No matter one’s political affiliation or racial identity, it would be difficult to not be moved by the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United States on the day following Martin Luther King Day.
Early that day, I saw an interview of former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell. He pointed out that when he began his military service he was a second class citizen. He recounted that when he was traveling to Fort Benning, Georgia that there was only one motel south of Baltimore in which he was permitted to stay the night.
I couldn’t help but think of Rosa Parks and “mustard seeds.” If Rosa Parks had not refused to give up her seat on the bus, it is doubtful that a black man would have been inaugurated the 44th President of the United States. Of course, she had no idea what the ultimate result of her action would be. She might have thought her act to be futile or of little significance.. That’s how it often is with mustard seeds. The seed seems so small and insignificant, but it is from such that the Kingdom of God springs.
Jesus said, "What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I liken it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast into his own garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air dwelt in its branches.
Keep that in mind, the next time you are tempted to perform an act of faith, thinking that it won’t matter. One can never see the future or how God might use your mustard seed faith.
As the rapper Jay-Z put it, “"Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so we can all fly."
Go plant those mustard seeds!
©2009 C. David Hess
Early that day, I saw an interview of former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell. He pointed out that when he began his military service he was a second class citizen. He recounted that when he was traveling to Fort Benning, Georgia that there was only one motel south of Baltimore in which he was permitted to stay the night.
I couldn’t help but think of Rosa Parks and “mustard seeds.” If Rosa Parks had not refused to give up her seat on the bus, it is doubtful that a black man would have been inaugurated the 44th President of the United States. Of course, she had no idea what the ultimate result of her action would be. She might have thought her act to be futile or of little significance.. That’s how it often is with mustard seeds. The seed seems so small and insignificant, but it is from such that the Kingdom of God springs.
Jesus said, "What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I liken it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast into his own garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air dwelt in its branches.
Keep that in mind, the next time you are tempted to perform an act of faith, thinking that it won’t matter. One can never see the future or how God might use your mustard seed faith.
As the rapper Jay-Z put it, “"Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so we can all fly."
Go plant those mustard seeds!
©2009 C. David Hess
