THE SEASONS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE
Luke 8:11-15
John Tung, 11-16-03
I. Introduction
November is an interesting month.
You have rain, sometimes, even snow, in November. It gets warm and it gets cold. It is windy; it is mild. And of course the leaves turn beautiful colors. It has a little bit of everything. It is also one of the attractions of living in the Northeast, seeing the colors change.
And it made me think about the seasons of life, that there is an ongoing pattern that develops in our life. It also made me think about the seasons of our spiritual life, that perhaps there is also a pattern there too, with highs and lows, ebbs and flows, that we go through.
There is another reason why I thought of this topic. It came from reading a parable that Jesus told. The parable does not, I repeat, does not, say anything about the seasons of life, but there were ideas in there that made me think about the seasons of life.
Let me show you what I mean by asking you to turn to the Scripture passage for today. It is in Lk. 8:11-15. [Read.]
II. The Four Conditions of the Human Heart
We are all familiar with this parable.
It has to do with the fact that some people respond to Jesus’ words, while others do not. It is a curious phenomenon, why some people come to believe in Christ, while others do not. I am sure a lot of studies can be done on this theme.
And Jesus uses the different kinds of soil to compare it to the different conditions of the human heart. Some are soft enough to receive the words of Christ, while others are hardened and the words of Christ bounces right off of them.
But when I looked at the third soil closer, I noticed something.
There, in the third soil, in vs. 14, it says, “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.”
The question I asked myself is whether this third soil is a believer or not.
I know that the first two are not believers, since the first one it clearly says in vs. 12 that “the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” So the first type is not saved.
The second type of soil believes for a little while, “but in the time of testing they fall away.”
This type of soil looked like it would turn out great, but there was no root, no depth, no real faith in their hearts, and in the time of testing, it fell away. So this type did not believe in the long run.
The third type though is a bit tricky.
It took root, but it was choked internally by worries and outwardly by circumstances, so that it does not mature.
It does not mature. Does that mean it represents a person who believed in Christ or not?
You can have a good debate on this. But I tend to think that this person believed, but was not very fruitful.
My corroborating evidence comes from 1 Cor. 3, where it says that some people build their lives on Christ using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw. The person who built on Christ using wood, hay or straw will have his works tested and it will be burnt up. Yet, in 1 Cor. 3:15, it says, “If it is burned up, he will be suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
So, he is saved, but just barely. He will not be rewarded further in heaven except that he will be in heaven through what Christ has done for him. I think this is like the third soil.
The fourth soil of course is the best soil. It is the picture of a person who has received Christ by faith, and then proceeds to build a strong life upon Christ through service to him that results in abundant blessings to other people.
But if the third type of soil is also a believer, then it made me think that perhaps Christians can also go through times of life when they are not so mature, when they are not that fruitful, when they are not really growing.
And if that is the case, then I would compare the third soil to the fall season.
It is not quite the winter season, which can be compared to the first soil. When the soil is hard and frozen and nothing gets planted.
It is the fall season. When leaves are falling, when we are not so fruitful as in the summer.
The fourth soil is like the summer. Fruitful, juicy, and the harvest is plentiful.
And that would perhaps make the second type of soil like the spring season when the newly scattered seeds are beginning to take root in the semi-soft soil. But unless there is enough rain or unless you constantly water the young seedlings, it will not take root and will die.
Let me make something clear here. I am not reinterpreting this parable about the sower and the seeds allegorically. I am not saying that here is the parable Jesus taught, but that it means something totally different than what Jesus intended to say.
What I am saying is that the four types of soil triggered another set of image in my mind, which is not in the parable itself, but with supporting biblical evidence from other parts of the Bible.
For example, Ps. 1 talks about a man who “is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” So that is an ideal season.
III. The Seasons of Spiritual Life
When we think about our spiritual lives in terms of seasons, I think there is a benefit to it.
It helps us to understand that there are different stages in our spiritual lives. That different internal and external circumstances play a part in the seasons that we go through.
For example, a mother or father with 3 young kids, or someone who is serving as a caregiver for someone else, will likely have a tough time growing spiritually for themselves as they have to care for others. I am not saying that must be the case, but often it is.
Another benefit to see our spiritual lives as seasons is that it helps us to have hope that if we are in a season we are not happy with, we can do something to begin to move to a more positive season.
And the truth is my spiritual life is like this. I have gone through all four seasons in my own spiritual life, from high and optimistic to low and pessimistic.
And if you think that a Christian should be always on fire for the Lord, well, for people who live near the Equator, they might always be hot, but for many people, they experience different seasons of life, including their spiritual life.
Abraham had his great faith moments, but he also demonstrated lack of faith in his life too when he lied about his wife. David had spiritually close experiences with the Lord, but he also sinned against man and God. Jonah was a coward before he was courageous.
Most men and women in the Bible experienced their spiritual life as a series of ups and downs and not always ups. So I think there is validity to think of our spiritual lives as composed of different seasons.
If that is the case, then I have put down some key words for each of the seasons as you can see in your bulletins to better help us understand where we might be in our own spiritual life.
A. Spring
Hopeful, emerging, budding
B. Summer
Fruitful, blessings, growing
C. Fall
Weakening, fading, cooling
D. Winter
Cold, lifeless, dead
In the messages in the following weeks, going through the Advent weeks, I plan to address these different seasons more in depth as well as giving us words from God’s word on what to do when we are in these different stages.
IV. Conclusion
As for now, we need to bring this message to a close. And what I’d like for you to do is to spend about 3 minutes in a talk-back sermon format.
Talk-back sermon – 3 min. Share with the person sitting next to you, “What season would you compare your spiritual life to right now?” “I feel I am in the winter because ….”
