More Than Meets the Eye

Matthew 13:31-33
The Rev. Dr. Robert S. Langworthy, preaching
February 23, 2025

God loves to reveal Himself in what at first hides Him. When He in the flesh first appeared on earth, He was hidden in a poor, helpless baby born in a barn.  When He paid the price necessary for the salvation of the world, He was hidden in a humiliated, bloodied wreck of a man hanging on a cross.  And even when at Easter He broke the hold of mortality on humanity and took the life out of death, His full glory was still so hidden that a number of those who knew Him well initially mistook Him for a gardener, a ghost or a stranger they’d never met before.

The God who loves to reveal Himself in what at first hides Him loves also to act behind the scenes, unseen and unappreciated.  This God demands no attention, but accepts going unnoticed by all but those who are looking for Him.

God’s fiercest labors of love occurred in a small inconsequential country overlooked by most power brokers and influencers of the day.  While Jesus was a striking figure to many, those who joined His movement were few and decidedly unimpressive. And, though Jesus made something of a mark, the world showed no overall difference when He left.

Ah, but there was more to Him and what He did than meets the eye!

Jesus tells today’s two parables to convey how the invisible may be real, the out-of-sight may bear an awesome might, and something magnificent may be occurring without registering much on most folks’ consciousness.

Of all the seeds native to Israel, the mustard is the smallest.  Yet, when it is planted, when it is put underground and thus out of view, that tiny, seemingly insignificant grain of organic matter bursts forth with potent and substantial impact.  From that dead-looking speck of non-descript stuff, there grows a tree so large and lush that all kinds of birds make their home in it.

This gives us a picture by which to think about how Jesus, imperceptibly but inexorably, brings the kingdom of heaven to earth and builds His church there.  Though His church is a modest thing in its present state, it’s on its way to its ideal state, a radically bigger and better state – as His people persevere in prayer and in embodying His love in the humble ways of which they are capable.

The second parable – about a few pinches of yeast that, “mixed in with three measures of flour”, raise a whole lot of bread dough – also gives a picture by which to think about how what is hidden and humble for the time being ends up awesome at last.  If the force of fermentation secreted in an ounce of yeast can lift 50 pounds of dough, which is what three biblical measures of flour weigh, we may realize we can’t judge a book by its cover, a grace by its initial impressiveness, or a miracle by its size at the start.

But what we can do is fulfill our next-to-nothing part in the accomplishment of God’s great purposes.  We can steadfastly carry out the assignments He gives us, though they be as small as a mustard seed or as light as an ounce of yeast, in the faith that, though our contribution is miniscule, it is also crucial to His plan.  What we do matters, even though it may not amount to much in our eyes.

Leighton Ford tells a story about a man who, giving God the little he had, set in motion a huge transformation of himself.  George Gutzke was a large, physically imposing man who had been the boxing champion of the Canadian army. Though a long-time agnostic, he began to wonder, upon getting to know a man who centered his life on Jesus and radiated joy and loving concern for everyone, whether God might exist after all.

One day, as Gutzke was walking home from work, a thought struck him: “If God does exist, then He can see me right now.”  The idea stopped him in his tracks, and he stood there silent and still, pondering the notion.  Suddenly, he felt compelled to take off his hat.

In those days, gentlemen took off their hats to pay their respects.  So George Gutzke took off his hat to God; and, before he knew it, he was praying, “God, I don’t know whether you are there or not…But I want to know…So please show me if you are real.”  Gutzke later said, “In that moment, I felt as if something important had happened.”  But he couldn’t identify it, shrugged his massive shoulders, put on his hat, and walked on home.

It wasn’t a dramatic moment.  It wasn’t even an emotional one.  There was just the recognition of a possibility and a determination to keep an eye out for a reality he wasn’t sure he should expect to encounter.  It was just him there, taking one little tentative step toward finding out whether the God who said, “Seek and you shall find,” does in fact exist.

Gutzke did seek and did find, and ended up living a life of vibrant faith that over the years lighted the way for many others to seek God and find Him themselves.

It all started with one mustard seed of a moment and one ounce of yeast worked into the dough of a soul.  Then this led to that; and George Gutzke came to discover there’s always more than meets the eye.

Seeking to know God at all, or seeking to know Him all the more, may not involve anything dramatic or particularly promising in our view.  It may be as simple as attending worship, listening to a stillness in the air, saying a word or two of prayer, writing a senator about what’s fair, picking up a neighbor’s trash.  Inside the unremarkable, we may find great treasure:  a revelation of God, an elevation of a heavy heart, a tranquilization of an anxious mind, an inspiration to action, the kingdom of heaven emerging out of one of its many hiding places.