Mustard Seeds

I recently came across two sermons: one by Anna Carter Florence and one by Nadia Boltz-Weber. Both riffed on Jesus' parable language wherein the kingdom of God is compared to something totally ordinary (e.g. "the Kingdom of God is like an oncology nurse who laughs with you at 2am."~Florence "The love of God in Christ is like a rental truck your friend insists on paying for so that your I’m-divorced-now-and-moving-into-another-house move is less difficult for you."~Boltz-Weber "The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed." ~Jesus).

...and I've had my own encounters lately, too.

• The Kingdom of God is where a 5th grader steps into the pulpit and reads "the something river" because 'Euphrates' is hard to pronounce (Genesis 2).
• The Kingdom of God is standing next to a homeless woman singing hymns: loudly and beautifully, in a scratchy but authentic voice.
• The Kingdom of God is standing in a kitchen with two mothers who found something that made them laugh--even in the face of domestic violence.

The kingdom of God is near. And it's here. And it's coming.