically impossible to get rid of.

The kingdom of heaven spreads everywhere like mustard plants in Palestine or like gorse in New Zealand.

The parable of the yeast also speaks to the abundance of the kingdom of heaven. In verse 33 of Matthew 13 Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty poundsof flour until it worked all through the dough.”

60 pounds is an enormous amount of flour, more than you would normally bake for a family. It would make enough bread to feed a small village.

But that’s the point. Jesus is drawing a comparison between the small beginnings of the kingdom of heaven and the abundance it produces.

This idea of God’s abundance is often lost on us. We live in a society and culture which is more focused on scarcity and missing out. Our economy is driven by demand and supply which assumes there isn’t enough to go around, because sometimes (due to greed) there isn’t enough.

Not so in God’s country. The underlying assumption of the kingdom of heaven is abundance (due to generosity) with more than enough for everyone. Just imagine how different life will be when heaven is realised on earth in its fullness.   

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast show us the kingdom of heaven is about transformation, abundance and usefulness.

Usefulness:

When I was a teenager living at home, we used to grow mustard plants in the vege garden. Once the mustard plant got to a certain height (and before it went to seed) I would dig the foliage back into the soil. The green leaves acted as a fertiliser replenishing the soil’s nitrogen levels.

The mustard plant is useful for more than just fertiliser though. Indeed, the whole of the mustard plant is edible. The roots can be mashed up into a paste to be eaten. The leaves of a young mustard plant can be used in a salad and the seeds from the flowers are used to make the mustard you put on your ham.

In this way, the mustard plant is different from gorse. I wouldn’t advise trying to eat gorse, although goats have been known to feed on it.

Jesus finishes the parable of the mustard tree by saying: it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.

Birds do in fact find sanctuary in the branches of the mature mustard tree, but this is a parable and so the word, birds, has a double meaning. The prophets Daniel and Ezekiel used the image of birds perching in a tree as a metaphor for the gentile nations. 

Many of Jesus’ Jewish audience, therefore, would have understood the birds of the air to be a poetic reference to non-Jews. Once again, Jesus’ parable probably grated with some of his listeners. The nation of Israel, at that time, was under the thumb of the Romans. Some of Jesus’ Jewish listeners would have preferred God to destroy the people of other nations, not create a sanctuary for them.

There is one other way in which the mustard plant is similar to the gorse bush. Just as a mustard plant provides sanctuary for birds, so too the gorse bush is useful in providing a nursery for New Zealand native trees. If you leave gorse undisturbed, native seedlings will grow up through it, protected by the gorse.

In much the same way that gorse is useful for regenerating native bush, so too the kingdom of heaven is useful for regenerating the souls of people of all nations.

We are talking about the usefulness of the kingdom of heaven. In thinking about Jesus’ parable of the yeast, the question of usefulness should be obvious. Bread feeds people.

More than that, fresh bread baked with yeast is usually more pleasant to eat than unleavened flat bread. The yeast of God’s kingdom makes all that it comes in contact with more palatable, more delightful.

Now in case you are thinking, ‘this is just poetry and clever story telling with little or no application to real life’, let me give you some examples of how the mustard seed and the yeast of the kingdom of heaven has made a significant impact on human history (as if the impact of Jesus himself is not obvious enough).

The first hospital was set up by a Christian woman called Fabiola of Rome. Fabiola lived during the fourth century, about 350 years after Jesus. Fabiola came from a wealthy noble family and was married off at a young age to a husband who proved to be abusive and probably unfaithful.

Fabiola found the courage to divorce her brute of a husband and start again. She had to really, for her own survival.

After the death of her second husband, Fabiola had a conversion experience. She used her wealth to build a hospital in Rome where she gave herself to caring for the poor and the sick, those rejected by society because of their illnesses.

You have to understand that there were no hospitals in ancient Rome. The poor would often die in the street. 

Fabiola’s idea of a hospital caught on and spread around the world. Where would we be today without hospitals? Hospitals are like mustard trees in which the sick and injured find sanctuary. There are other examples too of the mustard seed of God’s heavenly kingdom taking root and having a positive effect in the world.

In his sermon last month, Murray Lucas highlighted Christians like Robert Boyle, John Dalton and Michael Faraday who rescued science from the blind superstition of the dark ages, giving us a more reliable scientific method which has enabled the advances in medicine we have today.

Closer to home, many of you will be familiar with the story of Ngakuku and his daughter Tarore. A mustard seed of heaven found its way into Ngakuku’s heart and mind, transforming his way of thinking and living.

Jesus taught us to pray: …forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…

Ngakuku took Jesus’ words to heart. When Tarore was murdered, Ngakuku was determined to forgive those who killed his daughter. Ngakuku discouraged his people from seeking revenge and God honoured Ngakuku’s faith and obedience to Christ.       

Tarore’s killer found a Māori translation of the gospel of Luke in Tarore’s pocket. When someone read the gospel to him, a mustard seed of heaven found its way into his heart and he sought forgiveness from Tarore’s father.

That is the kingdom of heaven at work in people’s lives and relationships.

Small seeds of love and truth growing and spreading to make a positive difference where it matters. What other mustard trees of heaven do you see in the world today?

Conclusion:

The mustard seed and the yeast of the kingdom of heaven are at work all around us, silently and right under our noses. The question is not, what can we do to make the world a better place? The question is: how might we join God in what he is doing in the world?

Let us pray…

Gracious God, open our eyes to the mustard trees and the bread of the kingdom of heaven all around us. Help us to sow the seeds of your love and truth wherever we are. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Do you have mustard at home (in the kitchen or in the garden)? What do you use it for?
  3. What are some of the characteristics of the mustard tree?
  4. What is the kingdom of heaven?
  5. In what ways is the mustard seed similar to the kingdom of heaven? In what ways is yeast similar to the kingdom of heaven?
  6. What mustard trees of God’s kingdom do you see growing in the world today? How might we join God in what he is doing in the world?