Scattering Seed
Notes
Transcript
There are many blessings that come with living in a rural, farming community, don’t you think? I am not a city guy; I am a country fella.
One of the things that i love about being a country people is that we can connect with some of Jesus’ parables in a very practical way. Most of us here have worked the ground before. I’m not sure how someone who has lived in metro New York process the parable of the sower, but I think about myself getting our garden ready for the season. I think about tilling and working the ground, I think about weeding and laying seed. I think about the process of seed sowing- it is not an abstract idea for me, it is practical; how about you?
There is work in the gardening process, right? At least most of the time.
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we can get lucky. A couple years ago Jess and I were walking through the yard and came upon a sight- A small patch of green onions growing in the flower bed. Obviously one of the boys had dropped some sweet onion remains on his way out to take scraps to the goats and where it hit the ground was now a small patch of green onion seedlings. So, yes, sometimes growth can come in the most unexpected places.
The is a central truth to this parable that never grows old to me- the farmer sowed his seed.
Some fell along the path- and the farmer sowed his seed
Some fell on the rocky soil- and the farmer sowed his seed.
Some fell on the thorny soil- and the farmer sowed his seed
Why?
Because some fell on the good soil and produced a good crop.
Can I be honest, here? Part of me wishes there were some percentages here! I want to know the ratio off producing seed to non-producing seed. I don’t know, maybe that would somehow make me feel better, or off the hook.
I wonder if someone might say “Don’t waste the seed! Why throw it where it has such a small chance to grow? Should you not use your seed more wisely?”
We often deal with discouragement like that too, don’t we? We might hear or think things like:
There’s no use inviting them to church; look at how mean and nasty they are!
Why tell them about Jesus; they probably already know all about it and choose to ignore it.
The last 4 people you tried to share your faith with all shut you down; this probably wont be any different.
Discouragement is real, and it often wins in evangelism. But, there is only one full proof way to guarantee that your time and effort will not matter- never do it. If you never share your faith then you will never have to worry about discouragement.
Why? Because sharing your faith is risky business. There is inherent risk in the whole thing- throwing yourself and your beliefs out there for the person to see. If you invite them out to dinner there low risk, because if they say no all they walk away with is knowledge on a particular restaurant that you like- but when you invite them to church or into a conversation about faith you are beginning to bear your soul- and let’s face it, that can be scary.
But Jesus asked us to be risk takers with our faith. Remember the parable of the talents? Who is it that Jesus condemns? The man who buried his money in the ground and refused to take any risk with it. It was the one who buried his treasure in the dirt that the master condemned. Yet, that is often our response with our faith- to bury it in the dirt where it is safe, but also where it is hidden.
Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, almost delighted in taking risks for the gospel. He said:
"I must take this decision disregarding risks involved and make known the gifts of God and his everlasting consolation. Neither must we fear any such risk in faithfully preaching God’s name boldly in every place, so that even after my death, a spiritual legacy may be left for my brethren and my children."-- Patrick
The sower threw his seed convinced that the seed that produced nothing was worth the seed that produced much.
You know, the Bible even gives example of the risk of sharing the Gospel, but those are not always the stories we believe. For example, when thinking about preaching and evangelism the passage that many turn to is Acts 2:38-40 when Peter is preaching and the Bible says that 3,000 people recieved the word and were baptized that day. It is an powerful story and image.
But then flip over a few chapters to Acts 14:8-20
2 very different reactions to the Gospel.
Now, if you are like me, I often think of success in evangelism as the ammount of people who accept the message, but what if defining success in the Gospel is something different?
In their stimulating book Making New Disciples: Exploring the paradoxes of evangelism (SPCK 2015) Mark Ireland and Mike Booker make the perceptive comment:
“We live in a risk-averse culture, yet there is something fundamentally risky about evangelism, when we are called to proclaim afresh the Christian faith in each generation. We learn by trying out new ideas, and finding out what works and what doesn’t, and so perhaps ‘success’ in evangelism should be measured not in how many come to us, our courses and events, but how far we have been willing to go to reach the lonely, the lost and the broken with the good news of God’s grace
What length are you willing to go?
The other challenge is that lengths of evangelism are not always apples to apples comparisons. What is drastic lengths for one is not nessicarily a drastic length for another.
Often we think of people like Doug Wenger as the measuring stick of evangelism- those who sell their possessions and pack up their lives and move across the globe to share the Gospel.
But that is not the only example of evangelism- is it?
For Jennifer it is collecting toothbrushes and soap all year and setting up a shoebox assembly line
For Doug it is putting on a smile and being present for customers and employees at Walmart and sharing his love for Jesus when they ask about his joy
For Whitney it is working for American Cancer Society; providing a sense of joy in her work and being able to share with people how her faith in Christ gives her the ultimate hope.
What is it for you? Because we all have a responsibility.
Hear the words of Romans 10:13-17:
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Paul is calling us to be heralds those who proclaim the good news for those in need.
Paul’s rhetorical questions work at the case of evangelism backwards, but his logic and reasoning is quite simple- Christ sends heralds; heralds preach; people hear; hearers believe; believers call; and those who call are saved(2). My friends, we are the heralds, the bringers of good news.
Romans 10:14 is a verse that I firmly believe all Christians should have memorized.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?