Burning the Boats - Matthew 13:31-33

Introduction

On February 19, 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés set sail for Mexico with an entourage of 11 ships, 13 horses, 110 sailors, and 553 soldiers. He had done so in a mutiny against the Spanish governor of Cuba, a governor to whom some of his men were loyal. To make matters worse, they were attempting to conquer the land of the Aztec empire and the mighty ruler Monctezuma, and the Aztecs outnumbered them by a ratio of 7500:1. Realizing that many of his men were likely to defect and return to Cuba, Cortes ordered the burning of his boats. There was no turning back for Cortes, and there was no turning back for his crew. It was sink or swim, live or die.

The prophet Elisha does something similar when God calls him to the ministry. He’s plowing a field when Elijah finds him, and when he calls for Elisha to follow him, Elisha slaughters his oxen and burns his plow. There was no turning back for Elisha. He would go wherever God sent him and do whatever God told him. That’s what I’m doing with this series. I’m burning my boats. I’m roasting my oxen over my the bonfire built out of my plow. There’s no plan B for me. This is my life’s work. Our staff feels the same. Our elders do, too. We met last Wednesday and just dreamed together. Henry Blackaby says to find where God is at work and to join Him in it. We’re convinced that God is at work right here, and we’re ready to lay down our lives for it.

God’s Word

So, the heart behind this series is threefold: 1) It’s to show our commitment to you and to Jesus. 2) It’s to share with you what we believe God is stirring in our hearts for our next chapter of ministry together. 3) It’s to ask you to join us in the work that’s to be done. It’s to lay out the beautiful vision of serving Jesus in one church together for a lifetime for the purpose of expanding his Kingdom. And, that’s the word that I want us to discuss this morning — expansion. I mentioned last week that I saw this new decade of ministry as the second quarter, a quarter that i’m labeling “expansion.” This week, we’ll look from a big picture perspective as to what I mean by expansion, and next week, we’ll look at more particulars. First, I want you to see Four Qualities of the Kingdom of Heaven (Headline 1):

The Kingdom doesn’t “look” like “much.”

Matthew 13:31-33 “He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.””

Nothing about mustard seeds would tell you they could accomplish much. They’re easy to lose and forget. And, nothing about leaven tells you it matters much. It doesn’t smell good and can be completely lost in a little flower. And, Jesus says the Kingdom of heaven is like that. It just doesn’t look very impressive at first. The Jewish people believed their Messiah would take over the world. And, it’s almost funny how often it comes up in conversation between Jesus and his disciples. “So, Jesus, is today when we get to take over the world?” And, over and over, Jesus would explain how his Kingdom wouldn’t look anything like what they expected, for now anyway. They’re wanting to storm Rome, but Jesus was leading them to willingly lay down their lives in order to bring Good News to Rome. Jesus was bringing about his kingdom in exactly the opposite way they expected. Most kingdoms spread by killing. Jesus’ Kingdom was going to spread by dying. First, Jesus would go to the cross, and then all of his disciples would take up their crosses after him.

Still today, this is the problem that a lot of people have with true Christianity when they encounter it. There’s so much sacrifice and cross-bearing and self-denial. People think: “What good is the forgiveness of my sins if my life has to be miserable?” From the outside looking in, it just doesn’t look like very much. If you only see the seed and not the fruit, you’ll never understand it.

The Kingdom doesn’t “depend” on “sowers.”

Matthew 13:31-33 “He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.””

You’ll notice that the emphasis here is on the “seed” and the “leaven,” not the sower. Of course, that’s a different parable, but that one doesn’t glorify the sower any more than this one does. This is a point worth making in our culture of celebrity Christianity and hype-driven churches. Today, if you want to hope to “grow the kingdom of God” you’ve got to have incandescent personalities filled with charm, wit, and humor. You’ve got to have dynamic leaders on the cutting edge of leadership theory. You need to be a marketing genius able to compete in the enterprise of an overly stimulated society. Jesus says, “Nope. You’ve just got to have the right “seeds.” The potency of the seed is the difference. You know, it doesn’t matter how good the farmer is. It doesn’t matter how green his John Deere is or how orange his Kubota is. It doesn’t matter how much land he has or how much knowledge, if he doesn’t have good seed.

You see, the Kingdom of heaven doesn’t depend on the sowers. That’s good news for you and for me. If it depended on us, we’d kill it dead in a second. The Kingdom is dependent upon the power of the seed — the Spirit-empower gospel. God doesn’t need charm or brilliance — in fact, those often get in the way. He just asks for faithfulness. That’s good news for us. That’s good news for the world. That’s good news for the Kingdom. We don’t have to look to ourselves. We’ve just got to sow the seeds. The Spirit does all the work.

The Kingdom doesn’t “bloom quickly.”

Matthew 13:31-33 “He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.””

(show pics of mustard seed and tree) How many years have to pass before the tiny seed turns into a tree that becomes an ecosystem? How much kneading is required before the yeast spreads through the whole bowl of dough? Do you know what the difference in the seed and the tree is? Time. The disciples were like us. They wanted an Instapot Kingdom the revolutionized over night. But, God doesn’t look at time like we do. A day to us is a 1000 years to God, Peter writes. To fully appreciate the kingdom, you’ve got to realize that it won’t come into full bloom for quite some time. And, that’s the rub for us fast-paced, instant gratification westerners. The Kingdom requires what most of us aren’t willing to give. Time. Patience. Longevity. I tell people all the time that Discipleship is spelled T.I.M.E. We need to stop trying to think of how to change lives at an event and start thinking how we can change lives by laying ours down.

God isn’t finished culminating a work that began right here 136 years ago. When the elders and I were discussing this, Alan stopped all of us for a second and took us back to guys like Dan Fisher and Joel Giles who were here for such a brief time 10-11 years ago that God used to help us get to where we are today. Of course, we could go back much further to Noel Dear and Todd Borders and Mildred Johns and Donald Edwards and Gary Cockrell and Frank Mitchell and Edwin Lester. We could keep going. They’ve sown the seeds that we’re reaping today. That’s why I’m burning the boats. I want to see the long-term fruit.

The Kingdom doesn’t “stop expanding.”

Matthew 13:31-33 “He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.””

And, that leads to the culminating point that I want you to see about the Kingdom of heaven. His kingdom starts small. It looks like it’s dead in the water before it even gets started. He has twelve ragtag disciples, and one of them turns on him. But, Jesus’ Kingdom isn’t dependent upon the strength of his disciples. Jesus’ kingdom is dependent upon the power of his Spirit. It’s dependent upon the power of his gospel. So, as leaven is taken from a previous loaf of bread to make a new loaf, so will his kingdom spread from one generation to the next. Just as the seed that is planted today will grow and expand into a tree the birds call home, so will the seeds we plant today advance his Kingdom as our children grow old. His Kingdom is an ever expanding Kingdom. It’s growing — because the seed is powerful. It’s spreading — because the leaven is potent.

Now, what I want us to do is to take this understanding of the Kingdom and consider how we should respond to it. I’ll make Three Observations About Iron City (Headline 2):

We’re part of an “expanding Kingdom.”

The global church is the earthly expression of the eternal Kingdom. And, the local church is the local outpost for the global people of God. That is, we ought to find in ourselves the very nature of the kingdom — and the nature of the Kingdom is to expand. We don’t look like very much. Our sowers aren’t very impressive. The gospel seems slow to take root in us. Yet, the point is well-made. Right here, right now, with us, God is at work expanding his Kingdom. Because it’s not about us, and it’s not about how good we are. It’s about Him, his word, and how good He is.

So, you see, we don’t get an out because we live in a forgotten place. Of course, we do! We don’t get an out because we see ourselves as ill-equipped or unworthy people. Of course, we are! We don’t get an out because we’re struggling to live this thing out ourselves. Of course, we are! Because it’s not about us! Leaven works into the dough, transforms it, and then spreads through it. It’s not the power of the dough; it’s the power of the yeast. That’s the gospel in us. The question is: Will we take up our place in the Kingdom? Will we participate in the Kingdom Jesus is building? Will we join him in the fields, roll up our sleeves, and sow the seeds? He says the harvests are plentiful!

The nature of a being a part of an expanding Kingdom brings with it significant responsibility. And, I believe that our unique situation shows this all the more!

We live in a “growing community.”

Over the last three years, construction has resumed in neighborhoods throughout this valley. The only growing parts of this county are south and east. Literally, the whole county is moving this way. Oxford has annexed the 431 exit. They’re coming this way. The schools are talking about open enrollment. Politics and community pride aside, if it happens, this will literally send people driving into this community every day. When I graduated from White Plains, we were a small 2a school with 42 graduates. Now, we’re a large 4a school with an increasing enrollment.

It must not be lost that this church was placed in this spot 136 years ago for such a time as this. We must stop and ask ourselves: What does it mean for us to be a part of an expanding Kingdom in a growing community? It is our responsibility to be a City on a Hill here! By God’s grace, I believe this means that we must be growing church if we are to answer the bell. We need a theology and gospel responsibility that enables us to answer the unique position for which God has placed us.

There’s one more observation I want you to make. We’re part of an expanding Kingdom and we live in a growing community and.....

We’ve been given an “increasing influence.”

(show map graphic that shows the locations of ICBC members) I want to show you how God has been expanding our footprint. Ten years ago our circle of influence could be crossed in 30-45 minutes. Now, it would take you an hour an a half to drive all the way across our ministry footprint. Every week, we have people coming from at least four counties. On many Sundays, we have seven different nationalities represented here. Y’all, these are not things that we have solicited and sought. God has transformed us from a community church to a regional church. He’s increased our influence. And, with an increase in influence comes an increase in responsibility.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

Paul sums up his ministry by saying this: “I’m just a servant of Christ and steward of the mysteries of God. But, I must be found faithful to have stewarded well that which has been entrusted to me.” That’s what’s in front of us now. What will we do with the unique opportunity God has presented us? We are part of an expanding Kingdom in a growing community with an increasing influence. How will we steward it? Future generations will judge us by our actions now. Will we rise to the challenge, or will we go through the motions? Will we seize this opportunity of providence, or will we rest on our laurels? That’s why I’m convinced it is right for us to take the risks that come with a decade of expansion.

Let’s burn our boats. Let’s go all-in. Let’s offer all that we are to the service of Jesus’ kingdom. Let’s commit first to Christ and then to one another. Let’s grow old together, Church. Let’s take up our place in this expanding Kingdom.