Bearing Fruit That Will Last

In a corner of London’s Highgate cemetery is a large marble tomb. It’s long and box-like, with a life-sized sculpture of a dog at its foot. An inscription says, “Erected to the memory of Thomas Sayers”. Now, if I were to ask who Thomas Sayers was, most of us wouldn’t know.

But when he died the situation was different. Sayers was an illiterate bricklayer, who became the most famous athlete of the Victorian age. He was England’s first bare-knuckle boxing champion. His final match was watched by thousands. Trains were chartered by spectators, who included Victorian superstars like Charles Dickens. Even the Prime Minister of England attended; Parliament shortened its hours just for the fight and Queen Victoria asked to be informed of the result.

When he died a few years later, the funeral procession stretched two miles and included some 100,000 folks. At the cemetery people climbed trees and trampled tombstones, hoping for a better view. But all these years later, his reputation has turned to dust. He’s still well known to history buffs – but to the rest of us, he needs an introduction. The point is: eventually we’re all forgotten. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Many people’s purpose in life is to be remembered; but God says we will be remembered when we live our life with purpose.

We can live a life of purpose through a personal relationship with our God.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last . . .” - John 15:16a (NIV)

God calls us into a personal love relationship with Himself so we can live fruitful lives and bear fruit that will last. And one passage that speaks to us about how we can bear that will last is Matthew 13:1-9, the Parable of the Sower. I want consider how God has designed us to bear fruit that will last and live lives of eternal significance.

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1. The Sower - God.

In verses 18-23, Jesus explains the parable. Though He doesn’t say the farmer represents God, it is certainly implied. Jesus, God in the flesh, was sowing seed through His teaching, but not everyone was receiving it. Why? That’s the parable’s point. What does it teach us about God?

A. God takes the initiative to pursue us.

The farmer takes the initiative to sow the seed. And God also takes the initiative in the pursuing a relationship with us. As Jesus said in John 16:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you . . .”

Jesus said that no one comes to Him unless the Father first draws them (John 6:44). Jesus told several parables, like this one, that illustrate God’s pursuit of mankind. The entire Bible is about God pursuing us.

God has pursued man through revealing Himself in creation, the Words of the prophets, and ultimately in taking on flesh in Christ. Because we couldn’t reach Him through our efforts, He has reached down to us. He pursues us even when we don’t pursue Him:

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations—a people who continually provoke me to my very face” - Isaiah 65:1–3a (NIV)

God continues to pursue those who have trusted in Christ for salvation. Through His Spirit, God comforts, corrects, and compels His children to hear and obey His Word so that we can live life to the full and bear fruit that will last. And just like the farmer gets up early every day to work his farm, God never gives up on pursuing us.

In No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Max Lucado tells of Maria & her daughter Christina. Christina left her poor Brazilian home to see the world. She dreamed of life in the city. So she ran away, breaking her mother’s heart. Her mother knew what life on the streets would be like, so Maria left to find her. On her way to the bus stop, she went to photo booth and spent money on all the pictures of herself she could afford. With a purse full of photos, she got on the bus to Rio de Janeiro. She searched bars, hotels, night clubs, any place with street walkers or prostitutes. Everywhere she left a picture - taped to a bathroom mirror, or hotel bulletin board, or corner phone booth. Before long her money and pictures ran out, and she went home.

Weeks later, Christina walked down stairs in a seedy hotel. Her dream had become a nightmare. She longed to trade what life had become for home. But her village seemed too far away. She reached the bottom of the stairs and saw a familiar face. Taped on a mirror was a picture of her mother. She removed the photo. On the back was written: “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home.” And Christina went home.