Episode Transcript
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
Luke 13:18–21 NIV
Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
CONSIDER
I witnessed this up close and personal last week in a Starbucks. I got there early because I do try to practice what I preach every single day (a.k.a. Wake up, sleeper . . .) because these Wake-Up Calls don't write themselves. "What's early for you?" I hear you asking. Well, let's just say this is the only Starbucks I've ever seen that opens at 4:30 a.m.
It turns out this is the busiest Starbucks in the country. As I walked in there were ten—count them—ten employees and in Waffle House form they all shouted "Good Morning" to me, the first and only customer at opening bell. As I got my coffee (Grande Soy Chai with Five Pumps, an Espresso Shot, No Water, Extra Hot) and took a seat, employee number eleven appeared.
Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
Employee #11 will henceforth be known as the Mustard Seed.
This young woman was nothing short of extraordinary. For the next four hours I had a front row seat on nothing short of a demonstration plot of the kingdom of God blowing up at 555 Cool Springs Blvd. in Franklin, Tennessee. The Mustard Seed loved every single person who walked through the door. As she "saw" each person, I could almost see her heart going out of her body to welcome them. About every tenth customer she knew personally, calling their name, and pulling half of them into a full embrace. I was mesmerized as one woman came through the door who had obviously not been around in a while. The Mustard Seed became overwhelmed with the hospitality of heaven as something like a prodigal-son-comes-home party broke out around the mobile order pick-up counter. As I looked closer I could see tears in the eyes of the customer. As the Mustard Seed locked eyes with her, now holding both of her hands, I found myself beginning to tear up.
"It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
Meanwhile, there is a line of cars completely circling the building while the line of patrons is stretching out the door. Friends, I've been to a lot of busy Starbucks over the years—nothing even comes close to this experience I had on Wednesday morning. The Mustard Seed had become a mighty tree. Her hospitality was contagious as she moved from serving drinks to cleaning counters to making sure the shelves were filled with water bottles. Then it hit me—the other ten employees were playing off of her ethos and energy as we all like birds perched in the branches. It was a vibe. Everybody in there felt like a Wake-Up Call Sower rolling up into the Gillett Methodist Church on a Sunday morning and being swarmed by love (which happens about every week now, by the way).
That's the kingdom of God—the very vibe of heaven.
And it starts with the smallest seed.
And it could be coming to a Starbucks near you or a jail or a hospital or a nursing home or an elementary school or a hardware store or (your daily grind here).
I'll have to say, it was the only time the $7 coffee has been truly worth it. And I'll be back tomorrow.
PRAY
Lord Jesus, you are the tiny Mustard Seed. You are the Great Tree. You are the Kingdom of God. And you are in me. Indeed you are in us together. Come, Holy Spirit, and bring this vibe in and around and through me every single day and every place I go. Awaken me to the possibilities of what you can do with a single seed. Grace me to be the seed today. It will be for your glory, for others' gain, and for my good—and in your name, Jesus.
