Unlocking Potential (August 13, 2017).

UNLOCKING POTENTIAL

Text: Matthew 13:31 - 33

Have you ever underestimated the potential of anything? It only takes a spark to get a fire going right? Just think of the potential that lies within a match. One match has the potential to burn down a forest.

When Jesus told the parable of the mustard seed, He was talking about potential that had not yet been unlocked. The potential of a seed never becomes unlocked if it never gets the atmosphere it needs to develop. God never meant for seeds to be idle. Seeds carry the ability for life and growth.

It seems that Jesus used the mustard seed as a metaphor for perfection. The Greek word for perfection is telios which means “completion”. Were ships made to be dormant in harbors? Were cars made only to be parked in garages? Was God’s Holy word given to us in the form of a Bible to sit and collect dust on our bookshelves? Obviously the seed has a purpose which is to grow to completion. Ships, cars and Bibles are incomplete if they are not used for the purpose for which they were created.

The mustard seed is an agent of change----a catalyst. William Barclay said the point of this parable is that … “The kingdom of heaven starts from the smallest beginnings, but no man knows where it will end.” (William Barclay. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Matthew. Revised Edition. Volume 2. Philadelphia: Westminster press 1975, p. 76). God wants us perfect----complete and fruitful like the mustard seed. With God all things are possible. There is no way to estimate the work that God begins in us that influences others.

One of the things that parable points out is that actions have consequences. That means that we have choices that have consequences both good and bad.

CHOICES

Why does God give us choices? 1) Predestined toward salvation: We live in a fallen world where God’s activity to bring salvation to all who will repent is at work. 2) Free will: God gave us the ability to make choices based upon our free will. 3) The deceiver and idol choices: Will we choose God in a fallen world where Satan lies are like mirages in the desert? Desert mirages give the illusion that what we see will satisfy our thirst.

Illustration: Someone (Madeleine L’Engle) put it this way: “The problem of pain, war, and the horror of war, of poverty, and disease is always confronting us. But a God who allows no pain, no grief, also allows us no choice. There is little unfairness in a colony of ants, but there is also little freedom. We human beings have been given … this ability to make choices, to help write our own story, is what makes us human ….even when we make the wrong choices, abusing our freedom and the freedom of others.” (Madeleine L’Engle. Walking on Water. Harold Shaw, 1972 [ Copied from Dr. Daniel Lioy ed. The KJV International Lesson Commentary: September 200- August 2009. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook, 2008, p. 421). We cannot escape the reality of knowing that our decisions have consequences for us as well as those who observe us!

Does God work through our choices? There is the story of a seminary student named John Wimbe r who used an opportunity to witness to a fellow student who was not a believer. His fellow student gave a 30-minute explanation why he could not be a Christian. God obviously spoke through Wimber when he asked, “Do you know what a breech baby is?” “Yes” said his fellow student. Wimber responded, “Well that’s what you are … and God has sent me to get you delivered.” That fellow student began to sob and acknowledged Jesus as his savior. … Afterward, the student asked Wimber how he knew the analogy of a breech baby would speak to his heart. God had simply used Wimber as a mouthpiece. “Before seminary, the [unbelieving] student had been an army nurse who had helped deliver many breech babies!” (Dr. Daniel Lioy ed. The KJV International Lesson Commentary: September 200- August 2009. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook, 2008, p. 420). Never underestimate what God can do! Matthew 10:19-20 says, “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. (20) For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (ESV).

Have you ever been shocked by a reality check of a decision that you thought was not important? Consider this quote from Benjamin Franklin …

“For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,

For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,