More Than Enough

Why did Jesus draw the attention of so many people deemed "not enough" by the powers and values that imbued the first century world? I suggest is was the draw of Jesus telling them, "You are enough." You are enough for God to love like a one and only child. You are enough to seek and long for, no matter how far you have drifted away. You are enough to die for. You are enough to rise and live for. You are enough through whom to do great and marvelous things, the likes of which you cannot imagine. Because Jesus was and is enough, you are enough for God. As recorded by John Mark in his gospel's fourth chapter, Jesus told a parable about this. In those days, poets and storytellers described great kingdoms and empires using the metaphor of great, strong trees. Even the glory that was once Jesus' native Israel, and that one day would hopefully be again, was described as a mighty cedar. By contrast, everything else was insignificant and not enough. However, Jesus pointed to one of the smallest things in horticulture of the day, the seed of a shrub known as a mustard plant. The seed was minute, Jesus noted; by all indication not enough for anything great. Yet the seed gave birth to a strong shrub of the region, growing to ten feet tall or better, even provided habitat for birds as actual trees did.

What gives Jesus the authority to state this - that insignificant, "not enough" people are more than enough in the hands of a grace-filled, transforming God? The ultimate "not enough" message for humans is death. "You are not enough to overcome your mortality!" Jesus is the only one to have succumbed to the "not enough" of death, then to break forth as more than enough through the resurrecting power of God.

Small, "not enough" things made "more than enough" in the hands of God...I'll see you around the next bend in the river.