SOW IN TEARS REAP IN JOY
Ps. 126:5-6
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Ark Riddles
1. Q: What kind of lights did Noah install on the Ark? A: Flood lights.
2. Q: Where did Noah put the bees? A: He kept them in the Ark hives.
3. Q: What did Noah say to himself as he was loading up the Ark with the much larger animals? A: "Now I've herd everything."
B. TEXT
5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. Ps. 126:1-6
C. THESIS
1. The Bible is so accurate, so faithful to life. It doesn’t give us a rosy, false picture of what life is like. It shows us both the dark and the light, the evil and the good, the hard and the enjoyable, the bitter and the sweet. [Derek Prince]
2. Life is like a painting. To be really beautiful, it needs dark colors as well as bright ones. Joseph & Moses had some of the greatest lives in the Bible, but also some of the darkest times. So did Job, who wisely said, “Shall we accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” Job 2:10, AMP. Job’s end was better than his previous time.
3. Yes, there will be tears. But don’t forget, the joy that will follow will be so great as to blot out the tears forever... throughout all eternity! The title of this message is “Sow in Tears Reap In Joy!”
I. THE NECESSITY OF SOWING/WORKING
A. THE DIFFICULTY OF SOWING
1. If we want to reap we’re going to have to sow. That’s a law of life; it’s a law of the universe. Sowing will usually be done with tears, but the reaping will come with joy.
2. The backstory of this passage is the Israelites had just returned from the 70 years captivity and the land had lain untilled. The fruit trees had been cut down and the houses burned or ruined.
3. Then they began the difficult job of breaking up the fallow ground: busting the hard earth apart with hoes or plows. Their hands became calloused and blistered, their backs ached, the sun burned their skin. Day after day they worked. Their hope was that rain would fall and the seed would grow.
4. At last, the day came when they got out their sack of precious seed. It was all they had. If it failed to grow, they might starve or become slaves. They looked for the best spots to plant each precious grain of seed, and as they covered them with dirt, they breathed a prayer to God that He would help them grow.
B. THE REWARD OF SOWING
1. That’s what a life of faith is like too. You must do good, witness, sacrifice, give to others, and be willing to wait upon God to bring forth a harvest. The Bible promises, “He that goes out weeping carrying seed to sow will return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with him.”
2. Within those earthly seeds was the power of new life, the power of multiplication. How many kernels are on one ear of corn? The average is 800. How many ears are on one corn plant? The average is 3. So one kernel =2,400 potential corn plants with 5,760,000 kernels! From one to 5.7 million!
3. But the seed WE plant is the Word of God! It has the power to create and multiply in ways that dwarf all earthly seeds. The Lord Jesus was the original Sower and look at how His seeds have multiplied – 2.4 billion people are believers! We too are called to be sowers and God will bless us with a harvest.
II. THE IMPORTANCE OF TEARS
A. THE MEANING OF TEARS
1. You never know what may cause tears. The sight of the ocean can do it, or a song, or a face that reminds you of someone. People often shed tears during a movie or when a particular situation arises. You can never be sure, but of this you can be sure – whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it’s good to pay the closest attention.
2. They’re not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but often God’s speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you’ve come from and where He’s taking you next. [Frederick Buechner]
B. THE BENEFITS OF TEARS
1. We all cried when we were babies, but now that we're adults, many of us try to hold back our tears in the belief that crying is a sign of weakness. But experts tell us that shedding tears is actually healthy! It lets off stress and restores the body to a state of balance; it lifts the mood!
2. Jesus said, “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted,” Matt. 5:4. Solomon said, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting...” Eccles. 7:2.
3. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, received word from some of his missionaries that they were coming home. They said, “We’ve tried everything. We’ve tried preaching on street corners, beating drums, passing out tracts, and nothing works.” William Booth sent them a telegram that said simply, “Try Tears.”
4. Booth wasn’t just advocating the healthy benefits of tears, he was suggesting that they might not have prayed to God enough, and that when they did, He might open the doors to unlock a revival!
C. 7 LAWS OF SOWING & REAPING
1. Everything starts as a seed.
2. Nothing happens until seeds are planted.
3. Whatever I sow is what I reap! (Whether positive or negative; trust or doubt; wisdom or folly; etc.)
4. We always reap in a different season from when we sow. There’s always a delay.
5. We always reap more than we sow! (The principle of multiplication. It’s true of gossip too.)
6. The time to start planting is now! If we wait for perfect weather or a perfect situation, we’ll never get around to planting. Perfection paralyzes planting.
7. Reaping a harvest requires patience. We have to wait. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”- Robert Louis Stevenson
III. DON’T GET WEARY – YOU SHALL REAP!
A. YOU HAVE A HARVEST COMING
1. Paul said in Gal. 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we SHALL reap, if we faint not.”
2. God promises that if we sow, we WILL reap! It’s a law of God. You can’t lose for winning!
B. DISCOURAGED SOWERS?
1. If you’re feeling discouraged, or that somehow things aren’t going the way you want them to – you’re seeing few results – remember that there’s a delay between sowing and reaping. But keep on sowing, because God has promised that if you sow good seed, a day will come when you’ll carry in your arms the rewards of your labors!
2. NONE of your good seed will fail to produce a harvest! The Lord Jesus said, “And whoever gives...even a cup of cold water because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward” Mt. 10:42, AMP.
3. Every smile you give a discouraged person, every dollar you give to the needy, every phone call to the lonely, kind word to the oppressed, every aid to the helpless, etc. – you will not lose your reward! Keep sowing the love and goodness of God, and sharing the knowledge of Jesus, AND GREAT WILL BE YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: HOW HE FOUND THE MONEY
1. In the 1800’s, the son of a widow in difficult financial circumstances was heading to his last semester at Oxford. His mother had sold most of what she had to raise the money for him to finish his degree.
2. The stage coach was most of the way to Oxford, when the young scholar realized the money was missing. He tried desperately to remember when he had taken it out of his wallet, and remembered that he had done so a few miles back.
3. Almost without hope, he told the coachman to take his luggage on to the school, and walked back towards the place where he thought he might have dropped the $5,000 bill.
4. He had gone about three miles, when he met a diseased figure, slowly and wearily creeping down the road. He immediately noticed the signs of leprosy. He debated: “Should I stop and speak to this man or not? Do I have time for such needless delay?
5. But out of courtesy, he spoke to the leper and encouraged him. He sat down and learned the man's sad history, and his vague hope of getting some advice in Oxford for his medical condition.
6. The young student remembered a professor at the University the leper could contact and might could solve his case. He offered to write an introduction for the leper, but couldn’t find a piece of paper to write on in his pockets.
7. Suddenly the poor leper stooped, picked up from the road a piece of paper, and asked if he could write on that. It was his lost $5,000 note!
8. In God’s mysterious way, He rewarded the young man for his act of kindness by restoring to him all he’d lost!
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you have had some difficult circumstances? Have you grown weary? Have you felt yourself slipping from your spiritual mission?
2. Are you still sharing the love and good news of Jesus like you did at first? Do you want to have that excitement and fervency again? We’re going to pray for that!
3. Let’s persevere in our good works so we can have a bountiful harvest when we meet Jesus face to face! There’s no “retirement” from the kingdom of God. Jesus said, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life” Rev. 2:10.
4. Let’s pray.
