07112020 – Matthew 13. 1-9, 19-23
Like it or not, Matthew comes every THREE YEARS as a “gentle reminder.”
We ALL have “WORK” to do…
We are not merely to SIT IDLY BY…
When “an opportunity” PRESENTS ITSELF…we are to take advantage of it.
Not in some kind of a NAGGING way…
Just dropping SEEDS, here and there…
Any and ALL COMMENTS will be heard.
They will be NOTED. Thank God! (That’s a seed you know!)
So WHERE did you get your child baptized?
Oh, your children ARE NOT in Sunday School, YET?
Or, as Eva Brown said last evening, “Thank, the Good Lord!” …that’s another seed.
You know confirmation IS NOT THE DRAG that it used to be…
I heard they dropped all that MEMORIZATION STUFF years ago.
Some kids actually LIKE going to church. Some ADULTS, too! Seeds.
You DROP them. CAREFULLY. Strategically. AMEN! (That’s another seed!)
You do not NAG. You do not JUDGE. You do not BERATE. You JUST drop a seed! ANYONE can do it! We are ALL capable!
You do not be BELLIGERENT or ACCUSATIVE or ARGUMENTATIVE.
You do not be CONDESCENDING…
Just drop a seed or TWO…lovingly with KINDNESS. God is GOOD, all the time. Yep, that’s a seed!!! Every now and then…Oops! There goes another one…
(Thank you, Jesus!)
Allow the SPIRIT to do the rest…
I just heard a story this week.
“My husband might be coming to church with me,” she said, very excitedly.
“You know WE HAVE NEVER worshipped together as a couple – EVER.”
“I was SHOCKED.” “I was SURPRISED.” “I was ELATED.” He just said it. “It would be NICE, I said.” “It would be nice to worship TOGETHER.” “Inside my HEART was doing summer saults. My heart was RACING. I was FREAKING out. My insides were jumping up and down FOR JOY. It would mean THE WORLD to me. And I think he KNOWS it.” “I can only HOPE and PRAY it happens…”
It is a RIDICULOUS story…this parable…
It makes NO SENSE whatsoever. Even people that have NEVER FARMED a day in their life KNOW that this story is all WRONG.
YOU SAVE SEEDS. Seeds cost MONEY.
You do not WASTE them or throw them RECKLESSLY and CARELESSLY. You STRATEGICLY plant the seeds where they will best GERMINATE and grow.
But NOT our GOD. Nope, not HIM!
God sows LIBERALLY, WASTEFULLY, EXTRAVAGANTLY…God MERRILY tosses…
God keeps THROWING seeds regardless of where they land…He SOWS everywhere…
“We have all been called” to drop A FEW seeds WHENEVER and wherever we can.
God is a RECKLESS sower.
This is NOT parable about types of SOIL.
It is a parable about God…and dropping seed…and of course the tremendous results…at the harvest time.
GOD might as well be THROWING, HURLING, TOSSING seed on ASPHALT.
But does GOD stop? NO! He continues tossing seed after seed after seed.
Seed cast forth ARE never wasted…
It may not find a place TODAY or TOMORROW…or the NEXT…but be patient…You keep on SOWING those seeds…
You know the WINDS blow loose seeds…around…all around…
You know the BIRDS carry seeds and drop them in the strangest of places.
The RAINWATER carries seeds away…
Seeds get moved in various ways…
When the time is right…
Behind the scenes
God is always working. Quietly, silently, doing HIS thing.
Our problem is we like immediate gratification, too much.
We want everything NOW. Immediately. THIS second. We desire INSTANT success. We get tired of waiting and dropping seeds. God, on the other hand never wearies…
But there is this almost comical Biblical Image of God continually sowing seeds…Tossing…Throwing…Willy-nilly…with all kinds of wild abandonment. Not CARING, and yet, CARING!
Hurling, flinging, pitching, casting, lobbing…chucking and catapulting, pegging and propelling seeds like there is no tomorrow.
God does not give up. God does not “cry uncle.” God is going to ultimately WIN. God will WAIT you out.
So, Matthew again REMINDS us, do not harp, do not beg, do not plead, do not coerce, or cajole, do not be a pain. But occasionally, when you can when the time is right, ever-so-gently-just drop a seed.
And allow God and his Holy Spirit to do the rest. Have patience. Have faith.
God’s got this…in his own sweet time.
Amen.