As we reflect this week on the aspirations and achievements of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we can remember this description that Jesus gives of what serving in the kingdom of God is like: God starts small.
Maybe like Martin Luther King Jr. and like Jesus, your heart is grieved by the brokenness of men, women, and children in your community who are afflicted by injustice and hatred. Jesus saw the people of Israel as sheep without a shepherd, and he had compassion on them. Martin saw the riots and despair of black people in America, and taught them the way of love.
But it started small. Before Martin was famous he was a nobody, just a student, a young minister, a family man and friend. Before Jesus was famous, he was an outcast, a refugee, a scandalized boy, a backwater laborer, but a good son and neighbor to all. And you: you don’t need to be famous for the kingdom of God to take root in you. God starts small.
Do you ever see injustices in your community? Do you have any friends who must fight off the oppressive despair that pervades in our culture towards minorities and immigrants? Does your heart ever get stung by the tears of those close to you who get the shaft? Do you ever wonder what you could do about it? God starts small.
But in God’s kingdom, when God starts small, well, it doesn’t stay that way. When God goes about sowing seeds of justice and peace, righteousness and truth through our serving, it may start small but it will grow. Jesus describe the kingdom of God like this:
“It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
Many of us who sit on the branches stretching forth from the seed of the tree that men and women like Jesus and Martin planted. What will we do with the seeds God has given us? Will we start serving, or do nothing?
Doing something usually means joining in on what is already at work to bring healing and justice to what is wrong and wounded in our world. But to do something first starts with being present with those whose cries you hear. Martin was a pastor, Jesus was a shepherd, and you as a friend must be with those and hear their stories, their pain, their prayers.
God starts small. And we must strive to protect what gets planted, for there are always those wanting to uproot saplings of justice to preserve their power and wealth. In our city there are those who profit by the oppression of our neighbors. As they say, follow the money. Start serving. Search for truth. Seek righteousness for all.
As we remember the life of MLK, a minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us recommit to planting the seeds of the kingdom of God – being present to what has been sowed in us and our neighborhoods- nourishing it, fighting for it – for all God’s children.
What can you do, if you were to start small? Volunteer in your school with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Get to know a neighbor through NeighborLink. Help build a home with Habitat for Humanity. Mentor with the Urban League, Blue Jacket, or the Rescue Mission. Teach adults to read with Literacy Alliance. Invest in youth at your local YMCA or Boys and Girls Club. And so many more!
Pay attention to your local school board, city council and county council, then vote. Walk the sidewalks and greet neighbors. Pray for people at church and in your community that you’ve gotten to know.
Visit prisoners in the county jail. Donate to Redemption House. Figure out how to start or support small businesses in the south side of town like Bravas, George’s International Market, Friendly Fox, and so many more. God starts small. Start serving, dream big, join God in what he’s doing in our community, work for justice, for all.
