The Word Is Not Void Series

This evening’s sermon is entitled, “The Word Is Not Void,” and it’s taken from what is called “The Parable of the Growing Seed.” So, what message does this parable speak to believers? It appears to address the fear of failure in evangelism. Allow me to share from the church statistical researcher George Barna, as he explains why so many Christians are afraid to evangelize. He says,

One dominant reason underlying the increasing reluctance of Christians to share their faith with non-Christians pertains to the faith sharing experience itself. In asking Christians about their witnessing activities, we have found that nine out of ten individuals who attempt to explain their beliefs and theology to other people come away from those experiences feeling as if they have failed . . .

The reality of human behavior is that most people avoid those activities in which they perceive themselves to be failures. As creatures seeking pleasure and comfort, we emphasize those dimensions and activities in which we are most capable and secure. Thus, despite the divine command to spread the Word, many Christians redirect their energies into areas of spiritual activity that are more satisfying and in which they are more likely to achieve success.(1)

Do you feel discouraged from sharing your faith, because you don’t see the fruit of your labor, and you feel as though you are a failure? If so, then I believe this parable is for you. Johnnie C. Godwin says, “This parable, which is unique to Mark, tells about the seed growing by itself; and it has been called the parable to end discouragement.”(2) God’s Word should end our discouragement this evening, and help us gain a boldness in telling others about Jesus Christ.

Our Ways Are Not God’s Ways (vv. 26-27)

26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.”

We are shown here that a farmer scattered seed, but he knew not how it grew. The farmer within this passage didn’t think to himself that the seed grew because he fertilized or weeded the soil. He didn’t attribute the growth of the plant to himself at all. David Garland says of this man’s viewpoint on farming, that at this particular time in history “Jews considered the growth of plants to be the wondrous work of God, not simply the result of a law of nature.”(3) This farmer knew that the plant grew by the power of God; not by chance, and not by his own hard work.

Some of us get the impression that we have to make the church grow by our own efforts. In reference to this parable, Walter Wink says, “We are not ‘building the kingdom,’ as an earlier generation liked to put it. We simply lack the power . . . We merely prepare the ground and sow; the seed grows of itself, night and day, until the harvest. And God will – this is our most profound conviction – bring the harvest.”(4) We ourselves can’t grow a church, or make a person accept Christ. Only God can do this. In the book Share Jesus without Fear, William Fay says that if we have “won” someone to Christ through our own efforts, then that individual is probably not saved.(5)

It is said that Dwight L. Moody, the evangelist, was riding on a train after a crusade. An old drunk came up to him and said, “You know, Mr. Moody, I’m one of your converts.” Mr. Moody looked him right in the eye and said, “Son, I’m afraid you are one of mine, because you are obviously not a convert of Christ’s.”(6)

The first step in overcoming our fear of failure in evangelism is to acknowledge that when we scatter seed, that we are not responsible for making the seed sprout, grow, and blossom. We scatter seed when we share the Word of God and tell others about Jesus. We plant a seed in the heart of each and every individual with whom we attempt to witness. Our problem is that we want to see the seed that we have sown sprout and grow before our very eyes. We want to see the person with whom we have witnessed accept Christ and become saved immediately.

If we’re not careful, we might try to push a person into accepting Christ by arguing with them. When we try to force someone into receiving Christ, then we have failed to give this individual over to God. When we refuse to place an individual in God’s hands then that says something about our faith, or our lack of faith in His power to change hearts. After we have witnessed to a person, we need to learn to that individual’s soul in the hands of the Lord. So, what is the easiest way to place someone in God’s hands? The easiest way is to pray for them.