JOY "The Compassion of Jesus " November 20, 2013

November 20, 2013

The Compassion of Jesus

Mark 5:21-6:6

I        Jesus and Jarius   5:21-24

II       Jesus and the Bleeding Woman   5:25-34

III      Jesus and Jarius’ Little Daughter    5:35-43

IV      Jesus and His Hometown   6:1-6

(“I read a story, about a teaching hospital-----that had discovered, that one of its young residents had a marvelous effect on little children. For some reason, they responded to him without fear and with open innocence and trust. They would do things for him and yield to his testing and treatments, in a way that they wouldn’t do for any other person on the staff. So the hospital administrators assigned a nurse, to discover the young resident’s secret. But, it wasn’t until the second week when she was on night duty, that she found out the secret….and it was a very simple and precious thing: Every night, on his last round, he would kiss and hug, and tuck in, every single one of those children------and that tender little act, is where he made his connection with the children”-------)

And, it’s the tender acts of compassion, that we read about Jesus doing, and the ones that we have personally experienced, that reach out to us, and charm us more than anything else, and draw us to Him, in a way, that nothing else can. 

Jesus’ willingness to put Himself in the place of a person, who had a need, and to feel what they were feeling, is what moved Him to do something to meet their need or to say something, that they needed to hear. 

And we are blessed, because He hasn’t changed----His compassion for us is still the most precious thing He gives us----because that is what drove Him to become a human being and come to earth to experience everything that we experience, and then take our sins to the cross in our place, so that He could provide the way for us to live with Him forever ----and that same compassion envelops us and guides us and comforts us and strengthens and gives us peace every single day, as long as we walk on this earth. 

In his book, In The Grip of Grace,  Max Lucado comments on the thorn in Paul’s side and he asks his readers several questions,  1.)“ Do you wonder why God doesn’t remove temptations from our lives?”  And he answered---“If He did, we might lean on our own strength, instead of on His grace. “ 2.) “Why can’t we be free of the difficult people in our lives?”  And he answered----“Maybe God wants us to love them like He does,” and 3.) “Why doesn’t God answer prayers for healing?” and his answer-----“ He may choose to heal parts of our body, before we get to heaven, but if He doesn’t, if He never gives us more than eternal life, then, His grace and peace and presence, in our struggles now, is more than enough. 

With His compassion, Jesus brings faith into the lives of the people He touches, and then, He causes it to grow. And that’s when we discover that He’s all we need.

I     Jesus and Jarius    5:21-24

Jesus won’t stay where He isn’t wanted, so He and His disciples left the eastern shore of Lake Galilee, and rowed back across the water, to the western shore, so they could get back to Capernaum, where the base of operations for Jesus’ ministry was located.  And the crowds must have seen Him coming, because they were there to greet Him, and they immediately, surrounded Him.    

Before they got very far, from the water, a man named Jarius approached Jesus and dropped to his knees in front of him, and begged Him to heal his little daughter, who was so sick, she was close to death.

Jarius was a synagogue ruler, which was a respected and honored position, in the community. He was not a priest----it was his responsibility to take care of the administrative details of the synagogue. This included making arrangements for public worship and inviting visitors to teach on the Sabbath.  

So, his coming to Jesus, and throwing his dignity aside, and bowing at Jesus’ feet, was a huge affirmation of Jesus power and an authentication, of who He was. 

Jarius would have been under the authority of the Pharisees, so he was taking a huge risk, of incurring their displeasure, by publically seeking Jesus out. 

But regardless of who Jarius thought that Jesus was,  and in spite of the displeasure of the Pharisees----Jarius, obviously believed that if Jesus would come and heal his daughter, she would live. He had been present in the crowd, probably, more than one time….and no doubt, had seen Jesus heal many others, and must have thought that Jesus needed to be present to heal someone, so he came to take Jesus to his home, before it was too late. 

We need to caution ourselves from believing that Jarius was a sold-out believer--- and that He understood that Jesus was God’s son and that Jesus was his only means of salvation-----the simple fact is,  we don’t know how much he understood---- but what we do know, is that Jarius was desperate!----he might not have been sure about Jesus, personally---but he was absolutely sure that Jesus could heal his child….   

Jarius was like so many of us when we come to the Lord----it wasn’t his love for Jesus that brought him, he wasn’t thinking about that----it wasn’t what he could do for Jesus, he wasn’t thinking about that----it was his need, that brought him----and it was his desperation that brought him, and it was a glimmer of hope, deep down inside of him, from what he had observed about Jesus’ behavior, that brought him, and that’s all he could think about.   

 Jesus probably knew the little girl---since she was 12 years old, He had probably seen her in the synagogue, He would have felt compassion for her… and anybody who has had a sick child, especially one who is desperately ill, knows and would understand the heartbreak of this father-----so Jesus would have felt compassion for Jarius too .

The Lord Jesus, responded to Jarius, at once, no hesitation, and started walking with him toward his house. The crowds with their well-developed appetite for miracles, sensed that something was in the air, so the came too, jostling and pushing each other, eager to see which one could get closer to Jesus, for the best view of what was going to happen. They were curious, because they would all , either have known Jarius and his little girl , or they would have known about them. 

It must have been excruciating for Jarius, as he and Jesus were slowed down and buffeted by the crowd----and then,I  can imagine the throat-closing panic he must have felt, when Jesus halted to question the sick woman… he must have felt like Jesus was Jarius had no idea, that Jesus stopping to heal that woman, was going to grow his little bud of a faith, into exponential proportions…

II   Jesus and the Bleeding Woman     5:25-34

I read somewhere once,  that “anybody will do anything, given any situation” and I think there is a lot of truth in that statement, because people will do unheard of things, when they are filled with desperation.  I think that’s where the woman who had been bleeding for so long was----at the end of her rope----she was desperate----she had tried everything, to no avail----Jesus was her last hope---- so she pulled out all the stops-----she braved the crowds, and the ridicule on people’s faces, and their critical snubbing of her, just to touch, not even Jesus, but some small section of His clothing. 

(Pastor Bryan Chapell tells the story of some friends whose son, in his middle teen years, rebelled against them and against God. For 4 years the boy protested the innocence of his conduct and made innumerable promises to “straighten up”. But each excuse was unjustified, and each promise was broken..

So much pain, embarrassment, and discouragement had been inflicted on these parents that the wife confided to Pastor Chapel that she didn’t know if she even loved her son anymore. Her heart had grown hard against her own child. What melted it again was his cry of desperation. 

There finally came the day, when that mother had had enough, after, yet another, foolish escapade. While the son was protesting his innocence, that mother just walked away, without saying a word. As the young man sat alone on the sofa in their family room, he began to leaf through a family photo album-----the pictures of better and happier days filled him with increasing emotions. One picture struck his heart with greater poignancy than the rest, and he went in search of his mother to show it to her.

The photograph showed the son, as a young child, sitting on his mother’s lap and she was looking down at him with such love in her eyes, that you could see it. He said to her, “Mom, when I look at this picture, I understand why you don’t know if you can love me any more. In the picture, hope fills your eyes as you look down at me----but I’ve dashed all your hopes, haven’t I Mom, and I’m so sorry, I finally understand, can you ever forgive me?”) 

And what did that mother do? Her hardness broke and she embraced him with a heart renewed in love for him. What moved her, wasn’t his protests of innocence nor was it, his fresh promise to do better----it was his statement of absolute desperation, that moved her, and enabled her see him through eyes of compassion, not eyes of hurt and accusation. That’s how Jesus looked at the desperate bleeding woman----with eyes of incomparable compassion.)

Jarius had lived through 12 short years of delight with his precious daughter----and the poor woman had endured 12 long years of despair with her condition. Under the Law, her affliction made her untouchable at the very least, and a total outcast, at the very most.  Her disease was defiling and debilitating. It cut her off from society and from the synagogue -----her life was miserable.

She had suffered embarrassment, pain, disappointment and financial ruin. The doctors couldn’t give her an accurate diagnosis and they couldn’t heal her, either. They prescribed their useless remedies, collected their fees and left her more hopeless each time, so, bleeding, broken and bankrupt, she turned to Jesus, even though she did it secretly. 

The poor woman did her best to escape attention, but she believed, like so many of the people of her day did, that sometimes the garments or even the shadow of the godly could bring healing----so as Jesus passed by, she reached out her frail hand and touched the edge of his robe or maybe it was a tassel on his prayer shawl. 

And, in a vivid, technicolor moment in time, that is forever etched on the pages of history…..she felt the healing course through her body and she was made whole.  Without a word, Jesus’ power completely, and immediately, healed her---the same power that made the sea instantly lie flat, took away her long-standing illness. 

It was her faith, imperfect as it was, that healed her. She had started with a fact, something that she knew to be true------which was, that the Lord’s power was so mighty, that just a touch would heal her…and the fact, turned into a faith, that was as absolute and certain, as the sun rising in the morning and going down at night.  It was her personal faith in the Lord Jesus---that set her apart from all the others, who were bumping into Him and jostling Him. They touched Him too, but nothing happened to them. It was because they had no faith….they were just thrill-seekers or curiosity-hounds….

Even today, many people brush up against Him, and they go away the same as they came-----they come in contact with the Living God and never recognize Him for who He is, and they don’t let Him change them in any way. 

The bleeding woman was transformed, she would never be the same. Imagine how she must have felt---her heart throbbing with joy and fear, and her eyes overflowing with emotion. Her faith was a simple one----she had no idea that Jesus would be able to know that He had been touched… but  a beginning faith, like hers, is often an ignorant one---- mixed with errors and misconceptions ----

The more we think we know about the Lord and scripture, the more we find we need to know…but when we come to Him, in faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed, the Lord takes it and grows it into a deep and abiding relationship with Him, and allows us to really come to know Him intimately. 

We can take courage in the truth of this---and be thankful that-we don’t have to have it all figured out, to possess a faith that pleases God. That’s why even a small child can come to faith in Him.

Jesus knew that power had gone out of Him. He knew who had touched Him…But He raised the question to the crowd, because He knew that a public confession was for the woman’s own good. Otherwise, she might have carried with her a gnawing fear that her blessing, since she had gained it, by basically stealing it, might not last. The Lord didn’t want her to exchange her tormented body for a tormented mind.

As Jesus yelled out into the crowd, “who touched me?” the woman must have been terrified and the disciples clearly thought, “What is he talking about, He’s been shoved around on every side.” But Jesus kept asking----the woman had had the courage to come----Jesus wanted her to have the courage to confess. Because He knew that secret disciples, are weak disciples---Romans 10:9 -10 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved---for it is with your mouth that you confess and are justified, and it is with your heart, that you believe and are saved.”

Trembling, the woman couldn’t stay silent, she came and fell to her knees and poured out her heart to Him----and she told Him her whole sad story, even though she was afraid that her healing would be taken away from her, because of her audacity to try and secure the healing for herself, without His permission-----

and then Jesus, touched her, with His tenderness, and without condemnation, and she experienced real peace and real joy, as He called her daughter, and stilled her fears, and praised her for her faith, and then He told her to go home, secure in her her future, and free of suffering, for the first time in 12 years…

That poor woman represents all of us---we are sick and we need to have the faith to touch Him----we don’t need to fear that He won’t respond----and we don’t need to fear that we’re too ignorant-----and we don’t need to fear that we are too selfish----there is only one thing that we need to fear, and that is, that we will let Him pass by, without reaching out, in faith, to touch, even just, the hem of his robe.

 III    Jesus and Jarius’ Little Daughter    5:35-43

(Wes Seelinger, author and theologian, wrote “I have spent long hours in the intensive care waiting room …watching with anguished people…listening to urgent questions: will my husband make it? Will my child walk again? How do you live without your companion of 30, 40, 50 years? 

The intensive care waiting room, is different from any other place in the world. And the people, who wait there, are different. They can’t do enough for each other. 

No one is rude. The distinctions of race and class melt away. A person is a father first, and a black or Hispanic or Caucasian man, second.  The garbage man loves his wife, just as much as the university president loves his, and everyone in the room, understands it. Each person pulls for everyone else. 

In the intensive care waiting room, the world changes. Vanity and pretense vanish. The universe is focused on the doctor’s next report. If only it will show improvement. Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about.  

We need to learn to live like this, with our lives full of compassion and concern for others----and we need to learn to live this way, long before, we find ourselves in an intensive care waiting room. 

Jesus lived like that----His heart was so full of compassion for everyone He met---- that He changed lives, by the way He treated people----and He couldn’t help but meet their needs, right where they were, no hesitation, no condemnation and no reservation.) 

Jarius hadn’t forgotten his daughter, but he must have been encouraged by what he had just seen Jesus do for the sick woman----his fledgling, faith must have been boosted by what he’d just seen, even though he couldn’t possibly have been able to process it. His faith and his hope must have risen, exponentially, through the witnessing of the woman’s miraculous healing. He must have been eager to get home for Jesus to heal his little daughter too.

While Jesus was still talking to the women, some men arrived from Jarius’ house, to tell him that he was too late, the worst had happened----the little daughter had passed away. 

In a terrible instant, the growing flame of Jarius’ hope flickered out…

And just as quickly--- as Jesus watched faith and fear pull Jarius in two different directions…it was rekindled to burn brightly----as Jesus told him” not to be afraid, to only believe… “ 

Because Jesus knew, that He was going to skyrocket Jarius’ faith, beyond any imaginings-----telling him not to fear and to just believe, was going to challenge him to believe, far beyond the daughter’s healing----it challenged him to believe that she could and would be resurrected…

Its one thing to pray for your child’s healing, from a life-threatening disease-----and its quite another to stand over her cold body, and to pray for immediate resurrection----but somehow Jarius did believe, because he and Jesus, and three of the disciples, continued on toward Jarius’ home. 

At his home, the professional mourners were already wailing their sad, sad song.  Jesus rebuked them and informed them that she was just sleeping, not dead…real death is the separation of the soul from God, not the soul from the body----and sleep here, isn’t referring to the soul,----its referring to the body-----and it means that when a child or any believer, passes away, the Lord views it, as no more terrifying or unnatural, than sleep. 

The Lord saw a parallel between sleep and death---sleep is an illustration drawn by the hand of God, to remind us of our mortality, and of the certainty of a glorious morning that will dawn someday----

We don’t need to worry about death, because we will never have to die…we will close our eyes on earth, and we will open them in heaven.

Jesus and Jarius, the child’s mother and the 3 disciples----just 5 people saw the little girl resurrected---what a privilege that was for them, to see God’s power at work through Jesus!

It must have been a beautiful thing, as Jesus took the child’s hand and spoke 3 words to her, in Aramaic ---“Little lamb, arise”.  Her eyelids must have fluttered as her cheeks began to pink up----and her parents must have held their breath as she opened her eyes, and sat up, and then got up, and walke----, the very picture of health and strength. 

Then, Jesus went on, to protect the child, from all the curiosity seekers, just outside----the last thing she needed was for her privacy to be invaded by them…They would want to ask a thousand questions and to touch the miracle child----but Jesus warned her parents, that the best thing they could do, would be, to get back to everyday living, by giving the child something to eat. 

IV     Jesus and His Hometown     6:1-6

(Peter Louchman was at a wedding a few weeks ago, at the Botanical Gardens in his hometown-----it was a little buggy but was a very sweet and well-done ceremony. At the close of the service, the pastor prayed a very touching prayer for the couple, and ended his prayer saying, “we ask all of this, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen”

A little girl about 4 years old, immediately turned to her daddy and said in a loud whisper—“Daddy, that man just said a naughty word!”

Peter said he was laughing and broken-hearted, at the same time. What has the world come to when the only thing that a child knows about the name of Jesus Christ, is that its used as a swear word?)

I think one of the saddest situations that Jesus ever found himself in, from a human perspective, is found in this passage…

Jesus had been away from home ministering to the multitudes, teaching through parables, healing the sick and driving out demons. He had been away from home for maybe a year----and I’m sure He was ready to go back and spend a little time there. Home is where the heart is, its where our memories are, and many times its where our family is-----(Dale and I have been gone from our hometown, Forest City, North Carolina, for 34 years, and to this day, when we talk about it, we still refer to it as home.) 

But, going back to Nazareth, and taking his disciples with him, I’m sure gave Jesus a little pause for thought, because He knew the scripture, and He knew that “a prophet is never recognized in his own country.” I’m also sure, that His desire was to do mighty works there, just like He had, everywhere else they had been. 

It started off well----Jesus was given the opportunity to teach in the synagogue, on the Sabbath----at first, everyone was impressed, and they wondered among themselves how He had become so wise, because he had grown up with a lot of them, and had been taught by the same rabbi that had taught them…----but very quickly, their awe and their puzzlement turned ugly, when they began to criticize everything about Him----stuff like----“He’s just a carpenter, He made our kitchen table, our bed, the baby’s cradle, our kitchen stools----how can he perform a miracle----they began to speculate about all the amazing things they’d been hearing about Him, and they couldn’t add it up-----

They wondered who did He think He was----

He was a poor boy of questionable birth---- Joseph, his father, had had to marry Mary sooner than they had planned----

and they knew his whole family—his brothers and sisters still lived in the community----there was no way that He could possibly do the things, they’d been hearing about----

and as for His teaching----He had to have gotten it from somebody else… He surely didn’t understand what He was saying…

He and His audacity offended them-----

and the real truth, I’m pretty sure, is that they were, purely and simply, jealous. But, if they had known, that His path led to the cross, I don’t think they would have been nearly so quick to throw stones, or to covet what He had, and what He was doing.

(How do we behave when somebody we know doing something wonderful, or is 

getting the credit for doing something wonderful----do we rejoice with them and try to help them any way we can----or do we sit in judgment  of them and belittle them, and tear them down, any way we can?)

Crowds had swarmed around Jesus throughout the countryside, wanting to hear Him teach and wanting to receive healing for themselves or for a loved one----but in His hometown, He was rejected…----they didn’t understand Him, so they rejected Him…but as sad as that was, the real tragedy, was the unbelief of the people----that’s what broke Jesus’ heart----He was amazed that they could know Him, and know the scripture-----and, that they could hear His explanation of it, from His own mouth, and still not believe…

Jesus wasn’t able to do much there, in Nazareth, just heal a few sick people-----but it wasn’t that He couldn’t do mighty works there-------it was that He wouldn’t-----He never forces Himself on anybody-----and He wouldn’t force Himself on those people ----His family and friends, in Nazereth, any more than He would anywhere else.

 Just imagine the things Jesus could have done, if they hadn’t rejected Him.

 He knew those people better than anyone, anywhere----He knew their hurts and their weaknesses----He knew their fears and their hopes----He knew their dreams and their failures----He knew them! 

 It is beyond understanding what He could have, and would have, done for them----the miracles He could have performed, the healings He could have provided, and the knowledge He could have shared. 

But they rejected Him, and by rejecting Him, they rejected the hope that He had to give, that would bring them back to God.

That is the sad thing----that is the greatest tragedy….so, Jesus left home again, and I don’t think He ever went back--------He and the disciples, went around to other 

villages, teaching and preaching and healing-----and doing for them what He had wanted to do for Nazareth.

Jesus wants the same thing for us that He wanted for His hometown----He wants to do mighty works-----we need to take a lesson from this passage---we need to do some soul searching----Is there any area in our lives that is preventing God from 

doing a might work in us, or through us? Do we have stubbornness, or a lack of faith in any area of our lives, that needs to be dealt with? What kind of attitude do we 

have, that is preventing God from working the way He wants to, in a situation? We should open our hearts up to Him, and our prayer should be, that we will give all 

that we have and all that we are, to Him, in unreserved submission--- in wondrous 

delight--- and in absolute trust, so that He can do, all within us, and through us, that He wants to. 

JOY "Jesus, the Disciples, and the Storm " November 13, 2013

November 13, 2013

Jesus, the Disciples, and the Storm

Mark 4:35-41

I          Learning Through the Storm   4:35-38

II         Learning Through the Calm     4: 39-41

Ira Sankey was a song-writer/song leader, who partnered, his life and work, with the great D.L Moody—they were the George Beverly Shea/Billy Graham, of the 19^th century….

There is a story, that’s told about him, which is a beautiful example, of God’s great power, to protect His children. 

It was Christmas Eve, 1875, and the Civil War had been over for about 10 years…Sankey, was traveling by steamship, up the Delaware River. It was a beautiful starlit evening, and many passengers were up on deck, encouraging Ira to sing for them. They had found him, leaning against one of the ship’s great smokestacks, gazing at the stars, and praying, so it didn’t take much to get him to consent.  He meant to sing a Christmas Carol. But before he could even wrap his mind around which song to sing and how to start it, he felt compelled to begin singing, “Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us”. 

There was a deep stillness, as his rich baritone voice, floated across the quiet river. When he had finished singing, a man stepped out of the shadows and asked him a strange question---“Did you ever serve in the Union Army?” 

“Yes,” Ira answered him,” in the spring of 1860.”

“Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright moonlit night in 1862?”
“Yes, I was,” Ira answered him, with surprise.

“So was I, the man said, but I was serving in the Confederate Army.

And “I saw you….” I saw you standing at your post, and I raised my musket and took aim…”

I was standing in the shadows, completely concealed, while the full light of the moon, was falling on you. And just as I had you in my sights,  just like a few minutes ago, you raised your eyes to heaven, and began to sing. I thought to myself, I’ll let him sing his song to the end, and then I can shoot him, before he has a chance to move.

But the song that you sang then, was the song that you sang just now…I heard the words perfectly…’Blessed Jesus, thou hast bought us, thine we are, We are thine, thou dost defend us, be the guardian of our way, keep thy flock from sin, defend us, seek us when we go astray.’

“Those words so stirred my heart, and filled it with such wonderful memories of my childhood, and my God-fearing mother, because she had sung that song to me, many, many times.

When you finished singing, it was impossible for me to bring my self to raise my gun again----I thought to myself, ‘the Lord, who has been able to save that man from certain death, must surely be a great and mighty God---so I turned and walked back to camp….”

Totally oblivious to any danger, Ira Sankey was spared certain death---and it was no coincidence----it was God’s sovereign power, which led him to sing that particular song that night during the war, the exact familiar song that would evoke tender memories in the heart of his enemy, and stay his hand. And then, it was the same God, who brought them together again, on that boat, and prompted Ira, to sing the song yet another time, to reveal to both men, that He was still in control There are many lessons in this passage, and one of them is, that God protects His own, and not one of us will live 1 minute longer or die, 1 minute sooner, than our time….Another one is that the Lord is taking care of us, all the time, whether we see Him or not----we have to live our lives, in faith, trusting His unseen hand…

What a comfort this story should be to all of us----the keeping power of the Lord Jesus, over God’s children, is a life-changing certainty, which we all need to believe and understand. 

That’s what the calming of the Galilean storm is all about… the Lord was trying to get His disciples to understand and to believe and to make a part of their lives, the truth, that they could trust Him to be in control of all things.

This passage that we’re studying today, is one that the Church loves, because it gives us a glimpse of the kind of power, which Jesus has at His disposal, and, of how He’s willing to use that power, to take care of us!!! 

I     Learning Through the Storm    4:35-38

It had been a strenuous day in Jesus’ already taxing life------it had begun with the blasphemous accusations by the Pharisee’s that he was being controlled by Satan,; then His mother and brothers had interfered with His ministry by trying to get Him to go back to Nazareth, with them, because they thought he’d lost His mind; Then, He, left the crowded house and went down to the water’s edge and taught the great throng of people, in parables, from a boat, with the hot sun beating down. And then finally, with the approach of evening, Jesus, who must have been exhausted, by that time, told the disciples that He wanted them all, to go across to the other side of the lake, Him included. Before they got underway, Jesus laid down in the stern of the boat to rest, and the fishermen among the disciples, hoisted the sail and began the

 5-6 mile trip across the lake. Sailing with them, was a flotilla of other small boats----and since evening and night were the prime fishing times, there might have been as many as 300 other boats on the lake with them.   It must have been a beautiful sight, as all the boats moved slowly across the calm sea, in the dusky twilight, under the rising moon and stars-----when suddenly, without warning, they were blasted with a terrible storm!!!

The Sea of Galilee is 628 feet below sea level and is surrounded by mountains gouged with deep ravines. The ravines serve as gigantic funnels to focus whirling winds down onto the lake without notice---v. 37 says, that “a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.” Matthew, in his gospel, uses the Greek word, seismos, which is the word earthquake, to describe the storm----it was as though the lake was literally, being shaken.

 In religious paintings, that depict this scene----you can see great walls of water rising on either side of the boat, giving the impression, that at any moment, the boat and its passengers were destined for a watery grave. 

Storms usually arise unexpectedly; suddenly and without warning----they change our direction, often in a whirlwind of uncertainty, and they overrun all our barriers, and they strip us of any human security, which we thought would protect us. We suddenly, are faced with, allowing the storm to drown us, or allowing the storm to turn us toward Jesus---I choose Jesus!!!

The disciples had no way of knowing, in that terrible moment, that that terrifying storm was going to be God’s vehicle, for teaching them about Him and His power in their lives. The storm, even though, they couldn’t imagine it, was an absolute essential experience, for their spiritual development. Without difficulties, trials, stresses, and even failures, we would never grow to become, what God intends for us to become. Storms are a part of the process. There are a lot of people who believe that every thing that happens to them, good and hard, especially the hard things, are what mature them, and build their faith, and help them to trust the Lord more and more. I am one of those people who believe that…the truth is----there is not one thing that comes our way, that hasn’t first been filtered, through the nail-scarred hands of Jesus------ so how can they not grow us spiritually…

without struggles and adversities, we would be insufferable, shallow, self-centered, proud, fragile and empty people. Ruth Bell Graham once wrote a poem that expresses this …”Dear God, let me soar in the face of the wind: up, up like the lark---so posed and so sure, through cold or the storm, with wings to endure. Let the silver rain wash the dust from my wings. Let me soar as the lark soars; let me sing as the lark sings sings; let the wind lift me….let it buffet and drive me, but God, let it lift me too.”

The storm raged, unabated, with howling wind and crashing waves, and Jesus slept through it all….this picture of Him gives us a remarkable insight, into Him being fully God and fully man---- we are able to see His omnipotence, which makes Him God,  and His total weariness ,which makes Him man…

The disciples thought that Jesus was unaware of their plight, but what they didn’t know yet, was that Jesus always lived with a conscious awareness, dependence and obedience to and on, God the Father----He knew that He could totally surrender to sleep, because He could completely trust God to take care of Him, and wake Him up, if and when, He had a task for Him to do…Their perception of the Lord’s apparent obliviousness, to their misery, is a picture of how we often feel, as we weather life’s storms…too often we make the mistake of thinking and feeling like we’re all alone, that Jesus doesn’t care about, what’s happening to us, or  how we’re feeling…That’s such wrong-thinking, though---God knows every wave that crashes over us; He knows the rate of our hearts and the rate of our respirations;  He has them every one, counted and measured out…He knows what it takes to get our attention; He knows how much we can handle; He knows our innermost thoughts; He knows our emotional barometer and He knows all our hopes and our dreams. 

God’s eye never left that little boat and His hand never faltered---He had everything under control---He always does----life and death----God never relinquishes control….—We live in a world that is damaged by sin , where satan tries to shut us down whenever he can----a world that is plagued by horrible weather, and by broken people, committing broken acts of violence, and by illness, physical and emotional and spiritual, that ravage our bodies to the point of death-----but God is still in control----there is nothing that satan, or the sin in this world can do, that God doesn’t allow----and if doesn’t prevent it. He’s allowing it for a reason—which He will reveal, all in good time… 

Jesus led them into that storm, clearly and purposefully -----and the blessing is, that He went with them----He didn’t let them go alone---He never does…and----- then,  when the time was right, He led them out again.

A friend sent me this poem not very long ago….“I came to the swift raging river; and the roar held the echo of fear; ‘Dear Lord, give me wings to fly over if you are, as promised, quite near.” But He said, ’Trust the grace I am giving, all pervasive, sufficient for you; Take my hand----we will face this together, my plan is—not over---but through!”

II.  Learning Through the Calm     4:39-41

“Years ago, a farmer owned land along the northern Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged along the coast, wreaking havoc on the buildings and the crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer.

“Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.

“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows.”

“Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.”

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work.

Then one night, the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters.

He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!”

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.

Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarps.; the cows were all in the barn; the chickens were in their coops; the doors were barred; the shutters were tightly secured; everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.

Then, the farmer understood what his hired hand meant, about sleeping when the wind blows….. so he returned to bed, and slept, through the rest of the storm, too.” 

When we are prepared spiritually, physically and mentally, we have nothing to fear, when the storms come and the winds blow. Jesus was able to sleep in that storm because He knew that God had everything under control----We, as believers, should secure ourselves, against the storms of life, by grounding ourselves, in the truth of God’s word. We don’t need to understand the storm---we just need to trust God and hold His hand, while we wait the storm out.

Evidently the disciples were frantic, when they woke Jesus up, rebuking Him, for not caring if they drowned…they were mad, and their anger was born out of fear…But Jesus ,was as calm as a cucumber----Mark says He got up and rebuked the wind and told the waves to be still----and immediately there was silence----with not even a hint of wind or a wave------The truth of Jesus’ power was there for all to see, although it took some more time and miracles, and His death and resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, for them to process it. 

All power in heaven and earth belongs to Jesus---Paul said in Colossians 1:16, “For by Him, all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities.”  

All things were created by Him-----every single speck of dust in the universe was created by Him. 

And, He is the Sustainer of all things----Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” 

Scientists spend thousands of hours, every year, trying to figure out the mystery of the universe----and Jesus is the answer to all their questions…He is our Creator, our Sustainer and the Savior of our souls. 

(When my children were little, they had a tape of scripture, that they loved to listen to, that teaches this truth so well----there were 3 verses and I can’t remember the words to them, but I can remember their intent and the refrain----one was about Daniel in the Lion’s den and the last phrase was, “The God who caused that Lion to roar, had everything under control”. The second verse was about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace----and it ended with, “and the God that caused that fire to burn, had everything under control.” And the 3^rd verse was about Jesus calming the storm, and it ended with, ‘and the God that caused that wind to blow, had everything under control.” I’ve never forgotten the simplicity of those words,-----so clear and so right, and so true, that even a child could believe them...) 

Believing in God’s sovereignty, helps us to weather the storms of life-----believing in God’s sovereignty, helps us to see joy in the midst of the storm----believing in God’s sovereignty, helps us to appreciate the storms because they grow our faith..

Storms can be emotional, physical or spiritual and while it isn’t easy to weather physical or emotional storms, having to live through a spiritual one, is by far, the most difficult-----and the most dangerous of the 3-----Jesus knew that the disciples’ lack of faith would be their undoing, if they didn’t learn the lesson He was providing for them…So He rebuked them…He asked them why they were afraid, and why, after living with Him for months, that they still had such little faith…

He hadn’t told them that they were going into the middle of the lake to drown, he had told them that He wanted to get in a boat, and go with them to the other side…

When Jesus tells us something, we need to believe it and trust it and cling to it, no matter how long we have to wait to see it come to pass, or how many storms we have to sail through, before we get to the other side…faith and fear cancel each other out-----the absence of fear is faith----and its not just faith in an abstract idea, it is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 In our lesson commentary, I love what the author said in one of the stories he told, “the boat will not sink, and the storm will not last forever.” We can trust these words, because the God, who created the wind and the rain, has everything under control. 

The disciples had lived with Jesus, but they had underestimated Him---they were tongue-tied at His question about their fear-----all of a sudden, they were afraid of Him, not scared of Him, but awed by Him----they had seen Jesus perform many miracles, but nothing had moved them like this one----suddenly, they realized that Jesus of Nazareth, their wonderful friend and their wise teacher, was as far removed from them, as they were, from the furthest star…I believe that deep in their hearts, they knew who He was, even though they couldn’t understand how, He was Who He was….but they couldn’t even begin to fathom how it would end…

William Barclay says that we need to trust Jesus:

*To give us comfort in the storm of sorrow----when sorrow comes and it certainly will, the Lord wraps us in His love, and comforts us with the promise of eternal life…

*To give us confidence in the storms of doubt, tension and uncertainty-----there have been, there are, or there will be, times when we don’t know what to do or which way to go or what to think----but if we will turn to Jesus, and give the problem to Him, He will tell us what to do, or He will tell us to wait----- Panic is a choice and we don’t have to choose it--------the important thing, is for us to take our focus off of the circumstances and put our focus on Jesus--- the circumstances may not change, but our attitudes about the circumstances will change and we will have peace…Jesus isn’t ignorant of our circumstances----He is fully aware of what’s going on with us----and when the time is right---He will speak peace and hope and confidence, into our storms, and we can rest, knowing that He is greater, than anything that we could ever face, including wind, rain, disease, heartache, financial ruin, death and loneliness.

*To give us peace in the storm of anxiety----the chief enemy of peace is worry---worry for ourselves, worry about the unknown future, worry about the ones we love. But Jesus tells us about a Father, whose hand will never cause His child a needless tear, and who will never let them drift beyond the point that He can’t get to them. 

The Lord Jesus is clearly capable of delivering us from storms, with just a word----He is the same God who calmed the storm and the same one, who stayed the trigger finger, of Ira Sankey’s would-be killer---He hasn’t changed and we don’t have to worry, He isn’t just in the boat with us, He is the boat ,and He keeps us afloat; and He keeps us safe, as we struggle through the storm----sometimes we may get a little bit wet and sometimes we may get drenched, but we don’t ever have to worry that we’re alone or that we won’t come through…I don’t care what it is we’re facing---nothing is too big, or too wide or too tall or too deep, that the Lord Jesus can’t  take care of it.

“Years ago, a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied him, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere., and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another one, while the viewers clapped and cheered. 

The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled.

As a judge pulled the cover from one., a hush fell over the crowd.

A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.

The man with the vision uncovered the second painting, himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? 

A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold penetrating spray. Stormy gray clouds threatened to explode with lightening, wind and rain. In the midst of the clearly, thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters, as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power.

A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested a peace that transcends all earthly turmoil. 

When we keep our focus on Jesus, we can have this exact same peace, in the middle of any storm, because He never promised to take us out of the storm, He promises, that He will be with us through the storm…

JOY "Parables Explained..." November 6, 2013

November 6, 2013

Mark 4:13-20, 26-32, 30-32

Parables Explained…

I.    The Sower and the Seed     4:13-20

II.   The Growing Seed                4:26-29

III.   The Mustard Seed               4:30-32

“Paul Harvey tells a parable, about a modern man, one who is just like us----he was a kind, decent, mostly good man, generous to his family, upright in his dealings with others. But he didn’t believe that Jesus was God’s son and he didn’t buy into the whole idea, that he was the son of a virgin mother. It just didn’t make sense to him, and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of Jesus being God, and then coming to earth as a man. So, one Christmas, he told his wife that he didn’t want to upset her, but he didn’t want to feel like a hypocrite anymore, so he wasn’t going with her and the children to the Christmas Eve service at church.  He was happy for them to go, but he was going to stay home and wait for them-----so they went and he stayed. 

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier, then he went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later, he was startled by a muffled, thudding sound, and then, another and then another…

At first he thought that that someone was throwing snowballs against his living room window so he went to the front door to see if he could catch them…but what he found was a flock of birds, huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm, and in a desperate attempt to find shelter, they had tried to fly right through the large living room picture window. He couldn’t stand the thoughts of them freezing to death, so he decided he would have to figure out a way to lure them into the barn behind the house. They would be a lot warmer there. So he put on his coat and his galoshes, and tramped through the ever-deepening snow to the barn----he opened the doors wide and turned on the light.

But the birds wouldn’t come in. He figured that food would entice them, so he hurried back to the house and fetched some bread crumbs his wife had meant for the Christmas dinner stuffing-----he sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow lighted, wide-open, doorway of the barn------but to his frustration, the birds just ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flap around helplessly, in the snow. He tried catching them, but that didn’t work-----them, he tried to shoo them in, by shuffling around them waving his arms----which just scattered them everywhere, instead of into the warm lighted barn. 

Then it occurred to him that the birds were afraid of him-----all they saw was a big, strange terrifying creature----so he thought to himself----“what can I do to get them to trust me? How can I show them that I’m not trying to hurt them; that I just want to help them? “ He kept trying to shoo them or lead them in the barn----but every move he made, just seemed to confuse and frighten them even more…they would not follow him, no matter what he did----Finally, exasperated, he thought to himself,   “If only I could turn myself into a bird, and mingle with them, and speak their language, and tell them not to be afraid, then I could show them the way to the safe warm barn…” and at that moment, the church bells began to ring,------and as the sound reached the man’s ears, above the wind-----for a minute, he just stood there listening, as their beautiful music, ushered in the glad tidings of Christmas, and then, the man slowly sank to his knees in the snow------it had finally clicked----

he understood, the truth of what God had done….. 

Parables use things that we are familiar with, to illustrate and illuminate God’s truth. The best way to get people’s attention is to tell them a story. “C.S. Lewis said one time, that that was why he wrote the way he did----that he could write about doctrine and teach philosophy, all day long, but that only certain people would get its meaning----and even they might be disinterested or unaffected by it-----but he had found, that if he could tell people a story, that the message would slip right past reason and philosophy and disinterest, and go straight to the deep emotions that we try so hard to hide.” 

That’s how parables are, they slip past the justifications that people make for their unbelief and they call for a response. They get people involved in the story and they demand that they make a judgment, not only on the people in the stories, but on themselves. A parable always asks a question----and it is usually “what will you do with the truth you’ve just been given about Jesus?” 

That’s why Jesus loved to use parables------- because it forced people to put themselves into the story and answer that question----- deep in our hearts, we all know ,that the question is one, that every person has to answer at some point for himself…..

a parable, even a modern day one, leads us to examine our own hearts, and forces us to answer that question, whether we want to or not, or whether we even think we need to, or not. An excellent spiritual discipline, is to take everything we study or hear about the Lord and say, Lord, I know you’ve spoken to me-----and I hear you, and I will do, today, what you’ve told me to. 

 I.      The Sower and the Seed   4:13-20

After Jesus had finished preaching to the multitude----he and the disciples and some other followers-----(how many other followers there were, we don’t know----but we do know that there must have been quite a few, because there are many mentioned by name, in the scripture----like Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and there are many mentioned, that are unnamed, but are still identified as either men women or children) drew away, where they could talk more privately, and He answered all their questions and He explained, in detail, the 3 parables, that He had just told to the masses.  He wanted them to know everything He could teach them while He was with them…And He wants the same thing for us. Thankfully we have the scriptures and the Holy Spirit.

So, Jesus started, with the “sower and the seed” parable. He made one simple statement, which made the rest of the parable, plain to understand-----the seed symbolized the word of God. The sower in the first instance was Jesus, and then subsequently, the servants of God, become the sowers. 

The Gospel is told------it is scattered far and wide, within the hearing of all kinds of people. We can’t manufacture seed----only God can provide it, and It contains the secret to eternal life, and it reproduces, after it’s own kind. God has made Himself responsible for the mysterious and complex process, by which a seed germinates in the soil and grows, and for the way the Word of God germinates, in a human heart---- at this point, right now, the only responsibility we have, in God’s kingdom, is to sow the seed. 

Jesus wanted us to understand that there is never any thing wrong with the seed---the problem is always with the soil… 

He explained first, about the seed that was cast by the wayside----He told the disciples and the others…that some people are like seed along the path, where the Word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes it away, and he wastes no time in doing it--- scripture says that, immediately-----he, or one of his minions, since he is not an omnipresent being, is there every time the gospel is proclaimed. If he can’t prevent it from being sown, he wants to steal the seed before it can germinate…We see it happen or experience it after every church service-----the minute the last prayer is said, we hear the buzz of conversation----- and what was just said in the sermon is forgotten, or put on the back burner---and by the time we get to the car, the conversation has turned to lunch, and what to do for the rest of the afternoon. (2 simple ways not to lose the seed-----1>keep your Bible open and follow along as the preacher delivers his message and get you mind engaged and keep it engaged by taking notes on the sermon, and 2> make a habit out of talking about the sermon and what you got from it, over lunch----make sure that the children participate----even the young ones, have them tell about their SS lesson or Children’s Church, if they weren’t in the main service.) It’s just a little thing, but it works.

The wayside is a place where people come and go, where there is constant movement and constant traffic----the ebb and flow of humanity, as they go about their business---work and pleasure--- keeps the ground hard and packed so that it is easy for satan to snatch the seed away. Their own busy comings and goings and the frenetic activities of life, have so consumed them, that there’s nothing in God’s truth that stirs them. Life for these people may be no more than the sports page or a game on TV and a beer or a movie magazine or a reality show and a glass of wine-----there may not be any gross sin, but neither is there any interest in Jesus and the things of God-----life is too crowded with worldly distractions. These people beat the ground of their own lives, asphalt-hard, with their busy feet. The ground of their hearts, needs to be broken up----and a lot of times, the plowing that is needed, is some kind of pain or stress or trial, which can soften the hard surface of a heart, so that the Word of God has a place to fall into and take root.

Then Jesus went on to explain about the seed that fell on rocky soil. Initially, the response of this seed was encouraging. The seed germinated and showed promise. This soil is deceptive though----it is shallow, because a rocky ledge, runs just beneath the thin layer of soil. There is just enough soil to give promise, but not enough to give a good performance. People who are in this category, may say they’re saved and may even make a profession of faith, but there is no true possession of the Lord Jesus----there is no relationship. People, who have an experience like this, with the Gospel, usually are coming from a totally emotional perspective, or from an intellectual one…either way, there is nothing more there, than a superficial stirring of their emotions. These people seem to do well at first, and then, when they run into persecution or opposition, because of the Word, they quickly fall away. They have shallow, emotional responses to the Lord, but never have a penetration of the heart, intellect and will. R. Kent Hughes says that “too many, through their emotions, tasted something of God’s power, but not true conversion----and in falling away, they become bitter and sharp-tongued and terribly lost----a person who only lets Jesus come halfway into his heart, is much poorer than a person who doesn’t have the Lord at all---because, he doesn’t get the peace that passes all understanding, and he doesn’t have the world’s peace either, because he’s been exposed to the truth and ultimately, chooses to reject it.” `Being a true believer involves all of a person---mind, body, soul and will, and emotion. 

The 3^rd soil that Jesus identified was the thorny soil----it was deep enough and it was fertile enough, but it was full of thorns. Thorns are hardy plants and they grow so prolifically that they choke out the good seed. People with this heart show the initial promise of a germinated seed----but then, there is no fruit produced, which is evidence, that the worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things, have rooted out the seed. 

Worry is a daily ingredient for these people ----a thousand cares exist to occupy their minds---satan uses worry to take the focus off of the Lord and put it on this world---------which crowds out the Gospel, and focuses attention away from the world to come. 

Wealth, like worry, focuses attention on this world. Wealthy people tend to be independent and self-sufficient-----money insulates them from the harsh realities of life, so they don’t feel like they need the Gospel.  They think that they can take care of themselves.

The desire for other things, is the 3^rd thorn that the Lord focused on---and it can be all kinds of things---from legitimate things to heinous things-----but they all have one long continuous cry, of give me, give me, give me…and they divide a heart ------half of it wants the things of the Lord, but the other half “wants what it wants when it wants it”. ( the story goes that there was a young man who proposed to a young girl, He said , “darling, I want you to know that I love you more than anything else in the world. I want you to marry me. I’m not rich. I don’t have a yacht or a Rolls Royce like Johnny Brown, but I do you love you with all my heart.” She thought for a minute and then said, “I love you with all my heart, too, but tell me more about Johnny Brown.”-------(Classsic example of a divided heart.)

All three types of thorns are hindrances, to the development of the Word in human hearts, because they convince us to put our focus on this world, instead of on the world to come. 

And last but not least----the seed that falls on good ground….is the one that has the best chance of producing good fruit. This is an example of a heart that is receptive to the Gospel. It hears, it heeds, and it holds the word in its heart. It mixes with the person’s faith and begins to germinate. And Satan cannot snatch it away. No thoroughfare of human activities tramples it, no rocky ledge obstructs it, no hostility overtakes it and no worldly longings can halt the steady growth of the knowledge of God. The Word prevails in this heart, and proves its presence, by the production of the Fruit of the Spirit----love joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control-----and over time, this heart produces over 30, 60, or 100% harvest of good works.

The 4 soils represent 4 different ways that people respond to God’s message.  Usually, we think that Jesus was talking about 4 different kinds of people. But He could have been talking about 1.) different times or phases  in a person’s life,  or 

2) how we willingly apply God’s message to some areas of our life, but resist applying it to others. For example, we may be open to God about our future, but closed concerning how we spend our money. We may respond like the good soil to God’s demand for worship, but respond like rocky soil to his demand to give to people in need. We need to strive to be like the good soil in every area of our lives, at all times.

The hearing and understanding of God’s Word is a mystery, and in this first parable is the key to all the other ones, because, in it, the Lord has given us a glimpse of what is going on, in the unseen world. He wants us to know that He, as the Word, is the ultimate communication from and connection with God, the Father. Right now, the most important thing that we can do is to listen to Him---not with hard hearts, busy and distracted, that need to be plowed before they are seeded. And not with shallow hearts where only the emotions of a person are engaged----and not with hearts that have one eye on Him and one eye on the world. The Lord was telling those early believers to be patient, and to be about His business; by continuing to sow the seed, and that, in time, He would grow the seed to fruition. ---------His message is still the same-----the words are still meant for us. We need to be patient and sow the seed, and wait for God, because there will be a harvest and the Lord God will gather it in…  

II.     The Growing Seed   4:26-29 

(It delighted me a few weeks ago when Lizzie, my just married, 23 year old baby daughter, was overwhelmed, by the mystery, of how God makes things grow. She is a horsewoman, and a month or so before, had bred her horse Keeley to a very nice stallion pony. She was very matter of fact about it, and talked about it in pretty technical terms, once the initial shock, of having seen the process, had worn off…. She was so funny about her clinical appraisal of everything, until she saw the ultrasound------Keeley is about 8 weeks pregnant----so I don’t know what Lizzie, who is a college educated biology minor, thought she was going to see----but she called me just after the ultrasound-----and with awe and wonder in her voice said, “Mom, it looks just like a baby horse……” After I stopped laughing, I assured her, that that was part of God’s mystery---a seed is sown, and it is nourished, and it grows, and each seed grows to be what it was intended to be-----How amazing are the ways of God!!!!)

This parable of the growing seed teaches us that spiritual growth can’t be measured with a stopwatch. The kingdom of God may be planted in us, in an instant, but its growth becomes apparent only with the passing of time and with the practice of faithfulness…Spiritual growth is a continual, gradual process, which will one day be mature enough to harvest. Spiritual growth can be divided into 2 parts-----our part; and God’s. We can’t do very much----all we can do is take the seed and scatter it----but what the Lord then does with it, should never cease to amaze us. 

The analogy, is to the farmer, sowing the seed--------after he has sown it, he waits----he can water and fertilize the ground but he can’t make the seed germinate and grow.---so he waits-----because the rest is up to God, God alone can give life. The biologist can dissect the seed and name all its various parts. The geneticist can go even deeper into the structure of things, and can even define and map the seed’s genetic code, and he can clone and produce identical plants, and he can breed and cross-pollinate and produce hybrid plants------but if there is no life----none of what he can do, will matter at all. The law of biogenesis states, “There can be no life without antecedent life.” (life that existed before) and we know that all life comes from God. The most zealous believer can no more save a soul than he can create a star -----he can only sow the seed, God has to do all the rest, and it’s a wonderful, marvelous mystery, that we have choose to believe is true.

After the passing of time, the farmer who had been going about his other tasks, comes back to look at his field, and the miracle has happened, little green shoots are poking up out of the ground. The farmer weeds the plants and makes sure they are watered and protected from frost----- and he checks, often to make sure they’re growing. The plant grows tall and it matures, until its ready to be picked. The farmer doesn’t know how it happens, he just knows that it does…it is something that is a everyday occurrence, one that is taken for granted, most of the time, but the truth is-----it’s a miracle----every growing stalk in a farmer’s field is a miracle. The farmer owes it all to God---he might be a clever and intelligent farmer, but without God, he can produce nothing. (our responsibility is to sow the seed of the gospel, and then come back to the person and experience the joy, when we see that it has germinated and is growing----we can nurture them with concern and encouragement and invitations to church and bible study and spending time together, talking about the Lord-----but it’s the Lord that makes it grow. Sometimes growth is imperceptible, but we have to stay faithful to the Lord and to His work, because the Holy Spirit is powerfully working, even if we can’t always see visible results, which means we don’t need to badger, dictate, cajole or force people to believe,  we just need to sow the seed, the Holy Spirit will woo them. )

And then, there will come a time to harvest what has grown------the farmer will take his sickle, cut his crops and store them in the barn. In the same way, God will, one day, decide that the field is ripe and ready for harvest. He will intervene in the world’s affairs, and will come and get His children and take them with Him into His eternal kingdom. God has promised that his harvest will be magnificent and prolific-----our witness may be weak and we may feel like our influence can only touch a few hearts------but the Word of God is a powerful fertilizer, for growth -----we just need to keep our eyes on the great harvest to come and not let bad soil or weeds and thorns discourage us from faithful service and bold witnessing.  Believing in something that we cannot see, is faith….

III.    The Mustard Seed   4:30-32

There are some scholars who see this parable as a negative one---our commentary, in our workbook, is one that does----it sees the birds as satan, taking the seed away, and the mustard plant, as representative of the church having failed in its mission, because it became an established institution, and has lost the humility that the Lord had intended for it to have-----but the actual text doesn’t bear this out-----what the scripture really speaks to is about what God can do with small beginnings, and it assures us, that we need to expectant and ready for the magnificent growth that He will enable us to see and be a part of., even though there is no doubt that satan is hovering around trying to steal what he can…

In Palestine, a grain of mustard seed stood proverbially, for the smallest conceivable thing. Faith, the size of a mustard seed means that it is the smallest conceivable amount of faith----and yet the Lord can grow it into something that is so much bigger than we can imagine…. And compared to the size of its seed, the mustard plant grows into a huge tree-like structure. Some of them grow as big as a horse and rider. And a cloud of birds around the mustard plant is a common sight, because the birds love to eat the little black seeds. 

William Barclay says, “that in the Old Testament, (in Ezekiel 17:22 and Daniel 4:10,) one of the most common ways to describe a great empire, is as a tree-----and the  smaller nations, that it’s conquered, are seen as birds, trying to find shelter in the shadow of its branches. This parable of the mustard seed tells us to not be discouraged by small beginnings----not to worry that we can only produce a very small impact-----because if a small thing is repeated over and over, it has the potential to become a very large thing, eventually. (think about trying to make red icing-----when you put the first drop of red food coloring into the white icing and it only turns slightly pink----you think this is never gonna work ----and then, drop by drop, using almost the whole bottle, you get a beautiful red icing that would do any confection rose proud…it’s the repeated drops that produce the effect.) 

This parable speaks about the kingdom of God, which began with one person, Jesus ------and it will come to fruition, with a kingdom so large, that we can’t even begin to count the numbers.  It will be full of all kinds of people, from all different denominations, at all different places in their walks, with all kinds of different 

Interpretations and traditions------but there will be one thing that we will all share----a relationship with the Lord Jesus, as our Savior and Lord. 

The point of the parable lies in the size of the mustard seed when its sown, and the size of the mustard plant when its grown. 

The kingdom of God, on earth, represented by the church, seems small and insignificant in men’s eyes----in Jesus’s day it was so small, and people had such contempt for it, that they murdered its king-----but, someday, when it is fully grown and reaches its full potential, the whole world will be awed by it…People still have a poor opinion of God’s work in the world----there are persecuted Christians in so many counties in the world-----and still the kingdom grows, and its our responsibility to help any way that we can and one of those ways is through prayer—

--Sunday, November 10, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church-----this is one of the biggest world-wide prayer events-, that there is----it is important for us to remember to pray---that’s one way we can nurture and water the seed.  Everywhere the kingdom of God has gone, it has brought with it, hospitals and schools; truth, morality, ethics, decency and compassion and above all else, it has brought salvation. Wherever the Gospel has gone, it has abolished cannibalism, child sacrifice, cruelty to widows, polygamy, demonism, slavery and 1000 other horrible behaviors….Christianity has built orphanages and asylums, it has cared for the sick, comforted the bereaved and helped the infirm-----everywhere the kingdom has gone, it has made a difference.  

(Once, a new church was being built, one of its great features was going to be a large stained glass window. The committee in charge searched for a subject for the window and finally decided on the lines from an Ann Shepherd hymn, “Around the throne of God in heaven, thousands of children stand.” They employed a famous artist to paint the picture from which the window would be made. He began to work and fell in love with the task. Finally he finished it. He went to bed and fell asleep, but in the night, he seemed to hear a noise in his studio: he went into the studio to investigate and there he saw a stranger with a brush and a palette in his hands working at his picture. “Stop!!” he cried. “You’ll ruin my picture,” “I think “ said the stranger, “that you have ruined it already.” “How is that?” said the artist. “Well, said the stranger, “you have many colors on your palette, but you have only used one color for the faces of the children. Who told you that in heaven there were only children whose faces are white? “No one,” said the artist, “ just thought of it that way.” “Look!” said the stranger. “I will paint their faces in every color and shade of every race. They are all there, for they have all answered my call.” “Your call, said the artist. “Who are you?” The stranger smiled, “ Once, long ago I said, “Let the children come to me and don’t stop them, for of such is the kingdom of heaven----- 

and I’m still saying it.” Then the artist realized that it was the Master himself, and as he did so, he vanished from his sight. The picture looked so much more wonderful now, with its children, having faces of every shade and color, as well as white. 

In the morning, the artist woke up and rushed through to his studio. His picture was just as he had left it; and he knew that it had all been a dream. Although that very day, the committee was coming to examine the picture-----he seized the brushes and his paints, and began to paint the children of every color and every race throughout the world. When the committee arrived, they thought the picture was very beautiful and one whispered excitedly----“Why, it’s God’s family at home…” )

We are the family of God, and that family which began so small in Palestine has grown large and it will grow larger still----the kingdom has rooms in it, for every nation in the world and for every person who wants to be there.

As we walk through our days in this world----we need to remember, that God is at work today, just like He was in Jesus’ day, and we need to rest in Him and in His promises, and we need to be humble and loving, not seeking status or advancement, but spurring each other on with love and good deeds.