DEACON TOM ANTHONY

Sunday, June 14, 2015







In comparison to God, we are small and so irrelevant. Why should any of us matter at all in relation to Him? If we view ourselves in perspective to the entire universe it is hard to imagine what impact any of us individually or even collectively can have on its existence. Yet, we are here and God loves us. He loves us so much that we are truly known and cherished beyond any human understand. This can be very difficult to understand since we are not used to this kind of relationship. Has any of us been involved in such an unselfish relationship that one is loved beyond all comprehension where one person would suffer and die the most horrific death just to give the other person an opportunity to receive a gift that is ultimately free? At the same time, this gift will be expected to be abused and not treated with the importance that it should be. God has given and continues to give so much while, because of who we are, we cannot possibly give anything in comparison in return. We are only expected to love. It is very simple but very powerful at the same time. God does love us. He loves us so much and with an extreme abandon.
We are all swept up and lost in this world. We missed God’s intent from the beginning and are being forced to play catch-up. In our arrogance we think that we know everything and want to pursue our lives in the way that we see that we should. We want to direct the movie and star in it at the same time. Yet we have no idea what to do. We threw away the instruction manual and fell asleep in class. Instead of listening we have chosen to ignore the obvious that is in front of us. We are loved, we are important, and we do matter.
Jesus described the Kingdom of God like a mustard seed. The smallest of all seeds. For all intents and purposes, it is easily dismissed. In the human perspective, bigger is always better. We are all easily led by the attraction of greatness through material wealth and pleasures. We want to enjoy things that stimulate us. And when we are stimulated, we then crave more to satisfy our appetites. But our appetites are never satisfied. We always want to indulge more and partake in those pleasures that distract us from the beauty of creation around us and the love of God. These pleasures overwhelm us and ultimately control our thoughts and motivations. We become prisoners to our own desires while not even realizing the consequences until we are drowning in sin. Even when our situation becomes hopeless we still fight to retain something that cannot be held onto forever. In comparison, the love of God and the attraction of a fulfilling relationship with him seem so small and valueless; like a mustard seed.
Reflect back to the times in our lives when we ignored God. We glorified sin and worshipped materialism around us. The visions of greatness that we all envisioned for ourselves always included stature, wealth, and pleasure. All of these were defined by what society told us what we had to do to be happy. This is a temporary victory for Satan.  As the mustard seed slowly sprouts and takes root within us, how important are these other things now? This small seed, which is planted within all of us and nurtured so gently by the presence of God, grows stronger as long as we tend to it and care for it. Just as a blade of grass can crack and destroy the most solid concrete foundation over time, so can this mustard seed overcome anything in its path to flourish and grow beyond expectation. This is a wonderful analogy. Regardless of the appeared strength of anything offered in society which was created by us and our ingenuity, it can always be overcome by even the smallest thing in God’s Creation.
This being true, then where does that leave us? This affords us so much hope and promise through a relationship with our Creator. The mustard seed is within us all. Nurture it. Foster it. And watch it grow.

Deacon Tom

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