The End of the World is Nigh

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”


I had to think long and hard about which reading to preach on today. I seriously considered preaching on grace today. After the past week, I really didn’t feel like tackling the end of the world as we know it.

Well, none of you chose the easy way out, so I guess I don’t get to either. So end of times it is.


THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH!!!

Or as Chicken Little put it – “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!”


What happens when the world ends? According to our Gospel today, “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”

Has your world ever ended? -- Mine has. – When I was young, fresh out of high-school, I asked my high-school girlfriend to marry me. She said yes! My future was set. I knew who I was and where I was going. My fiancé and I were both in university. I was studying engineering and she was studying music. Then something wonderful happened. She got accepted into Julliard School of Music – one of the best music schools in North America. Off she went to New York City while I stayed in Vancouver.

We managed to keep our long distance relationship together for nearly two years before we realized that we didn’t have anything in common anymore.

All the light went out of my world. Saying that I didn’t know what my future would be isn’t quite right. At that time, I wasn’t really sure if I had a future. The sky had fallen so slowly and quietly that I didn’t know it was happening until there wasn’t a star left in my sky. My world ended.
About six months later, with the help of my family and my doctor, I re-entered life. I started building a new future for myself.


If I hadn’t had that experience, I probably would never have met Victoria. I might have kids, but they wouldn’t be Rosa and Paul. I might never have studied music. Unless she’s changed drastically, my former fiancé would never have supported me going into the priesthood. My life is brighter and more fulfilling now than it ever was before the darkness.


I’m sure some of you have your own experiences of the end of the world. I’m sure some of them are more personally devastating than my own story. And not every story has such a bright ending.


Right now this parish is having its own dark times. I believe that our financial issues are just a symptom, not the root cause of our problems. I am not completely sure what true problem is. What I do know, is that as we go forward from today, we’re going to find out.

This past week, we took our first step into the future. It is still too dark to see very far into the future, but we can see the start of it. Any future other than a short one, has us working as a parish – not as two separate churches. Our future includes a major commitment of time to work with our Archdeacon, Gloria, and others from the diocese to understand how our past brought us to this darkness and what we need to do to find new light.


That’s one neat thing about darkness – unless this truly is the end of the world (and if it is, this sermon is pointless) – darkness doesn’t last forever.


After the darkness comes the dawn. A new day. New life.


I see a potential for a bright future here in this parish. Not because of what has happened in the past, but because of the people I see here in God’s house. When I read the words Paul wrote to the Corinthians, I look out at you and hear them echo in my mind. They could just as easily have been written about this parish.

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind – just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you – so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”


Amongst you all, with both churches put together, you have the gifts to be a strong parish. You have the vision to make a bright future here in this community. You have the will to make that future happen.


After the darkness comes the dawn.


So I say again: THE END OF THE WORLD IS HERE!


Thanks be to God!

Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth

I speak to you in the name of the One True and Living God. Amen.

Our gospel today is one of those that might need a bit of explanation. It may seem straightforward enough on first reading … three slaves, each given some money to take care of by their master. Over the years, I’m sure you’ve been told that a talent was a lot of money. But the most any of them were given was 5 of these talents. How much could that actually be?

If we think about our current money, what is the largest bill any of you have ever had?

What is the largest bill any of you have ever heard of someone having?

$1000?

So the one who got 5 talents would have about $5000. That’s a lot of money, especially for someone who really has no money. But it isn’t even remotely close to what is being talked about in the Bible.

A talent was a measure of weight. It could refer to an amount of silver or of gold. A talent of silver was said to be nine years wages for a skilled labourer. Essentially a tradesman. If we say that a skilled labourer makes, on average, $50,000 a year, which is pretty low for most of the trades, one talent would be worth close to half a million dollars.

If we try to understand the worth of a talent of gold, it helps to know how much a talent weighs. It was just over 34 kilograms. 34 kilograms of gold is quite a weighty bar, not the coin that I usually picture in my mind. A talent of gold is worth close to $1.5 million at today’s prices.

If someone gave me that amount of money to take care of, I would be scared too. I also would have no clue what to do with it.

Today’s wisdom would be to invest it. You could do this through the banks and receive a small return. Or you could risk losing it on the stock market and maybe make a bundle.

What do you think the common wisdom was for taking care of or protecting large sums of money? According to the rabbis, burying your money was a good way to protect it. So our slave with the one talent was doing exactly what his religious leaders said was right.


Well, now we have the background to at least guess at the reaction of Jesus’ audience. The slave who buried the money did what he should have and the other two were at best irresponsible, at worst, reckless or negligent with their master’s money.

Like usual, Jesus turns our world upside down.


First, he is telling us that even the smallest talent that God gives us is worth more than we’ll probably ever see in our bank account, let alone have given to us.

Second, our gifts are not ours to hold on to. Doing nothing with our gifts is the same as stealing from God.

If we stop there, we already have a great lesson. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He has a little more to say about gifts from God.

What was the promise to the slaves who used their talents? … When we use the gifts that God gives us, it’s not like a piggy bank, slowly drained of its resources. It’s not even like a well, where what is taken out is replaced as fast as you use it.

Instead, try to imagine a pile of gold. Now this isn’t any ordinary pile of gold. It’s a special pile of gold. … Every time you take a coin off the top of the pile, two more get added in to the bottom.

This is what we mean by abundance. It’s not so much that God will give us what we need. No, we are the ones that are responsible for our fate.

God has given each of us enough to get started. God tells us that we need to use what we’ve been given. And if we use that start, for every bit of our gifts that we spend, we will be given again twice as much.

And if we just sit back and try to protect what we have? There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I think there has been enough weeping and gnashing of teeth.

How about you?

The Price of Sainthood

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today we celebrate both All Saints Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Two years ago I talked about the three different ways that our tradition defines saints: those that the church names as special saints like St. John or St. Andrew; all who have died and gone on to the heavenly banquet; and finally every member, living or dead, of the Christian church.

Last year I talked about the relationship between All Saints and Remembrance. I talked about how we bring these two holy days together into one Sunday. How this combined Sunday brings our past and our future together in the present. This combined Sunday helps us to see how the roots of our tradition can help us to plan a vibrant future.

This year our Gospel is the Beatitudes. It is such a well-known passage that when Monty Python added extra verses – blessed are the Greeks and blessed are the cheese-makers – most people knew that these lines were a joke. And if you haven’t seen The Life of Brian you should. It has a lot to teach us about how Jesus would have been received in his time.

The Beatitudes have become so well known that they no longer surprise us. They should surprise us!

Earlier in Matthew, we have had a long series of stories setting up who Jesus is supposed to be. He is supposed to be the Messiah! In Jesus’ time, there were lots of “messiahs.” These messiahs usually played on the Jewish hatred of the Greek rule. They tried to cause any trouble from little bits of resistance to open rebellion. They were highly political and they worked to get the ear of the most influential Jews, those who held positions of power. So when Matthew is talking about the coming Messiah, this is what the people expect.

Then Jesus goes up on a hill and says “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Are these words supposed to rile up the powerful? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Maybe. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy?” “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God?” I don’t see this inciting anything. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God!” “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

And then we have the real kick in the butt to those who want to cause trouble. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven!”

These words are not what they were expecting and they shouldn’t be what we expect!

The Old Testament is full of scripture about a powerful God who steps in to make his people victorious. God fights on their side against all adversaries. The Messiah is supposed to be the one who will lead them to victory over their oppressors.

And what does he do? He tells them to suck it up and turn the other cheek. Don’t fight the oppressors. Let them keep their rule over you. It is not what is important.

Well, if fighting the oppressors is not important, what is? And what does it have to do with either All Saints or Remembrance?

We are called today to remember those who came before us. It is not enough to just remember their names. We need to remember their successes and their failures. We need to learn from them.

Jesus told the Jews not to rebel against the Greeks. He told them that being powerful only meant that it is harder to be close to God. For nearly two thousand years the Western world was ruled by Christian empires and governments. Did they get rid of hunger? or poverty? or oppression? -- No.

So if those in power, even if they are Christian, can’t make this kind of difference, who can?

In 1922, there was a poor school-girl in Macedonia named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Does any know what became of her? I’ll give you a hint. In 1948, at the age of 38, she was the principal of a Catholic high school in Calcutta.

…

You might know here better as Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Our history shows that change doesn’t usually happen from the top. Change happens when people forget about trying to get power and instead try to make the things that they can see better. Change happens when ordinary people look for the needs around them and respond.

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was an ordinary girl who grew up to be an ordinary woman who saw people in need and went to work to help them. She did not try to overthrow the governments that allowed poverty to exist. She gathered people around her who saw the same need. She inspired people that never met her. She worked tirelessly until her death in 1997 to help those who had nothing in Calcutta and throughout India, and later in other countries. By the time she died, the order that she founded, The Missionaries of Charity, had 610 missions in 123 countries.

Saints are ordinary people who remember where they came from and refuse to give up just because change is impossible.

Are you ready to be a saint?

Remember the surprise of the beatitudes. Sainthood is not an easy road and the earthly rewards are not so pleasant.

Are you willing to pay the price necessary to make this part of the world a better place?

Where have all our children gone?

May the Word be near you, on my lips and in your heart.  May we all confess and bear witness to the good news of Christ, alive and active in our lives and the lives of those around us.  Amen.

These words of Paul called the early church to examine itself.  Paul asked the congregation to think about who was welcome in their midst.  Their church included Greeks and Jews.  It was mostly made up of city-folk.  They had people from Jerusalem and from Galilee; from Thessalonica and Corinth, and many places farther away.  Most of these groups would not be found together anywhere else.  Even in the church, they mostly kept separate.

When Paul told them that there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, he was telling them that none of them was more deserving of the good news than any other.  No group was closer to the heart of Jesus.  No way of belonging was more valid.  No blood made you more of a child of God.

Paul thought it was important to talk about being equal in God’s eyes because the church of his time was very divided.  Each group believed that Jesus had spoken mostly for them and maybe a little bit for others.  Each group thought that they were “the chosen people” and others were either unwelcome or needed to change their ways if they wanted to be included in Christ’s saving power.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Do we have groups in our church?

We have the obvious groups, like the ACW and the Lay Readers and Eucharistic ministers, but these are not what I’m talking about.  These groups are made up of followers of Christ with similar gifts to offer.  No, the groups I’m speaking of are here in the church, but we are less willing to name them.  They are groups mainly, but not entirely, divided by generation.  We have names for them that we use only when they aren’t here.

The old guard, who hang on the old ways.

The middle generations, who are afraid of change and of disappointing their parents.

The young parents and the youth, who are mostly absent; not because they don’t believe, but because they don’t feel welcome and they don’t see the point of this church.

 

This is the negative way of naming each of these groups.  It isn’t helpful and it isn’t really true.  At least it is not the whole truth.

So let’s look at a different way of naming ourselves.  Taking the same generational groups and looking at them differently.

We have the elders of the church.  They are to be honoured and respected for their experience and accumulated wisdom.  We think of them as stuck in tradition, but in truth, they are the only ones among us who have seen our tradition change and grow to be what it is now.  They are the ones who can help us to understand where we came from and look forward to where we are going.

Our members from the middle generations are the sustainers of the church.  They are the ones who have the time to devote to the operation and vision of the church.

The younger generations are our future.  It is for them that we labour.  Jesus called us to support each other, but that is only the start.  Our mission is not to those within.  Our mission is to reach out to those who are not here.  Our mission is to be a place and a people that proclaim good news to those who have not heard it already.

This is the next part of Paul’s message.  “But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

How are the younger people ever supposed to hear about Christ if they are not here?  Our children are not here because they are not truly welcome.  They have not been welcome for a long time.  Their parents are not here because they were not welcome when they were kids.  Our way of being church does not treat this group equally.  Our children do not have the same right to be here as we do, unless they are willing to behave like little adults.  We are willing to put up with a little bit of noise, but not too much.  We are willing to make an effort to include them for special services.  But we are not willing to let them be present as the children that they are!

“And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard?”

Many people believe that our church, and I don’t mean this congregation, I mean the Anglican church and other mainline churches, “our church,” is dieing.  This is not true.  There are Anglican churches that are thriving.  There are Anglican churches in this diocese that are growing.  Every one of these churches has embraced their children.  They have not only told the children that they are welcome.  They have included them in all parts of worship.  They have made the children and the youth equals in their congregations.

Our children are not here.

I don’t know what changes we need to make for the children to be truly welcome.

I don’t know what we will need to do to teach them that they are welcome and that they have a place here.

I do know that we need them here.

I do know that, together with God’s help, we can bring the children back.

Together, with God’s help, we have a strong future in this church.

 

Thanks be to God.

Sing to the Lord a new song - 911 Litany

O God, our mighty tower, and creator of Heaven and Earth,
Have mercy upon us.

O God, our Redeemer, who died and rose again,
Have mercy upon us.

O God, our comforter, who fell as a dove at the Baptism of Jesus, and strengthens all the faithful,
Have mercy upon us.

Holy Trinity, undivided, One God,
Have mercy upon us.

By the establishment of the firmament, and the speaking of light into the darkness,
Have mercy upon us.

By the blessing and sending of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Rachel,
Have mercy upon us.

By the liberation of the children of Israel from Pharaoh’s hand and the renting of the Sea,
Have mercy upon us.

By the witness and courage of your holy prophets of old,
Have mercy upon us.

By the calling of our sister Mary, and the Incarnation of the Word into the world,
Have mercy upon us.

By the ministry of Christ, the preaching of the Good News, the healing of the sick, the casting out of evil, and the raising of the dead,
Have mercy upon us.

By the agony of the cross, and the victory of the Resurrection,
Have mercy upon us.

From the forces of evil, and from deadly acts of terrorism,
Good Lord, deliver us.

From the fear that grips us as individuals and as a people,
Good Lord, deliver us.

From the senseless hatred that hardens hearts and minds,
Good Lord, deliver us.

From war and violent conflict of all stripes,
Good Lord, deliver us.

We do beseech you to hear us, good Lord, that on this tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America, that you would rule and govern our hearts, and the powers of this world,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you to protect this nation, and the peoples of the whole world,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you to uphold the military of this nation, and all nations, who strive to bring peace and freedom to all your children,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you to root out the causes of terror and war in all places and among all people,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you to look upon those who would seek to do us harm, and turn their hearts from the ways of hatred and violence,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you to rain down grace and mercy upon us all, that your peace, which passes all understanding, would overtake us all,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you on this day to uphold all those who lost people dear to their hearts during the attacks, and in the conflicts which have followed in their wake,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you to surround widows and children, parents and loved ones, the injured and maimed with a hope in your trust, your abiding Presence, and life everlasting,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you to uphold all those who maintain peace and safety in our local communities and abroad,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it would please you to shine your light into the darkness, that all would see and know you, and your ways.
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

Son of God, we beseech you to hear us.
Son of God, we beseech you to hear us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Grant us your peace.

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Let us pray.

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, whose heart is glad when all your children live together in unity; we lift to you the grief of our hearts, hoping that you will not only comfort those hearts, but change them; that we may be the people you have created, and called us to be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Sing to the Lord a new song - Pentecost plus 12

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Sing to the Lord a new song.  Praise him with dancing, with tambourine and lyre.

Do we have God on our side when we seek vengeance?

When we want those who have hurt us to be hurt worse than we ever were?

Our readings today are all about vengeance.  Our reading from exodus is the lead-up to one of the plagues of Egypt.  It is the basis of the Jewish feast of Passover and thus the basis for the last supper, Easter and our celebration of the Eucharist.  But at the heart of it, it is about God taking vengeance against Pharaoh for his treatment of the Israelites.

Our psalm today is also about vengeance.  It is about praising God for being with us when we punish those who have hurt us.

But do we really have God on our side when we hurt someone else?  Even if our cause is really Good?

Sing to the Lord a new song.  Praise him with dancing, with tambourine and lyre.

Our readings from the New Testament are about vengeance too, but they tell us another side of being hurtful.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he tells them that Love is the fulfillment of the Law.  When he tells us to live honourably, not revelling in quarrelling and jealousy; about making no provision for the flesh, he hints at, but doesn’t directly say, that hate is always a sin.

Our reading from the Gospel of Matthew is even more clearly about vengeance.  Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  When we take vengeance, we bind that hate, not only to whoever or whatever we hate, but to ourselves.  That hate will follow us beyond this life.

Sing to the Lord a new song.  Praise him with dancing, with tambourine and lyre.

So what is our path forward?  Where do we find God in our lives and in these readings?  What is our new song?

I’m going to read an letter to you from the Rev. Canon Rod Gillis about Labour Day.  I believe that it leads us in the right direction.

The Holiday That Dares Not Pray Its Name

Monday is Labour Day. One of the legacies of growing up in the church in a large industrial area is an awareness of just how alienated working people, especially those in unionized jobs, became from the church. Coal miners, for example, had their "check-off" to the denomination, but participation in worship en masse was limited and with a heavy dose of scepticism.

Part of the reason for this is that , (with exceptions at the margins like AFSA, Sammy Prince, COADY and the like), the institutional church made choices--choosing monied interests over labour most times.

As September begins, one considers the focus in churches. Labour Day is mostly a demarcation line for programming. It's all about "after the long weekend" in September. There is an emphasis on the fad of "back to church Sunday" but no overt emphasis on Labour and working people. There are bulletins galore about injustices on the other side of the planet (and very important in the interests of human solidarity that there ought to be) but little emphasis on chronic injustices at home. Where are the statements from Church leaders on the recession and unemployment, and chronic youth unemployment, the silence about our participation in foreign wars?

Last week the mill closure in Port Hawkesbury was announced as a  catastrophic hit to the entire economy of Eastern Nova Scotia. Do we have something to say about that?

Some of the traditional themes that preachers might explore on Labour Day are unemployment, work place justice, war and peace (veterans are often lauded as heroes but treated like redundant labour by government), the environment.

[Today] the Hebrew Scripture reading is the story of the Passover from Exodus. It’s an archetypal story. I'm working on a homiletic angle around the "death of the first born, the sparing of the first born". The story is a classic Hebrew presentation of tangible justice being done by a reversal of roles (see also the Song of Mary). The first born child, first born calf, first cereal harvest are primarily signs of hope for the future. The story seems to convey the notion that the hope of the oppressor is ultimately tied to the hope, or denial of the same, to those who are oppressed.

Perhaps if we focus on why historically we have lost entire sectors of the population to the church by siding with vested interests then we may develop some clues about how to realistically get connected to people and the reality in which they live.

                                                                                                The Reverend Canon Rod Gillis

                                                                                                Rector, St. James’ Armdale

Sing to the Lord a new song.  Praise him with dancing, with tambourine and lyre.

In the Anglican Church, we have become very stiff.  Our worship is rigid and we have established a very set “in group.”  Everyone is welcome as long as they behave just like us, or at least don’t disturb my area of comfort.

Well, sorry to say it, but Christianity was never supposed to be comfortable.  It is about pushing boundaries.  It is about welcoming those who no one else will welcome.  It is about putting ourselves in the line of fire, choosing to be the ones to get hurt instead of the ones doing the hurting.

We are very good at being welcoming according to a schedule.  We welcome children on specific Sundays like the Blessing of the Book Bags, and St. Nicholas’ Day.  We welcome fishermen when we bless the fleet.  Where are those we welcome on other days?

Not here!

What do we need to do to be not only welcoming but truly inviting to those in our community who are not here?  Whatever it is, we need to start doing it soon, and at least in the beginning, it is not going to be comfortable.  Even though we are Anglicans, we need to get up and dance.  We need to make some noise around us.  For too long, we have been wearing Harry’s cloak of invisibility.

What is our new song?  How are we going to praise God?  Will it be with a whimper or with a bang?

Sing to the Lord a new song.  Praise him with dancing, with tambourine and lyre.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like Saffron

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.

Do any of you cook with saffron?  What is saffron?  By weight, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.  But what is it?

How about a crocus?  We have at least a couple varieties of crocus that grow here.  Saffron comes from a special variety of crocus.  It is the bits of the flower that hold the pollen, the stigmas.

I have a small box of saffron here.  Before it was opened, it held one gram of saffron.  Any guesses about how many flowers it took to fill this box?

There are three stigmas per flower.  One ounce is about 450 stigmas, or around 150 flowers.  To produce 1 kilogram of saffron takes around 150,000 flowers: a farm the size of two football fields.

Can anyone tell me what a gram of saffron is worth?  Any guesses?

One gram in Canada is currently worth about $18.  That’s a little more than $550 per ounce.  Right now, the price of gold is very high, but through most of recorded history, the price per ounce of saffron has been fairly close to the price of gold.

By weight, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.  But saffron is not very expensive to use.  When this box was fresh one stigma would flavour two cups of rice.  It would change the rice to a bright golden colour, give it a rich flavour and a spicy aroma.  So if you could use this whole box, 450 uses, while it was still fresh, about 3 years, each use would cost about 4 cents.  Suddenly saffron is not so expensive.

He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like saffron.

Have you understood all this?  They answered …?

How do these parables of Jesus’ tell us anything about the kingdom of heaven?  How does mine about saffron?

The kingdom of heaven is very much like saffron.  It is incredibly valuable.  It is worth more than anything else you can compare it to.  At the same time, a tiny piece of the kingdom of heaven can completely change your life and the lives of those around you.  It spreads and brings flavour to the world.

So what does all of this mean for our lives?

I think that Jesus is trying to tell us to stop looking for the big things.  It is not there that we will make a difference.

What we need to do is to look for small things we can change, small places where we can make the world a better place, little glimpses of the kingdom of heaven that we can bring to light.  When we do this, when we make some small thing just a little bit better, we help to create a place for the kingdom of heaven to take root.  We plant a mustard seed that can grow into a small tree.  We add one tiny stigma of saffron to a dish and it spreads to flavour the entire meal.

Saffron is like the kingdom of heaven.