crop?

from morning message, 02-05-06

we're currently going through the Gospel of Matthew as a part of our morning sermon series. we began this journey during Advent and will continue in it through Easter. well, actually, it will continue in the summer too as we will return to chapters 5,6,7 for a "Summer on the Mount" series.

this week, we were in Matthew 13:1-23, looking at the well-known parable of the sower. you know the sower sows the seed, some falling on the path, others among the rocks, others among the weeds, and still others among the "good" soil.

as i prepared this message, i was really struck by and personally convicted by the words that the Lord was preparing me to share. the emphasis in the parable of the sower is not on the type of soil, but on the produce -- what results from the seed. Jesus had taught, "by their fruit, you will know them" (Matt 7:16). essentially, you can tell the heart of a person by the plant and crop coming from a person's life. if their heart is "good" soil, then a crop 30, 60, 100 times will be evident. if not, then one of the other soils is true about our hearts.

it could be the hard heart -- thankfully, there's hope for the hard heart. in Hosea 10:12, the Lord speaks through the prophet to His people, "sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of unfailing love; break up your unplowed ground". God is looking for a harvest of love out of our lives, and if the righteous living Word continues to fall on hard hearts, then He wants that ground broke up so that it can receive the Word. The Lord may use grace to soften the heart so that it can be turned over, and the Lord may use painful experiences to move a heart to want a change. But the Lord has all sorts of ways to prepare a heart by His Spirit.

it could be the shallow heart -- thankfully, there's hope for the shallow heart. God wants us to be transplanted into a deeper experience and understanding, sending down roots that will prepare for a harvest. in Ephesians, Paul is praying for young, immature believers, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (3:16-19)

though these are soil types are true of many hearts, i fear the soil type true of most of our church members in North America is the third, the crowded heart. in addition to the harvest of souls that seems to be missing, there is also the lack of fruit within the lives of believers. as Hosea mentions the fruit of unfailing love, Paul says (in Galatians 5:22-23) the fruit of the Spirit is love -- manifesting itself in the 8 ways that follow (joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness, and self-control). however, we've grown too accustomed to weeds and too complacent about the harvest.

we're too worried by circumstances to be joyful
too proud to be at peace
too busy to be patient
too angry to be kind
too greedy to be good
it's too easy to be unfaithful
we have too many grudges to be gentle
and if ever a society lacked self-control, it's ours

the crowded heart -- thankfully, there's hope for the crowded heart. Our heavenly Father is the great gardener (John 15:1) -- He knows how to bring fruit from each branch. more than that, He equips us with His Spirit to convict and lead us to "throw off [or, weed out] everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles" (Hebrews 12:1).

Lord, help us again to be concerned for the crop -- make our hearts receptive to Your Word and let Your Spirit lead us into fruitful, productive lives for the Kingdom. for Your name's sake, amen.