When God is at Work

Mark 4:26-29

Introduction

Ill. The Fifth Quarter Restaurant

-Great salad bar, great Prime Rib, nice ambiance, subdued lighting, quiet comfortable atmosphere, just a nice experience.

Now, for anyone that has worked in the restaurant business at some point in your life, maybe while going to school, or you have watched YouTube’s you realize that in the kitchen is a totally different atmosphere to bring that type of experience to light. There are many scenarios at work behind the scenes to create that event.

Someone is processing all the salad, the anchovies, the artichokes, the cheese, the radishes, the onions, the pickles, etc. There is someone at the grill preparing the Prime Rib or manning the ovens. Others are cleaning the large pots and pans and dishes, others are going back and forth inside the freezers and the refrigerators to bring inventory to the kitchen for preparation. And someone is assembling the dishes to hand to the waiters and waitresses as they carry the food to the table.

Many things are happening behind the scene for you to have a wonderful time at the Fifth Quarter.

There is more going on than meets the eye.

Think in that realm as we study today our third parable in Mark over these last three weeks.

We studied the parable of the soils and we studied last Sunday the parable of the lamp.

This morning, we study a parable that follows but its slightly different.

It begins with these words:

“And He said, “the Kingdom of God is as if....”

This is one of the parables that help us understand what the Kingdom of God is. Jesus never chooses to directly address the Kingdom of God but He always used a parable to help us to define what the Kingdom of God is.

What is the Kingdom of God?

God’s kingly rule over creation and His people.

When we hear the word “kingdom,” we naturally think of a place—a territory with borders, land, a region, or a government.

But when Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God, He is speaking primarily about the rule and reign of God.

Oh and listen, where God reigns, His kingdom is at work.

And one of the greatest messages in Mark’s gospel is that in Jesus Christ, the King has come and the kingdom has drawn near. Amen?

Mark 1:15 “15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.””

Let’s delve into this next parable and see what the Lord has to teach us from these truths about the Kingdom of God.

Scripture Reading

Mark 4:26–29 NKJV

26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Prayer

Message

This morning Jesus provides us another picture of how the Kingdom works.

Mark 4:26 “26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,”

Now this is an illustration today whether we are of biblical times or not we understand, whether we are a farmer or not, we have been exposed enough to realize from any level of growth of flowers to small garden vegetables this concept.

Simply put, the farmer places the seed in the ground. But then something happens totally out of the power or control of the farmer. He can not go sub-surface below the ground and make the seed germinate or simply come alive. That growth process is totally above the farmer’s paygrade. He may want to or desire to, he may water, he may fertilize, he may rotate his crops, he may weed his rows, but at the beginning or the end of the day he has no control ultimately whether that seedling will grow or not grow. It is simply out of his hands.

He may sweet talk, he may massage the ground, he may dance around the garden, but he cannot command the roots to grow nor can he manufacture the stalk.

There is a power at work beneath the surface that the farmer can not see and cannot control.

Oh dearly beloved, if you do not walk away with any other truth this morning, in my humble thoughts, this is the greatest takeaway for you and me today.

*There is More at Work Than What We Can See.*

You noticed I put stars at both ends on the PowerPoint. There is more at work in our lives and the lives around us that we have the ability to see.

Are you not thankful that the King is at Work in our lives totally outside of the things we think we can control?

Now, specific to our text this morning this parable majors on expanding the Kingdom of God by sharing Christ with others. But, I also think it important given the prayer needs and the concerns and fears or struggles in these present days within the Mt Zion family, it is important we know that the King is at work in our lives beyond those things we have control over. Amen?

1. The Seed Must be Sown—Our Responsibility V. 26

The farmer has a responsibility to sow the seed.

If we leave the seed in the barn, there will be no harvest.

That truth immediately speaks to us as a church and believers. God has called His people to sow.

We share the Gospel. We invite someone to church. We make the phone call. We visit the hurting. We feed the hungry. We encourage the discouraged. We teach the Sunday School class. We minister to the child. We pray with a neighbor. We become, as often we say, the hands and feet of Jesus. And, every one of those things matter.

Ill. Howard being invited by teacher at Santuck Baptist

But here is the danger:

We can become so busy doing the work of God that we begin to believe the work depends on us.

Oh dearly beloved, the work is not dependent of us.

We sow, but God gives life.

Paul expressed this same principle in ministering to the church at Corinth:

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 “6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”

Notice that Paul did not diminish the need of watering or the need of planting.

Those are our acts of obedience.

But neither Paul nor Apollos could produce life in the individuals they ministered to. That result was the result of the workings of the Holy Spirit.

Church we have a responsibility, but we do not have sovereignty.

Our calling is faithfulness. God’s responsibility is to bring the harvest. Now, that duality should both challenge us and relieve us.

It challenges us because we cannot use God’s sovereignty as an excuse for inactivity.

Sow the seed!

But it relieve us because we do not have to carry the burden of producing what only God can produce. We sow, Jesus saves!

Oh listen dear church, let’s broaden our parameters for a quick moment to how this sowing/harvest works in the big scheme of the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 25:14-30 we have the parable of the talents. It starts out with “the kingdom of heaven is like” and Jesus shares the parable of the talents.

Let’s read the first few verses to remind you of the parable:

Matthew 25:14–19 NKJV

14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

Matthew 25:29–30 NKJV

29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The concept of effort and the blessing of exceeding abundance.

Dearly beloved, we ask the question:

Why has the Lord not blessed me? Even that question has a bias to it in the fact that we are here today, He gives us oxygen to breathe, food to eat, a shelter, our health, etc.

But we do do we not?

Lord, why have you not blessed me?

The sower had to sow to make any attempt of a harvest. We must sow in life if we expect the Kingdom of heaven to come down to earth in the here and now.

Oh Lord, why do I not have a nice home? Lord, why can’t I find gainful employment? Lord, why can’t I find another person to have a relationship with?

And I would simply ask:

What actions have you taken, what efforts have you made to do so? How have you involved the Lord in that request? What sweat equity have you invested in that coming to past? Have you sought God’s blessings in pursuing that dream?

Luke 11:9 “9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

2. The Seed is Growing—God’s Activity VV. 27-28

Then Jesus says something fascinating.

The farmer:

“should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.”

I love that phrase:

“He himself does not know how.”

The farmer goes to bed. He wakes up. He goes about his day. Again, God honors activity.

And...beneath the ground , where we can’t see, something is happening.

Life is at work.

Jesus says:

“For the earth yields crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.”

There is a progression, there is development, there is growth.

Raise of hands. How many of you have had any experience with a garden? From the time of soil prep, seed planting, watering, fertilizing, pulling the weeds, etc.? How many I am just curious has stayed out there in the garden at night, all night and without falling asleep, watched every aspect of the growth process take place? Anybody?

How is that any different than when we make continued applications to get a job, or we make several visits to different doctors to get a diagnosis and treatments, or we are waiting for schools to accept our children into certain universities?

Oh dearly beloved, God works in His time and in His way and we must be patient to see the full crop in this life.

See, for the farmer, much of what occurs outside of the farmer’s sight and beyond the farmers control and so it is with us. God is at work on matters in your life and my life outside of our sight, and totally outside of our control.

And church, this is true spiritually.

You may have shared Christ with someone and you wonder if it has made a difference. You have invited someone repeatedly and they have not come. You have prayed for a child or grandchild for years. You may have shared Scriptures with someone and wonder if they are even listening.

Don’t assume because you cannot see anything happening, nothing is happening.

God works beneath the surface. God works over our heads. God works behind the scenes. God works in the shadows and corridors of our lives.

This is true in evangelism. It is true in ministry.

And, I am reminded that its true in my life.

In recent months, I have learned a great deal about the things I cannot control.

There is MD Anderson.

There are Oncologists.

There is chemotherapy.

There are medications and treatments.

There is Daraxonrasib.

There is immunotherapy and medical research.

And I thank God for every doctor, every nurse, every treatment, every medication, and every advancement He has allowed mankind to discover.

Those are instruments.

Those are means.

But church, I dare not leave God out of the equation.

Because beyond everything that medicine can do, there is a Hand at work that no physician controls.

There is a power at work that no laboratory created.

There is a God who sees what I cannot see.

And there is a God who is working when I do not understand how He is working.

Oh listen to John the Beloved recording the nature of our Savior.

John 1:4 “4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Life is in Him.

This is true of the seed, it is true of salvation, and ultimately, this is true of us.

So, my confidence cannot ultimately rest in what man can do.

MY confidence rests in the God who can work through what man does—and who can work far beyond anything man can do.

Sometimes faith simply says:

Say this phrase along with me:

“Lord, I cannot see what You are doing beneath the surface, but I trust You are still at work.”

3. The Harvest Will Come—God’s Sovereignty V. 29

Jesus concludes:

Mark 4:29 “29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.””

The farmer sowed, the farmer waited, and God produced the life.

And eventually there came the harvest.

The parable reminds us that:

God’s Kingdom is moving toward God’s appointed conclusion.

We do not determine God’s timing, we have no control over the outcome.

Oh dearly beloved, may we faithfully serve the King and trust the King with His kingdom and His decisions.

In accomplishing that, there are two mistakes we want to avoid.

Don’t become proud when you receive a harvest.

If someone comes to Christ through your witness, praise the Lord.

If the church grows, praise the Lord.

If the ministry flourishes, praise God.

Because we sowed-God gave the increase.

2. Don’t become discouraged when you cannot yet see the harvest.

That person you have prayed for may be closer to Christ than you realize.

That conversation you had may be working in someone's heart.

That Scripture you shared may still be echoing in someone's mind.

That child you taught years ago may still remember what you said.

The seed may be beneath the soil.

And just because you cannot see it does not mean God isn't working.

So keep sowing.

Keep praying.

Keep serving.

Keep believing.

And leave the harvest to God.

TRANSITION TO COMMUNION

And perhaps there is no better place to end this message than at this Table.

Because when Jesus gathered with His disciples before the cross, they could not possibly see everything God was doing.

Within hours, Jesus would be arrested.

He would be beaten.

He would be crucified.

His body would be placed in a tomb.

And from the perspective of those disciples, it would appear that everything had gone terribly wrong.

But God was at work.

When they could not see it—

God was at work.

When they could not understand it—

God was at work.

When Jesus lay in the tomb—

God was at work.

And on the third morning, the world discovered that death itself could not stop the life that is found in Jesus Christ.

So when we take this bread and this cup today, perhaps we need to remember more than Christ's death.

We need to remember whose hands our lives are in.

The bread reminds us:

His body was given for us.

The cup reminds us:

His blood was shed for us.

The empty tomb reminds us:

Life is in Him.

So church, sow faithfully.

Serve faithfully.

Pray faithfully.

Trust faithfully.

And when you cannot see what God is doing, remember:

There is more at work than what you can see.

We sow the seed.

We water the seed.

We wait upon the Lord.

But God gives the increase.

And the God who brought life out of a tomb is still at work today.

Let’s Pray.

Communion

Note: 2 Deacons will come up and uncover the table.

Self Examination

1 Corinthians 11:27–29 NKJV

27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

Time of Silence

Prayer for the Bread:

-Handout the elements of the bread

-Distribute the bread and collect plates. Serve the deacons and then Ron will serve me.

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 NKJV

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Prayer for the Cup:

-Handout the elements of the Cup.

-Distribute the cup and collect plates. Serve the deacons and then Ron will serve me.

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 NKJV

25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Invitation