[youtube:http:\/\/youtu.be\/Pfm3aRkcb_I]
\nIsaiah 55:10-13
\nRomans 8:1-11
\nMatthew 13:1-9, 18-23<\/p>\n
Whenever I have planted a garden, I am very careful about prepping the soil, adding in fresh soil, compost and other things that will help retain moisture and provide nutrients for the seeds I am about to plant.\u00a0 Then I till all that together and make nice rows, remove all weeds and rocks I might find.\u00a0 After planting, I give it care each week, making sure that I can yield the most out of my planting.\u00a0 I give my full attention and love to my garden.<\/p>\n
God seems to handle the garden of humanity, very differently.\u00a0 How God works the garden can seem foolish.\u00a0 It is not that God does not care about how many of God\u2019s children flourish, on the contrary, that is important, but to reach everyone, the Spirit is sent into the world, regardless of who may reside there.\u00a0 A single person amidst a group of non-believers is just as important as a group of believers to be cultivated.\u00a0 God love\u2019s all of God\u2019s creation, is treated equally.<\/p>\n
We as Disciples of Christ, help to bring the Word, Spirit and thus the gospel to the world.\u00a0 When Jesus said, go out and make disciples, this included the entire world and never did hey say, start in a particular place nor did we get told to only go to places that produce the most fruit.\u00a0 If it were about getting to the greatest quantity or quality of believers, then we would be putting a price tag on God\u2019s love.\u00a0 Instead God\u2019s love is priceless and lavishly and freely given.<\/p>\n
We are assured in Isaiah that God\u2019s word goes out from God\u2019s mouth and will not return empty handed.\u00a0 We can be assured that wherever the Word goes, there will be a return.\u00a0 The amount of the return is not what is at stake; only a return is at stake.\u00a0 That return, no matter how big or small is grounded in God\u2019s love.\u00a0 God is a high roller going against all odds, no matter the stakes.<\/p>\n
Take the parable of the talents, where the master entrusts his slaves with money, some made a better return on their investments than others and were commended for the return.\u00a0 However the one who did nothing but buried the money, was scolded and the money was taken from him and given to another.\u00a0 God asks us to try, try with God\u2019s help, the Spirit has been sent to be with us always.\u00a0 The Spirit is God\u2019s love for us, so we and others can succeed in showing others, God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n
In the Gospel today, even when the seed was sown into good soil, the outcome is not guaranteed to produce a hundredfold each time.\u00a0 Sometimes it is less and significantly but that is okay too.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the Spirit has been sent to us all.\u00a0 We are the hands and feet of our God to help others in the world to become aware of the Spirit in them and for them to be able to respond to what God did and does for them.\u00a0 This may sound intimidating but again, we are given the Spirit to help us along our journeys, because God loves us and wants us to succeed.<\/p>\n
Evangelism is scary for so many people.\u00a0 I think this is because that so many of us have been confronted or know of someone who has been confronted with some very in your face evangelism.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to be seen as one of those people who might be standing on the street corner with a bullhorn telling all that pass by, that if they do not repent and follow Jesus, they are doomed to hell!\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it; those people seem just a bit, okay a lot, crazy!\u00a0 Their actions do not seem grounded in love and surely not the love that God has for all of us.<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019s message from the Father was one grounded in love, not fright, not intimidation or scare tactics.\u00a0 It is not to say there are not consequences for our actions or inactions but that is not how Jesus presented it, not how God presents it and not how we can present the Gospel, the Good News of the Love of God in Christ for all of the world.<\/p>\n
The Gospel, the Bible and God are all about the Love.\u00a0 All people need to be loved and for us to decide whom, when and where is discriminating God\u2019s love to only certain people.<\/p>\n
The Parable of the Sower is a call to action by God.\u00a0 It is a call to action by disciples, to make more disciples, spreading the good news of God\u2019s love in Jesus Christ, no matter what, indiscriminately, lavishly, even if perceived as done foolishly, \u2026.for the entire world.<\/p>\n
Here is a story for you about an Evangelist.<\/p>\n
Evangelist, Sower of the Word under a bridge<\/strong><\/p>\n There was a woman evangelist on a street corner.<\/p>\n Another woman on the opposite corner was speaking against all the evangelist said, snatching away all of the evangelist\u2019s words from all that could hear.<\/p>\n The evangelist stayed on the street corner for several days, while the other woman did not.\u00a0 The people were excited and praised God.<\/p>\n However, each day the ones that returned were no longer excited about the good news they had heard.\u00a0 They seemed to be all dried up and their excitement had just withered away.<\/p>\n Next the evangelist went to a church she had heard about.<\/p>\n When she arrived she could hear people arguing amongst each other.<\/p>\n She began to tell her story and tell everyone of the good news of God and what God had done for them, her and all people.<\/p>\n They stopped, listened and began to also speak of the good news.\u00a0 There was no longer fighting.<\/p>\n Shortly after she left, people began to speak poorly of each other, cutting them down with their words.\u00a0 Even as others attempted to remind them of the good news of God, they continued to poke, cut and finally put down all that spoke of the good news of God, until there was no good news left in the church.<\/p>\n Lastly, the woman went to a bridge where she saw some homeless people.\u00a0 She spoke the words of God and told them of all the good news.\u00a0 She told them of what God has done, what God does and what God will do for them and all people.<\/p>\n They were excited and began to tell others.\u00a0 They were excited and had ears, minds and hearts that were willing to listen and share.\u00a0 All that heard the good news shared with other homeless until all the homeless in that city had heard and all were excited by the news of God.<\/p>\n It did not stop there; they began to tell others in the city who became excited by the news.\u00a0 All those that heard, believed in the good news of God and told people in other cities.<\/p>\n