November 11, 2007

Sermon:  “Harvesting the Benefits”

 The youth minister was passing through the prison garment factory. "Sewing?" he said to a prisoner who was at work. "No, preacher” replied the prisoner gloomily, "reaping!"

What do we know about the germination of seeds? Keep a grain of wheat in your pocket all your life and it will never change. So you plant the seed, and you put it in the dark quiet ground but at that moment, nothing happens: no violins sing, no trumpets blow, no drums roll. Nevertheless, the spark of life begins to ignite and, slowly but surely, the seed takes root and a plant pushes itself through the ground: there is a harvest!  Every kind of life requires its particular corresponding environment in order to achieve its full and predestined potential. When you turn your mind and heart to God, nothing happens -- or so it seems. No heavenly choirs sing, no thunder rolls, no lightening strikes. Nevertheless, in the quietness of your prayer, the Divine spark ignites and begins to take root in your being and, as it grows, it shows forth in your life. Something has changed for you are reaping a God-centered harvest of thought and action, different than ever before. 

“The reign of God may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field, Jesus says.  He explains to the disciples that the “man who sowed good seed” is the “Son of Man” (that is, Jesus Himself). “The field,” He says, “is the world.” And the “good seed”, the citizens of the kingdom. 

As we have looked at sowing in “Life’s Garden” in the past week our purpose has been to "grow in the knowledge and understanding" of Jesus Christ.  "Being confident,” as Philippians 1:6 tells us, “of this one thing, that God who has begun a good work in you will carry it to completion."

Yes, Yes, why are we being told this again?  Every sermon in every church is about something we all have heard, read and feel we know; yet simply looking around as we move through “Life’s Garden” answers “why we’re being told it again.”

One day a priest and a pastor from local churches were standing by the side of the road, pounding a sign into the ground, that read: "The End is Near! Turn Yourself Around Now!  Before it's Too Late!"  As a car sped past them, the driver yelled, "Leave us alone, you religious fanatics!" From the curve just past them, they heard screeching tires and a big splash.

The pastor turned to the priest and asked, "Do you think the sign should just say 'Bridge Out'?"

As humans, we want to do things our way.  Forget the recommended easy way.  Forget the suggested common way.  Forget the proven best way.  Forget God’s way.  We want to do things our way!

According to many, many motivational books, and that list includes the Bible, that is precisely our problem as we sow and harvest in “Life’s Garden.”  We tend to wonder away; we’ve heard, we’ve read and we were told, yet find ourselves wandering like sheep, each of us has gone his own way Isaiah tells us.

We really do not look at sheep as obstinate, but of all of God’s animals, the sheep is the least able to take care of itself.

Sheep are dumb.  Well, have you ever met a sheep trainer or seen sheep acts in the circus?  Do you know anyone who has taught his or her sheep to roll over, or sit up or sniff out contraband, be a guard sheep or fetch? 

Sheep are defenseless.  They do not have fangs or claws.  They cannot out run much of anything.  You do not see them considered for team mascots, say for instance the University of Arkansas Sheep instead of the Razor Backs.  What would you do for the cheers:  We are the sheep.  Timid, timid sheep.  We do not make a peep.  Count us if you want to go to sleep.  Yea, team!  Now, there is a moral booster.

Sheep, like gardens need a leader, a master, a gardener, someone to help them serve their purpose in “Life’s Garden.”  Sheep, like a seed need nurturing. 

Most of us have been described as “a lot of things” but, very seldom sheep.  Have we ever thought of ourselves as a sheep.  Probably have not and probably do not want to or even like the inference.  Have you ever thought of yourself as a seed?  Probably not, for the same reasons.  Nevertheless, our actions allow them to be used as a definitive analogy.  While we are saying, “probably not”, to ourselves let us also ask ourselves this:  “Do I think I can make it through life by myself – even as a Christian? 

In this mornings scripture we heard how John[1] responds to that thought:  “At that moment Jesus’ disciples returned, and they were greatly surprised to find him talking with a woman. But none of them said to her, ‘What do you want?’ or asked him, ‘Why are you talking with her?’

Then the woman left her water jar, went back to the town, and said to the people there, “Come and see the man who told me everything I have ever done. Could he be the Messiah?” So the people left the town and went to Jesus.

In the meantime, the disciples were begging Jesus, “Teacher, have something to eat!”  But he answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”  So the disciples started asking among themselves, “Could somebody have brought him food?”  “My food,” Jesus said to them, “is to obey the will of the one who sent me and to finish the work he gave me to do.”

“You have a saying, ‘Four more months and then the harvest.’ But I tell you, take a good look at the fields; the crops are now ripe and ready to be harvested!  The one who reaps the harvest is being paid and gathers the crops for eternal life; so, another who sows and the one who reaps will be glad together.  The saying is true, ‘One sows, another reaps.’ I have sent you to reap a harvest in a field where you did not work; others worked there, and you profit from their work.”

It just may be time to look over “the preparations we think we’ve made”, checking our self-sufficiency at the door.  We need to confess our natural desire to do things our way and ask God to give us a spirit of dependence upon Him.  You will find this in Max Lucado’s book, “The Great House of God”, “When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us.  Through a dramatic series of events, we go from condemned orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear.”

Matthew 9:35–38 explains: “Jesus went round visiting all the towns and villages... As he saw the crowds, his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. So he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest.’”

Preparation, as we proceed through Life’s Garden is followed by cultivation and we find cultivation to be the period of hope.  Faith motivated our preparation, cultivation gave us our hope and harvest brings "growth in the knowledge and understanding" of Jesus Christ as He gives us the potential for charity.  An old sage wrote one time, “The end of the matter is better than it’s beginning.”  And Isaiah 9:2–3 have these thoughts for us: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.  They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them.   You have given them great joy, Lord; you have made them happy.  They rejoice in what you have done, as people rejoice when they harvest their corn…”

In Mark 4:26 –29, Jesus went on to say, “The Kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed in his field. He sleeps at night, is up and about during the day, and all the while, the seeds are sprouting and growing. Yet, he does not know how it happens. The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear fruit; first, the tender stalk appears, then the ear, and finally the ear full of corn. When the corn is ripe, the man starts cutting it with his sickle, because harvest time has come.

Before any work for God, there always comes the vision of God. To behold Him, to be lifted up above our troubled hearts, above our worries and discords, and to be absolutely sure that we have spoken with God, and He has spoken with us--this is the indispensable preliminary of doing anything in God's service. If a servant of God is uncertain of his Master, he will be uncertain of everything that follows in his service. If you and I have no doubt about, having seen God, then our divine service will grow sweeter and clearer and easier every year we live. I’m sure there are those among us that will stand firm with the thinking that Paul's Christian life, for instance, began with the question, “'What wilt thou have me to do?” No life begins with that question. Life begins with the question, "Who art thou, Lord?"[2] When Paul had settled that it was the risen Christ who appeared to him, then came the much easier question, "What wilt thou have me to do?"  We cannot feed the multitude out of an empty basket; we cannot present the Lord until we have seen the Lord; we cannot gain anything from a seed if we keep it in our pocket nor can we achieve anything if we plant a seed hoping it will grow as we walk away from it; and we will only wander as sheep until we get through those two questions.

Remember those questions:  “Who are thou, Lord?” and then “What wilt thou have me to do?” as you seek your harvest in “Life’s Garden”; as you choose to demonstrate the growth you’ve made in the process of working in “Life’s Garden.” 

A unsure Christian dreamed he had been given the opportunity to see both heaven and hell. He was directed to a closed door and informed that hell existed beyond the doorway. As he entered, he was surprised to see a banquet hall set for a feast. Everything was exquisitely prepared, but all of the diners moaned and wailed in agony. In the center of the table was a mouthwatering dish of food, and each person had a very long spoon set beside them. The spoon was long enough for one to dish out the food, but too long to reach one's mouth. Consequently, they were unable to eat and were shrieking with pains of hunger. The horror was more than the person could bear, so he asked to leave. When he opened the door to heaven, he was petrified to see the same scene. Everything was the same, except laughter replaced the pitiful cries. The difference in the two places was that those in heaven did not cry over their inability to feed themselves. They simply celebrated the privilege of feeding each other with the same long spoons. The law of the harvest promises joy to those who joyfully serve others.

God is the only final dream of man.  Door after door opens with God; there are no final chambers until we come to where He sits.  “My food,” Jesus said to them, “is to obey the will of the one who sent me and to finish the work he gave me to do.”  All that ought to be done in the world has a right to know itself as finally done for Him – the gardener and the shepherd and the giver of a good harvest!

Send mail to srpc@presbyteriancv.org  with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004 Spring River Presbyterian Church
Last modified: 08/25/05