Building a Model Airplane - Henry Knapp

When my son, Jason, was young, we built a model airplane together. Not one of the plastic, snap-the-pieces-together kind but the balsa wood/glue/fabric kind. It was the first of a kind for us to attempt this; and as you can imagine, it was a learning experience. One of the first lessons I learned was that I way overestimated Jason’s interest at his very young age! Building the model was a long and involved process; and keeping his attention, day after day, was a challenge. Being so young, Jason wasn’t used to delaying the satisfaction of finishing something quickly for the deeper joy of finishing something challenging.

One of the other lessons we learned together was that things can get a lot messier before they come together. If you’ve ever built one of these planes, you know that you cut a lot of random looking balsa pieces, glue together planks into haphazard shapes and fashion various units that seem totally arbitrary. In no time, your desk is covered with odd-looking forms that seem completely jumbled.

Now, if you are intent enough to read the instructions well, and can keep in mind the overarching goal, most of what you are doing will make sense. However, if you are impatient, lack the plan’s vision, or are simply too focused on the wrong thing, then right up toward the end of the project, it looks like a heaping mess.

But then, miraculously, it all comes together! You glue this weird looking piece to that oddball joint, add another thingy, and…bam! Suddenly, you have a beautiful model airplane!

And so, it appears, is the coming of the Kingdom of God. Defying all expectations; appearing in ways we don’t expect; coming in pieces that don’t seem to fit together; messy, weird, odd. Yet, when it is fully manifest…beautiful beyond measure!

Jesus attempts to communicate this to the disciples and in the Gospel accounts over and over again. The Kingdom of God is marvelous beyond imagining, yet, oh, so not what we would think. All too frequently, there are not bells and whistles. No earth-shattering pronouncements. No dramatic transformations. So much so that we might miss or, worse, dismiss the reality of the Kingdom when it appears.

The Kingdom of God has come in Jesus Christ. Not at all the way most thought it would appear, but total and full in every way. The Kingdom is nothing at all as we would think, and exactly what we need. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings the Kingdom into our hearts in surprising and majestic ways, perhaps not as we expect, but as we need. We are transformed by Christ, and that transformation occurs in unexpected ways.

So much of God’s work in our lives is not as we would expect. He does not often make us immune to temptation. He does not always keep us from trials. He does not make things easy. Messy, gluey, random…yet, from the haphazard events of our lives, God brings redemption. And what He does individually for us, He is accomplishing throughout His world.

The Kingdom of God is at hand! Come celebrate the King with me this Sunday.

Read Mark 4:21-32.

1. Why would anyone be tempted to put a lamp under a basket or under a bed? What would the point be? Where would Jesus have come up with this illustration?

2. Who or what does the lamp “stand for”? Not everything is a metaphor or analogy in a parable, but what does Jesus have in mind here? What are some options?

3. How do verses 24 and 25 sound in your ears? Does this appear harsh? Or, correct/just? How does this cohere with the rest of Jesus’ teaching?

4. In the parable of the seed growing (vs. 26-29), what part of the parable is like the Kingdom of God? What is Jesus’ main point here? What is He trying to communicate to His listeners?

5. The same question for the parable of the mustard seed…what is Jesus trying to say?

6. How do these parables, working together, encourage your Christian growth? What does Jesus hope to motivate within us?