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SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2008

THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Matthew 13 (God's accounting system)

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TODAY’S SERMON THEME:

Despite all signs to the contrary, there will be a spiritual harvest and a day of accounting for all of us. We have God's Word on it. And that knowledge alone can change everything in our lives today . . . if we let it.

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1. A few of you probably know that I am only one generation removed from the farm. It's true. Even a city boy like me has a direct link to the farm. My mother and her family grew up on a farm in West Texas. And when I was a very little boy, I used to love to visit my grandmother's farm. At one time, they owned several hundred acres out in a tiny place called Pear Valley, Texas. Now, you have likely never heard of this place. Pear Valley was not much more than a bend in the highway -- with a grocery store, a gas station, and a Baptist church or two. Or three. Or four. Anyway, as a child, I enjoyed Pear Valley immensely. And I was a very clever little boy -- even way back then. I thought that just because I got to visit a farm every summer that I knew everything there was to know about farming. Just like every city boy, right? I had it all figured out. I thought that all you had to do -- to be a farmer -- was to go out on a beautiful spring day and throw handfuls of seeds around the field. And then you sat around for a few months -- having family reunions, eating fried chicken and home-made ice cream, and visiting with the neighbors every evening on the front porch. Not really much to do except to eat and have fun. And then, many months later -- on a beautiful fall day -- you went out into the field again and came back with huge quantities of vegetables and fruit. Just like that. And then you spent the rest of the winter eating the fresh-picked food and having more family reunions -- and drinking hot apple cider in front of the fireplace. As I said, I was a very bright young boy. And I had farming all figured out. I had mastered all the intricacies of farming. Well . . . maybe not ALL the intricacies. I had MOST of it figured out, though . . . or . . . maybe not.

2. Actually, it wasn't until I was much older that I realized the truth about farming. The difficult truth. Dawn to dusk hours. Massive up-front expenses. Equipment failures. Bugs. Birds. Hornets. Snakes. Viruses. Weeds. Too much rain. Too little rain. Lightning. Storms. Frost. Fires. Rust. Blight. And a hundred other factors. And then -- assuming that the crops survived -- there is the craziness of the ever-declining markets. I learned much later that it is almost a miracle that the harvest comes at all. And it is even MORE of a miracle when you come out AHEAD at the end of the year. Even a tiny, little bit ahead. Farming is an extraordinarily difficult life. And you never know at the beginning of the year IF you are going to make it through to the end of the year.

3. And, you know, sometimes we have the same concerns about our families, our jobs, our lives. We start out thinking that everything is going to be perfect -- home-made ice cream and fried chicken every day -- and then we slowly begin to realize that LIFE IS HARD. Sickness happens. Divorces happen. Accidents happen. Bankruptcies happen. Teenagers happen. Runaway children happen. Mental illness happens. Addictions happen. Foreclosures happen. Cancer happens. Car wrecks happen. Broken wrists happen. We start to think that it will be a miracle if we make it through life in one piece . . . if our children make it through life in one piece . . . if our jobs and careers are going to make it through life in one piece. We start to worry whether we are going to make it at all. We start to think that it is going to take a MIRACLE for there to be a harvest for us in life. We start to think that ONLY a miracle can save us from disaster.

4. Does all of this sound familiar? Of course it does. Every single day we are subject to forces, powers, and influences that are FAR beyond our control. Far beyond our knowledge. Far beyond our power to understand or to manipulate. But there is Good News for us in the midst of this. Great news. Miraculous news. Quite simply: Our God is famous for miracles. And He is also famous for keeping His Word, His promises. AND WE HAVE GOD’S WORD THAT THERE WILL BE A SPIRITUAL HARVEST AND A FINAL ACCOUNTING FOR EVERY ONE OF US . . . SOONER OR LATER. Despite the appearance of everything around us, there WILL BE a spiritual harvest. And that is the underlying message of HOPE in our Gospel lesson for today: There WILL BE a spiritual harvest, and the just and the righteous will see their reward. Those who hold on NOW to the Lord will be held fast FOREVER by Him. For all of eternity. Period. End of discussion. GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS WORD. And that is my primary point for today:

5. Let us look at the wonderful news for us in the parable of the sower from Matthew Chapter 13:

(1) First, we must note that this is the only parable where Jesus gives us the correct interpretation -- HIS interpretation. Not only does He paint a word-picture for us about the way things REALLY ARE in God’s Kingdom (and the way things WILL BE in His Kingdom), but He also interprets that word-picture for us.

(2) Second, we should note that this particular teaching took place along the Sea of Galilee. And what prompted the teaching was the fact that LARGE CROWDS followed Jesus, causing Him to borrow a boat, row out a few yards and then preach to the crowd that had gathered on the shore. (I have stood at this precise spot on the Sea of Galilee -- twice. And when you turn your back to the Sea and start to talk, your voice is amazingly amplified. I could spend several hours talking about the beauty and holiness of this place.) But let it suffice for me to say that Jesus used simple words, simple concepts, simple ideas, simple illustrations, to make His points about God’s Kingdom.

(3) And here IS the parable of the sower. A man went out to scatter seed. And as he did, some fell on the pathway and was gobbled up by the birds; some fell on the rocks and grew too quickly, without sufficient roots, and then died in the heat of the sun; some fell among thorns and choked to death; and others fell in good soil . . . and produced a magnificent harvest.

(4) And here is the interpretation of the parable, according to the Lord Jesus Himself: The seed is God’s Word, God’s truth. When it is cast on the pathway, that is likened to someone who is not prepared to understand. Someone “hard.” The birds are demonic forces (from Satan) who come and snatch away the seed. The seed sown among the rocks is likened to a person who hears and receives with joy, but has no foundation, no root in the faith; so when trouble arises, or persecution, this person bails out. The seed sown among the thorns is likened to the person who hears the Word, but allows the things of the world (in particular, wealth) to choke out the Word. All three of these result in NO HARVEST. Only the seed sown in good soil -- likened to a person who hears, understands, and believes -- results in a MEGA-HARVEST . . . a harvest beyond comprehension.

6. In other words, there are only FOUR possible outcomes when the Word is preached. It can be (1) PULLED OUT, (2) BURNED OUT, (3) CHOKED OUT, or (4) BLESSED OUT. Three of these outcomes are totally undesirable. The fourth is miraculous. When we HEAR God’s Word -- when we are open to His Voice in our lives -- we must be wary of the dangers that lurk around us: Evil, Ignorance, Materialism. Only those who remain focused on the Lord are the ones who are likened to the GOOD soil. Those who remain focused are the ones who receive the miraculous reward, the miraculous spiritual harvest.

AND WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL HARVEST? First, in this life, we are promised the gifts of the FRUIT of the Spirit -- in Galatians Chapter 5. We are promised that our lives in the Lord, remaining focused on Him, will produce NINE THINGS: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the fruits of a spiritual life -- the only life that can produce the miraculous spiritual harvest. Second, we are assured for all time that we will have a place in God’s Kingdom. We are assured that we will become inheritors of eternal life. A life greater and more magnificent than any we can imagine.

7. So. As we go into the rest of this week, the rest of this day, let us remember that the spiritual harvest in our lives IS the Lord’s. It belongs to Him. Just as WE belong to Him. And we have His promise that there WILL BE a spiritual harvest, and a final accounting, for every one of us. We have His Word on it. FAITHFULNESS, NOT FINANCES, is God’s standard of accounting.

Let us choose THIS DAY to be faithful to Him . . . Let us choose THIS DAY to trust in Him, and not in ourselves. Let us follow Him, and not ourselves.

For some of us, it will always be important to remember that we do NOT have to know anything about farming to enjoy God’s eternal harvest of righteousness. All we have to do is to trust in Him.