"A Voice the Size of a Mustard Seed" (sermon)

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday August 16, 2026
Scripture:  Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46
Dr. Seuss Connection:  Yertle the Turtle

 

This year, we are having a Seussian Summer - each week during the Story for All Ages, we will be reading a different Dr. Seuss book, then pairing it with scripture to see what wisdom we might find within its pages.

 

Reading Yertle the Turtle, it is interesting to ponder who Dr. Seuss was thinking of when he created the character of Yertle.  Yertle was king of the pond, and everything was peaceful and everyone was happy.  Until they weren’t.  Or more specifically, until Yertle wasn’t.  He was dissatisfied, and wanted to be the king over more than just the pond.  So he climbed on the backs of other turtles, and proclaimed himself to be king of all he could see.  But it still wasn’t enough, he was still dissatisfied, so he commanded more turtles to make his throne even higher; and once he could see further, he became king over even more land.  But it still wasn’t enough for old Yertle, so he commanded even more turtles to make him a still taller throne so that he could increase his kingdom’s reach.

So does Yertle remind you of anyone, past or present?  Someone with a lust for more power and more land, more control over others?

Dr. Seuss didn’t make a secret about who he was thinking of when he created the character of Yertle – in the early 1950s when he was writing this story, Dr. Seuss said that he was thinking about Hitler, and how Hitler had taken over countries in Europe in the preceding decades in his lust for more power.

But I rather suspect that Hitler may not have been the first name to pop into your head when I asked you who Yertle reminded you of.  Because the pattern of Yertle is a pattern that has been repeated throughout history, for as long as we have been keeping track of history.  It is a pattern that we could see in all of the ancient empires – the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire… folks who have been coming to bible study may recognize these names, as we traced ancient history though the stories of the Old Testament.  In more modern times, we’ve seen the British Empire and the American Empire.

Empires in every moment of history gain power by taking land and resources from others and absorbing them in to the Empire.  You have what I want, therefore I am going to take it and proclaim myself to be the ruler over it… and over you.  This is how empires work.

Yertle sees a cow, a mule, a house, a bush, and a cat, and claims that they are his and he now rules over them and the land on which they stand.

This is maybe even a pattern we see at work in the world today.

But the interesting thing about Dr. Seuss’s story is that even though Yertle is the titular character of the book, I don’t think that he’s the hero of the story.  To me, the hero of the story is young Mack, the turtle who overthrows the emperor with a burp.

A plain little turtle named Mack, who is suffering under the oppression of Yertle, and who has had enough, politely asks Yertle for a break.  Yertle insults him, and when the suffering increases, the voice of Mack becomes a bit louder, letting Yertle know about the suffering of the rest of the turtles. When Yertle continues to ignore their suffering and orders it to increase all the further, Mack burps.  No eloquent words.  No speeches proclaiming the suffering. No polite petitions for it to end.  A simple burp.  And the throne collapses, the empire collapses, and the reign of Yertle the Emperor Turtle has come to an end.

One small voice.  That’s all that it took.  A voice as tiny as a mustard seed.  And an emperor fell.

Jesus told us a couple of parables about the power of something small – he told us that a tiny mustard seed could do good in the world, could grow into a tree that would give shelter to vulnerable birds.  We would never throw away a tiny seed because it seems too small to do anything.

And what about yeast?  With just a quarter teaspoon of yeast, a great big loaf of bread will rise.  Something small can feed a hungry family.

Our ability to do good in the world doesn’t depend on our size, or on the reach of our voice.  It just depends on our willingness to speak up.  And even more than that, just imagine what might be possible when we join our voices together!  I wonder if the story might have unfolded differently if all of the 9 original turtles that made up Yertle’s throne had spoken up, and refused to let the other turtles climb up them to increase the height of the throne?  Well, there might not have been a story if that had happened!

Jesus encourages his followers to be like a mustard seed, to be like yeast in the world.  We don’t have to be the biggest and flashiest, but we can still work change in the world.

I don’t know if you have been following the Tim Hortons – Harry Potter collaboration that is happening right now?  Beginning last Wednesday and continuing until September 6, Tim Hortons has some Harry Potter themed items on their menu.  Now there is nothing wrong with the books or with the people who love the books, but the author of these books is using her money to fund anti-transgender movements and legislation.  And in order to offer Harry Potter branded items on their menu, Tim Hortons had to pay the author of Harry Potter licensing fees.  Which means that Tim Hortons is directly funding transphobia and anti-trans legislation.

I wrote them a letter expressing my dismay when the campaign was first announced, asking that they turn back from this decision, and asking that they take an equivalent amount to what they paid the author of Harry Potter and donate that amount to organizations that support trans people.  And when the campaign launched this week, I sent a second letter, again expressing my dismay and telling them that I will be avoiding their stores for the duration of the campaign.

Will my letters change Tim Hortons mind?  No.  Will my one-person boycott make a difference?  No.  But my initial letter was one of more than 5000 letters that were sent using the template provided by Affirming Connections.  And letters are still being sent in the second round of letter-writing.

It still may not make a difference, but maybe it will.  Some of you are likely old enough to remember the impact that boycotts had in ending Apartheid in South Africa in the 80s and early 90s.  Maybe our collective voice will be heard by Empire, and the world will shift just a little bit towards justice and love.

A couple of weeks ago, we read the story about King Herod, and the fear that the birth of a baby instilled in him.  There’s a great line in one of the hymns we sing at Epiphany when we read the story of the magi and Herod:  “Will you join the hope, alight in the young girl’s eyes, of the mighty put to flight by a baby’s cries?”

The birth of an infant caused a king to tremble with fear; and we, the church, are the body of Christ in the world, called to use our voices, like the turtle Mack, to bring about peace and justice.

When United Church Moderator, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Kimberly Heath, was installed last summer, she compared the United Church to a dandelion.  Not the flashiest of flowers, but tenacious.  A thorn in the side of gardeners.

And so may we, as the body of Christ, be dandelions in the side of empire – tenacious, maybe irritating, but like Mack the turtle, like a mustard seed, like yeast, stubbornly insisting on turning the world towards goodness and love.

And may it be so.  Amen.