Sermon – Luke 8:5-15- Created to Bear Fruit

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Luke 8:5-15- Created to Bear Fruit

New Covenant Church

January 14, 2018

This month we are celebrating creation.    We celebrate God’s creation of the world we live in.   And we celebrate the creation of the Arts Ministry banners for our sanctuary.   We are created by God for a purpose.   And that purpose, as we heard last week, is

Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.

Today we will look at what it means to be fruitful.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.  Heavenly Father, make your love real in us today.   Help us to be fruitful and increase your kingdom.   This we pray is Jesus’s name.  Amen.

Luke 8:5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still, other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”  When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Well, we have ears and we have heard what Jesus has to say in this parable.   Let’s look closely at this sower.    A farmer has connected his planter to his tractor and is driving down Boyds Corner Road to his field where he plans to plant corn.   But a quarter mile before arriving at his field he opens the planter and spills seed on the road.   Cars are driving over the seed.  Every bird in Delaware has arrived for a feast.   

Some of the seed is blown on the shoulder of the road.   In a few days, it sprouts but because the shoulder is rocky and dry it quickly withers and dies.  

Some of the seed is blown into the bushes where it too will sprout.  But with all the weeds it never takes hold and quickly dies.   

The farmer continues on to plant his field and is surprised that he only has enough seed for half the field.  

Now, what would you think of that farmer?   I think he is stupid.   No farmer would spill half of his seed on the road.   In fact, this farmer is colossally stupid. You can’t get much more stupid than this farmer.  

Jesus’ disciples heard this story of the colossally stupid farmer and were confused.   They had no idea what Jesus was talking about.   And neither do we.   So let’s go back to Luke and hear what Jesus has to say.

9  His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others, I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see;  though hearing, they may not understand.’

So according to Jesus, we are supposed to be confused.   We have no idea what the parable of the colossally stupid farmer is all about, except, maybe we should try not to be this stupid.  So let’s turn to Jesus and hear what the parable of the stupid sower really means.

11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

This is certainly a special kind of seed.  The word of God is what we read in the Bible.   The word of God is what Jesus said and did.    And we are to plant this word of God in the hearts of others.   When we do the promise of scripture is that we will  “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”

So how do we do this?  How do we plant seeds of the word of God?   Well, we talk about our faith with others.    We tell our families and our friends and the people we work with and the people we volunteer with and the people at the MAC center or Our Daily Bread about the faith we have in Jesus Christ.   We talk about what we have learned in worship and Bible studies.   We talk about the blessings we have received.   We invite people to our church.  We keep the church clean.    We sing in the choir and ring bells.    We serve on boards and committees.  We do all these things with one purpose in mind to plant the seed of the word of God in the hearts of the people we meet.

But sometimes, when we share our faith, we run into problems.   Not everyone what to hear about Jesus.   Some people reject what we have to say.   We tell people about Jesus and how he has blessed us.  We invite people to church.    But people get angry with us and call us names.   So we become afraid to share our faith.    Here is what Jesus has to say to us.

12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

There are some people whom you talk to who will not respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.   They will refuse to believe.   Some will even get angry at you.    And so we think we should avoid these people, and not share our faith with them.   Talking with people who refuse to believe seems to be as stupid as pouring seed on Boyd’s Corner Road.   But Jesus wants us to do it anyway.   Jesus wants us to share our faith even with those who seem most unlikely to respond to it.   Jesus knows that the probability of success is pretty low with these people.  But we should talk with them anyway because if just one or two of them accept Jesus then we have succeeded in being fruitful in growing our church and increasing the numbers of disciples of Jesus Christ.   So we talk about our faith with atheists and Muslims and materialist and others who are unlikely to listen to us because the joy of bringing people to faith is so great.

There are also people who were faithful Christians who have walked away from the church.   They used to come but now their hearts are hardened like stone.   Maybe they experienced a divorce and are ashamed of what they did.  Maybe God didn’t answer their prayer the way they hoped.  Whatever the reason their hearts are hardened and they won’t come to church.   Sometimes it seem as if talking with them is about a fruitful as planting corn on the shoulder of the road.   But Jesus has this to say.

13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.   

Jesus wants us to talk with them too.   He wants us to share our faith and talk about our blessings.   He wants us to invite people to come back to church.   Of course Jesus knows that this is hard work.   And at times our efforts seem to have no effect.   But we keep trying because if someone comes back to church we have been fruitful and New Covenant is increasing in numbers.

As we talk with our friends and family and people we meet about our faith we will run into some people who are faithful and believe in God, but they have no time for church.   The demands of contemporary lifestyles are pulling families in many different directions.   Instead of coming to church on Sundays people are doing other things.  With their busy schedules they just don’t have time for worship and Bible study and prayer.    So their faith atrophies with unuse.  

Sometimes it seems like a waste of time to talk with people who can’t make time for church.    Talking with them seems to be as colossally stupid as planting seed in the weeds growing along the side of the road.   But this is what Jesus had to say.

14 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.  

Jesus wants us to talk with people who are too busy to come to church.   Yes, the probability of getting them to return is not very high.   But we make the effort anyway and invite people back to church.   At least some of them will return and our church will increase.

Of course some of the people you meet in the community will be good faithful people.  Some are good presbyterians who have moved here from someplace else.  They are looking for church.   They want someplace to worship and study scripture.   They want to find a church that prays and engages in service in our community and around the world.  These are the people it is easy to talk with.   And if you do there is a high likelihood that they will come our church.   Jesus put it this way.

15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

We are that crop.   We are faithful that come to church.  We worship, study our Bibles and pray.   And we talk with others about our faith and all the blessings we have received.   We even talk with those unlikely to come to church.   But God will make us fruitful and bless us with a growing church.   Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus we thank you for this church.   We give thanks for this opportunity to worship you.   Equip with with the ability to share our faith with others, even those who probably will never come to this church.   But through our conversations with others bless this church with growth.   This we pray in your glorious name.   Amen.

Sermon – Genesis 1 Created by God

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Genesis 1 Created by God
New Covenant Church
January 7, 2018

We are beginning today a four-week celebration of the Arts Ministry of the church.   Under the direction of Elder Nancy Carol Willis, the Arts Ministry is producing four banners to beautify and adorn our sanctuary.  This builds upon the history of banner making in our church which has resulted in banners for our vision and closing song.   We have also made banners for our mission partners in Kenya.  This month we will be looking at the designs for the banners.   As they are completed they will be permanently displayed in the sanctuary.

Our first banner is entitled, “Creation, Let us make Man in Our Image”.   The themes of this banner are drawn from the first chapters of Genesis and the Gospel of John.   We will take a closer look at what it means to be created by God, but first, let’s pray.

“We praise you, God Almighty, for the power you have shown in creating the world.  We thank you for your love in redeeming us from sin and in creating us anew in Christ.  Grant us strength in this life to honor you, Lord God, both in worship and in witness, for Jesus Christ’s sake.  Amen.”

Two and a half millennia ago a Hebrew fisherman was casting his nets in the Mediterranean Sea just off the coast from the port of Joppa.  He had been fishing since before dawn, but now as the sun was setting he had few fish to show for his hard work.   He decided to cast his nets into the water one last time before returning to the shore.   When he looked up at the setting sun he saw storm clouds gathering.   He felt the wind pick up.   And the sea became choppy.    He knew from his long experience that a bad storm was coming so he quickly pulled in his net.   But the storm came upon him faster than he anticipated and he was pushed farther out into the sea.   By the time the storm ended that fisherman had lost all sight of land.    With the heavy clouds overhead he couldn’t see the stars and didn’t know which way led to home.   The moon provided no light.   The fisherman sat in the dark in his boat wondering who would provide for his family if died, because death was the most likely outcome to his situation.

This is what it is like to live in a world without a creator God.   The Bible describes it this way:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.

This is a world without a creator God: formless, empty, dark.   There is no purpose.   There is no direction.  There is no light.   All we have, like the fisherman, is a world of darkness which we live in until we die.   There is no hope.   There is no salvation.   There is nothing.

As the fisherman sat in his boat getting ready to die he felt a gentle wind push his boat.    As the sun rose for the new day he saw, with relief, that the wind was pushing him to shore.   He was going home.   He would not die.  He would live to fish another day.   He would be with his family. 

 According to the Bible, this is what a world created by God is like:
2b and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good.

A world created by God has purpose and direction.   There is salvation.   There is goodness.  There is light.  There is hope.   Thankfully we live in a world created by God.

God used the stuff of the world, the atoms, space and time and shaped them into a good, purposeful, and hopeful world for us to live in.   And he has blessed us with the ability to shape that world for our purposes and his good pleasure.   He has made us co-creators.   He has blessed us with the ability to create art and music and literature and architecture and marvels of engineering.   And all he asks is that we use what we create according to his will and purpose.   The Bible puts it this way:
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

So we are created in the image of God.   This does not mean that we look like God.   Rather it means that we do what God does.   We create.    We have dominion over animals so that we can create agriculture and provide food in abundance.   We can shape the clay and iron and coal in the earth into buildings and bridges and roads and rockets to the stars.  We can shape cotton and wool into clothing and beautiful banners. 

God has given us the ability to create.   But he has also told us to use this gift responsibly.   Here is what Bible says:

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

God’s command to us is that we use our blessings to create a world of abundance.   God has given us all we need.   Now we are to use what God gives us to create fruitfully.  God gives us plants, and we are to figure out how to plant and care for them so they provide food in abundance.    God gives us animals, and we are to figure out how to breed and raise them to produce food for us and help our labor.   God has created the building blocks of the world which we are to use to create a world of abundance.  The Apostle Paul put it this way:

Romans 8:19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

So all of God’s good creation is waiting for us to use it, to shape it for our purposes in a way that is pleasing to God.   So create.   Make things.  Use things.   Shape the creation you have been given into a world of abundance.

So what should be our response to this great blessing from God?   First, we are to use what God gives us and multiply it.   And then we are to rejoice at the bounty God provides.  The psalmist puts it this way:

Psalm 96:11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. 12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;  let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.  13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord.

The Hebrew fisherman sat in the darkness of his boat before dawn.   He had no hope of ever seeing his family.   He had no hope of surviving the night.    But a wind picked up and drove his sail toward the shore.    Who was this who saved him?   Who blew on his sail gently guiding him home?   Who was his savior?  Who was with God at creation and gives us hope and direction?   It was our savior, Jesus Christ.   The Apostle Peter put it this way:

1 Peter 1:20 He (Jesus Christ) was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him, you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Jesus Christ is the one who blew on that sail and brought the fisherman home.   Jesus Christ was his savior.  And Jesus Christ is our savior.   He blows on our sail bringing us to where we belong.

And as Jesus was blowing the fisherman’s boat the sun rose and revealed the good news that he was returning home.   Who was this that enlightened the world so that the fisherman would be filled with hope and confidence?   The one who brings light into the world is none other than Jesus Christ.  Jesus put it this way:

John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

So the wind that filled the fisherman’s sail was the spirit of Jesus Christ.   And Jesus was the light of the world that gave him hope that he had been saved.    We too a filled with Christ’s spirit and light.  As a result, we are filled with joy and hope and faith and we live in a world of abundance.    Thanks be to God.   Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for filling our sails with your Spirit to guide us.   And we thank you for filling our world with light so we can see where we are going.   Help us to shape God’s good creation into a world of abundance for all.   This we pray in your glorious name.   Amen.