Planting Seeds
John 12:20-26
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
John 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and *told Jesus. 23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 “He who loves his1life loses it, and he who hates his 1life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone 1serves Me, the Father will honor him.
Throughout my ministry life as a church pastor, I heard the words “you are planting seeds.” I know that means that the ideas that I introduced into churches I pastored may not blossom while I am there, but they might in the future. Honestly speaking, that is not as comforting as you might think.
I was assigned to a church that wanted to build an expansion in their facility. A building committee was founded one year before I was sent to the church and they spoke with a builder. Their plan was for a $1.7 million building. The church could not afford that. The pastor retired and I was sent in. The Administration Board looked at me and wanted to know what I was going to do about this project.
The church hired a fund-raising company, which did not do the job they promised, to run a capital campaign. Even with the campaign, the church could never raise $1.7 million dollars. The campaign started with no building plans. The Ad Board looked at me and asked what I was going to do about it. Why was it my responsibility to understand their building plans? Oh yes, did I mention I am a second career pastor and in my computer engineering days I was a project manager for several large computer installations which included some building work. Therefore, the Board dumped it on me.
So, I created a new building committee. Five people volunteered for the committee. As I always did at the first meeting, I asked each person why they volunteered. One man said, “I am here to stop you.” That was really encouraging. NOT. He tried everything, but eventually he left the committee because he could not stop us. I showed the original builder of the church a scaled-down version of the building addition. That company quoted it at $1.2 million. That was still way over what the church could do. The committee was about to fold when I found a church builder. This company-built church facilities on the side to keep their crews working in between other jobs.
I negotiated with the builder and got the price of $493,000 for a 7300 square foot addition. It had as much as was possible of the original idea in it. The committee was surprised but accepted the bid. I was told by the detractors that there would be overruns and that the original builder of the church was correct, that it would take $1.2 million to complete the project. I had a lot of experience in this area. I drew the contract up with a clause that said the cost of the building could not exceed $493,000. The builder underestimated a few things and wanted to get more money, but I held him to his contract.
Several detractors who wanted the $1.2 million original builder to build the addition left the church angry that I got it done for over half price. I never understood that. They should have applauded the effort. No, they left in anger. Go figure?
However, there were several church members who stayed and were angered by the addition. Consultants say a church can lose approximately 15% of its membership because of a capital campaign. The church lost that amount. Several of the people who voted against the building created an impossible situation for me to stay. So, I requested another assignment. I was treated poorly by angered folks and my supporters decided they did not want to fight for me.
Several years later, I was told that the church addition became an important part of the church’s life. Some new ministry efforts were created because of the space. They also rented the space which helped their yearly budget and costs. My wife ran into the new pastor of the church about 5 years after we left, and he told her that the people were grateful that I got the building built and that they regretted how they treated me. The seeds planted with the addition grew into useful ministries for the town.
It was nice to hear that the seeds planted became something good. Sadly, it has a bitter taste because of the passive aggressive behavior of those who were against the project. These people did not contribute money to the project. I had calculated that with the contributions that at the end of the three-year giving period the church would owe $15,000 to the bank. The church paid off the loan early and attributed it to my understanding of finances. That was nice to hear.
Well, think about Jesus’ situation. He had three years to plant seeds. He saw some growth in his disciples and followers. He also saw a rise in hatred toward his work. What was wrong to love God and loving each other? It is a message that if followed today would make the world a paradise. Jesus planted seeds. He was not as popular during his lifetime as he should have been. However, after his death his message became popular and spread like wildfire in the Roman world.
John’s Gospel considers Jesus glorified because the Gospel is being spread in the world. Perhaps today we should talk to people about following the message of loving God and neighbor and not about church. The connotations outsiders have about church are not positive. I was an outsider for 35 years and heard about the infighting and the church’s desire for money. That is not the Gospel. What I just described are the weeds that can grow in Jesus’ Garden. We need to remove the weeds.
When you talk to people about Jesus Christ, I suggest you discuss loving God and loving neighbor. Don’t push the attend church button for a while. People need to see the love of Jesus outside the church because there is a lot of negativities in church. It is more important to make disciples for Jesus Christ than it is to make members of your church. Overtime your seeds will grow and that person you introduced to Jesus’ love and his message will seek other believers to be with. Remember to water the seed, that is help the person find the love of God in their life.
I know it is against the trend because of declining membership. However, I stand by the statement that it is more important to make disciples for Jesus Christ than it is to make church members. To me, it does not matter what Christian community a person joins, rather it is important that I placed a seed of discipleship into a person who did not know Jesus and that it grew.
