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July 10, 2005
God’s Grace in Sharing the
Gospel
Matthew 13:1-9,
Matthew 13: 18-23
The Rev. Kong Namkung
Efficiency and effectiveness are very important in our society where pragmatism is emphasized.
Do you remember the first cellular phone? Over ten years ago, I had a cellular phone. It was huge in size. It was an imitation of military communication. It was very expensive and it was also heavy. The area that it covered was very limited.
Today I have a cellular phone, which is free if you have a contract with the company. The size is much smaller than before. I can use it, even in Korea.
My first computer was in 1986. It was a 286 and it cost $3,200. I used it basically for writing my papers for college. It is huge and heavy.
Today I have a lab top, which is much cheaper, smaller, faster, and has much more memory and capacity. I can watch movies and listen to Christian songs and classic music.
What about our home? I do not like to waste food. I am the type of person, who tells my children to finish their food on their plate or in their bowl. I do not want to waste time, energy, or electricity. I am the one, who turns off the light when we leave the rooms. I save paper clips and rubber bands. I hate to waste.
The gospel of Matthew talks about wasting. When Jesus “the king of Jews” was born, Herod was threatened and killed hundreds of innocent Jewish baby boys. Why was Jesus born with the title “the king of Jews” putting Herod in a state of insecurity and causing him to kill so many children? Why wasn’t Jesus born as a “normal child” so that countless innocent children would not be murdered? What a waste!
Why didn’t Magi come from a short distance, but from far east? If they were close, they would not have had to waste their time and energy to see little baby Jesus? Why didn’t God choose people who were closer to Jesus? What a waste!
What about when Jesus spoke to the crowd, after he healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind man, and fed more than 15,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish, “how many of you want to follow me?” Only 12 disciples were called by Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. Jesus wasted his time, energy, and efforts to make only 12 followers out of all of the people that he healed and performed miracles to.
The shepherd left 99 sheep in order to search for one lost sheep until he found it was wasteful.
What about in your relationship with your spouse or your children? Have you ever talked about the same things over and over again to your spouse until you were frustrated and you just wanted to give up or you have given up because you feel that to talk to your spouse again is a waste time and energy.
Parents! Have you talked to your children about a chore, or about manners so many times that you reached the point where you didn’t want to talk about it any more because you felt that you wasted your time and energy. And you made a stereotype of your child by saying, “S/he is a stubborn child.”
Above all, what could be more “wasteful” than Jesus to lay down his life for people like us? How many times have we sinned against God and others? How often have we told a lie, or a white lie? When was the last time that we wanted to live by how God wants us to live, but we turn around, and live the way we want to live? I am sure that if Jesus were like us, he would have given us up a long time ago because we do not want to waste our time and energy. If we were in Jesus’ shoes, we would be convinced that we totally wasted our energy, time, efforts, pain and agony, suffering, and even death for nothing.
Today’s gospel lesson talks about “wastefulness.” A farmer went out to plant to seeds. Some seeds fell on the path, others on rocky ground, and still others among thorns while other seeds fell on the good soil. Seeds on the path, rocky ground, and among thorns could not bear fruits while seeds on the good soil bear fruits 100, 60 and 30 fold.
When we look at this parable closely, we will find some more insights. First of all, we need to define, what the seeds, fields, and the farmer are. The seeds are the word, the fields are the hearts, and the farmer is Jesus Christ. Jesus talks about himself to the people with his word. This parable has two assumptions. One is the farmer has an expectation to see the fruits. The other is the seeds have the same quality. All seeds are good enough to bear fruits and the fruits depend upon the soil. Jesus said that the seeds that fell on the path could not bear fruits because
The seeds that fell on the rocky ground could not bear fruits because
The seeds that fell among thorns could not bear fruits because
The seeds that fell among the good soil bear fruits because
The heart, which receives the word of God, will bear fruits. There are fruits that the good soil bears.
1. Fruit is the true salvation Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him fro the dead, you will be saved.”
2. Holiness Romans 6:22, “Now you have been free from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification.”
3. Christian character Galatians 5:22-23, “The fruits of Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.”
4. Good works Col 1:10, “So that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to whim, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.”
5. Winning others to Christ Romans 1:13, “I want you to know, brothers and sister, that I have often intended to come to you, in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among you.”
6. Sharing what we have Romans 15:25-28, “for Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.”
7. Praising God Heb 13:15, “Through him then let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruits of lips that confess his name.”
See, it is very easy not to bear the fruits and it is very hard to bear the fruits. If you are very mathematical, you will find out that there is a 25 % chance of bearing fruits and a 75 % chance of going to waste.
Here is a story of total waste. The story of Jonah tells us how much his ministry was wasteful. God called him to go to Nineveh, but he went to Tarsish and ended up in the belly of a big fish, which led him to end up in Nineveh. After he got to Nineveh, he proclaimed God’s judgment to the people in the city of Nineveh for three days and three nights by proclaiming, “God would destroy the city within 40 days.” Jonah, who felt he had done his job, waited for the destruction of the city, but did not see the destruction. All his efforts and energy were wasteful. There was nothing that Jonah accomplished in this ministry.
I love to talk about my sermon. Like a mother, who cooks each meal with all her energy and efforts and who has a great expectation to hear from other family members, “It’s great!” I have tried my best to pronounce the words correctly and to put the best illustrations, and organize the whole sermon with introduction, body, and conclusion. Almost every Sunday on the way back home, I ask my children, “How was today’s sermon?” “It was OK!” I asked them, “Why was it OK?” Then my children talk about the sermon. Sometimes, their answer was, “It was Good!” I ask myself, “How often do I preach a good sermon?” I think I preach a good sermon every Sunday like a mother, who prepares the best meal for her family members. But according to my children, it is only 25%. What a waste!
Here is the good news. Jesus knew that 75% would fail and only 25% would succeed. Did Jesus quit his ministry and stop proclaiming the gospel because of the 75 % that would fail? No! Jesus knew that only 25 % would bear fruits. Even 25 % of the seeds that bear the fruits of 100, 60, 30 fold by the grace of God. Our mathematical understanding is that one seed should bear one, not two. But by the grace of God a seed bears 100, 60, or 30. What a blessing by the grace of God!
When you are on the way home, please, have a praying heart that you may talk again to your spouse or your children again. Share with them the great joy that you have today and let them know how much you love them. Open you heart to them again so that they may open their hearts to you again. You may feel that they are like the seeds on the rocky ground, or on the path, or among thorns. But do not be disappointed. By the grace of God they will be transformed and become a new creature.
We know that Moses’ 40 years in the wilderness as a shepherd was the time for him to prepare for the deliverance the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt. Abraham waited 100 years to have a son, Isaac. And Jesus waited for 30 years before he entered into his ministry. All these years are not wasteful.
If you have shared the good news of Jesus Christ with the unsaved, if s/he is not a Christian, please, do not be discouraged, your job is to plant seeds continuously. When the time comes, God will change the heart and their names will be in the book of life. And I promise God and you, I will continue to plant the seeds for the kingdom of God.
As a young man, John Harvard emigrated from England to America. All predicted the brightest future for him as a brilliant scholar. He died only one year later. When he died, he left a little over 700 pounds and a collection of more than 200 books to a new university in America- a university that became Harvard University. The death of John Harvard looked like waste, but it produced an abundant harvest. So in your life and in mine, results, though delayed, will come. The harvest is assured.
Matthew
13:1-9
13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such
large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it,
while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things
in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was
scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate
it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It
sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came
up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred,
sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear."
NIV
Matthew
13:18-23
18 "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone
hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil
one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed
sown along the path. 20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky
places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21
But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or
persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22 The one
who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the
word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke
it, making it unfruitful. 23 But the one who received the seed that fell
on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces
a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
NIV
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