Sermon ~ “I Saw a Man on a Red Old Tractor”
Isaiah 66:18-23
Isaiah speaks about those that the Lord seeks to bring to Himself: “And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord.”
I saw a man on a red old tractor. It was years ago now, when I was on my way to see my mother (who has now been called to glory). It was a sweltering day, coming at the end of a long, very hot spell. The top was down on my cream-colored Dodge convertible. The sky was blue, with big cumulus clouds making it look like preschoolers had been out pasting cotton balls onto the sky. It was a gorgeous day! I was traveling
my usual route on highway 12 when I ran into a detour.
Along that detour I saw a man on a red old tractor. It wasn’t green. It wasn’t a John Deer. My uncle
Silas, who was the national corn husking champion in the 1960’s, thought that the only farm equipment to own wore John Dear overalls. But this wasn’t a John Deer. It may have been a Case or a Farmall Model A, but it wasn’t green. It was red and it was old.
And it was beat-up.
Now I didn’t know if this man on the red old tractor were rich or poor. Maybe that was the only tractor that he had. Maybe he was just scratching out a living on the land with that beat-up red tractor. Or, maybe he was rich. Maybe... maybe he was wealthy.
Maybe back in the barn on the farmstead he had big, new green John Deers–tractors, combines, bailors, and drills. This old red tractor was maybe just a toy to get out and have some fun with. I didn’t know if this man were rich or poor. But I do know this... I do know this: There was no shade of difference in God’s love for that man whether he were rich or poor.
I saw a man on a red old tractor. I didn’t know... When he got up that morning did he have a wife and family? Maybe his wife had made him bacon and eggs and hot coffee, and as he pulled on his coveralls he could smell breakfast waiting for him in the kitchen. Maybe as he left out the door for the field he had children pulling on his pants and shirt.
Or maybe when he got home that evening he went out to the milk house where a tank sits that keeps the milk just a degree above freezing. Maybe he dipped a tin cup into the tank and took a draft of the cold, whole milk to tamper down his thirst. Then he’d go into a house that was empty because he lived alone. I didn’t know if that man lived alone or had a family, but I do know this... I do know this: God loves that man just the same, whether he is married with a family or lives alone.
I saw a man on a red old tractor, and I didn’t know about his past. He may have done something really bad... really wicked... really evil. Or he may have had righteousness in his past. He may have been an elder and was actively serving God and His church.
I didn’t know about that man’s past, but I do know this... I do know this: There’s no shade of difference in the love of God for that man. What ever his past was, God loves that man just the same.
I saw a man on a red old tractor. I didn’t know what his future would be like. I didn’t know if he was an entrepreneur. Perhaps he was buying up farms and someday he’s going to have this large farming corporation. Or maybe he was just a hired hand, lucky
to be living in a small mobile home when he retires... as it sits on the periphery of the farmstead where he’s worked most all his life. I didn’t know about that man’s future, I really didn’t, but I do know this... I do know this: Which ever way it is. Whatever lies in his future, God loves that man the same. There’s no variation or difference.
I saw a man on a red old tractor. I couldn’t see his hands. I saw them on the steering wheel, but I couldn’t see them close up. I didn’t know if they were calloused, worn, and hard because of hard work with bailing twine, mending fences, and doing hard farm
work. Or maybe his hands were soft because he was just one of these hobby farmers out for a day of play.
I didn’t see his feet. I don’t know if he had feet, to be honest. Perhaps he had to be helped up on the tractor that day, I didn’t know if he had feet. But I do know this... I do know this: Whether that man could run like the wind or whether he was disabled and needed help to do his chores, God loves that man the same. It makes no difference how physically able he was, there was no shade or difference in God’s love for him.
I saw a man on a red old tractor. And I didn’t know if he had gone through a death in his family. He may have lost his wife or his child, I didn’t know. He may have been angry with God because of the death of someone close to him. Or he may have been like my friend Steve who went into the ministry and he once told me that he had the hardest time sympathizing with those who lost someone in death because he never
had.
I didn’t know if this man had just lost someone close to him, or not. I Couldn’t know ifhe were angry with God, or blessed like my friend Steve who had not suffered the pains of losing someone close. I didn’t know... But I do know this... I do know this: God
loves that man just the same. No shade of difference in God’s love.
I saw a man on a red old tractor. He had no shirt on as he sported a deep, deep dark tan. Now I didn’t know when the first day of spring came and he decided to take his shirt off. Maybe it was when he was tilling the ground for the first time. Farmers I know
love that first tilling drinking in the fragrance. You know that soil has a fragrance! Farmers will tell you that the best thing is getting out in the spring and tilling the soil after winter.
Maybe it was when he went out to till the ground for the first time that he took off his shirt and exposed that lily white skin to the sun. Maybe he wasn’t very careful and got burnt badly. Maybe his lily white skin turned lobster red. Ouch! I didn’t know how long
it took him to get that tan that he finally sported, but I do know this... I have no question in my mind about this whatsoever: God loved that man as much when his skin was lily white or like the first snow of winter, or when his skin was red–burned like a lobster, or when it was dark, dark brown. There was no variation in the love of God for that man on the basis of the color of his skin.
I imagined myself–I really did, as I drove that detour to Litchfield, I imagined myself as the man on that red old tractor. And I really did imagine the Lord Jesus coming out to meet me as I road on that old tractor. In my mind He came up the rise of a hill, so His head came up first and then His body. It was almost as if it were resurrection day and Jesus was coming right out of the soil.
He had a red sash about His waist. I don’t know why He had a red sash, perhaps its because as a kid I saw Him enough times in pictures wearing a red sash. The wind, too, was blowing hard against Him and He just glistened... just glistened in my mind. He took big steps, high steps, as He walked through the field of grain. And I said to Him as he stopped by the tractor, “Lord, did you come for me?”
He said “David, yes, I came for you.”
I said, “Lord, I’m not worthy!”
He said, “Worthy, David? Worthiness has nothing to do with it. I came to you when you were stuck in sin. I came to you when you were at the seminary. I came for you when you were lonely and single, and I came for you when you were married and your children were born. I came for you when you were strong and healthy and I came for you when you were weak. I’ve come for you in all your rich moments and all your worldly poverty.”
Then He looked to the west. “I’m also going on to your city for others. Don’t get me wrong, David, if you were the only person–the only, solitary person on this planet, I would have come to Calvary’s mountain just for you. I would search for you to the ends of the earth. But I’m going on to your church (as a matter of fact), and to your community, because there are rich people and poor people, people who are married
and people who live alone. There are people who are overcome by their past and the things that they have done, and there are people who are walking in the righteousness that I’ve given to them.”
Pausing He continued, “there are people whose skin vary in tones and people who are healthy and people who are sick. Every single one of them, each and every one of those people, if they were the only person on this planet I would have gone to Calvary’s
mountain and sought to the ends of the earth for just for that one, solitary person.”
May God the Holy Spirit move us all to care for each and every person with the heart of the Savior. Amen.
