THE PARADOX OF MANURE
Mark 6:30-44 {NIV}
Sermon #2 from the “Life on the Farm”
Sermon Point: It is often life’s inconveniences and discomforts that produce the greatest opportunities for grace!
SERIES INTRO:
We are beginning a sermon series today from Mark’s Gospel called “Life on the Farm.” It will focus on some of the basics of the Christian faith. Specifically, we will be looking at are some of the non-negotiables that define Biblical Christianity.
SERMON INTRO:
Not long after I arrived in Potsdam I made my way out to * Oil in Hopkinton. I just dropped in on Kevin one day. Now, I didn’t say anything to Kevin upon my arrival but there was something strange about * Oil … it stunk in there! It was really bad.
The truth was, * Oil didn’t stink at all. There are farms around his shop that were liquefying cow manure and the spraying it on the fields. The manure makes for good fertilizer to grow crops.
To many the manure is just waste – it has no value. The farmers however, knew it was filled with untapped potential.
Think about that as we read this Gospel story.
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The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"
"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."
Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
This is an interesting story and is “framed” in an interesting way in Mark’s Gospel. It comes on the end of the disciple’s first commissioned journey by Jesus. We looked at this last time in the sermon “Insights from Putting Up Hay”.
• It must be significant that Mark makes more of their return than he does their going.
• It is here we find the nature of real discipleship … it is not in their deeds but in their obedience to his requests and their returning to Him.
• The root of discipleship is attachment to Jesus. This is where the life comes from.
Don’t you just know the disciples were fatigued and Jesus’ invitation to come away and get some rest provided some refreshment? So they all pile in the boat and head out for some well-deserved R & R. But you read the story … you know what happened. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
Manure is the oldest and most effective fertilizer known to man. As long as man has used domesticated animals and worked the soil, manure has been used to feed the soil and plants. Manure can return 70 percent of the nitrogen, 75 percent of the phosphorus and 80 percent of the potash that was taken from the soil to feed the animals. This is not a bad return if you consider a dairy cow produces 27,000 pounds of manure per year.
The value of manure was still understood when man moved to the city. It was gathered, piled outside city gates where all could share in its value. Without manure to place in the field, the nutrients and trace minerals in the soil would soon be depleted and the land would no longer support a commercial crop.
To many manure is just waste; but farmers know it is filled with untapped potential.
The disciples and Jesus looked at this turn of events quite differently didn’t they?
1. THE DISCIPLES SAW THIS TIME AS A WASTE.
To them, this was an intrusion; a rude interruption! Their words do not hide their frustration either: By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
The disciples had been ministering to people for days. They were themselves hungry, they needed a respite. This intrusion was unwelcome had no intrinsic value as far as they could tell. These people needed to go away!
It was all very rational to them, even if they wanted to they didn’t have the resources to feed these people.
But Jesus looked at this entire situation differently.
• To the disciples the crowds were a problem
• To Jesus they were sheep without a shepherd
To many, manure is just waste; but farmers know it is filled with untapped potential.
Jesus employs Heaven and earth to take care of these people. What others saw as waste Jesus saw as an opportunity to express God’s grace and love. What others wanted to discard and send away Jesus chooses to make the most important part of the day!
2. THE DISCIPLES WANTED TO EXCUSE THEMSELVES FROM THE PROCESS.
Jesus thrust them right into it!
The disciples said {YOU} Send the people away … But {Jesus} answered, "You give them something to eat."
This word for “Compassion” is used in the New Testament only by or about Jesus. It suggests more than pity – it connotes actual help.
In my personal studies of this Gospel there have been certain scenes and certain passages that have challenged me and changed me. This is one of those passages. As a disciple, I too see a lot of encounters and experiences as mere waste. I look for the planned moments, the “important” moments. But this passage has changed me. I am still an unfinished soul but I now see the chance encounter, the intrusion, the inconvenience, the unexpected, as more than trivial – it might very well be Divinely planned and it can certainly be Divinely used!
To many, manure is just waste; but farmers know it is filled with untapped potential.
3. THE DISCIPLES WERE MORE THAN WILLING TO MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY IN EXCHANGE FOR ONE OF COMFORT.
Jesus knew that in retrospect they’d regret that. They ministered in Christ’s power and the masses were satisfied.
Maybe you are like me; I want to measure and plan my resources. But I learn here that I am rather to determine God’s will and trust him to meet human need THROUGH me … I am not meeting the need; God is! I am not a manufacturer of grace only distributor.
What a thrill to be part of this event! It changed them forever … this is one of the few miracles recorded in all four Gospels.
To many, manure is just waste; but farmers know it is filled with untapped potential.
CONCLUSION:
It is by definition, waste, but it is anything but. It is what you make it.
Opportunities like waste are only wasted if you do not let God’s grace make them into something new.
To us, manure is disgusting and to be avoided. But, those in the know understand it has benefits. It requires a “re-think” and a fresh view of things though.
In March of this year the following snippet ran across the news wire. I won’t bore you with the entire news article; a few paragraphs will serve my purpose.
AP: DETROIT - Home-buyers of tomorrow could find themselves walking across floors made from manure.
That’s no cow pie-in-the-sky dream, according to researchers at Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
They say fiber from processed and sterilized cow manure could take the place of sawdust in fiberboard, which is used to make everything from furniture to flooring to store shelves.
And the resulting product smells just fine.
The researchers hope it could be part of the solution to disposing of the 1.5 trillion to 2 trillion pounds of manure produced annually in the United States. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17627001/)
To many, manure is just waste; but farmers know it is filled with untapped potential.
I ran across this article on the “Ag Innovator” Web Site:
Princeton, Minn. — For a time last winter, Dennis Haubenschild’s dairy cows were earning him 40 cents a day from their milk and 30 cents a day from their electricity.
Electricity from cows? That’s right.
Haubenschild Farms is the first Minnesota farm to produce “cow power.” The 760-cow family farm uses anaerobic manure digestion to produce methane for electricity. The waste digester supplies enough power to run the entire farm, plus 78 average homes.
Farm digesters are attracting widespread interest. State experts say these manure treatment systems could bring important economic and environmental benefits to Minnesota agriculture. The technology lets farmers make a valuable new ag product — electricity — while reducing odor and creating high-quality fertilizer. (http://www.auri.org/news/ainjul01/05page.htm)
To many, manure is just waste; but farmers know it is filled with untapped potential.
A physic website discloses another unique use for manure:
Iowa State University: Researchers convert farm waste to bio-oil
Samy Sadaka reached into a garbage bag, picked up a mixture of cow manure and corn stalks, let it run through his fingers and invited a visitor to do the same... It wasn’t that bad.
That mix of manure and corn stalks had spent 27 days breaking down in a special drying process. The end result looked like brown yard mulch with lots of thin fibers. There wasn’t much smell. And it was dry to the touch.
The researchers are working to take wastes from Iowa farms -- manure and corn stalks -- and turn them into a bio-oil that could be used for boiler fuel and perhaps transportation fuel.
"The way I see manure, it’s not waste anymore," Sadaka said. "It is bio-oil." (http://www.physorg.com/news73316403.html)
I have more illustrations, but these three prove my point.
To many, manure is just waste; but farmers know it is filled with untapped potential.
In Matthew 12 Jesus makes a “passing” comment that has always stuck with me. He says: I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
I suspect that if that is true of my words it is true of my actions too huh? All the moments that come my way that I think are inconvenient, or reserved for me, are opportunities for grace.
I want to learn my lesson as the first disciples did. I don’t want to miss a thing!
He who has ears to hear
Let Him hear.
