Watching the Plow-Boy
NEW SERIES: THE TROUBLED TRIUMPHANT CHURCH
Sermon 10 – “Watching The Plow-Boy! (God is all in all)”
1 Cor. 3:5-9
PRAY READ TEXT
Introduction
Ronie and I were blessed with the opportunity to go see the Titans play their first game this year…..against the St. Louis Rams in August. It was our first time into LP Stadium…..and Jevon Kearses first return to LP in a Titans uniform! We saw Chris Johnson break his first of several long runs in his rookie season (BTW…..Johnson is an East Carolina grad….and they recruited me for Off. Tackle in High School….but that’s not really on point here!!)…..back to the Titans. We watched the very beginning of what is turning into a storybook season….and lest any of you be thinking right now….OH, Pastor, don’t jinx it……we are in God’s House and we will not use the “L” word here!! Anyway…..the starters (except Vince Young was a starter then but no longer is a starter!) played for most of the first half….and it was a great game!
But after watching that game, Ronie and I were most impressed with T-Rac….the team Raccoon Mascot. Besides the fact that we have NO IDEA what a Raccoon has to do with the mythological Greek Titan gods…..we both knew right away that he is the key to the team’s success. T-Rac had this really cool 4-wheeler and he actually jumped through a ring of fire on the field….and didn’t even singe the grass! After watching the game…..and the first 6 UNDEFEATED games – I’ve come to the conclusion that the only reason the Titans are winning is T-Rac! Forget the fact that he hasn’t played a single down….coached a single player….or even filled the water bottles for the players…he’s the key to all of their victories!
I doubt I’m going to convince many of you out there to come join in my assessment of the Titan’s success! After all….it’s a Pretty stupid conclusion…isn’t it!
Tie-in – That it is…..but it uses the same assumption that so many church folks believe about why or how a church grows….or why a church is vibrant or why it’s dead…..or the health of the church. Because so many people think that the church rises or falls on the shoulders of the pastor….or the other leaders….or the number and size of the programs run! Now, to be sure…..deficiencies in any of these will certainly negatively affect the church…..but if I preached so well that even stone statues would fall down in repentance….and if we had a full staff and mega-church style programs…..we could still have a dead church….a waste of Kingdom Time and Talent! Because looking to any of these….to pastors or leaders or programs or strategies….looking to these as focus of our success or the measurement of our health - - that’s like looking to T-Rac to ensure the Titan’s success in football!
Worshiping the Waiter (v.5)
1 Co 3:5
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
Paul has just pointed out the classes of people for us….the “natural person” is the one who is lost….who doesn’t know God; then there’s the “spiritual person” …..Born-Again and thus indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit; and the third type – those Christians who claim Christ and live like the world – those who are “merely human.” It’s this third group that Paul has been exhorting to “live like who you are!”
And in v.4, Paul states it clearly: 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? When you follow a man…or an idea….or a strategy – you are acting in the flesh, not the spirit! Why? That’s v.5. What is Apollos? What then, is Paul?
They were ministers of the gospel…..instruments God used to bring the gospel – and it’s the message….more directly….the One whom fills the message that saves you! In 1 Cor. 1.13 – Paul reminded the church that he didn’t die for them….they weren’t baptized in his name!
Servants = Paul and Apollos…..your pastor and every pastor and teacher and leader…..every Christian every where…we are all ___________ (diakonoi) – which means servants. It’s not the same Gk word that Paul uses over and over to describe our relationship to Christ _________ (doulos) – meaning bond-servant or slave. No, diakonoi simply means menial worker of any sort. It was often used for those who waited on tables….or what we would call a busboy! Now, when you go to a fine restaurant and have a wonderful meal…..it’s not customary to praise the great talent and skill of the busboy!
Paul was saying, “No one builds a movement around the waiter or busboy….or erects monuments to them! Apollos and I are just busboys or waiters whom the Lord used as servants to bring you food. We serve whatever tables to which the Master sends us! It’s not right, nor do we desire your glory….it’s misplaced. Give your praise….focus on the One who prepared the spiritual food we delivered!”
The world honors and glorifies man….because man (humanity) is the highest thing it knows. The wisdom of the world glorifies itself because it can’t and won’t see beyond itself.
Illustration:
Ronie and I, several years ago, had the privilege of spending a few days in Monte Carlo and touring the south of France. We went into a village dating to the 11th century that was known as an artisan village. Many famous European artists had spent time living there and developing their talent. We toured the art galleries and bartered over price trying to buy several paintings that we fell in love with and wanted really badly!
There was one……of a fishing village with the sun setting on the horizon….and I can still see the brightness of the colors dancing off the surface of the sea! The artist was who we bartered with over the price….and in my zealous appreciation for the painting…..I didn’t praise and honor the brushes he used to paint the picture or the palette that held the many colors in which he dipped the brush.
Tie-in – It makes no more sense for Christians to glorify men….any men….even the great ones like Paul, or Augustine, or Billy Graham. Such men….servants….of yesterday and today….are to be loved and esteemed for their work – but not revered or set against each other. The God of the universe….the Lord of glory is the artist….and the church is his canvas….and the beauty of the masterpiece comes only from the Master – The Creator, Sustainer, Savior, and Lord of all!
We don’t worship the waiter…..we worship the One who calls and sends and equips the busboys! God must be the object of our faith at all times….He is the great prize – never men!
Watch the Plow-Boy / Water-Boy?
1 Co 3:6-8a
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, …….
Paul drives home his point of misguided allegiance by using a metaphor or a picture of farming. Paul was called to carry the gospel to places it had not been heard…..and so he went and planted. Other elders / pastors (Apollos) were sent to water the young disciples that had sprung from the seeds planted. The idea here is that every ministry is equally valid and important in God’s eyes….and in the health and vibrancy of the gospel footprint a church makes for the kingdom of God!
There was a fairly large field planted in corn across from our house on Airport Rd…..it appeared to have been planted well and fertilized well….but every bit of it was chopped down and plowed under - because the rain failed to come at the right time to make corn! God is the ONE who brings the harvest….and God is the ONE who produces the fruit! No man….not even the best farmer….can give life or growth to a plant. So what man could we presume, even an Apostle….how much less could a man bring spiritual life or growth to a person! Now, we do need to notice a couple of important points here:
Ø The labor of Paul’s planting w/o Apollos’ watering would be useless. The ministries are co-dependent. So it is in the church – each ministry God calls us to is equally vital and valid!
Ø Each ministry is tracking toward a common goal….to grow a harvest! The common vision is to see disciples born, maturing, and reproducing (we’re going to speak much more on Disciple-making in the coming months!)….but the point here is that the one who plants and the one who waters are both pulling in the same direction….working for a common goal!
Ø And as we’ve said, it is only God who validates the work and brings the growth. He calls the lost to Christ….He brings the growth to the church…He is the ONLY Life-Giver!
Each servant is equally important and valid. To glorify or honor one Christian ministry or work above another is just as much in the flesh and divisive as it is to glorify one leader above another!
Illustration - In Matt. 20:1-16, Jesus gives a parable that demonstrates the equality of God’s calling of servants. In the parable, the master of the house goes out and hires day-laborers to work in his vineyard. He agrees with the workers to pay them a denarius (a day’s wage) for their work….and he hires: (1) some first thing in the morning; (2) some are hired in the 3rd hour….and again at the 6th, the 9th, and even the 11th hour! Each was promised the same amount of one denarius! But when the time came to pay….some grumbled! You can hear them…. “it’s not fair….I worked a full day…the last ones only worked an hour or two, but their getting the same amount!” But the Master said:
Matt 20:13-16
13 …. ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
This parable says a couple of things, but the one that speaks along with our passage today….is that all we do…..and all we’re called to do….is by God’s grace! We don’t fix our eyes on the Plow-Boy or the Water-Boy, we fix our eyes upon God…..for, by His grace, only God gives the growth
This leads us to the last point…..we’ve seen that it’s ridiculous and of the flesh (as opposed to the Spirit) to Worship the Waiter….or to Watch the Plow-Boy or Water-Boy….but we DO Wait on the Reward!
Wait on the Reward - 1 Co 3:8b-9
8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Here Paul brings in the grace of rewards. God will reward the labor of His servants. God is the One who calls….the One who brings the harvest….and the One who rewards our labor! The Apostle John writes of the coming judgment and rewards in Rev. 11:18 -
18 The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
God rewards on the basis of labor…not success or results! A missionary may work for 50 years and see only a handful of converts….another may work for only a few and see thousands. Look at the prophets of the OT. Jeremiah was one of God’s most faithful and dedicated prophets….yet he was beaten, imprisoned, laughed at…and his sermons were ridiculed and mostly rejected by the people (today-he would be the main target of people like David Letterman!). But then there’s Jonah….sort of self-centered and an unwilling preacher – yet through him thousands came to repentance in the evil city of Nineveh.
But make no mistake about it….although we are saved from the judgment of sin (White Throne Judgment)…we will all come before the Judgment Seat of Christ and give an account of our labor for the kingdom! 2 Cor. 5.10 says: 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
The idea here, however, being made by Paul is that because all ministry is equally important….it is God and God alone who determines and gives the reward!
Conclusion
What grace we see here! What we see in this passage is that God is all in all!
Ø Paul and Apollos…you and I are fellow servants – But God assigns the tasks;
Ø Paul Planted…Apollos watered…But God brings the growth;
Ø The planter and irrigator work as one….and each are equal – BUT God is the One who brings growth (He is our all!)
God owns the workers….the field…..and the building; And the glory is God’s alone! We take no pride in ourselves or others…but we boast in Christ and the cross!
Let me ask you - because it is God who calls; assigns; empowers; and produces…..what is left for us? I’ll tell you – OBEDIENCE!!
It doesn’t matter if you are working in the nursery, teaching Sunday School….working the Fall Festival or bringing donuts on Sunday morning – But it is important that you BE DOING what God asks of you! One day, Jesus will look at how you lived your life and what you did, as stewards of God’s grace, with what He provided and assigned to you! If God is our all in all…..then God will grow Cragfont…because each of us will grow in our love for Christ!
LET’S PRAY
