Gospel (Jim Kauth
Interpretation)
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
While
Jesus was sitting by the Sea of Galilee,
naturally a crowd gathered around Him.
The
crowd grew so great that Jesus finally retreated to a boat a short way from the
shore.
As He
surveyed the crowd He saw their hunger for hope. He knew that not all would
understand His words. Some would fall prey to the evil one and listen to the
evil one’s lies.
Some
would receive Jesus’ words with joy but would not hold on to His words when
this world punished them for believing. Some would hear His words but the world
with its pleasures and desires would lure them away from God’s Kingdom. Yet
Jesus also knew there would be a few who would hear His words and truly
understand. These few would find their heart’s treasure in His words, these few
would walk with His Father bearing fruit in yields far greater than they could
ever imagine. How could Jesus describe things of the Kingdom in earthly terms?
He
noticed a person sowing seeds in a nearby field. Jesus then began to speak; the
sower went out to sow, broadcasting the seed by hand. Some seeds landed on the
hard-packed earth of the walkways between the fields and the birds fed on them.
Some seeds fell on the thin soil that just covered the limestone hard-pan,
these seeds were warmed by the sun and started to sprout
but the
soil had no depth to hold nutrients and moisture for the roots to grow so these
seeds shriveled and died in the hot sun. Still other seeds fell on freshly
turned soil but the weeds and grasses were still alive in this soil. The weeds
and grasses grew quickly throttling the seeds, never allowing the seeds to grow
into full bloom. Yet there were a few seed that fell onto good soil that was
moist, deep, free from weeds and grass, full of nutrients. These seeds
blossomed, grew, multiplied, yielding a harvest far greater than imagined.
John
16: 7-11
So let
me say it again, this truth: It’s better for you that I leave. If I don’t
leave,
the
Friend won’t come. But if I go, I’ll send him to you.
“When
he comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin,
righteousness,
and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me
is
their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the
Father,
out of
their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler
of this
godless world is brought to trial and convicted.
****
Some seeds fell on the thin soil that just covered the
limestone hard-pan, these seeds were warmed by the sun and started to sprout
but the soil had no depth to hold nutrients and moisture for the roots to grow
so these seeds shriveled and died in the hot sun. Yet there were a few seed
that fell onto good soil that was moist, deep, free from weeds and grass, full
of nutrients. These seeds blossomed, grew and multiplied, yielding a harvest
far greater than imagined.
What is the difference between the two above seed-scenarios?
Yep, not enough water and nutrients for the roots to grow! To carry this
agrarian metaphor forward, who provides the water and nutrients? Well, we could
say the farmer and it’s true the farmer does do the irrigation work and adds
organic matter, compost, to the soil. But who created the water? Who created
the organic matter that would turn into compost? God has a hand in everything!
Let’s continue to follow this metaphor by equating the
farmer to you and I. Notice I’m not equating us to the sower, the sower is God,
but I am saying we as Christians do the irrigation and add compost to the soil.
We Disciples of Christ are not only “fisher of men” we are farmers of humanity,
who are called to cultivate God’s Word in the hearts of all people. But
remember, it is God who gives us the water to irrigate and the nutrients to add
to the soil. How does God give us the spiritual water and nutrients to
cultivate this world’s spirit?
To answer this question let’s talk a little about our faith.
What makes our faith different from the Jewish faith or the Muslim faith? They
both believe in a one God. Another way of saying this is we all, Jews, Muslims
and Christians, are monotheistic. Monotheism or belief in one God is not what
makes us Christians. Belief in Christ makes us Christians. This belief that
Jesus is the Messiah and is the divine Son of God, both fully human and fully
divine creates some theological challenges for a monotheistic belief. We
Christians address this challenge through our belief in the mystery of the Holy
Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our Trinitarian belief is what makes our
monotheistic faith different from Jews or Muslims.
Hear John 16 again, “So let me say it again, this truth:
It’s better for you that I leave. If I don’t leave, the Friend won’t come. But
if I go, I’ll send him to you. “When he comes, he’ll expose the error of the
godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment”. Belief in the
Father, belief in Jesus our Lord and Savior, and belief in the Friend also
known as God’s Holy Spirit is the foundation of our Christian Faith.
Now let’s go back to our farming metaphor and what I said
earlier, we are called to cultivate God’s Word in this world’s heart. We do
this cultivation by sharing God’s Living Water and the Bread of Life given to
us in the “Good News”. But like farmers we must know when to irrigate and where
the soil needs more nutrients. This understanding of when and where comes from
“the Friend”, God’s Holy Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit invites you and me, all of
us, to be a part of the “harvest”, we are privileged to be a laborer in the
grand harvest that will yield results far beyond our imagination. As ministers,
yes we all are ministers, look on our bulletin. As ministers we must be open to
the guidance and council of God’s Holy Spirit, who will show us how much water
is needed, and where nutrients are needed. So how do we become open to and
remain open to God’s Holy Spirit?
The best way to describe how we open ourselves to God’s Holy
Spirit is by looking at our lives as kingdoms and us as rulers of our own
personal kingdoms. A Baptist pastor name Paul David Tripp in his book, A Quest
for More, “Living for Something Bigger Than You” describes our struggles to
give ourselves over to God in terms of little kingdoms and the transcendent
Kingdom of God. Another way to say this is we must first die to ourselves
before we can to live for/in God. We
must let go of our rulership over our small kingdom of self before we can
embrace the immeasurably large unequaled Kingdom of God.
If you’re not sure what little kingdom living looks like,
consider this; “every day we invest our time, money, gifts, talents, energies,
relationships, and resources in the pursuit of something”, now ask yourself
these questions; is your life invested in pursuing only your life, your
personal wants, your personal needs? Do you find it hard to say no to You? Do
you find yourself struggling with irritation, impatience, anger when others
unwittingly or not get in the way of what you want? Ask yourself, “whose plan
are you following, whose dream shapes the decisions you make and the actions
you take? Who sets the agenda for a given day, week, month or year?” Are you
still holding tightly onto your life as if it really did belong to you? Answering
these questions gives you a picture of which kingdom you are living in. If you
answer yes to any of these questions, you just might be living in your own
little kingdom which is “death pretending to be LIFE”.
If we truly believe we are children of God, then we will
give up our pretense of self-rule and submit all that we think, all that we
desire, all that we have and all that we do to something far bigger.
So, what does God’s Big Kingdom
living look like?
It begins with:
Recognizing there is something far bigger than you. We make
a commitment to live for our Lord Jesus.
We hold the conviction that place is important, we believe
God has put us right here, right now for a reason.
Belief that God’s call to service is a “life style” not a
program. Ministry is not a stage we step on to and then off of each day. Every aspect
of human life is the stage for ministry.
We trust that redemption, as the Bible teaches, takes place
in the context of relationships. Redemption begins with our relationship with
God, initiated through Christ, cultivated by God’s Holy Spirit and then
reflected in all our other relationships. Because of this we look for
opportunities to build more relationships with people around us.
We recognize that hospitality is vital, just as God has
opened the doors of heaven and has adopted us as heirs to the Big Kingdom
we must open our personal world to those who God has paced near us.
Understanding we are called to live with patience and
perseverance, our life of ministry is a process not an event. We must be
willing to make long-term investments in the lives of others, knowing that God
will do what God alone can do, transform each and every one of us. Because we
are willing to make this long-term investment in Loving others we must be patient,
just as our Lord and Savior is patient with us.
This is Big
Kingdom living and when
we live this type of big, we are open to God’s Holy Spirit. We hear God’s
Spirit whispering in our ear – water here – fertilize there.
People are
living Big Kingdom everywhere! Next door here, the
Boles family has taken some hard hits, first Bill Boles dies, Verla’s husband
of 70 years. Bill had been on dialysis for at least 5 years. He was finally too
sick to go to dialysis and died a day later. Verla knew he’d been dying for a
number of years but losing your husband of more years than many people live,
well it’s still a kick in the gut, then 3-weeks later to lose your only son,
Steve? Verla, her only remaining child Lynette, Verla’s only grandson Luke and
her only great grandson Taygen are all empty, there’s nothing left, they’ve
been gnawed down to the bone, their burden is too heavy for them to bear. Big
Kingdom people right here in this town, have stepped up, they’ve been helping
the Boles family carry this intolerably heavy burden. These, big kingdom
living, people have held the hands of Lynette and Verla as they sifted through
the personal effects of Bill and his son Steve, they have made sure all were
fed when eating was the last thing on anyone’s mind; they sat with them and
listened while Verla and Lynette asked God questions and
begged for answers.
These big kingdom people show up every day and tell Verla
and Lynette they will keep coming until this heavy, heavy burden can be borne
by the Boles family. And this big kingdom living is happening elsewhere, not
just here, not just in the USA,
not just in the America’s or
Europe, or Asia or Africa but all over this
world. When people tell you this world is going to hell in a hand bag, you
remember what you’ve heard here today!
Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but
those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The
water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to
eternal life.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this
bread always.”
This world is hard packed earth; this world is thin
waterless nutrient poor soil, this world cheers on the weeds and strangling
grasses and this world punishes. Yet when we finally give ourselves fully to
God we will hear the sweet voice of our “Friend” and we will know when to
water, and where to fertilize. We will know how to cultivate the precious seed
Jesus has sown in this world. When we give ourselves completely to Jesus we
will be laborers in the grandest harvest ever and this harvest will yield
results far beyond our imagination.
Amen
