The Unexpected Kingdom

Rev. Joshua D. Ward

2 hours ago

2 min read

God is still planting

Man in straw hat plants seedlings at sunset in a garden with signs reading Kindness, Justice, Belonging, Hope. — Maybe our assignment this week is simply to find one patch of ground around us and help the garden grow again.

By Rev. Joshua D. Ward, Pastor Omega Baptist Church

Sometimes you can look at the world around you and know:

This is not the way it is supposed to be.

Children shouldn't have to grow up afraid of being shot.

Parents shouldn't have to bury their children.

Families shouldn't be destroyed by addiction.

People shouldn't go hungry while others have more than enough.

People shouldn't be judged by the color of their skin.

Something within us recognizes that we were made for something better.

Jesus once said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field.” I've always focused on what Jesus says next—that the tiny seed eventually grows into something surprisingly large. But recently another word caught my attention: Field.

The Bible begins with God planting a garden. The garden represents life as God intended it: humanity in right relationship with God, with one another, with creation and even with ourselves. But things went wrong.

By Genesis 3, the ground produces thorns and thistles. The garden has become a field—a place where good things can still grow, but where they struggle alongside things trying to choke the life out of them.

Sounds a lot like our world.

But here's the good news: God didn't abandon the field.

Jesus says someone took a seed and planted it right in the middle of it. That's what God's Kingdom is about. It is God refusing to surrender what hatred, violence, greed, injustice and sin have damaged. It is God bringing life back into places where death has taken root.

And God invites us to participate.

Every time we feed somebody who is hungry, the garden grows.

Every time we welcome somebody who has been excluded, the garden grows.

Every time we speak for somebody who has been silenced, the garden grows.

Every time we choose reconciliation instead of retaliation, the garden grows.

Every time we seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly, the garden grows.

Maybe that's why Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That prayer isn't merely asking God to do something. It's volunteering to become part of the answer.

When we pray for hungry people to be fed, God may ask us to open our pantry.

When we pray for lonely people to find community, God may ask us to make room at our table.

When we pray for injustice to end, God may ask us to raise our voice.

When we pray for reconciliation, God may ask us to take the first step.

The field is damaged, but it still belongs to God.

And God is still planting.

Maybe our assignment this week is simply to find one patch of ground around us and help the garden grow again.