Game of Thrones
Pt. 2 - Seedy
Introduction
After 1 year we have finally come to the final battle in the attack on the 5 principalities that I identified for us. We have fought isolation, poverty, hopelessness and apathy. Now we square off against compartmentalism.
Compartmentalism is pervasive in our society and apparent in the church. We honestly believe we can cut our lives up into carefully controlled slices and that those slices can stay in their respective areas with no bleed over. Our spiritual slice has no bearing on our social slice so we can do things socially that contradict the standards that we embrace in our spiritual life with no guilt or any understanding of the hypocrisy this presents to those around us. We can lie when it is convenient. Cheat when it benefits us. The spiritual is a segmented slice that has no impact on business practices, entertainment choices, dating, or vice versa. Our spirit man is confined to spiritual matters and we will not allow the Spirit to have any rule or reign over any other area of life. We are literally playing a game of thrones.
I think we come to church and talk, sing, and even pray using the language of the Kingdom . . . Words like Lord, King, sovereign, and Jesus positions Himself to sit down on the throne of not just our church life but rather our entire life and then when He tries to rule over those areas we pull the chair our from under Him. We play a game of thrones. We only allow Him to sit on the throne in areas we choose based on whether we like the blessing and protection that comes from allowing Him to reign. If He tries to offer correction, then we pull the chair.
I want to draw your attention to a familiar parable that Jesus told that shows us our lives compartmentalized. This parable reveals what we must do to enthrone Him again.
Text: Matthew 13:3-9
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Like you, I have heard this passage read and preached hundreds of times. I have heard it used to talk about shallow Christians (rocky ground), distracted Christians (thorny ground), and committed Christians (good ground). All right and all good. But today I want to examine this in a different light.
I want to first draw your attention to the fact that the parable doesn't say the sower went to different locations to sow seed. He was in the same area. As He was sowing some seed fell on different kinds of soil. So these different kinds of soil were in the vicinity of one another. Perhaps, at least in my mind, all in the same field. As the sower would walk around the field he would throw seed and the seed was cast into different kinds of soil . . . but the same field. You may think I am taking liberty with the account but I think this is a legitimate argument because isn't that a picture of our own lives? We want to be all good ground but inside of each of us, despite our best attempt to hide it and disguise it, there is rocky ground and thorny ground. Paul owns up to it for all of us when he famously said in Romans 7, "And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway."
In other words, there is a ground war going on in each of us! This is an all out war for territory! The one with the most territory wins. Same field . . . different ground. Same life . . . contradictions. Compartmentalism personified. We only show the good ground on Sunday but Monday - Saturday the rocky ground is exposed and the thorny ground is on display. It is there. Different soil for different days.
But I want you to also see that the seed is the same! He didn't throw super seed into some ground that worked in spite of ground type and weak seed into other ground. He just sowed seed. So there was no difference in the seed. What determines the existence of a harvest isn't the quality of the seed but the saturation of the seed! What changes soil from bad to good? Different seed? Nope. More seed? Probably doesn't hurt but nope! Saturation. We want to blame the Word when it doesn't seem to work. Well, I spoke the Word over that situation. I claimed the promises over that area. Yeah but did you check the ground? I remind you that the Word of God says about itself that the Word never returns void but its power can be impacted by our unwillingess to deal with our dirt! Same Word but areas of our life we won't let it grow roots.
Some of us want to throw the Word that says we are prosperous into our bank account but the Word is limited because we won't let the Word saturate us enough to dictate how we tithe, how we handle the resources God has given us, or how we love things. Some of us want to throw the Word into our sickness but we won't let the Word saturate our lives enough to quit doing the things like worrying, overeating, sinning that cause us to be sick. Some of us want to throw the Word into our relationships but we won't allow the Word to saturate our lives enough to honor our wife, submit to our husband. We won't let the Word speak to who we are yoked to.
We allow our dirt to get in the way and resist seed saturation. There are areas of our lives where we refuse to deal with the rocks and thorns and that ground rises up and fights the seed in us so our harvest is weak, stunted, and often times nonexistent.
Harvest is determined by saturation. Shallow saturation slim harvest. Obstructed saturation limited harvest. Our harvest is directly proportionate to our saturation!
We have rocky areas of life that we won't let seed penetrate. We have allowed the traffic of life to harden us to the Word. We get seed but we allow life to choke it out. It isn't that we don't get seed. We get seed but we don't like it because it addresses/challenges/corrects an area of our life we like and so we choke it out before it can take root and effect the ground! Close enough to get seed but not saturated enough to enjoy the harvest of that seed! We can tell how seed saturated you are by what it takes to kill the seed in your life. Just an encounter a little trouble and seed choked out and we give up on the promises we claim we believe. Little trial and seed is trampled and we give up courage to hold on to claims of seed.
I submit to you this morning that in order to enthrone Jesus We must become seedy! His name in heaven, according to John, before He came to earth was The Word. In order to enthrone Him we must allow The Word to saturate us with His Word. We must become seedy again!
How seed saturated are you?
In a transparent moment let's be honest. How seedy are you?
Joshua in Joshua 1:8 was given instructions on how seedy he had to be . . . Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
Do you meditate on the Word? I don't mean just think about the sermon until what you are going to do for lunch overthrows the memory of the message. Do you spend any significant time during your week thinking about the Word? If not, then saturation is shallow. Another version says, "Keep this Book of Law always on your lips." Ever talk about the Word? Any time reciting seed?
David reveals how seedy he was . . . Psalms 119:11 . . . I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Any hidden word? Laid up Word? Memorized Word. One version says I have treasured your Word in my heart. Any treasured Word?
Jesus shows us how seed saturation can make the difference in every aspect of our lives. You know the account. He is fasting and the enemy comes and tries to throw rocks and thorns into His ground. Each time the enemy would try to corrupt the soil of Jesus' heart with pride, materialism, idol worship . . . ground war . . . under attack . . . Jesus used seed as a sword. Here is the difference . . . Under attack we use Facebook. Under attack we use substances to help us become numb to or forget the attack.
I am telling you that if we are going to break compartmentalism we must allow Word to saturate and permeate every area of life and we must work to change rocky and thorny ground into good ground.
There is no possibility of harvest with no seed! There is also no possibility of substantial harvest without some ground management. We need a ground crew that will help us prepare our ground! We want the same harvest of holiness, character, and strength that the fathers had before us but without the discipline that was the seedbed for the Word that they had.
We hear it one time a week and then only read what's on the screen and then wonder why our harvest is limited and the throne is vacant. We are the most seed exposed generation that has ever walked the planet but I am also afraid that we may also be the least seed saturated generation the world has ever known!
If we are going to enthrone Him, then we must get seedy. We must build a throne of Word that has authority and rule over our life. We must meditate on it. We must treasure it. We must hide it. We must sharpen it. We must become saturated in it and Sunday morning isn't enough!
Remember the idea of a throne carries with it elevation. We must elevate the Word in our life again!
