Coffee, cardboard boxes and the Kingdom of God

“Not everyone will see your children clearly. But then – some do. They show up, not out of duty, but love. They don’t judge, fix, or compare. They simply join. To those rare hearts – you are the ones who remind us... This is what the village looks like.” ^[1]

When a neighbour (let’s call her Liz) sent me this post, it brought tears to my eyes.

This is my heart for Liz and her children. I want to show up for them, to truly see them, to love them as if they were my own family. It’s also our experience of Liz – she has loved us like her own.

And this is what the Kingdom looks like.

Phony flourishing

Our friendship is built on simple, everyday things in excessive quantities:

• Coffee and cans of Coca-Cola
• Hot dogs
• A vat of plain pasta topped with grated cheese
• Chats and messages
• Cardboard boxes, bubbles and hoses

Somehow God has used these ordinary things to grow a friendship greater than the sum of its parts.

For a long time, I assumed Liz would be saved by seeing the difference Jesus made in my life. I just needed to look like I was flourishing in parenting, work and life (come to think of it, Liz has been excessively patient with me!).

So busy being part of the village for someone else, I failed to see how much I needed that love too.

Falling

Jesus often used nature to help us glimpse the ultimate village – His Kingdom. One illustration recently captured my imagination: a seed.

In Mark 4, Jesus highlights how tiny it is (v 31), how it’s scattered on the ground (v 26), and how again and again it falls (v 4-8).

Then, in John 12, Jesus places Himself in the picture. Of all the roles a king might choose, Jesus identifies with the smallest… Yep, you guessed it, that speck-in-the-dirt seed.

From a human perspective, it only goes downhill from there: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels – a plentiful harvest of new lives.” (John 12v24 NLT)

Exposed. Buried. Split open. Hardly the language of flourishing.

Being stored away feels safer. Yet a seed that clings to safety remains just as it is: enclosed, dormant and alone. It never becomes what it was created to be.

The Seed that refused to stay safe

This friendship has been a gift. Together we’ve watched our children grow from babies into teenagers, while helping each other through life’s excessive ups and downs.

But there is a cost to walking closely alongside someone.

The giving of time and emotional capacity. The letting go of expectations. The ache of seeing someone you love disconnected from God.

Nobody understands that cost better than Jesus.

He considered no sacrifice too great. The Infinite One became infinitesimally small – not out of duty or judgement, but love. He came to welcome us into true community. And it cost Him everything.

This is not simply an invitation to love sacrificially, but to trust. To die daily to the belief that we can save ourselves or anyone else, and instead entrust those we love to Him.

To become seeds of hope. Because where we see something small, ordinary and spent, Jesus sees the potential for abundant life.

Where we see a husk, He sees a harvest.

Sprouting hope

The astonishing thing about a seed is that life begins in the dark. Hidden. Unnoticed. Seemingly forgotten.

And so we follow Jesus into those places beneath ground level, trusting that He is at work even when we cannot yet see the evidence.

If we’re brave enough, we even allow our friends to witness that process in us.

After speaking about the seed, Jesus says: “Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honour anyone who serves me.” (John 12v26 NLT)

Our hope doesn’t depend on our growth, or the growth of those around us, but on the fact that Jesus is already present in the soil. And God delights to honour even our muddling-through attempts to love people the way He does.

He has given me an abundant love for Liz – a love that is probably only a speck of His heart for her.

Perhaps that is how the Kingdom grows… through cups of coffee, shared tears, cardboard-box play, and everyday faithfulness. Through people “who don’t judge, fix, or compare. They simply join”.

We join in with what Love Himself is growing. We let our pride, expectations and need for control fall into the ground again and again. And we trust God to produce the harvest He has promised.

Where might Jesus be inviting you to trust Him with a seed that hasn’t yet sprouted? What if the very thing that feels hidden, buried or broken is the place where God is preparing new life?

1. Inside Parenting

PfE women is an everyday evangelism series written by women in Passion for Evangelism - an organisation committed to empowering, equipping, and encouraging women to share the good news of Jesus.