Text: Matthew 5:1 thru 9
While driving down the road during the summer months we can easily see miracle after miracle. With every field of corn, wheat or soybean, we can see miracles taking place.
If we take a small seed and put it under several inches of dirt, and give it enough water, enough light, and the right amount of fertilizer, we will see a miracle. It will not matter that the ground is many times heavier than the seed. In a few days that tiny seed will push it’s way through the topsoil and grow into a vegetable.
Therefore, never underestimate the power of a seed.
The Apostle James probably wasn’t a farmer, but he was a great man of wisdom and knowledge. James knew the miraculous power of a seed.
“Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.”
1 James 3:18, LB
The principle for peace is the same as the principle for the farmer’s crops.
Never underestimate the power of a seed.
Illustration:
The story of a man named Heinz is a good example of how God is doing a miracle in folks just like you and me. In 1934, Adolf Hitler was a menace and a threat to peace in our world. There was a plague of anti-Semitism that was spreading rapidly throughout Europe.
Millions of Jewish people were in grave danger. Some would escape it, and some would die from it. But 11 year-old Heinz would learn from it. He would learn the power of sowing seeds of peace.
Young Heinz was a Jew living in the Bavarian village of Furth. Hitler’s thugs were in control. Heinz’s father was a schoolteacher that lost his job because he was Jewish. Many other Jewish families were threatened, but they tried to hold onto their Jewish traditions. Such as: The observance of the Sabbath and Yom Kippur.
The quiet streets of Furth became a battleground for the local families. Hitler’s young thugs roamed the neighborhoods looking for trouble with the Jewish people. Young Heinz learned to keep his eyes open. When he saw a band of troublemakers, he would step to the other side of the street. Sometimes he would escape a fight—sometimes wouldn’t.
One day, in 1934, a confrontation between Heinz and these thugs would forever change the life of Heinz. Heinz found himself face-to-face with a Hitler bully. A beating appeared inevitable. This time, however, he walked away unhurt—not because of what he did, but because of what he said.
Heinz didn’t fight back; that 11 year-old boy spoke up. He convinced the troublemakers that a fight was not necessary. His words of persuasive peace kept the bloody battle from taking place.
Heinz saw firsthand how the tongue can create peace. He learned the skill of using words to avoid conflict. And for a young Jew, caught in the midst of Adolf Hitler’s murderous regime, Heinz had many more opportunities to learn how to be a peacemaker.
Fortunately, Heinz’s family escaped from Bavaria and made their way to America. Eventually young Heinz grew up, his name became synonymous with peace negotiations during the 80’s and 90’s. Somewhere and somehow Heinz learned the power of being a peacemaker. But apparently his training began way back when he was only 11 years old.
Today you would not know this man as Heinz. But you would more likely know him by the name of Henry. Henry Kissinger.
Never underestimate the power of being a “peacemaker”. Jesus knew the power of bringing peace better than anyone, and now He wants you to know it. Being a “peacemaker” change your life.
Question: How good are you at making peace? That is, being a peacemaker?
You may not be called on to settle the differences between the Palestinians and the Nation of Israel,
but each of us have opportunities everyday to do something even more important. And that is to bring the inner peace (of knowing Christ) to troubled hearts.
In the New Testament we can easily see how Jesus modeled this for our lives. Although we don’t see Jesus settling many disputes or negotiating any international conflicts. We do see Him creating/causing harmony to take place in people’s lives through His acts of love:
1. Washing the feet of a man named, Judas. Even though He knew Judas would betray Him.
2. Having lunch with a corrupt tax official named, Matthew
3. Honoring the sinful woman named Mary Magdalene when everyone she knew had scorned her and was ready to sentenced her to be stoned to death.
This life of peace that Christ lived is what we need.
Question:
Who is it (that comes to your mind) that needs peace in their lives?
You may be the only “Peacemaker” they know…these people need a miracle to take place in their lives, and you may be just the person God wants to use…
After we have prayed for these people, we need to go and plant some seeds in people’s lives.
What are a few examples of those seeds?
1. A kind word of encouragement, in spite of how wrong they may be, or how convinced you are that you are right.
2. Ladies – bake a cake or some cookies.
3. Men – mow some grass or trim a tree.
4. There are many other ways that God will show you.
Regardless, go sow some seeds (somehow) of peace.
But don’t forget that the seeds you plant will need some watering and fertilizing and cultivating. You may want/expect those seeds to spring up overnight, but it may take a while before you see anything.
The farmer doesn’t give up the first few days after planting and neither should we. Be patient.
Cultivate that seed (you’ve planted) with lots of prayer and enduring patience.
God didn’t give up on you anymore than He gave up on His children in the Old Testament. If you remember, God’s kingdom and His people were ravaged by the enemy, and they were scattered and driven away from Him. His people even forgot Him, but that did not stop Him. God never gave up.
Listen carefully. God also planted a seed in the ground. It was the only seed He had. His Son, Jesus Christ, died on the Cross of Calvary at the judgment of God. His lifeless body, that seed sent from God, was planted in the ground. After three days, Jesus arose and proved that God can do the greatest miracle of them all. The miracle of the seed of salvation.
Matthew 12:40 – Jesus said that -
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
This was the most important event in all of mankind to ever take place. God did not get in a hurry. He planted His Son in the earth and waited for three days.
Jesus also said (Matthew 26) that ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”
With this – Jesus brought eternal peace to a world that was dark and full of turmoil.
Speaking of the “Son of God”, you will find an unusual benefit to sowing seeds of peace. In verse 9, Jesus tells us that we will become “sons/children of God!”
Let’s think about what that means…
Consider this Illustration:
The first woman to ever be created was “Eve”. She had it all. Eve had everything any woman could ever want. This may come as a surprise, but if Eve were here with us tonight she would tell all of our women that she had no need or desire to ever go shopping.
Why? Because Eve had everything!
But everything wasn’t enough for Eve. Not because Eve was a woman, because Adam had the same problem. Everything wasn’t enough for Adam or Eve.
The serpent in the Garden of Eden knew exactly what would interest Adam and Eve. The serpent, (the devil) approached Eve with this one thought,
“If you eat of this apple, you will be like God.”
Eve believed that if she were “like God”, she would have been as powerful as God. This scene from the Garden of Eden took place thousands of years ago but is still replaying itself in the lives of people everyday.
Close:
There is a real temptation in each of us to have more of anything we might already have, or wish that we had.
We all know that everything we have is often not enough for us. I believe Jesus knew that was and still is a common problem for anyone. It is a problem you and I both have to reckon with.
Given the opportunity to elevate ourselves to a higher standing in life is a temptation we all have struggled with. There seems to be enough of what we have.
There seems to always be a desire to have more.
This is a problem for us if we do not have God’s peace in our lives. But if we become His peacemakers, we will find we have all that we will ever need.
