Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
13:2 Such great crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.
13:3 And He told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow.
13:4 And as He sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.
13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.
13:6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.
13:7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
13:8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
13:9 Let anyone with ears listen!"
13:18 "Hear then the parable of the sower.
13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.
13:20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
13:21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.
13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.
13:23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
The job of the seed is to take root and grow. Given the opportunity of good soil, water and sunshine, the seed will do its job. But as scripture points out, not all seed sown is successful.
The job of the sower is to ensure the seed is placed in an environment that will support this growth.
The seed doesn't attempt to prepare the soil, ensure sufficient water and sun for itself, nor walk about to find good ground.
Nor does the sower bury himself in the ground, attempting to replicate himself with nourishment from the soil, water and sunshine, as would a seed.
To even think about it seems foolish.
Yet every day we are confronted with those who would follow Christ, but are off on missions they themselves have created, up against obstacles they cannot budge, attempting to change a world they neither created nor have the power to change. They find themselves caught up in an age-old war that began in the heavens, has already been won, and yet they enter into it under their own power and cannot understand why they lose, without seeking God's counsel.
When they cannot do what they want to do, they blame God. But He was never brought into the picture until it was time to find someone to be at fault, then often they compromise with the powers of this world, deciding surely God did not mean what He said. However, since when does a persimmon tree operate a backhoe, a cocker spaniel train for surgery, or a goldfish divine the intricacies of human emotion?
There is rhyme and reason to God's created universe, and denying what is and will be doesn't make it less so. Truth has its own imperative and will stand, alone if necessary. John 14:6 tells us that God is truth, and that will not change. He will not change, not His intentions, His word, or His mission for us.
It's worth remembering that the mission of our military soldiers and Marines sent to Iraq and Afghanistan was not to change the religion of the attacking Taliban, so they did the next best thing and sent them home to their god, Allah. (Of course, we know that when they got there, there was nobody home.)
As a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is not my God-given mission to change homosexuals to straights, nor bank robbers to gentle souls, nor liars to truth tellers. My job is to introduce them to Jesus Christ and His gospel -- to sow His seed -- the results belong to God. That makes God's admonition to us that we are to be in the world but not of the world a lot more understandable.
So it is that I must overlook the distaste I feel at some of these individual with odd sexual desires, misplaced allegiances and understandings of right and wrong, with the inability to tell themselves "no" and thus spare their brother, and speak truth to them about the Christ who loved them first.
Many of those we find in such a state are overcome by the world, and our first inclination might be to change the world so they are not so badly affected by it and drawn away from the love of Christ. But that is not our mission.
Consider how many unjust Kings and petty tyrants Jesus deposed while He walked this earth, how many bullying Roman soldiers he corrected, how many unfair tax systems He changed; how much of the world He rehabilitated.
None of us are world-changers, but we are called to be soul changers by ensuring they know they have a Christian alternative way of life. And so you and I must tell them. What the world does after that is not up to you or me. I'm neither King nor Emperor nor God nor here long enough to make those changes. I do pray God that they listen to the truth, but I'm not leaving God to go chasing after souls who have abandoned the God who loves them.
There is a story about a young boy who was touched by the plight of some homeless boys passing by his home. He asked his mother if she might give them something to eat, and she said, "Yes, of course, bring them home and I will feed them, and love them, and tell them of God's love."
The boy went after them and urged them to come home with him, telling them of all his mother had promised. But the boys looked him over and said, "You're much too clean to be a real boy. Although it would be good to enjoy a good meal, and we have missed a mother's love, but we decide the rules we will live by, and having a god would just get in our way. But walk along with us and tell us more, and we will listen."
So the boy called to his mother, "I am just going to walk along with them so I can convince them to come home with me."
But they talked and talked and walked so far that the boy had to write his mother a letter and tell her where he was, and that he was still trying to convince the other boys to come home with him.
The mother wrote back, "Consider how close to home you were, and how far away you are now, and still they come not home with you. Love, Mother."
And the boy realized that you can't bring others home with you by walking away with them.
Just so, you cannot bring others to Christ by walking away from Him with them. Scripture doesn't tell us it's fruitful to disobey Christ for a season so we can draw others to Him.
Jesus said, in John 14:15, that if we love Him we will do the things He says.
If we would bear the name "Christian", we will obey the Christ. The inspired Word of God is filled with a long list of do's and don'ts, but someone has said that if you will spend your energy doing the "do's" you won't have time to worry about the "don'ts".
In that same book of John, chapter 13, verse 34, Jesus, having fulfilled the law as He stated in Matthew 5:17, now says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." If we can't obey Him in this, how can we say we are a follower of Jesus Christ?
Ah, you say that's too hard to do? That's because you are attempting to "do" it in your own power. You need to know the "doer" who has the power of salvation. God gave His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to empower us to fulfill Micah 6:8, where the prophet asks what is it that God requires of us. He answers that question with, "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Paul in the book of Romans advises us down through the ages, "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with that which is good".
Do you tell others you are Christian? Do you really want to do the "do's"? Then you must know the "doer" of salvation. Jesus Christ will enable our souls to stay busy with His Father's work, doing what is just, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God.
Go, love God and do the do's, and you will find there is precious little time to worry about the don'ts, after all.
Amen.
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