BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES
Matt 13:1-9, 18-23
* Turn to Matthew 13 and in just a minute we will stand for the reading of a very familiar passage. Begin an old man, I remember an old gospel songs entitled, Bringing in the Sheaves. Later, on a business card of a Pastor were the acrostic R.E.A.L. (Relevant, Exciting, Authentic, and Loving) If Jesus was anything, He was relevant or better said “contemporary” and used language that everyone could understand. Let’s stand and read.
* Papaw, my dad’s dad, was a sharecropper in younger years and got to farm family land in his later years. Looking at the great harvest Jesus mentioned (30, 60, or even 100 times) was have excited my granddad. He always wanted and worked at having a great crop. Many in this room have had the experience (on some level) of planting a garden, field, or farm, working it, and then bringing the harvest. So when we talk about farming or agriculture this is something we can get our hands around and understand.
* For the career farmer there are some great risks. In recent years there have been some farmers who have gone bankrupt, losing land that has been in the family for generations. There are many reasons why farmers have lost their farms. Unseasonal weather, rising costs, machinery, and other things play a part because, make no mistake, farming is not an easy business.
* It is more than a little interesting to me that Jesus used the “hard work” of farming to equate with our task of reaching and discipling people. With everything He did, He communicated to His followers that most important thing was to share the good news. In Luke 4, He announced that one of the reasons He came was to proclaim "the good news to poor."
* Jesus was always sowing the word with a desire to produce a harvest. And today, He is expecting us to “sow the word” and “reap the harvest.” Once again, farming is not easy!
* Think about this parable. Jesus considers us "farmers", perhaps even "sharecroppers." So how can we do our best to bring in a harvest? Let me suggest to you 4 principles of farming.
1. FARMER MUST BE FAITHFUL -
==> I have already mentioned about stories of farmers losing land. Admittedly, most of time it is from unseasonal weather which spans a 3 or 4 year period of time. This is indeed sad.
==> But how sad it would be “if” they lost it all because of laziness? They just didn’t get out of bed, they didn’t work the farm, they sat around swapping stories about "crops" in days past or worse, they spent all their time rearranging the seed and farming equipment in the barn or the shed. The very nature of the name "farmer" indicates WORK!!
==> Two times in my life I have served country churches where Dairy Farming was done. Let me tell you about Dairy Farming. It is 24-7-365. That means it is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can’t go fishing when ground need breaking. There is not 2 weeks of vacation every year. In fact the cows even have to be milked 2 on Christmas and Easter. Let me really illustrate the work of a famer. One day I was helping Gary and Danny cow that was down. If you don’t know, when a cow gets “down”, their legs get under them in such a way that they cannot get to their feet and get the blood circulating again. They will literally lay there and die. So we were out doing our best in the mud (and other stuff) to get this cow up and were being unsuccessful. As I recall we were using their little tractor to pick her up and the little machine didn’t quite have enough power, so Danny went to get the bigger tractor. I thought this would give Gary and I an opportunity to talk and visit. But when Danny left, Gary took the little tractor and in the next 15 minutes, moved hay, moved feed, and accomplished several needed tasks. He did this because work is NEVER done. Procrastinating doesn’t help.
==> Make no mistake, in Jesus’ story you and I are the farmer. We are the ones who are called as a natural part of our life to go into the fields, be faithful, and work for or toward the harvest. When the farmer gets lazy the whole operation dies, the farm becomes worthless, fruitless, and without purpose.
==> Only way people find hope, help, and salvation to miss hell and make heaven is from the faithfulness of the farmer doing the work he is responsible to do. It is the only way there will be a harvest. Let’s make it personal. If we, as the farmer, are not faithful, the harvest will spoil. This is a matter of life and death. You & I must be faithful to prepare the soil.
2. SOIL MUST BE PREPARED -
==> Many do not totally understand the soil and I would certainly head the list. But with my time at the Golf Course there are some things which I learned/ fertilize. If I expect the growth from the soil, it is required that help the soil be ready for the growth. This may mean that I have to use a plow, spread some fertilizer, or even water the soil. Jesus knew this and painted us a picture comparing the soil to the heart of man. Let’s take a look at 4 types of soil or heart.
==> The First soil mentioned is the Callous heart (the HARD heart)- (Read verse 4) This speaks of the path, Luke tells us that this ground was trampled down by men. If you have ever seen a path through the woods, you know that this ground is as hard as a rock. As a general rule, nothing will grow there. Watch the parallel between the soil and the heart. The path has been trampled down and hard has also been run over by man until it is calloused & hard. This ground must be "broken" or "cultivated." By the way, it occurs to me that the birds eating the seed are a picture that “any little thing” can take away the word of God from the hard heart. Callous has to be broken.
==> The next soil mentioned is what I call the cluttered heart. Watch this process. When we break up the path, the hard ground, the calloused heart, invariably we find the stones. They are always below the surface, take on many forms, and literally have to be removed by hand. I remember clearing land for a horse riding area. We cut the trees, dugs the roots, and cleared the rocks. Only then were we free to let the horses ride. May I ask what is it that is cluttering up your life? What do you have in your life that is foreign to the will of God?
==> The next soil mentioned is the choked heart (thorny) This is also very interesting because they must be removed down to the root. You can’t simply cut them down or cultivate over them must uproot & cast away or they’ll grow back. Many people today who claim to be believers are so overwhelmed by the cares of this world that the Bible has little place in their lives. Consider this, we are told in the Bible to meditate on the word at all times, how does this stack up with your life?
Bringing in the Sheaves – Pg 4
==> The next soil mentioned is Cultivated heart. (The GOOD soil) This is the soil which has been broken up, fertilized, watered, and is ready to propagate growth.
==> What does this have to do with the thought of "bringing in the sheaves"? The life of a believer is to be a life that is helping (not forcing) prepare the soil in hearts of man, making hearts ready to receive word so the Holy spirit can do His work.
3. SEED MUST BE SOWN -
==> The KJV calls us a farmer; the HCBS calls us by what our calling is to be, “a sower”. Sowing the seed of the word of God should be the most natural thing we do. Does it surprise that a "farmer went to sow seed?" Why should it surprise us that we should sow seed of God’s word? Does it surprise us that we baptize so few each year, that there is no big harvest? Here’s the question, are we sowing seed?
==> I have a friend in south Mississippi. For years Marvin had, what I jokingly referred to as, a community garden. Several men went together to plant, work, and yes, harvest. What if they decided to depend on what they had "sowed last year?" What if they attitude was "there should be plenty of seed there and we’ve done enough?” So they decided not to plant and became angry when the garden bore no harvest. Would you not think they were crazy?
==> I submit to you that when we don’t have a design in our lifestyle for letting people “know” about the life which Jesus offers then we are guilty of not sowing the seed of the word. And at the risk of being offensive we then are disturbed when so few are coming to know Christ.
==> Jerry Tidwell, the writer of the GROW program say, “we are trying to bring in harvest in unsown (unseeded, unplanted, unworked) fields.” God has given us His word, "the seed", the good news. Candidly, we don’t have to “watch where we sow it.” Our lives should be a bag of seed sowing thickly. When I worked at the golf course, we over seeded the greens with rye grass for winter grass. I’ll never forget that Billy had us make 12 passes on the green to make sure the see was thick enough that we had grass over the entire green. We saturated the seed.
==> If we will draw a spiritual parallel, can you see how “we’ve already done that” is the killer crutch which is causing the fields to not be properly sown. The truth is, the more properly and thickly it is sown the more harvest will be gathered.
==> Never forget the 3 laws of the harvest; we harvest later than we sow, we harvest more than we sow, and we harvest EXACTLY what we sow I end with a sad truth which should encourage us to “sow seed” every day. The sad truth is that we are attempting to harvest today is fields which are largely unsown.
==> Sowing the seed is not about some new program, gimmick, or promotion which the church unleashes. The real sowing of the seed comes from each person letting their light shine everyday so that a seed of the gospel is seen. (Recap)
4. HARVEST MUST BE GATHERED -
==> Jesus tells us that the good seed in good soil yields a tremendous harvest, some 30, some 60, and some even 100. This means that when we are faithful to sow the seeds, not every seed (or effort) will return a harvest (or a soul). If we are faithful to sow seed the return on those good seed will totally overshadow the seed which falls among the rocks, on the path, or in the thorn bushes. Now I’m talking in symbolism, so let me make this a little plainer. When I let people see Jesus in me to the point I can share a “little” of the gospel with them, those who truly respond will have a greater impact than those who will not listen and hear. Please don’t forget something; Our task does not end with the sowing of the seed.
==> The harvest doesn’t get it by itself. When you plant a garden, the peas, beans, corn, okra, tomatoes, they don’t come inside by themselves you must go and retrieve them.
==> I am convinced that HBC must be more diligent and aggressive about preparing the fields in Hueytown. How? I suggest that we might remember Sheldon’s “In His Steps” and make the commitment that before I make a decision, speak a word, or take an action; I ask “what would Jesus do?” When I have that answer, I DO LIKE HE WOULD! When people ask why I have changed so much, I am now ready to be more aggressive in sowing the seed by simply saying, “I am trying to live like Jesus.”
==> I am also sure that we must become diligent about the harvest.
==> According to the statistics which we can gather, within 5 miles of this building almost 1000 people are just waiting for someone to invite them. They may respond to an invitation to church but they are really looking for an invitation to God.
==> Let me offer 2 Thoughts for us to consider:
a) The Life of fruit. Jesus said, “Open your eyes and see the fields, they are white (which means “ripe”) unto harvest. From my limited farming experience here is what I have gleaned. Fruit has basically 3 stages of life; green, ripe, and rotten. You try picking a green fruit and it can be a bad experience. If you wait too long, it is a sad experience. The farmer spends enough time in the garden to know when the time comes for harvest. The same is true in the harvest of souls, we must know and have to be ready to do the work. Ouch. That brings us to the final thought we need to embrace.
b) Harvesting is work – I’ll never forget the stories my DAD told me about picking cotton. Personally, I am THANKFUL that I didn’t have to do what he did. But make no mistake, harvest is work. Jesus called us "laborer" and said they are few. There is an old hymn which we used to sing "we’ll work till Jesus comes." We also sang “ready”. The words to the chorus are “ready to go, ready to stay, ready my place to fill. Ready for service, lowly or great, ready to do His will.
==> Truth is, "we are God’s plan A" and as best I can tell, He has NO plan B.
==> This message bears the titles of another great ole song, “Bringing in the Sheaves.” Sowing in the morning, Sowing seeds of kindness, Sowing in the noontide, And the dewy eve, Waiting for the harvest, And the time of reaping, We shall come rejoicing, Bringing in the sheaves.
