Di Mustard Seed and Di Yeast

Open your hand. Imagine one seed wey dey sit for your palm, e small reach di point wey e fit lost for di line of your skin. Now imagine birds wey dey build dem nest for wetin e go turn to.

Jesus dey near di Sea of Galilee, dey teach di crowds with parables. E don already tell dem about one farmer wey dey scatter seed, and about bad grass wey grow among di wheat. Maybe some of di people wey dey listen dey wonder. If di kingdom of God dey really come, why e be like say e small like dis? One teacher from Nazareth. Small fishermen. Few villages near one lake. E no too look like di reign of God. So Jesus give dem two small pictures. One from farm. One from kitchen.

Di kingdom of heaven, e talk, be like mustard seed wey one man take and plant for im farm. Di people wey dey listen smile. Everybody know mustard seed. Na wetin people dey mention when dem want talk say something small well well. Jesus imself talk am: among di seeds wey dem dey plant, na im small pass. You no go even feel am when e drop from your fingers. Di man press am enter di ground and waka go. Nothing to see.

But wait one season. Di seed open. One small shoot push come out from di soil. And e no stop. E grow big pass all di garden plants wey dey round am, until e become tree, tall and wide. Then di birds come. Dem fly enter, sit for im branches, and build dem nests there. Di thing wey you no fit even see before, now na house. Some of di people wey dey listen to Jesus fit don hear one echo here. Di prophets bin dey use di picture of one big tree, with birds wey dey build nest for im branches, to describe one strong kingdom.

Then Jesus tell di second story, dis time from kitchen. Di kingdom of heaven be like yeast wey one woman take mix inside three measures of flour, until di whole thing rise. Picture her for early morning, before di heat of di day. One small lump of dough wey don ferment, wey she keep from di bread wey she bake yesterday. She work am inside one big heap of flour, dey press and dey fold, until you no fit see di yeast again. E don hide. Then she cover di bowl and wait.

Nothing happen. No be for di beginning. But inside dat dough, something dey work quietly. Small small di whole thing begin rise and swell, soft and alive, until every last part of am don change. You no fit point to di yeast again. But you fit see wetin e don do, everywhere. Two stories. One seed wey grow for open place, big and you no fit miss am. Yeast wey dey work for secret, until e fill everything. Small beginnings. Endings wey nobody fit stop.

See one thing wey di first people wey hear am for notice. Three measures of flour no be small baking. Scholars calculate am as like forty litres of flour, e reach to make bread for more than one hundred people. Na di same amount wey Sarah use for di book of Genesis, when three visitors come Abraham tent and Abraham tell her make she bake for dem quick quick. So dis woman no dey make small snack. She dey bake for feast. And small yeast reach for all of am.

Di Mustard Seed and Di Yeast. You go find dem for Matthew chapter thirteen, verse thirty-one to thirty-three. Di kingdom of God dey always start for ways wey easy to miss: one seed for farm, small yeast inside bowl, one act of kindness, one quiet prayer. But God no dey measure things di way we dey measure am. So see one question wey you go carry dey go. Which small thing God fit dey grow through you, even if nobody fit see am yet?