"I’ll Serve the Lord as Long as there are no Difficulties or Discouragements"
Mark 4:1-9
According to John Gipson the following story was published in the Galveston, Texas paper. It concerned a woman and her parakeet named "Chippie." It seems that the woman was cleaning Chippie’s birdcage with a canister vacuum cleaner. She was cleaning the bottom of the cage with no attachment on the tube, when the telephone rang. She turned her head to pick up the phone, continuing to vacuum the cage and as she said, "hello" into the phone, she heard the horrible sound of Chippie being sucked up into the vacuum. Immediately she put down the phone, ripped open the vacuum bag, and found Chippie in there, stunned but still alive.
Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed it, ran into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held the bird under the water to clean it off. When she finished that, she saw the hair dryer on the bathroom sink. She turned it on and held the bird in front of the blast of hot air to dry him off.
A few weeks later a reporter from the newspaper that originally published the story went out to the house to ask the woman, "How’s Chippie doing now?" She said, "Well, Chippie doesn’t sing much any more. He just sort of sits and stares."
I believe that most of us can identify with Chippie. Life has sucked us up, thrown cold water on us, and blown us away. And somewhere in the trauma we have lost our song.
Tonight I want to continue our look at the Parable of the sower but tonight I want to look at the account found in Mark 4:1-9. Read Text
The rocky ground in our parable did not only have rocks in the soil but it probably also had bedrock - a ledge of rock with a shallow layer of topsoil. That’s why Jesus said:
"Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away" (Mark 4:5,6).
The struggle with this type of growth is that the seeds sprout quicker, and the plant wilts sooner. In my growth pattern sometimes I have a sudden spurt of growth, it would probably be wise for me to ask myself, "Is this because I have no depth?".
We all know that natural growth is slow, continual, and gradual. If we woke up tomorrow and went to Rylan’s room and instead of seeing a one year old little boy we saw a 6 foot 6, 250 pound man sleeping in his crib we would have reason for concern. The same must be true of our spiritual growth. This is a biblical principal.
Williams Translation of 2 Peter 3:18 reads this way:
But instead, You must continue to grow in the spiritual strength and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever!
Continual growth is what God is looking for. He didn’t expect Abraham to get it all done in one night and I believe that He is willing to take the time for us to get it right as well.
You see a sudden change may be more for manipulation than for transformation and spiritual healing. I may be bargaining with God. I may be trying to cut a deal with friends or family. If that is true, the wilting will be as fast as the sudden growth.
All growth will experience some set backs. We all have some rocks in our life that we have to deal with.
Job 14:1 says "Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble.
And Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:12 “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”.
Rabbi Edwin Friedman calls it our “Previous Level of Dysfunction” It is his thought that when the troubles of life come we tend to regress to they way we used to be. It was not his idea. The idea of slipping back into our previous level of dysfunction comes from our creator.
Jesus explains his parable in verses 16-17 and says "These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble"
Times are going to get tough and we will struggle and if there is no depth we will wither and die.
Now if I were to ask you where do the rocks in your life come from the easy answers would be my enemies, sickness, or house burning down. But the bible says that our rocks come from a little closer than that.
Associates
Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:42,43).
1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
Growing up I was told if you run with the goats you will smell like the goats. There is a lot of truth in that. When we are struggling with our growth our associates can help us grow or kill us off.
Family
Job 2:9 Job’s wife asked him, "Are you still holding on to your principles? Curse God and die!"
I like this part of Jobs life because it illustrates how much power our families have in our lives. It is our family that we look to for total acceptance and that acceptance can cause us to be better or worse.
Inside me
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death (James 1:13-15).
I believe that this is where the rubber hits the road. To many people want to blame others for their lot in life. We have kids divorcing their parents and people suing over spilt coffee that was a little hotter that their lap desired. Where is it all going to end.
Sure my parents raised me, and hopefully passed along their morals, and work ethic but at the end of the day I am responsible for he way I turned out.
So in reality we all have rocks that we have to deal with, but the question arises what do we do with them. Here are 4 ideas
1) Large boulders, bedrock, should be drilled out, blasted out, and more top soil brought in to give more depth
Although I sprang up immediately, I can develop depth, I do not have to wither; Jesus says in Mark 4:23 "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
If I want to be better, If I want to do better then I need to deal with the rocks in my life. I need to admit that everything is not alright. I need to focus my energy on really hearing what God is saying to me through the scriptures. And then I need to apply what I have learned to my life.
2) Some rocks need to be rejected, thrown away.
Jesus rejected the insults of the scribes. Mark 3:20-30
When somebody gives me something that I can’t use I try to exchange it for something my size. If it stinks, I put it in the garbage. If doesn’t belong to me, I try to return it to the proper owner. I don’t need to keep harmful rocks (hurts) just because somebody gave them to me for a present.
3) Some rocks need to be collected for fences, memorials, pathways.
In Franklin Tennessee along the roads there are Slave Walls. These walls are beautiful rows of stacked stone. The history of these walls is that when new ground was getting prepared to be farmed the workers in the fields first job was to gather all of the stones from the soil so that it could be planted. Once you got these stones out of the soil there was the question of what to do with them. Very soon farmers began stacking these stones to make a fence line that would keep cattle out. Since cows are not known for there jumping ability they did not have to be very high. But they have stood the test of time and now stand as a beautiful reminder of a very tough time in our history.
The Apostle Paul does the same thing in 2 Corinthians 11:22-33. He lines up his rocks (tribulations, persecutions) as evidence of his discipleship.
4) Some rocks need to be crushed and put back into our lives to make us sweeter, better servants.
If your ground is to acidic you are supposed to use lime to neutralize the bitter acid. In the same way we need to take our struggles and problems and use them as a reminder of how faithful God has been to us.
I read a plaque one time that said:
LORD, HELP US TO SMILE AGAIN. BUT NEVER LET US FORGET WE CRIED.
I believe that there is real value to the rocks that have been placed in my life if I have the right attitude. You see rocks can make me bitter against God, and His people. Or they can be used by God to draw us closer to Him. If we are going to draw closer then we need to:
Take time to evaluate the rocks - don’t throwaway valuable gems along with worthless rocks.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1 :2-5).
A lot of times our perspective changes with distance. I didn’t know how much I loved my parents until I went away to college. I didn’t know how God was going to use our miscarriage to minister to others until time had passed.
Consider your emotional state before you make quick decisions.
In Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!, by Robert H. Schuller we read. The most dangerous thing in the world is to make an irreversible negative decision during a brownout time. Don’t sell your real estate because there is no electricity in the building. It’s just a brownout, not a burnout. Never cut a dead tree down in the wintertime. I remember one winter my dad needed firewood, and he found a dead tree and sawed it down. In the spring to his dismay new shoots sprouted around the trunk. He said, "I though sure it was dead. The leaves had all dropped in the wintertime. It was so cold that twigs snapped as surely as if there were no life left in the old tree. But now I see that there was still life at the taproot." He looked at me and said, "Bob, don’t forget this important lesson. Never cut a tree down in. the wintertime." Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst mood
Cultivate the attitude of gratitude - look for the blessing.
Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
In this passage Paul is reminding us that every rock can be turned into a blessing if we will allow God to be our first love.
Get help with processing your rocks.
Philip asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He answered, "How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?" Acts 8:30-31
A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sand box. He had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny, red plastic shovel. In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sand box! The boy dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the sand. With no little bit of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox by using his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very huge.) When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that he couldn’t roll it up and over the little wall. Determined, the little boy shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he had made some progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sand box. The little boy grunted, struggled, pushed, and shoved; but his only reward was to have the rock roll back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration. All this time the boy’s father watched from his living room window as the drama unfolded. The moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the boy and the sandbox. It was the boy’s father. Gently but firmly he said, "Son, why didn’t you use all the strength that you had available?" Defeated, the boy sobbed back, "But I did daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!" "No, son," corrected the father kindly, "you didn’t use all the strength you had. You didn’t ask me." With that the father reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.
God has given us a family, The Holy Spirit, and His Son. These tools are at our disposal every minute of the day. If we are just willing to ask for help.
Finally the difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone may be my attitude in the way I view the rock.
To you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone, " and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense. " They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed (1 Peter 2:6-8).
Conclusion:
Rocky ground is progress, growth from wayside soil. In the pathway, the seed does not enter. In the rocky ground, the seed sprouts. When I find the rocks, I need to find the appropriate way to handle the rocks and find the blessing.
In the spring of 1989, I visited the town of Enterprise, Alabama for the Peanut Festival, and saw the Boll Weevil Monument. It is the only memorial in the world that glorifies a pest. Such recognition came about as a consequence of the Boll Weevil ravaging 60% of the cotton crop in 1915 and with even greater destruction in 1916. This pest forced diversified farming and peanuts was the chosen crop in 1917 with more than a million bushels being harvested. On December 11, 1919 a monument was unveiled in Enterprise honoring an insect whose arrival resulted in an agricultural revolution and changed the character of the area. The Boll Weevil Monument, a symbol to man’s willingness and ability to adjust to adversity, stands over ten feet tall at the intersection of Main and College Streets.
R. O. (Bon) Fleming, an Enterprise merchant and member of the City Council, conceived the idea for the monument and citizens from the area contributed to the expense of erecting it. The following inscription can be found on the base of the monument:
IN PROFOUND APPRECIATION OF THE BOLL WEEVIL AND WHAT IT HAS DONE
AS THE HERALD OF PROSPERITY THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED
BY THE CITIZENS OF ENTERPRISE, COFFEE COUNTY, ALABAMA
