"And he said. 'With what can we compare the kingdom of God? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.'"

Mk 4.30-32 (compare Mt 13.31f; Lk 13.18f; read also Ps 103.19-22)

The kingdom of God in the proclamation of Jesus

Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God. This is a point in which critical students of the Bible agree with simple Bible readers. He taught his disciples to ask for the coming of the kingdom in their prayers (Mt 6.10; Lk 11.20); he described his struggle with the "demons" as the oncoming of the kingdom of God (Mt 12.28; Lk 11.20; compare Lk 17.21); he proclaimed the kingdom of God in parables. It does not surprise us, then, when we read the statement about the nearness of the kingdom of God in Mk 1.15 as the summary of his entire proclamation. The kingdom of God concerns not only Christians, but also the oikumene in the original sense of that Greek word: the entire inhabited earth, all people of this world.

"Thine is the kingdom" is a statement which is almost oppressive in its breadth and scope. Is not the kingdom of God an illusion, a projection of our wishes on to an idealistic plane? We often encounter such objections, and we must take them seriously. Too often, when people have been faced with great problems, they have fled to the dream world. In what ways, then, can we distinguish the kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus and testified to in the Bible from an imagined wish?

Why must we speak in parables?

The concept of the kingdom of God was not readily understandable in that day, nor is it today; it always has called forth questions. The parable of the mustard seed is intended to express an essential aspect of the kingdom of God as it answers such questions. A parable is the way this is done. The expression "kingdom of God" is itself a metaphor, which combines the idea of an earthly kingdom together with the human word for God. This has to be, because we cannot use any available, otherwise common expression for this new reality. The kingdom of God is something other than customary human wishes and dreams and more than general human experience. Even the way in which the Bible speaks of the kingdom of God is a sign of this new reality. It is a reality which concerns and encounters us, so that we have to give it a name, but still it is a reality which is yet "coming" so that we can only name it provisionally (in parables).

Therefore, the use of parables is not intentional concealment or camouflage. (The statement by Jesus in Mk 4.11 and parallels referred originally to the difficulty which many people have with the claim of the kingdom of God, and which makes it unacceptable to them.)

The little mustard seed

This new thing begins unobtrusively. The kingdom of God is similar to the little mustard seed, which can easily be confused with a grain of sand. In our present situation, we experience this littleness and defencelessness in an especially intensive way. Christian civilization is decaying, so that one often speaks of the post-Constantinian age. This is part of the "little" form of the kingdom of God in the present day: The parable shows us that this is not an extraordinary situation for us. However, we should view this situation in a new light, from the perspective of God. For there are different kinds of littleness. There is a littleness which is meaningless, and there is a littleness which receives the gift of inner strength. The contemporary "little" form of the kingdom of God, which has a great future, is faith. Wherever the kingdom of God, otherwise regarded as an illusion, finds faith, then it becomes a great power. Whoever has faith like a mustard seed can "move mountains" (Mt 17.20; Lk 17.6); he can overcome obstacles which separate mankind from each other and especially from God. The image of the mountains and valleys which are levelled is a prophetic picture of the final age in which God will set aside all separation and painful distinctions. He will then live with mankind in uninterrupted fellowship (Is 40.1-5).

Too often we limp along behind secular movements and want to replace a society or an ideology rather than to live through faith, that faith through which forgiven sinners take part in the pivotal event which is of fundamental significance for the entire world. That is the dignity and the perspective of the mustard seed in the contemporary world.

The form of the coming kingdom

The foundation of our faith is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, and the goal of our hope is fellowship with God. The faith which moves mountains prepares the way of the Lord in this world (Is 40.3f). The goal of the encounter is the "glory" of God. God is already the Lord, as we read, for example, in Psalm 103. He will judge the world; it is accountable to him. But up until now, there are only a few who know that, who take it seriously and confess, "Thine is the kingdom." We know about, sin, about man's alienation. Only in the kingdom of God will God be acknowledged as the God of the entire creation. Then sin will be overcome.

However, the kingdom of God is still more: It is the presence of God which we have experienced up until now only in faith. It is salvation. This is expressed by the picture of the large plant, or better, the tree (Mk 4.32), which already symbolized a great kingdom in the Old Testament (Dan 4.8f). For the prophet Ezekiel (17.22-24), the tree in whose branches the birds live means the kingdom of God. It is characterized by the way in which the little, defenceless birds (Mt 10.29f; Lk 12.6f), dependent upon God (Mt 6.26; compare Lk 12.24), find their home in him. They are actually the human race. Not the just, but rather those who know that they, as sinners, are dependent upon the grace and salvation of God.

The image of the tree and the metaphor of the kingdom distinguish our hope from the perspective of humanity in several other religious and philosophical approaches. There, one often speaks of being united with the deity, or of man's being dissolved in a higher principle or process. In the Christian tradition, mankind's perspective is presented as that of fellowship with God, as encounter, as a great banquet (Mt 8.11; Lk 13.29, compare paragraphs 2.1 and 5). The form of Christian hope is social in the deepest sense of that word.

The kingdom of God and our weakness

If we take the parable of the mustard seed seriously, then both the misery and the promise of our contemporary churchly situation becomes clear. On the one hand, there is much too much piety and much too little faith. Religious traffic is active, and we know the significance of the inner spiritual life of the human personality. And yet, we often have little faith. We tend to build our hopes upon our experiences, and we don't take the perspective of faith seriously. We have little trust in the promise which is only accessible to us in the fragmentary form of human words. We do not believe that this is a preview of our seeing "from face to face" (compare 1 Cor 13.12).

Many have begun to see that something here is not in order. Sprititualism is criticised, and much is said about Christian involvement in the world. Many Christians participate in the struggle for social justice. That is necessary where the hungry require direct help and where there is no other power which could organize that help. Wherever the churches were compromised by their connection with the dominating powers, this struggle serves to testify to the authenticity of faith. However, the church can and should not replace a political party. Wherever it has tried that, it has usually been unhappy (compare paragraph 5.4). Therefore, it is better when politically involved Christians do not declare that their positions and programmes are the Christian solution. The weight of our testimony does not depend upon the intensity and variety of direct churchly participation in public life. There is too much Christian activity and too little effectiveness in the world.

Our effectiveness depends upon whether we are ready and able to confront mankind, in the new social orders, with the kingdom of God, with the promise and the grace of God. Then they will take seriously the rest of our message: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these shall be yours as well" (Mt 6.33).

Questions

How is the coming kingdom of God present now?
What ties all Christians together in their different milieus?
How could one describe the kingdom of God in other words?
How do we provide reasons for our social responsibility?