Today we are finishing up our series called the Kingdom of God is Like. Throughout this series we have looked at a variety of parables that teach us a variety of things about the Kingdom of God. Do you remember them all? There should be 10.

We learned that God’s kingdom is like…
 
A sower that throws seed on the ground because sometimes faith grows; sometimes it doesn’t.
A growing seed because faith grows through repeated, repetitive, consistent and persistent use of God’s Word.
A mustard seed because it is seemingly insignificant work that is of eternal significance.
A homeless fox because it is greater than any material wealth.
An abandoned burial plot because it is greater than any earthly task.
A plow because it is greater than any human relationship.
A treasure because it is worth giving up everything to make sure it’s yours.
A net because it collects all sorts of people on this earth – people that will be sorted when the kingdom work is over.
A banquet because the party will be so awesome in heaven there won’t be any regrets about unaccomplished earthly work here.
 
One thing that all of those parables have in common is that they focused on future fulfillment. Jesus was teaching his disciples about something that would happen later on.
Today’s parable deals with immediate fulfillment. As in – as soon as Jesus gets done telling it – the exact things he had just predicted to happen began to happen.

Intrigued? This is the parable of the Vineyard Crime Scene. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Parable of the Vineyard Crime Scene
 
This parable comes from Matthew 21:33. The timeline of this parable is important. It takes place at the end of Jesus’ three years of ministry.

For three years he has preached the good news of God.
For three years he has proclaimed forgiveness to ‘sinners.’
For three years he has befriended the lowly, scum of society.

And…
For three years….
He has infuriated the religious leaders of the day.
 
In fact, they hated Jesus!
In fact, it would not have been a stretch to say: They hated Jesus!
Crowds had stopped following them and started following Jesus. They hated that.
Crowds had stopped listening to them and started listening to Jesus. They hated that.
Jesus called them “sinners” lumping them in with the scum of society – ‘regular, common, disgusting people.’ They hated that most of all.
 
And Jesus knows this.
He knows they hate him.
He knows they want to kill him.

So…
He tells the following parable to them:

There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He does a lot of the hard work to get the place up and running. He tills the ground. He plants the seeds. He builds an irrigation system. He installs that fence-like apparatus up and down the rows so that the grape vines can grow onto it.

Then, when he has the winery up and running, he realizes – I could make a decent amount of money on this. After all, winery tourism is a huge deal. He builds a wall around it, installs a wine press, adds a watch tower, maybe even a nice patio for visitors to enjoy sipping on a Merlot while the sun sets on the chateau in the distance.

Then, when it’s ready to make some money: He rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. (v.33b) Not that he didn’t still have some involvement. (Our guy is smarter than that) He makes a deal with the farmers to pay him his share of the profits that they make on his winery. Maybe, 25%? (It’s one of those royalty deals that Mr. Wonderful loves to do on Shark Tank.) As long as they are making money on it, he’s making money on it too.

It’s fair.
It's legal.
It’s his land and it’s nice they are able to use it at a low price and make some money too.
 
But…
 
The time comes for him to pick up his money.

He checks the mail – nothing there.
He looks at his Google Money Request – no dice.
He searches his email for ‘winery royalty’ and there are ZERO search results.

He sends one of his trusted servants. “Could you go to my winery tomorrow and pick up the royalty payment for me? Here’s some spending cash and a first-class airline ticket. Thanks!”

And the servant goes.
And the man waits for him to return.
And he never comes back.

So he says to a second servant: “Maybe Bob wasn’t the most trustworthy. Maybe he took the spending money and went gambling or something? I don’t know. Here. You go to that winery and bring me the royalty check.”

And that servant goes.
And the man waits for his return.
And he never comes.

This goes on for three, four, five servants – until finally, one of them makes his way back to his master.
He in a cast.
He’s bruised.
He’s bloodied.
He’s beaten.

The farmers did this to me. I introduced myself politely as your representative. I reminded them that this was your land and it was a kind thing for you to let them use it. And then, they smiled—and sucker punched me. They started kicking me. One of them grabbed a vine to strangle me. If it wasn’t for the pepper spray that I packed on my key chain, I would never have gotten out of there.

Worse. Some of the other servants weren’t so lucky.
I saw a company vehicle that had been torched.
I came across Bob’s blood-stained company jacket.
I hacked into some security footage that shows one of our guys being murdered because he asked for the money.
 
These aren’t farmers! They’re murderers! Let’s get ‘em.
 
But the entrepreneur doesn’t get angry.
He doesn’t call the police.
He doesn’t seek revenge…yet.

He says, “Let’s send my son.” They will respect my son. (v.37)  

And…
So…
Entrepreneur Jr. gets called into the office.
They explain the situation to him.
They figure – he’s so well-known and so heavily photographed by paparazzi, surely the farmers won’t harm him because such a crime would result in obvious retribution.

But when his son gets there.
And steps out of the company limousine.
And he greets them with a smile and a hearty handshake:
“Gentlemen, I know you’ve had some differences in the past, but I am not here to take everything away from you. I’m just here to collect the portion of rent that is rightfully, legally my dad’s. If you can hand me that check, I’ll be on my way and you can go back to working this vineyard – my Father’s vineyard – in peace. Does that sound like a deal?”
 
He holds out his hand for the check.
And he smiles.
And the farmers smile.
And they reach in their back pockets.

But not for their wallets,
For their weapons:
“This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” So they took him out of the vineyard and killed him.” (v.39)

II. The Reality of God’s Kingdom
 
Hmmm…
This may be the darkest of the parables.
It seems like it belongs on HBO programming and not in the Bible.

But remember – every parable is an earthly story that teaches us about God’s kingdom.
And Jesus told this parable to teach the angry, hate-filled religious leaders something about God’s kingdom.

When he gets done with the parable he asked them:
When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? (v.40)

And they respond correctly.
He’ll bring those wretches to a wretched end. (v.41)
He’ll get revenge.
He’ll avenge the death of his son.
He’ll get the police involved and all of those murders will be arrested!
Then, he’ll get some new tenants – some better tenants – and rent out the vineyard to them.

Look at Jesus’ response to their answer:
Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…” (v.42)
 
It’s one more mini parable. This one is about construction. Because in construction, when you are building a house – especially in the ancient world of stone built, brick by brick walls, one of the most important parts of building was the cornerstone.

A cornerstone needs to be a perfectly right angle. The 90-degree bend ensures that every other wall is aligned perfectly in the square. If it’s 89.9 degrees? The whole building will be off. If it’s 90.01 degrees, the building will be off.

It needs to be perfectly straight.
Perfectly beautiful.
And perfectly hefty as it is foundational for the whole house.

Well, apparently when the builders were looking for the cornerstone – they came across a pretty ugly stone.
It’s not square.
It’s not straight.
It’s just a rock that doesn’t deserve a place anywhere really.

It’s unimpressive.
And uninspiring.
They pick it up and toss it into the construction dumpster.
They don’t need it.

Do you get it yet?
Do you understand the parables?

Because the religious leaders did.
In fact, mark it down!
This is the only parable that they ever understood perfectly. Look:
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. (v.45)
 
They were the ones who had rejected Jesus, the cornerstone.
They were the ones who kept rejecting God’s servants.
In fact, they were the ones who were literally plotting the death of God’s only Son!
 
And instead of repenting when they hear Jesus call them out…
Instead of asking forgiveness…
Instead of seeking compassion…what do they do?
They bring the parable to fulfillment:
They looked for a way to arrest Jesus. (v.45)
They looked for a way to arrest the Vineyard owners’ son.
They looked for a way to dispose of the rejected stone.
 
III. A Familiar Crime Scene…
 
Why? Why did the Religious leaders do it?
Why did they reject Jesus as Savior and plot his death?

Simple.

They wanted to steal God’s glory.
PROBLEM: They wanted God’s kingdom to be about their glory.

They didn’t want to depend on someone else, they wanted the glory of depending on themselves.
They didn’t want to have to trust in someone else, they wanted to trust in their own awesomeness.
They didn’t want to have faith in some carpenter from Galilee, they wanted trust in their own sinful selves from Idiotville.

And they were so confident that they wanted no part of Jesus – they were willing to KILL him and fulfill the parable that he just told about them – forever etching themselves in the annals as wretched wretches…

…just to steal some of God’s glory for themselves.

But that’s the part where the crime feels eerily familiar.
 
It’s kinda like a calling card left by a serial criminal.
The Joker in Batman leaves behind a Joker card.
The local gang leaves behind their brand of graffiti.
The Wet Bandits in Home Alone leave behind a flooded sink.

This “STEALING GOD’S GLORY” thing is a calling card of a very familiar criminal:
Self-Righteousness.
 
Did ya’ll have a good Thanksgiving dinner? Maybe you had some delicious potatoes and some of those green beans with the crispy onions sprinkled on top. Maybe you had some delicious oven roasted turkey with gravy.

And maybe you were involved in making that meal happen!
You spent hours putting it together.
You have blisters from holding the French Chef knife.
Your wallet has a burn hole from the money you spent on the food.

You’re tired.
You’re hungry.
You’re ready to enjoy the meal that you have earned.
And then, right before that first bite of potatoes and gravy, someone inevitably says : “Let’s all take turns saying one thing we’re thankful for.”

And someone thanks God.
And someone else thanks Jesus.
And someone else thanks this God guy again.
And finally, it’s your turn and you get your chance to speak and say: I’m thankful that…I didn’t get too tired this year to make the meal. I mean, I was, but I pulled through. I just buckled down and made the meal. You know – the one that you’re all eating! I did that. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Thank you! I mean – Thank me for making this a great year for me”

Friends, watch out for self-righteousness.
He resides in each of us.
He wants us to steal God’s glory.

“Sure, God loves you. It’s because you’re so lovable.”
“You don’t need Jesus. You’re a pretty good person on your own.”
“OK! Fine, Jesus died for you! But YOU’RE the one who believed in Him so…who’s the real hero here anyway?”

Today, God approaches you like that vineyard owner and asks that you give him what is rightfully his – HIS GLORY!
And the warning from Jesus’ parable is this:

Don’t boot God from God’s kingdom.
Because without God? It’s not God’s kingdom.
And without God’s kingdom… well?

That’s just you. Facing God’s vengeance.
Alone.

IV. The Cornerstone

Do you remember the rejected stone?
The one with all the bumps.
The one that looked like a terrible choice for any kind of stone, so the builders threw it into the dumpster?

This isn’t in the parable, but I imagine that before they left work for that day the workers went to clock out And as they left, they told their boss that the stone he recommended, didn’t work out! So, they threw it away.

And the boss apologizes. “No worries guys. I’ll work on it. I’ll find the perfect cornerstone and have it in by the morning.

So…
The next day…
As they are drinking their coffee and preparing for another day of work, they come to the construction site and…WHOA! There in the corner – where the best of the best – the visually perfect and totally right stone should be – is that stone that they, the builders, had rejected.

It has become the cornerstone.
 
And despite the Pharisees’ rejection of Jesus!
And despite their dumping of him into the rejection heap of the cross
And throwing him into a make shift dumpster –called a grave…

Three days later.
Three days later…

Three days later, he comes back to life.

“The stone the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. The LORD has done this and it is marvelous in his eyes.” (v.42b)

Because no one else could have done this!
No one else could remove our sins.
No one else could win our forgiveness.
No one else could rise form the dead and then promise us eternal life as well.

Except God himself.

Here’s the truth: God’s kingdom is ALL about GOD’S glory.

It’s not about you achieving some kind of glory on your own.
It’s not about you getting enough glory so that God might like you.
It’s not about you earning your way to heaven.

It’s about his grace.
it’s about his forgiveness.
It’s about his glory.

But here’s the thing! Wouldn’t it have been much easier for God to win glory if he just put on some really cool laser light show?
Why didn’t he just stick to making a beautiful sunset?
Why did he go through with all of this awful, suffering and death…he obviously knew it was coming and went through with it anyway?

Answer.
You.

God went through with this suffering and death in order to bring you into his glory.
Because while God’s kingdom is all about God’s glory…, it’s also true that God’s kingdom is about YOU sharing in God’s GLORY.

That’s why Jesus did what he did.
He loved you that much.

In fact, that’s really the point of all these parables. Whether it’s about planting faith in our heart or preparing a banquet in heaven, whether it’s collecting us in the net of his kingdom work or being the cornerstone to build our eternal lives upon…It’s all about God’s glory and it’s all about YOU sharing in God’s glory.

Glory be to God!
God’s kingdom is marvelous in His eyes!
And…I hope…it’s marvelous in yours too. Amen.

No regrets.

Do you know someone rallies around this cry? Or maybe the more modern YOLO – You Only Live Once? Or going way back to classic Latin carpe diem? Seize the day! Whichever one it is, it’s a call to live life to the fullest, to get the most out of it, and never shrink from an opportunity that you might regret missing out on later.

Maybe you know that person, maybe you try to do it yourself. Today, as we continue our series on The Kingdom of God is Like, we’re going to look at some people who lived that way.

First, a little bit of recap and context. Maybe you’re aware, maybe you’re not, but this is our third week in what we call the End Times season of the church year. It’s a time when we focus on what the end of this world will be like, what we’re looking forward to, and where our ultimate confidence is.

Last week was the Sunday of Final Judgment, and appropriately enough we looked at the parable of the net. We saw how the angels would gather up all the people at the end of the age and separate them, good from bad – judging them, as it were. And we heard pretty clearly what would happen to those bad fish.

Today, we look more at the outcome for those good fish in the Sunday we call Saints Triumphant. This day celebrates the end that awaits the holy people of God, the triumphant celebration in the kingdom of heaven after this is all over. And our parable today, again appropriately, revolves around a great banquet being held. So, let’s take a look at the start of that story Jesus tells:

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ ”

Let’s pause there. What do we have so far? A man, with apparently significant resources, prepares a grand banquet. Out of the blue, no apparent reason, just to celebrate. And he sends invitations out to all his friends, to all the movers and shakers and well-to-do people of the area. To anyone worth inviting. To this grand feast. Let’s think about that part first. Now, maybe you’re like me and you just love food and good times with friends. The idea of this could appeal to you a lot. But let’s try to put it more into our context. A dinner party today is, hey that’s great, but it’s not the end-all, be-all of our lifestyles. It was perhaps a bigger deal at that time. So maybe translate that into something that really speaks to you. A Caribbean cruise? A wilderness retreat? A Disney vacation package? A massive party in an airplane hangar?

Think about it, whatever comes to mind as the best kind of time you can think of having. Think about that grand time and then think about getting a card in the mail inviting you to it. It’s from someone you trust, it’s not a prank or a scam, it’s real. Imagine the excitement of holding that invite in your hand. Someone else is going to the trouble of getting this all set up, taking care of all the arrangements, the travel, the catering, the cost, the guest list, whatever it is. All you have to do is show up.

Now imagine… what on earth could possibly stop you from being there at the appointed time?

Okay, maybe there’s a few things. A sudden death in the family or severe illness. Natural disaster getting in your way. Some stuff that’s not really in your control. But that’s not what happens here. The call goes out, the banquet is ready. Just show up and enjoy it! And the servant sent to gather the guests gets… excuses.

And I mean, it’s not like they’re terrible excuses. They all have something to do that is more important to them than enjoying a nice banquet. One wants to check out a new purchase of land. Another needs to field-test his new oxen. Still another has a wife he needs to take care of. Seems reasonable. But on the other hand, would an evening out of their lives to attend the banquet really have ruined these other things? You could kind of see it going either way, right?

See, here’s the problem with the “No Regrets” lifestyle. You can’t do everything. Every day you’re faced with choices of doing one thing over another. And we all value activities differently. Maybe for you living life to its fullest means going out and being social every evening. Maybe for me it means eating a whole bag of Oreos and reading comic books all night. But at every juncture, at every decision point – how do you know which one you won’t regret?

You can’t. You just can’t for any earthly activity. But we’re not really talking about earthly activities, are we? Remember a parable is an earthly story that teaches us about the Kingdom of God. So this banquet is not a banquet, it’s God inviting us to best celebration there ever is and ever will be. The triumph of heaven.

Last week we talked about the uncomfortable reality that hell is real. But just as real is heaven. It’s better than you or I could imagine. It’s better than the best cruise where you don’t get seasick, better than the best camping trip with no mosquitoes, better than a Disney vacation without any lost luggage or crying children and better than the biggest celebration without the awkward relative who drinks too much. Better than any and all of that put together. It’s utterly peaceful, utterly joyful, completely exciting, and without any pain, ache, or fatigue. It’s a grand celebration that never gets boring or tiresome. It is, quite plainly, the best.

Now imagine… what on earth could possibly stop you from being there?

So why do we make excuses all the time? Because we think we don’t want to regret missing things that come up here and now. Some of them are utterly mundane and trivial. “I’ll get to God later, for now I need to try out this new Xbox game.” Those should be easy to spot. Some…like the excuses in our parable, well they seem more reasonable. “I’ll get to God later, but right now I have to sort out our finances.” “I’ll get to God soon, but right now I have to get the shopping for Christmas done.” “I’ll get to God, but this new relationship needs attention first.” “I’d like to have time for God, but my family needs me to do so much for them.”

We think we’ll regret it if we don’t do these things we “should” or “have to” do. Switch your perspective on regrets. We said before there’s no way to know which earthly activity you might regret missing. Sure. But I can tell you this for a fact: When your end comes, when the banquet is ready, you will regret it if you’re not there. I can also promise you this: when you’re there, you will not regret a single thing you missed here.

Think that over a second time. Let it sink in. You will not be in heaven saying to yourself, “You know this sure is a great time, but I’m sorry I didn’t get to see the Grand Canyon before I got here.” How absurd! Replace that with whatever you want. There is nothing you can miss here that will somehow regret in heaven. But whenever we put something ahead of time with God, whenever we cut him out of our lives because we’re afraid of missing out on something else, that’s exactly what we’re doing! Day by day, inch by inch, God gets squeezed out of our lives because we fear missing out on something else here.

Now, perhaps I’ve got you thinking, just like I’ve got me thinking, about all the times I’ve turned down God’s invitation in order to do something utterly trivial in comparison. That’s not a great feeling. Might have you feeling a little worthless overall from that behavior. If that’s how I treat his invitation, why should God even bother to invite me?

If so, take a look at what happens next.

21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22 “ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”

The choice guests don’t come. They all think they have better things to do. But the meal’s prepared, the celebration is ready, it can’t just go to waste! So, the master sends his servant back out. Go and get anyone you can find. Get those that have nothing better in their lives, those that would never turn down such an invitation. I don’t care that they can’t pay me back, if I get no favors or a return invitation someday. Gather everyone who’s worth nothing to anyone.

They do. But there’s still room. So, he sends his servant back out. Go even further out. In fact, there’s an interesting connotation in the original language here. The places the servant is sent the second time are places that robbers and highwaymen were known to lurk. In other words, you’ve got all the worthless people in here? Go and gather the criminals as well! I don’t care who they are or what they’ve done – I don’t want a single space to be wasted.

My brothers, my sisters, it doesn’t matter that you have nothing good to offer God for a place at the banquet. It doesn’t matter if you’re not worth inviting. None of us are. But Jesus himself has prepared this feast. He is the one who ensured there were more than enough places to go around. And God the Father wants none to be wasted.

Here’s the plain facts: Jesus died and rose for all. Because he is God, his death on the cross is valuable enough to pay the price for every person who has ever and will ever live. Heaven can never run out of room. Everyone is invited. You are invited. The only people who will not be there are those that turned away because they had something “better” to do. Anyone who looks to Jesus, who actually shows up is welcome to come in.

And it doesn’t matter what you’re worth to God. He’s God. He doesn’t need anything, there was never a chance that you could bring him something he didn’t already have. More than that, even if you’re a criminal, if you’ve fought against him in the past, he still wants you there. He wants everyone to enjoy the banquet prepared by his Son.

Being there in the end is all that matters. That banquet celebration in heaven is the only thing you’ll regret missing out on. It is the only important thing in your life. A hundred, a thousand other things will scream for your attention demanding that they be dealt with before the most important one, but don’t mistake urgent for important.

Your relationship with God will almost never seem urgent. So, you have to make it the priority. You have to make sure God gets time on your calendar and the best of your gifts first, every time. Make that happen first, because it is the most important, it is the one thing you will regret if you don’t. Then, after you’ve given God your first and best, then you can continue dealing with the other urgent matters in your life.

The kingdom of heaven is like the grandest banquet you can think of, it is the best party, the best vacation, the best experience you can imagine multiplied by more than you can imagine. And you’re invited. Jesus bought you a place. Don’t meander towards that end, run towards it. Don’t ever think for a moment you’ll regret spending time with him, in his word, doing his work over something else in this life. Nothing here even comes close.

Live with that banquet feast in mind. Live for God. No regrets.
Amen.

Today we are continuing our series called The Kingdom of God is Like. It’s a series all about parables. Parables are short earthly stories that teaching about the eternal kingdom of God. So far, we have heard that the kingdom of God is like buried treasure—which, to be fair, seems like a very flattering comparison.

Treasure is valuable
Treasure is beautiful.
Treasure is worth selling anything and everything to make yours.

Treasure seems like a great comparison for God’s kingdom.

This week?
We compare God’s kingdom to a fishing net.

Fishing nets are stinky.
Fishing nets are smelly.
Fishing nets come with those some of those little algae goobers encrusted on around the edge.
It’s not as flattering of a comparison.

Why is God’s kingdom like a fishing net? Before we look at this strange comparison which teaches us some very important truths about God’s kingdom, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.

 I. 1st Century Fishing
 
Jesus’ parable is from the parable-filled Matthew 13. It comes right after the parable of the treasure and stands in stark contrast to it. Remember – each parable emphasizes a different aspect of the Kingdom of God. The parable of the Treasure reveals the value of God’s kingdom; the parable of the net reveals methodology.

Look at what the parable says:
Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. (v.47-48)
 
Anybody here go fishing?  Nowadays fishing consists of packing up a rod and reel, stopping by the local bait shop, picking out a nice, big juicy earthworm (or maybe a wriggly, black leech), then heading out to the local pond, casting, stopping to untangle the line from the tree branch behind you, casting again, watching as your line drifts into the middle of the lake…and then…

Waiting.
Waiting.
And waiting some more.

Eventually some fish grabs the hook, line and sinker.
You pull him in and…

If he’s an acceptable length and weight – you keep him.
If not …plop!
If it’s a delicious looking salmon, in the basket.
If it’s a creepy looking dogfish, not so much.
 
Back at Jesus’ time, the fishing is a bit different. Fishermen would drag their nets to the shore and paddle to the middle of the lake. Then, they’d toss a weighted net overboard. Then, slowly they’d move along with the waves, while their net dragged against the bottom collecting any and every fish that happened to get in the way of the net. When they’re done fishing, they pull up the ropes, cinch the corners and pull the net up.

But here’s the thing:
Can you tell which fish are bad?
Can you tell which fish are good?
Can you tell which fish are future 5-star restaurant menu items?
And which fish belong on some Discovery Channel documentary on deep sea monsters?

No. It’s too much of a jumbled-up mess!

So…what do the fishermen do?

They take the net back to the shore.
They open the net and begin separating:

Keeper. Keeper.
Too small.
Keeper. Keeper.
Too big.
Keeper. Keeper.
Too much like Uncle Joe…

Fishing at Jesus’ time required a lot of sorting. But…
The fish cannot be sorted from the good from the bad while they are in the net; rather they are sorted when the fishing is finished.

II. A Priceless Treasure

But remember – this is a parable.
Parables are short earthly stories that teach about the kingdom of God.

Which means:
Things are about to get real.
Real and a bit uncomfortable.

Look at the meaning of the parable:

This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (v.49-50)

Hmmm…

At first glance, this might seem to be another parable.
The parable of the furnace…

Please...?

But – let’s be clear: The second half of the parable the part about the blazing furnace and the angels, that’s not the illustration part.
It’s the explanation.

It’s not an illustration, but the reality.
 
In fact, this parable is all about realities.
Realities that are quite uncomfortable.

(1) Hypocrisy is Real
 
Because… that dragging net represents the kingdom of God at work. And there is no greater representation of the kingdom of God at work than visible local churches.

In a church, God’s Word is proclaimed.
In a church, people are baptized.
In a church, people celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
In a church, people pool resources to go and plant the Message of Jesus in the Hearts of North Raleigh.

In a church, God’s kingdom is at work.

And when God’s kingdom is at work, it’s like a big old net that collects people of all type and varieties.
Big and small.
Young and old.
Black and white.
Tarheel fans, Wolfpack fans and Duke fans.

But most importantly to this parable…

Good.
And Bad.

People that are a part of God’s kingdom.
And people that only look like it.

NOW STOP! Immediately. Because what some of you are about to do is quietly, sheepishly raise your finger and slyly point at someone else here. “Pastor, I think it’s him…”
NOPE. That’s not the point.

In fact, the point is the exact opposite. Because remember – while the net is in use – that is, while the people of God are using God’s Word – it’s impossible to see which are true believers and which are hypocrites.

It’s kinda like trying to identify which fish are good and which fish are bad when they’re still in the net.
Impossible.

You won’t be able to tell who’s a hypocrite and who isn’t in a church simply by looking at them.
That is…
You won’t be able to tell most hypocrites simply by looking at them.

But there is one person in the church…
That you should be able to identify as good or bad.

Yourself.
 
You know you.
You know your heart.
You know if your heart is following Jesus or if this is all just some big show.
Something you do because your parents told you to do.
Something you do so pastor will get off your back.

When it comes to facing the reality of hypocrisy, it doesn’t start by looking into the world…
Or looking into another Christian church…
Or looking at other people in this church…
It starts by looking in your heart.
 
(2) The End is Real
 
The second reality has less to do with now and more to do with later.
End times.

Take a look at Jesus’ words – This is how it will be at the end of the age. (v.49) He then goes on to describe angels, divine, holy messengers of God – no longer invisible – fully and completely perceptible - picking people up like fish and separating them.

Good.
Bad.
Good.
Bad.

If you are a hypocrite, you need to pay very close attention to this section.
Because, truth is, you might be able to fool other Christians.
You might be able to fool them with a fish sticker on the back of your car and “Christian” listed on your Facebook profile’s religious preference.
You might be able to fool others at church.
You might be able to fool me.

But…
 
You can’t fool God.

And at the end, you will be separated.
And placed wherever it is you belong.
 
And can I say something obvious? There’s one place that you don’t want to be your final destiny.
 
(3) Hell is Real

Look at the description of where the bad fish go:
“The blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (v.50)
 
Notice. The verbs are present tense.
Notice. The verbs are continuous.

That’s because this is eternal.
Eternal hell.

Stop – real quick – because the devil is doing everything possible right now to make you say:
“Pastor has gone off the deep end. Pastor is talking all mean like. Pastor is saying thing I wish he wouldn’t.”

I am because I love you.
And I don’t want you to go to this very real and very awful place.

But more importantly Jesus loves you.
After all, look at whose words about hell these are:
Jesus.

The same guy who told the blind guy to see…and he did.
The same guy who told the deaf guy to hear…and he did.
The same guy who told the lame guy to walk…and he did.
The same guy who told the storms to stop…and they did.
The same guy who told the Pharisees to go ahead and kill him because he would come back to life…

And they did…
And he did.

Jesus has street cred.
Whatever he says will happen, will happen.

And to those who reject Him?
This hell thing?
Will happen.

(4) Good Fish are Real

I’m not gonna lie.
Thus far this is one of the least uplifting sermons of all time.

Because – if we are talking about bad fish – how do you not begin to be filled with absolute fear!
We are sinners.
All of us.
And I am included!
I’m like some ugly carp at the bottom of a mutant ooze infested landfill with three eyeballs where his gill should be.
I’m gross and my sins are gross.
I think -- There is no reason that God would ever want to collect me in his basket and take me to heaven!

You too?
 
Here’s something interesting. When Jesus uses the word “end” here in verse 50, he uses the word: syntelia. That’s a form of the world telos which means: the end.
The end is when judgment will happen.
The end is when God will bring justice against sinners.

Now – here’s where things get really interesting.
Because about a year and a half after Jesus spoke this parable --
Jesus spoke something else.
On the cross.
Right before he died.

TETELESTAI!

Which is the exact same root words that Jesus used in our parable to denote the end times.
IT IS FINISHED.

In other words, judgment has happened! From God’s perspective – Jesus has been judged as the bad fish.
And you – friends—you have been judged righteous.

Think about that!
We are sinners.
We are filled with a yucky past.
We are grody to the touch.

Yet because of what Jesus has done, you have been declared GOOD.
Worth keeping.
Ready to take home in the take basket.

And understand this point too:

We are not judged by our good merits.
We are not judged by our good deeds.
We are not judged by our good tries.

We are judged entirely by what Jesus did for us on the cross!
And we are judged righteous.

And by faith in Jesus, we are the good fish!
We will not be thrown out.
We will be collected and taken home.

(5) Heaven is Real
 
Because that’s what the good fish have to look forward to.

This parable just touches the surface of it. It says that the good fish, will be placed into baskets.
But what it doesn’t say is that those baskets have someone’s name written on the handle.
They have someone’s name written in Black, Permanent Marker.

GOD’S.

Because the good fish – that is – those made holy by faith in Jesus Christ – will be brought to God’s home.
The kingdom of righteousness.
The home of peace.

Heaven.

And unlike this world --
With danger lurking on every corner…
And predators chasing after us…
And giant waves of life hitting us again and again…

Heaven is peaceful.
Heaven is a place of forgiveness.
Heaven is a place of peaceful rest.
Heaven is yours.

Friends! Praise the Lord for being caught in the net and taken home to heaven. Amen.

Today we are continuing our series called The Kingdom of God is Like. It’s a series all about parables. Parables are short earthly stories that teaching about the eternal kingdom of God. Last week, so far, we have heard that the kingdom of God is like a sower, a growing seed, a mustard seed, a homeless fox, an abandoned burial plot and a plow.

Today’s parable is well timed, because it fits in perfectly with a certain holiday.

I don’t know about you, but this past Wednesday, there seemed to be an extreme increase in the number of pirates that live in Raleigh.

Over at the new school, we have a security system with a key fob and you’d think it would lock out pirates, but these pirates were tricky and made their way into the school -- little 3-foot-tall pirates. With eye patches and stuffed parrots.

Pirates love treasure: gold necklaces, silver artifacts, coins, jewelry, bottles of rum. They loved treasure so much that they’d run ashore near a local port, approach someone’s front step and force them to give them treasure.

Not at all unlike what some little 3-foot-tall pirates did around my house on Wednesday!
 
And then, pirates take the treasure, sail to some deserted isle and bury it.
Deep under the ground.
With a few pieces of wood lain across the top:
“X” marks the spot.

Jesus’ parable today says this: “The kingdom of God is like a hidden treasure.” Before we look at it, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.

I. A Hidden Treasure

Jesus’ parable is from Matthew 13. Take a look: The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. (v.44) In his parable, the treasure is found by a man at work in a field.
 
It’s the middle of the hot day.
He’s sweating.
He’s using a fence post digger to dig a hole for the fence post he’s installing around the back of his owner’s property.

He’s slams and digs.
He slams and digs.
He slams and digs.

All day long.

Until…
Sometime around quitting time….
 
He slams and…
CLANK!

That’s strange.

He slams and…
CLANK!

At first, he thinks it’s a rock. He looks around to see if he can adjust the post hole so he doesn’t have to go through the trouble of moving the rock. But right as he’s about to adjust the hole to the right and he’s thinking of his company’s slogan: “THE RIGHT HOLE IN THE RIGHT SPOT ALL THE TIME,” the glint of the evening sun shines off of something in the middle of the ground.

What is it?
He reaches down.
He brushes the dirt off the top to reveal – a metal crest on the top of an ancient chest.

His heart starts pounding.

He digs.
To the front.
To the back.
To the side.

Until he gets enough of the dirt out of the way to pull the chest out of the hole and look inside.

TREASURE:
Gold.
Silver.
Diamonds.
Jewels.
It must be worth millions of dollars.
 
The man looks around.

The thing is – this isn’t his land. It isn’t his property. And the chest isn’t his property.
If he lets anyone know that he found it on this land, then the treasure will no longer be his. It’ll belong to the guy who’s fence he’s digging.

So…
He puts the chest back into the hole.
He covers it with dirt.
He takes two twigs and aligns them in an “x”.

He heads up to his employer, wishes him a good evening and leaves for the day.

But his work isn’t done.

Later that night, he gets onto his bank account and empties his 401k into his checking account.
He goes on Facebook marketplace and begins placing anything he owns on sale:
His car.
His motorcycle.
His bass fishing boat. 
His Mickey Mantle Rookie Card.
Even his Xbox!

The next morning, he heads to the bank and he puts his house on mortgage!
He takes all of this money.
He heads to work.
He slams a check worth 3 times the amount of the property onto his client’s desk:

I’ll buy this property.
I just think it’s nice.
I figure if I put fence post holes into it; it might as well be mine.

At 3 times the price, his client can’t say no.

The man buys the property.
The property is his.
Everything on the property is his.

But he doesn’t care about most of it.
He only wants THE TREASURE.

II. A Priceless Treasure

Jesus says this: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.” (v.44)
 
Because here is the truth:
God’s kingdom is eternally priceless.

There is nothing as valuable.
… nothing as precious.
…nothing as eternally priceless as the kingdom of God.

It lasts forever.
Brings enduring peace.
And connects you to your heavenly father.
 
If you’ve ever searched for kingdom of God, then, you understand the digging for treasure scenario.
 
Because the religious landscape can be a lot like the Sahara Desert.
Places to dig everywhere. Where is the treasure…?

And so you start digging near a very peaceful looking pile of dirt.
A lotus flower is growing nearby.

“Oh! This must be the Sand of Spirituality. I’ve heard of that. Maybe this is where I’ll find the treasure of God’s kingdom.”
And you dig
And you learn breathing practices.
And you fold your body into a pretzel.
And you listen to Yanni.

And you think that you are closer to God…
Because you stopped feeling stress…
And started feeling nothingness.
Oh, the wonderful nothingness.
Suddenly – you think of that jerk Bob from work.
He should be slapped.

 And you realize…
You are the same.
You still sin.
You still feel guilty.
Now you just own a bunch of Yanni CDs.

This is not a treasure worth keeping.

You walk a bit farther and you find a big old pile of rocks.
It’d be tough work to dig over there. But then again – that’d make it the perfect place to put the treasure – under the stones of Self-Righteousness.
And you dig and work hard because you figure if you work harder than anyone else, God will be impressed!

You work hard at being nicer to your family.
You work hard at never saying a mean thing.
You work hard to give extra money to charity.
You work hard at never taking a second glance a member of the opposite sex.
You work hard at being self-righteous.
 
Until you’re scrolling through Facebook after a day of finding self-righteousness and…
An ad pops up for a TRIAL offer of something…with a scantily clad lady telling you to buy it.
 
And you look her a bit longer than you should.
And you think about using some of the money penned for God to buy that thing to make the pretty lady happy.
And your spouse walks in and sees what you’re looking at, so you say something mean in response.
And then you want to get rid of the guilty your feeling, so you tell her about all the bad things she has done.

And…
Suddenly…
Those stones of self-righteousness come tumbling in on top of you.

This isn’t the treasure.
 
And you dig other places.
You dig in the mine of Material Wealth. No treasure.
You dig under the sands of self-allegation. No treasure.
You dig in the pile of filth known as Facebook. No treasure.
No connection with God.
No peace.

In fact, you start to notice a pattern – all these attempts at getting closer to God are the same:

Do Mormon things and God will like you.
Do Islamic things and God will like you.
Do Jewish things and God will like you.
Do Hindu things and God will like you.
Do Tom Cruise things and…well…Tom Cruise will get richer.
 
It’s all the same! It’s all worthless! It’s all meaningless!

And then....
When you’re about to give up.
When you’re tired.
When you’re exhausted.
When you say: “I’m through! I’m done with this religious stuff. God hates me and that’s that. I might as well give up. I might as well put down my shovel and…”

CLANK!

What was that?
CLANK!

There appears to be something here.
CLANK!

There appears to be something different here.

This is the Gospel.
It’s the message of sins forgiven.
It’s the message of the true God.
It’s the message that Jesus lived for you.
It’s the message that Jesus died for you.
It’s the message that Jesus rose for you.
It’s the message that Jesus has removed every last one of your sins.
It’s the message that you are his child, you are forgiven, and you will be in heaven with Him.

It’s this message:
You know it is was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
 
Think about it!
That’s the value of Jesus’ blood.
It’s more valuable than gold.
It’s more valuable than silver.
It’s more valuable than a treasure chest of jewels, a treasure chest of rubies or even a treasure chest of those golden foil wrapped coins with chocolate inside.

It’s more valuable than good works.
It’s more valuable than good feelings.
It’s more valuable than any halfhearted, sin-tainted attempts at being holy.

It’s the blood of Jesus.
Our sacrificial lamb.
The perfect Son of God.

His blood has infinite value.
And friends – it pays for your sins.
It pays for your guilt.
It means forgiveness – full forgiveness – free forgiveness – absolute forgiveness --
For you.

III. WHAT NOW?

(1) Give up Untreasures
 
That’s what the man who found the buried treasure did. He sold everything he had. He made room for the real treasure.
He made certain the REAL treasure would be his.

Do the same with God’s kingdom.

Because here’s the truth:
The devil will do everything possible to make you think that something that’s NOT the treasure…IS the REAL treasure.

Don’t get rid of that addiction; it’s too valuable to feeling good.
Don’t get rid of that priority; it’s too valuable to being cool.
Don’t get rid of that self- righteousness; that’s the secret treasure that truly connects you to God.

It’s all lies.
Lies that will prevent you from keeping the true treasure buried within your heart.

And if you listen to the devil, instead of burying the Gospel deep in your heart, you cling to something utterly worthless.
It’s like someone trying to offer you a check for a hundred, billion dollars!
But you really like the piece of mushed banana that you have in your left hand right now so…I’ll pass.

Don’t be foolish!
Don’t fall for the devil’s lies.

The Gospel is eternally priceless!
Get rid of the fake treasure that’s taking up the spot where you’re the REAL treasure of Jesus needs to be.
 
And bury the treasure of the Gospel deep in your heart.
 
(2) Bury the Treasure
 
That doesn’t mean: “Hide the Gospel and tell no one about Jesus.” Nope.
That’s entirely contradictory to Jesus’ own directive to “Go and make disciples of all nations…by teaching them.” (Matthew 28)

Rather it means to hide the Gospel deep within your own heart.
To bury it deep within your soul.
To place it into the very core of your being and who you are.

How do you do that? Get a surgery with one of the fine doctors at Duke and have him implant one of those little Bibles from the Gideons?
Nope.

You spend time in God’s Word.
You read The Gospel message.
You study the Gospel message.
You gather for worship.
You gather for Bible study.
You spend time with Jesus, because in doing so – his message – the message of the Gospel – moves…

From the pages of Scripture
To your eyes.
To your brain.
To your heart.

It’s like a beautiful diamond. You go down to the Jeweler’s and look at it in the light --
And if it’s cut well – no matter how you look at it – you see something magnificent.

It’s the same with the Gospel message.
Here’s I see God’s incredible compassion.
Here I look at God’s amazing power.
Here I look at the value of Christ’s redemption.
Here I enjoy the view of my atonement.
Here I see the mesmerizing perspective of peace with God.
And here I see the glories of heaven itself.

Bury it. 
Bury God’s kingdom deep in your heart.

** The audio has an extra story in it. You can find it here **
 
Conclusion:

I said the parable of the treasure fits well into a recent holiday.
But I wasn’t referring to Halloween.
Wednesday was also the 501st Anniversary of the Reformation. It’s the anniversary of a time when the treasure of Gospel was rediscovered.
Because the religious climate at that time – in the Christian church – was such that there was no treasure.

If you wanted to get God’s’ forgiveness, you needed to…

Do good things.
Say prayers to Mary.
Cross yourself in the right way.
Give money to charity.
And buy pieces of paper that said: “You are forgiven.”

And it was in that climate – in that treasure-less church that God re-revealed the TRUE treasure of the Gospel.
That Jesus is your Savior.
That in Him you are forgiven.
That by faith you are saved.

Friends, it’s 500 years later.
That treasure is at our fingertips again.
Don’t lose it.
Bury it deep within.

Amen.

Today we are continuing our series called The Kingdom of God is Like…and hearing yet another parable from Jesus about the kingdom of God. Remember, a parable is an earthly story that tells about the kingdom of God. So far – we have heard three.

And today we are going to double the number of parables that we’ve heard. We are looking at three very short, one sentence parables from Jesus. Each one offers a similar, but slightly distinct perspective on the Kingdom of God. 
 
Before we begin, let’s pray: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.

I. …Like a Homeless Fox

The parables for consideration come in rapid fire format from Luke 9 starting at verse 57. It’s in a section where Jesus is walking about with a crowd of people following him. I always think that’s interesting and worthy of a sermon of its own – Jesus didn’t sit around and wait for people to come to him; he went out and found people to bring the message of the Gospel to.

But…I’ve already got three other sermons to go through today, so…I digress.

As Jesus is walking, one man is getting pretty motivated listening to Jesus.
He’s getting pretty excited.
He’s getting pretty pumped up.

So, he shouts: “Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go!” (v.57)
 
To which…
…Jesus doesn’t high five him.
…He doesn’t congratulate him.
…He doesn’t even clench his fist in private celebration.

He says, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head.” (v.58)

Have you ever seen a fox? Foxes can be hard to spot. Little, red, dog-looking things with fluffy tails. They are hard to spot, because they are very good at hiding. And they hide in their fox hole or fox den. Usually it’s thick inside some brush or a hole in the rocks or maybe even some mud in the ground.

It’s not fancy. There’s no Wi-Fi connection – but the fox has a place to be.

And a bird nest is similar. Bird nests are made from twigs, straw, branches, and even some stray dog hairs. They are not worth very much on Zillow, but it is a nice place for the bird to stay.

Think about this:

Foxes have bushy dens.
Birds have twiggy nests.
The Son of God who comes from heaven itself?

Not even a pile of twigs to call his own….
 
Very literally – during the 3 years that Jesus did ministry, he didn’t have a home.  He didn’t have a studio apartment.  He didn’t even have a room at the Extended Stay.
He was essentially homeless, staying wherever people opened their homes to him or under a myrtle tree if he had to.

It wasn’t because he was without resources. Remember: He made bread come out of thin air.  He found a coin within a fish mouth. He controlled thunder and lightning.

He was homeless NOT because he didn’t have the resources.
He was homeless because he was too focused on his work with the Kingdom of God.

Truth: The Kingdom of God is greater than material wealth.
Because Jesus’ answer gives us a glimpse into the heart of the man who wanted to follow him. Commonly people thought Jesus was the Messiah, but they had a false idea of the Messiah. They thought that the Messiah would lead to political power, a restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, and a toppling of the Roman Empire.

The man probably thought:
“I’ll follow you Jesus! All the way to your future palace. Hopefully there’ll be a room in that palace for me. With my own servants and a plush bed and all the spending money I could desire.”

But…
The kingdom of God was not about material wealth.
The kingdom of God was greater than material wealth.
 
This absolutely applies today. Because it is so easy to think that material wealth is greater than Kingdom wealth.

Whether it’s giving up money in the offering plate that could be used in a $401k.
Or giving up time on a Sunday that could be used to work on your side business and make some more cash.
Or giving up that good job offer that always has me working on Sunday and could lead to a million-dollar home near a golf course in North Raleigh.

Remember – the Kingdom of God is greater than Material Wealth.
 
Because material wealth won’t last.
The dollars will dry up.
The things will get old.
The stuff will need to be replaced.

This past week – if you saw the floors here – they are freshly waxed. They look awesome!
But this morning – I stepped with my shoes in the wrong direction and - well – material wealth doesn’t last.

But God’s kingdom does.
God’s kingdom offers forever forgiveness in Jesus.
God’s kingdom offers the promise of eternal life.
God’s kingdom offers the eternal comforts of heaven.

To be fair – Jesus knew that.
And he forsook material wealth in order to win for you eternal riches.
The Bible says this:
Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

How poor did Jesus get? He died on a cross.
How rich will you be? He gives you a room in heaven.

While on earth remember – the Kingdom of God is greater than Material wealth.

II. …an Abandoned Burial Plot

As Jesus keeps walking, he turns to another person that he meets along the way and he says to him: “Follow me.” To which the man responds, “First, let me go and bury my father.” (v.59)

Which doesn’t seem like that crazy of a request.
That seems like a very important family task.
Of all the tasks that one could do – burying your family member seems near the top.

But look at Jesus’ response:
“Let the dead bury their own dead, you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” (v.60)

Does that seem a little harsh?
If I asked one of you to help me go around the neighborhood and invite people to church and you responded that you needed to work on your dad’s funeral, I would probably tell you. “OK. No worries. I’m sorry for your loss. You are in my prayers.”

But Jesus says, “Don’t worry about your dead father, worry about the proclaiming the kingdom of God.”

Why?

If I can be crass for a moment.
At the seminary, one of our professors was talking about ministering at a funeral.
He mentioned that many love to talk about how great a person was in the funeral sermon.
He suggested we don’t do that.

Why?
If I can quote my seminary notes:
“The funeral sermon isn’t for the dead. They can’t hear you. They’re dead. The funeral sermon is for those who are alive – that they too, may live.”

Let’s be clear. Jesus isn’t saying that you shouldn’t have a funeral for your family.
But he is saying that even the most important seeming earthly task is nothing compared to the work of the kingdom of God.

To put it simply:
The kingdom of God is greater than any earthly task.
 
I think our society really needs to remember that.
Because it isn’t as if the struggle is between should I plan my dad’s funeral or tell about Jesus. (If it is, it’s a once in a lifetime struggle)

Usually the struggle is:

Can I go to worship this week? My kid has a baseball game.
Can I attend that Bible study? I’ve gotta do housework – have you seen the leaves at my house?
Should I plan on Garden Kids? Nah…I’ve  got to work on some kind of task so that I can get to all my other tasks on my task list.

REMEMBER:
The Kingdom of God is greater than any Earthly Task.
 
It’s a task that produces lasting results.

Taking your kids to baseball practice will produce skills that last to high school, maybe collect – league softball and slowly deteriorate.
Raking your leaves? More will fall.
Any kind of task? You will have to do it again and again and again and again…because the benefits only last for a moment.

But the Kingdom of God last forever.

Jesus knew that.
It’s why Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:2)
He kept his mind on the most important task.

You do the same.

III. …a Plow

Final parable. Another person says to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” (v.61)
It’s not as big a task as planning and carrying out a funeral.
It’s just a quick kiss on the cheek, a hug and a goodbye!

But – Jesus’ response is again surprising: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (v.62)

Have you ever used a plow? At the time of Jesus, they didn’t have a one of those big, gas-powered machines. They had a horse or donkey and hooked up to the plow. Your job is to stare where the plow is plowing and help to keep it in a straight line.

If you don’t pay attention, do you know what happens?
You go left.
You go right.
It gets all caddywampus.
 
And it’s the same with working in God’s kingdom.
If you’re more worried about what your family thinks than what God thinks then…

…I was going to go to worship, but my spouse wants me to Netflix binge with him.
…I was going to teach my kids that sin is wrong, but my sister disagrees with me.
…I was going to lead a pure life, but my boyfriend wants me to do otherwise.
 
And suddenly your following of Jesus is a caddywampus mess!

Here’s the third truth:
The Kingdom of God is greater than Any Kind of Relationship.
 
And again – Understand Jesus’ point.

He wants you to love your family. Absolutely he does:
The Bible tells you to love your family.
He’s the one who created the idea of family.
And he’s the one who created your family and gave them to you.

Please – this isn’t Jesus’ way of saying – stop loving your family!
It’s Jesus’ way of saying love your family; just love your heavenly Father more.
Because loving your Father most will actually show your family a greater love than you ever knew possible.

TRUTH: The Kingdom of God is greater than Any Kind of Relationship.

To be fair, our Heavenly Father knew that.
That’s why he was willing to put his relationship with you above his relationship with His only begotten Son.
 
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

IV. What Now?
The message is simple. The message is clear.
The kingdom of God is greater than material wealth, earthly tasks, and any human relationship.

The kingdom of God is of the utmost importance.

Do you want to follow Jesus?
Follow this truth.
Make the God who made you most important be most important to you. Amen.

Today we are continuing our series called The Kingdom of God is like… and hearing yet another parable from Jesus about the kingdom of God. Remember, a parable is an earthly story that tells about the kingdom of God. We’ve heard two – both centered around farming.

We’ve heard so far…
 
…The Kingdom of God is like a farmer sowing seed – it lands on a lot of different soil types and has a lot of different results; just as God’s Word falls on lots of different heart types and has a lot of different results.  
 
…The Kingdom of God is like a growing seed – the seed grows with repetitive, repeated, faithful, and persistent care; just as the seed of faith grows with repetitive, repeated, faithful and persistent use of God’s Word.
 
Today we are adding yet another farming parable to our list of Jesus’ parables and it’s going to teach us yet another facet of God’s kingdom. Before we begin, let’s pray: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Story of the Mustard Seed
 
The parable is taken from Mark 4 which is the same chapter that the last two parables are from. So, it’s quite likely that Jesus tells it as a follow up to the other two parables that we mentioned before.

I love Jesus’ opening introduction to the parable in verse 30:
Again Jesus said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?”
 
You kind of get the impression that the disciples need some help.

They sat through two parables of Jesus – two teachings about the kingdom of God.
The first one they were confused about. 
After the second one, didn’t seem to help much.
They must have been a lot of blank stares. 

And now Jesus, the omniscient, Lord of heaven and earth, is trying to explain the divinely complete and eternally developed kingdom of God to these temporal, finite, and much simpler humans.
 
It’s kind of like trying to give directions to someone who doesn’t really know the area. Has that ever happened to you? Maybe you’re trying to get them to church. You tell them:

Head south on Falls of Neuse until you get to Newton Rd. Turn left and then it’ll be the little brown church to the right.  
Blank stare.
 
Do you know where Ravenscroft is? The library? It’s in that general vicinity. 
Scratching their heads.
 
Go to the Han Dee Hugo Station. Turn left. Go 2500 feet. Turn left into the Parking lot with the sign for Gethsemane Lutheran Church.
Still nothing.
 
SIGH. Just take my GPS.
 
Jesus shares that frustration. Trying to teach the things of God to puny minded humans beings.

So he says…
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. (v.31)
 
Question:
If you wanted a BIG plant to grow in your garden, how big a seed would you need to plant?

The bigger the seed; the bigger the plant, right?
A sunflower seed.
A pumpkin seed.
An avocado pit.

They’re pretty big in the world of seeds; they must produce big plants. It makes sense.

But…
What about a mustard seed?
 
Have you ever seen one of those? (Think of the Grey Poupon Mustard jar.) They are super tiny and barely visible if I held one up for you in the front of church.
In fact, it’s so tiny – that if I planted it – and if anything grew from it – I’d expect it to be a tiny, little grass sprout.

That’s it.
 
But…
When planted, the seed grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade. (v.32)
 
It’s bigger than a sunflower.
Bigger than a pumpkin plant.
Bigger than an avocado bush.

It’s basically a tree. About 6, 7, 8 foot high.
Big enough that birds land in its branch.

All of that happens from this little seed.

It’s amazing.
 
Such a small, insignificant seed leads to an incredibly significant plant!
 
II. False Expectations
 
What’s the point of Jesus’ story?
Is Jesus just a really big fan of mustard?
Should we all go to Food Lion and grab a yellow, squeezable bottle of French’s mustard to put in the offering plate next Sunday?
 
Remember – a parable is an earthly story that teaches us about the kingdom of God.
So…
Think about it…

What is God trying to teach us about His kingdom?

This past Monday at 9:30am I went to a local retirement home. It’s something that I’ve been doing for about 5 years now. I head to the home. I do an acapella, communion-less version of today’s service. I tell the people there about Jesus.

To be fair – when we first started, they put me on in the big living room area. And…I’m pretty loud. It wasn’t hard to get people’s attention. There was plenty of room. Usually we’d gather together about 20 some people to worship Jesus on a given Monday.

But…

Recently they relocated me to a much smaller side room because some thought I was a bit of a distraction.
Recently the Lifestyle Coordinator that I worked with was replaced with a new coordinator.
Recently that side room has become a storage room of sorts - scrunching the chairs and causing us to lose space to Thanksgiving decorations.

This past Monday morning...there was one lady who joined me for worship.

It wasn’t the one who shouts “Amen.”
It wasn’t the one who sings along.
It wasn’t the one who nods at key points of the sermon.

It was the one who falls asleep about 3 minutes in.

I will not lie. I started to think:
What’s the point?
Why be here?
It isn’t anything BIG.
It isn’t anything SIGNIFICANT.
This can’t be the work of God because it isn’t BIG and SIGNIFCANT enough! 
 
You ever thought like that? Have you ever thought…
 
Why am I attending this INSIGNIFICANT church service? It’s not even Christmas Eve. It’s some random service in October.
Why am I telling my kids this INSIGNIFCANT Bible story? They don’t even look like they’re listening.
Why am I making this INSIGNIFICANT invite to worship? My friend couldn’t care less.
Why am I prepping for this INSIGNIFCANT Sunday School class? There’ll be, what, 2 kids here?
Why would I have my child baptized? It’s an INSIGNIFICANT splash of water. What could it possibly do!
 
Friends, we are buying into a LIE.  
 
Work in God’s Kingdom needs to SEEM SIGNIFICANT or it will BE INSIGNIFICANT.

The lie suddenly becomes:

Every time I share the message of Jesus; it needs to be greeted with SHOUTS of joy or it was worthless…
Each worship service needs strobe lights and smoke machines or it’s not really work in God’s kingdom.
Each Bible passage on Facebooks need to go viral or it will be utterly worthless.
Each time I teach kids, I need about 30 of them, lined up – like soldiers – listening to my words like the kids from Sound of Music or I might as well quit trying.

Careful. You’re listening to The Lie.

And it’s most dangerous when it comes to personally connecting with God.
Because we think:

I need to go to climb some mountain, in some freezing Antarctic culture and find a Sherpa on the very summit. That’s SIGNIFICANT and that’s connecting with God.
I need to go to some forest, deep in the jungle, to find a TEMPLE OF DOOM and an ancient artifact that will solve God for me. That’s SIGNIFICANT. That’s the way to God.
I need to spend hours in a laboratory, dissecting, experimenting, and divulging in order to unlock the secret God particle. That would be SIGNIFICANT and that would be the way to Him.
I need to give thousands of dollars to some charity to get my name on one of their plaques to ensure that God might like me. That’s SIGNIFICANT and maybe then God would pay attention to me!

We envision these grandiose ideals on how to connect with God, when God has simply, clearly made himself absolutely accessible through something seemingly insignificant.

A book.
The Bible.
 
Friends, if this what you believe -
That’s God’s Kingdom only shows up in the SEEMINGLY SIGNIFICANT.
In the BIG Seed.
In the FLASHING LIGHTS seed.
In the ABSOLUTELY IMPRESSIVE seed…

You are in danger of missing it altogether.

III. The Unexpected Reality
 
Like many of the people at Jesus’ time…

They expected the Savior to be look like someone SIGNIFICANT.
 
Like a king coming from a beautiful palace.
Like some soldier with a giant sword.
Like a general with a myriad of soldiers behind him.
Like an activist enacting visibly massive political upheaval.

But that’s not what they saw in Jesus.

Instead of a beautiful palace, he came from a feeding trough in some dilapidated barn.
Instead of a giant sword, he swung a carpenter’s hammer.
Instead of a myriad of soldiers, he had 12 disciples – 4 fishermen, an accountant, a political activist, a betrayer and 5 guys whose jobs were so insignificant they aren’t even written down in Scripture.
Instead of massive visual political upheaval, thee enacted invisible personal, spiritual change.
 
Even in his death – He seemed insignificant!

He didn’t die fighting a dragon.
He wasn’t fending off some super villain.
He didn’t go in some epic explosion.

He hung on a cross.
Where many common criminals hung before.
Where many common criminals hung after.

TRUTH:
Jesus’ LIFE seem insignificant, but there is no LIFE more eternally important.
 
Because with his death he removed all of your sins.
With his blood he removed all of your guilt.
With his resurrection he declared heaven to be yours!

It might look common.
It might seem insignificant.
It might seem like a mustard seed of a teaching.
But belief in Jesus leads to a mustard plant like growth into the Kingdom of God itself.
 
And..
If Jesus’ LIFE seemed insignificant, but there is no life more eternally important…
Jesus WORK might seem insignificant, but there is no WORK more eternally important.

That insignificant looking church service, can reinvigorate and replenish your faith in the Savior.
That insignificant looking Bible story – can fill your kids with trust in their Savior.
That insignificant invite to worship, might be one of a series of calls from God to bring that person to His kingdom.
That insignificant looking Sunday School class, could strengthen the faith of a future SS teacher who will continue to multiply God’s kingdom long after your gone.
Those insignificant looking drops of water, wash away sin and bring you into God’s eternal kingdom.
 
And…

That insignificant looking, off-key acapella worship service in that stuffy, back storage room with only one person in attendance…might strengthen that person’s faith just enough to bring them home to heaven.
Like an insignificant looking mustard seed, God’s kingdom grows into the most eternally significant.
 
IV. What Now?

1. Do the Seemingly Insignificant

Work on memorizing Scripture.
Sing “Jesus Loves Me” with your kids.
Bring your kids to worship – even when they don’t want to.
Bring yourself to worship – even when it’s not a celebration Sunday.
Tell a coworker about Jesus – even if it’s not some incredible doctrinal statement.

Do the seemingly insignificant work this week and you will be doing the eternal important work of God’s kingdom.
 
And it’s not just personal…
 
When you’re leaving today, look behind across the parking lot. There’s an incredible new ministry center out there with an incredible ability to Plant the Message of Jesus in the Hearts of North Raleigh.

To be fair – it looks SIGNIFICANT.

But the work surrounding it – hasn’t always been…

Meetings.
Paperwork.
Phone calls on hold to subcontractors.
Emails typed to potential parents. 
Fixing the little tiny door latch for the cabinet in the janitor’s closet.
 
On its own, the work seemed insignificant.
But together…

Wow.

Keep doing the insignificant when that opens.
Greet visitors.
Spend an extra minute talking to a parent about their life.
Add a dollar to the offering plate.
Paint a wall in the Fellowship Hall.
Keep praying.

Do the Seemingly Insignificant work of God’s kingdom because there is nothing of more eternal significance. 
 
2. Remember the Eternal Significance
 
Segue with me.
To something that isn’t a parable.

Segue with me.
To something that is a glimpse into the future.

Segue with me.
To the reality of heaven itself – the ultimate goal of God’s kingdom.
 
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9, 10, 13, 14)
 
Look at that multitude.
Look at those people.
It’s impressive.
It’s eternally significant.

But.

If you look closely enough you might see…

There’s that person that you shared that seemingly insignificant Bible verse with.
There’s your neighbor that you shared a seemingly insignificant church invitation with.
There’s your child that you shared a seemingly insignificant 5-minute Bible story with.

You can't say for sure, so we must keep sharing God's Word. It's important!

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed…
The work can look insignificant, but there is no work of more eternal significance.

Last week we started a new series called “The Kingdom of God is like…” It’s a series in which Jesus himself, the expert in the Kingdom of God, teaches us all about God’s kingdom through parables. A parable is a short earthly story that teaches about the Kingdom of God.

Last week’s parable taught there are many different reactions to the Gospel message. Some instantly reject it. Some quickly grow faith and quickly lose faith. Some have faith for a long time, but then worries and wealth choke out their faith. Some believe, grow, and reproduce – planting Gospel seeds in the hearts of others.

Which…
 
If you were listening last week, maybe you started thinking…

How do I make sure that every soil is like the good soil?  
How do I ensure that everyone I tell about Jesus believes in him?
Afterall, Christianity has been around for over 2,000 years.
There have been a lot of smart Christians.
Surely, someone must have come up with some kind of identifiable, outlinable process to growing faith in someone’s heart with 100% accuracy!
 
It’s kind of like HelloFresh. Have any of you tried it? They send you recipes for a meal, all of the ingredients for the meal, and the exact amount of each ingredient for the meal. It’s broken down in such a simple, step by step process that even people like me (who previously were only really good at making Pop Tarts) able to cook Chicken Cordon Bleu w/ braised Asparagus.

And it’s edible.
Really.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was something like that for sharing Jesus?
Something with 100%, all the time, positive results.
 
Today we are looking at a second parable from Mark 4. It shares with us the secret to planting seed in the kingdom of God. Before we do, that, a prayer:
Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. How to Grow a Seed

The parable is from Mark 4:26. That’s the same chapter we were in last time. That means Jesus told it to his disciples shortly after telling them about the 4 different types of ways that the seed would grow.
Perhaps they were wondering the same thing we wondered earlier: Jesus, how can we ensure that all the plants grow!?! Give us some kind of a Ten Step Process.
 
Jesus gives them the answer.
With another parable:
 
This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.
Sound familiar? That’s almost the exact same thing as the previous parable.

Only instead of a farmer sowing seed, it’s just a man sowing seed.
And instead of focusing on the various result, it’s focusing on the process involved with achieving the desired result:
 
Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. (v.27)
 
Focus in on what the man is up to. He is not always sowing.
Sometimes he’s sleeping.
Sometimes he’s awake.
Sometimes he’s eating a hearty sower breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage and a bowl of hot grits with a slice of butter melting from the top down.
Sometimes he’s reading his copy of Farmer’s Digest magazine.
Sometimes he’s watching HGTV.
Sometimes he’s on Facebook marketplace looking for a good deal on a pair of coveralls.

To be fair, in the midst of this – he takes time to plant, time to water, time to weed, time to add fertilizer.
He absolutely tends to the plants.
Repeatedly.
Repetitively.
Persistently.
Faithfully.

But…for a long time, nothing seems to be growing!
Nothing seems to be happening.
It’s just a pile of dirt with a stick and the seed packet over the top of it – so he doesn’t forget where he planted.

But. 
One day.
After many days.
After many nights.

There is a plant.
 
And when he’s excitedly talking to his spouse that night he tells her:
It grew! And I don’t know how.
I don’t know if it was the watering.
Or the fertilizer.
Or playing my Weird Al hitlist on Pandora for it.

I don’t know exactly what happened to make it grow, but…it grew.
God made it grow.

Here’s the first key truth of the parable:
The secret to faith growing is that there’s no secret!

There’s no special phrase to say.
No special Kool Aid to drink.
No special pressure point you need to push to make faith grow.  
 
Faith grows from using God’s Word.  
It’s no secret.
It’s simple, everyday use of God’s Word.  
 
That’s really important to remember.
Because sometimes, we get the sense that we need to concoct the perfect scenario to grow faith in someone’s heart.
The coffee needs to be bold.
The signage needs to be exquisite.
The ushers need to be on point.
The band needs to be well rehearsed.
The sermon needs to be energetic.
And the call to faith afterwards needs to be dramatic and it needs to happen in about 3 minutes or less -- or faith will fade.
And we should probably add a smoke machine and fireworks just to help their faith grow.

Not true.

Don’t get me wrong. Those things are fine. (Some of those things are fine) They might even be good. We want to do our best for God.
But what those things don’t create faith.

God’s Word creates faith.

Because remember – God’s Word is the seed.
The seed contains all the power within it to grow!
When it didn’t grow in last week’s parable, the problem was never the seed. It was the soil.
When faith doesn’t grow in someone’s heart, the problem isn’t God’s Word – it’s the heart.

Therefore - the secret to the growing faith is faithful use of God’s Word.
 
It’s reading a passage from the Bible to your kids.
It’s typing a few words from the sermon on Facebook.
It’s telling a friend that Jesus is their Savior.
It’s texting your cousin a message from the Psalms. 
It’s inviting your friend to join us for worship for Pentecost 21.

The mysterious secret to growing faith is found in the common, everyday use of God’s Word.
 
And while that might seem common…
It is far from it.

Because constant reminder of God’s forgiveness melts the disgusting guilt of sin away.
The simple melody of Jesus Loves Me may chase away the devil himself.
The ums and the ahs of a mediocre sermon – becomes the powerful, booming, authoritative voice of God himself declaring YOU. To. Be. His Child.
 
Keep planting God’s word in common, everyday ways and God’s Word will work to grow faith.

II. The Sprout Timeline
 
Next question: How long you need to do it?

I remember Miracle Gro. Do any of you? Its claim was that you toss one little thing of Miracle Grow into your watering can and it would immediately and efficiently cause your plants to grow. All it took was one application and soon you would be on your way to a prize-winning pumpkin!’
 
How long does it take to grow faith? Check out verse 27 again: Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. (v.27)
 
Notice there’s no time frame on how long he cares for the seed.

A day?
A week?
A month?
37 some odd years trying to get something to grow in that soil?

It’s indefinite, because the answer is indefinite.

Faith growing might take a day.
A week.
A month.
37 some odd years.

I’ll just go ahead and say I’ve witnessed this firsthand.
There have been people like Rebecca. We met. I got them into Bible Basics. I shared the Gospel. It took 1, maybe 2 plantings and faith grew.

Then, there are people like Eliza. We met. I, and the PL teachers, spent a year sharing Jesus with their kids. Then, the kids helped share Jesus with the parents. Then, there was another year of it. Then, a third year of it. Then a 4th year of it. Then, sometime around year 5 of it, I was able to get her into Bible Basics – Share faith, get her to church, wait another couple of months of that happening until finally: A plant of faith. 

Do you understand the take home? It’s easy to get discouraged. Easy to think that faith is never going to grow. Easy to doubt that your attempts at sharing Jesus with your kid, your friend, your spouse will never work.
But the truth is:
The Timeline of faith growing is indefinite.

It’s different for different people.

You don’t stop sharing God’s Word with your spouse because I’ve been doing it for so long. It probably won’t work.
You don’t stop inviting your friend, because I’ve been doing it for so long...it probably won’t work.
You don’t stop telling your coworker about Jesus because I’ve been done that twice. If it hasn’t worked now, it won’t work ever.

If the person you want to share Jesus with is still alive, there’s still a chance for God’s Word to work.
If you think you should stop because they’ve kept telling you no, perhaps you’ve focusing too much on their reaction AND not enough on the powerful seed you have in your hand.
God’s powerful seed.
Share God’s Word.

III. The Rate of Faith Growth

One more thought.

Sometimes when someone comes to faith…
Sometimes when they confess their faith on a New Member Sunday…

I get super excited!
I think they are going to get so involved.
They’ll be here every weekend.
They’ll be fantastic givers.
They’ll be itching at every chance to get into God’s Word and do Bible Study.

And then...
Sometimes...
That doesn’t happen.

And when that doesn’t happen, the temptation can be to say:

Fine then! Get out of this church.
Fine then! I’m taking your photo off the photo wall.
Fine then! Don’t expect me to keep after you; you’re on your own now!

But here’s the deal. Just as initial faith-growth is varied; so is maturing faith-growth. What I mean is that you the seed doesn’t get put into the ground and the next day you have an ear of corn stick straight out of the dirt. Nor do you get an apple popping out of an apple tree when it’s simply a twig on the ground.  

There’s an order to growth. Check out verses 28-29:
All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.

Again - the length of that growth can vary.
Oftentimes, it’s an issue with the soil.
It’s an issue with someone not getting into God’s Word.

But…when we are talking about other people -- Your job? It isn’t saying: “This thing isn’t growing as fast as I want. I’ll get out my garden hoe and dig it out of the ground.”

Nope.
Your job is simply to tend to the plant with God’s Word.

It’s why you baptize your child, but then, you keep telling your kid about Jesus.
It’s why you bring your spouse to church once, but then you ask them to come again.
It’s why you get excited about the new believer getting connected to God's Word, but then you keep them connected to God’s Word.

But the endgame is the harvest.
It’s the end game of the apple lover. They plant the apple tree in order to taste that delicious bite of the first apple.
It’s the end game of the carrot lover. They plant the carrot plant in order to take a crunchy bite of that first carrot.
It’s the end game of the Brussels sprout lover. They plant the Brussels sprout bush in order to torture their children. No…because they want Brussels sprouts.

And that’s why God planted faith in you, he wants you to join him in heaven.
It’s why God grows faith through His Word he wants many in the harvest of heaven.
It’s why you will share your faith with those that you do, because you want them to share in the harvest of heaven.

Keep that in mind.
That’s the end game.
The Harvest of heaven. Amen.

Today we are starting a brand-new sermon series called “The Kingdom of God is Like…” It is all about the Kingdom of God. (Hence, the rainbow-ish, otherworldly colors in the logo) I’m excited because we are going to be learning about the kingdom of God from the foremost expert in the Kingdom of God.

No, I’m not talking about myself.
I’m not talking about some scholar at Duke.
I’m not even talking about flying in some professor from the Seminary.

I’m talking about Jesus.

Because when it comes to the Kingdom of God, there is no one better to learn from than the One who came from God’s Kingdom.
He’s the “of God” in Kingdom of God.
He’s the foremost expert becomes He is the One who developed the concepts behind it.

So, what we’ll be doing is looking at 10 parts of Scripture where Jesus himself tells about the Kingdom of God.
 
10 lessons.
10 sections of Scripture.
10 glimpses into the Kingdom of God.

Now because the Kingdom of God is such an otherworldly thing, I want to introduce you to a concept that we’re going to become very familiar with over the next 10 weeks. It’s something called a “Parable.” A parable is a short earthly story that teaches about the Kingdom of God.

It’s kind of like Aesop’s fables. Have you heard any of those? The Gnat and the Bull. The Puffed-up Frog. I think the most famous is the Ant and the Grasshopper.
 
The ant works hard; the grasshopper is lazy.
The ant carries some food; the grasshopper takes a nap.
The ant carries 10 times his body weight, back and forth, all day; the grasshopper gets to level 12 on Minecraft.

But…when winter comes, the ant has plenty of food; the grasshopper is starving.
The lesson? Do work.    

Jesus’ parables are similar to Aesop’s fables in that they both use earthly elements to tell the story.

But the parables of Jesus are a bit different from Aesop’s Fables in this:

Aesop’s fables teach an earthly lesson.
Jesus’ parables teach a heavenly lesson – a spiritual lesson – an eternal lesson.


Today we are looking at a parable from Mark 4. It teaches us that the Kingdom of God is like a Sower. How? And what does it mean for you? We’ll examine that in a moment, but first a prayer:
Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Story

The story that Jesus told his disciples starts in Mark 4:3. Jesus is teaching to a very large crowd.  Sometimes to deal with the large crowds, Jesus taught at the top of the hill and the crowds sat at the bottom, looking up to see him. But on this particular occasion he was next to a lake, so…what Jesus does is pretty genius. He gets into a boat and casts out to sea -- it’s a floating pulpit of sorts so that all could see and hear him.

Granted, of the people that came to listen to Jesus, they came for different reasons.
 
Some thought he was a phony. Others were intrigued. 
Some wanted to see a magic show. Others had fully devoted themselves to him – their Savior.

From his floating pulpit surrounded by crowds of people with varying opinions of him, Jesus said this:
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.”

Have you ever planted anything before? On a farm? In a garden?

If you’ve ever planted a lot of seed before, you know it can be time consuming. If you plant seed in a garden, you get on your hands and knees push the seed into the perfect part of the soil. But if you’ve had to get more seed into larger section of soil, you might use one of those little wheelie grass sower thingies. Know what I’m talking about? You fill it with seed, a propeller spins as you move, and it hurls out grass seed in all directions. Some of the seed that comes out will grow; other seeds will not.

Back at Jesus’ time, they didn’t have such incredible inventions as the little wheelie grass sower thingy. Instead, the one who needed to sow a lot of seed simply reach into a pouch and tossed the seed into the air.

The seed then landed in a lot of different places.

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Maybe that path was concrete. Maybe it was gravel. Maybe it was just really, really hard from lots of travel. Regardless – when the seed fell on the hard ground – it didn’t stand a chance. The birds thought it was some kind of gourmet meal, descended onto the feast and ate up the seed.

And – well – seed doesn’t grow well inside the belly of a raven, so…

The seed didn’t grow.
 
Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. (v.6) Thus the seed had a better chance than the seed that fell on the sidewalk. At least, there was some dirt for the roots to move through. In fact, because of the little rocks that were in the soil – the soil held water fairly well and the seed grew quickly. The moisture was trapped in the first ½ inch of dirt. The soaked seed grew quickly.

It’s the same thing that happens in the “wrap a seed in a wet paper towel and place it in a plastic baggy” experiment from Kindergarten.  At first, the seed does well.

But – eventually little Jimmy forgets to add water to the towel.
And – the roots can’t make their way past the plastic bag.
So…the little plant runs out of water and dies.
 
And little Jimmy throws a fit.

The same principle applies in real gardening.
The rocks allow the water to fast track the seed.
The seed grows quickly while it’s raining.
But then…the sun gets hot, there’s no water and…
 
The plant dies.
The seed didn’t grow.
 
Other seed fell among thorns. (v.7) 

AKA Weeds.

Have you ever noticed that weeds don’t need to be watered?
Nobody ever says, “Scuse me. I need to go water the weeds so that they don’t die.”
Nobody ever buys a bag of “Miracle Thistle Grow” at Home Depot.
Nobody ever says, “I’m taking this can of poison to my Rose Bush so that the poison ivy will grow a bit better.”

Nobody wants weeds in their gardens because they take over.
They grow too big.
They sap the soil of nutrients, soak up all the water and block the sun from starting photosynthesis in our little plant.

Unfortunately, the seed that’s surrounded by weeds has the same thing happen.
It grows – it just doesn’t have a lot of fruit.
Maybe, one little rotten tomato – that’s about it.

The seed didn’t work like it was supposed to.

Still other seed fell on good soil; it came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times. (v.8)  

Because sometimes, the seed works.
Sometimes the soil is soft enough.
Sometimes the roots can grow deep enough.
Sometimes the weeds are weeded enough and then...

The seed grows into a plant.
The plant grows into a mature plant.
The mature grows into a natural sower.

It plans seeds and produces a crop of thirty, sixty, even a hundred times what was originally sown.

I’ll tell you what – it’s amazing when this happens.

For instance, last year – we planted carrots. They grew – ish. 
They were crooked, brown, and ugly. I pulled most of them because I figured it wasn’t worth it.
But this year – low and behold – a few more had sprouted. Planted, not by me, but by the ugly, brown carrots I had previously planted.

It’s amazing when a plant grows so well that it doesn’t planting all on its own.
And that’s what happens with the seed on the good soil.

It grows.
It plants.
It does what it’s supposed to.

Jesus finishes the parables and says: “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” (v.9)
 
You’ve got ears.
I’ve got ears.
Let us hear us take to heart the parable.

II. The Truth about the Kingdom of God
 
But…what are we supposed to take to heart?

The challenges of farming?
That Jesus was a big Agricultural Enthusiast?

Remember: A parable is a short earthly story that teaches about the Kingdom of God. This is more than just an article for Better Homes and Gardens.
It’s talking about heaven.
It’s talking about the spiritual.
It’s talking about God’s kingdom.

To be fair, the disciples were confused, too.
They came to Jesus and asked him to explain it to them.
Thankfully – Mark wrote down Jesus’ explanation.

Let’s take it one seed at a time:

The farmer sows the word. (v.14) The seed is God’s message. The message that we are sinners. The message that we deserve God’s punishment. The message that we need a Savior. The message that we have a savior in Jesus. The message that Jesus died on the cross to take away all of our sins.

The farmer, then, is anyone who proclaims God’s Word.

A pastor.
a Preschool teacher.
A dad reading a dinnertime devotion.
A mom reading a bedtime Bible story.
A friend telling his coworker about what he believes.
 
The farmer is anyone who proclaims God’s Word. Because every time he speaks this message of Jesus – it’s as if that person is tossing seed onto the ground.
Think about that – every time you speak the message of Jesus, you are tossing seed onto the ground of someone’s hearts.

But what happens next?

Well…
That depends.  

(1) Hardened Rejection

(v.15) Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
 
You met someone like this?

They want nothing to do with Jesus.
They tell you do change your cross screensaver at work.
They love not believing there is a God so much that they won’t even consider the fact that God might exist.

They are hardened in sin.
They are hardened in unbelief.
They are hardened in absolute, complete rejection of Jesus.

I had this happen recently. I posted one of those ads on social media that invited people to church to hear about forgiveness in Jesus.
And someone commented: “You stupid bleepity, bleep. This is a bunch of bleepity, bleep.”

Hardened rejection.

(2) Quick to Grow, Quick to Fade
 
Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. (v.16-17)

And these types of people get on fire for God’s Word!
They love the message of Jesus.
They fly through Bible Basics.
Get baptized.
Get their kids baptized.
They sign up for all the ways to serve.
They help on all the work days at church.
They tell all of their friends about Jesus!

But then…
…one of their friends…
Tells them to: Shut up. I don’t care about Jesus. And I can’t believe you believe that foolishness.

And…woah!
I didn’t know people could treat us like that.
I don’t like this.
If that’s what it means to be a Christian, maybe…

I stop serving.
I stop going to group.
I get rid of all Christian themes on Social media.
And I stop attending church. Don’t want Pastor to put a picture of me doing Christian stuff on Social media.

Quick to Grow; Quick to Fade.
 
(3) Choked by Worry and Wealth Weeds
 
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (v.19)

This type of person hears the word and believes.
Not just for a short time; for a while.

They might even be a longtime member of a church.
They have given lots of money.
They have their name on a plaque!

But….
Then…

The boss offers a new job.
The new job takes more hours at work.
The new hours get more money.
The more money buys new things.
The longtime Christian thinks – “Boss wants me to work this Sunday? It’s ok. I will. It’s only one Sunday. I need the money.”

One Sunday becomes two Sundays.
Becomes weeks.
Becomes months.
Becomes – a complete and utter lack of faith.

The weeds of worry and wealth; choke the plant.
The faith stops bearing fruit.

Even…
Dies.

(4) Grown and Multiplying
 
Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown. (v.20)
 
This type of person hears the word and believes.
And grows in faith.
And keeps growing in faith.
And bears fruit.

And becomes a sower, too.

Good seed.
Good soil.
A good plant.
 
III. What Now?

(1) Garden Your Own Heart

The first question that always pops into my mine when I read this is: What kind of soil am I?

Humor me.
Consider.

What kind of soil are you?

A heart full of hardened rejection?
A heart that was quick to believe and now is quickly falling away?
A heart that is slowly being choked by worries and wealth?
Or are you the good soil on which faith is growing? And bearing fruit? And being a super impressive, gorgeous plant?

Except – if you are trusting that you’ve got a faith growing heart…Isn’t the plant that’s growing the plant of faith in one’s ability to grow faith?

Here’s the deal.
No matter what kind of heart you have and what kind of faith plant is growing in your heart – the solution is the same:

God’s Word. 

Therefore – What Now Number 1:
 
Garden Your Heart with God’s Word.

God’s Word softens hearts. Ezekiel 11:19 says, “I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
God’s Word removes obstacle rocks. Luke 3:5 says, “The rough ways will become smooth.”
God’s Word cuts weeds. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is living and active; sharper than a double-edged sword.”
God’s Word causes faith to grow. Isaiah 55:9 says, “Like rain and snow that nourish the earth, so is God’s Word.”

In other words:

God’s Word softens our rejection.
God’s Word removes our doubts.
God’s Word grows deep roots.
God’s Word cuts down weeds.
God’s Word nourishes our faith plants so that they grow…
…and bear fruit.
…and become a sower.

(2) Expect Varied Results
 
I think this is the main point of Jesus’ parable -- When I plant seed (share God’s Word), what kind of response should I expect?

Because remember – Jesus is telling this is to the disciples. The disciples who – if you remember our ACTS Sermon series – planted all kinds of faith seed up and down the Middle Eastern coast as they shared God’s Word.

Some people believed.
Others? Threw stones at them until they were thought to be dead.

Different results.

Jesus is preparing his disciples by telling them that the result will not always be great.
That their work will not always lead to a confession of faith.
That many times they share the Gospel will lead to nothing more than a Meh.
 
Think the same way.

Don’t expect awesome results all the time.
If you do, then, it’s so easy to get discouraged.

I know this as a pastor.
Honest truth – a lot of times people don’t follow through on Bible studies.
People don’t seem to listen to encouragements to get into God’s Word.
People don’t care much for the message of Jesus.

If I was expecting it to work all the time, then…I would have given up.
But Jesus tells us to expect various result.

Which means – it’s going exactly how he said it would.
 
And so…that leads to our final what now:

(3) Keep Sowing
 
Because just about the only thing that will ensure a plant never grows is if you never plant the seed.
And just about the only thing that will ensure a person never comes to faith is if you never tell them about Jesus.

Notice. Your job is simple.

It isn’t to convert a heart.
It isn’t to make faith grow.
It isn’t to make a faith blossom into a mature plant.

Nope.

Your job is simply to plant the seed.
God’s job is to make it grow.

And God? He’s awesome at making faith grow.
 
The Kingdom of God is like a Sower.
Are you a part of the kingdom of God?

Sow.

Amen.

The other day something earth shattering happened. My computer got a virus. The thing is my computer wasn’t running slow. It wasn’t struggling to run Microsoft Office. It wasn’t flickering on and off whenever I tried to turn it out.

Nope, I found out that the new computer I received for Christmas had a virus on it from a website I visited.  A “pop up” ad appeared. It had a big warning on it: “You have thousands of viruses on your computer. Click here to download our software now which is the only way to ensure that you’ll get rid of it.”

Do you download things by clicking the “x” in the upper right hand corner? Cause that’s what I did.

Sometimes people tell us things are urgent that aren’t all that urgent.

What about Jesus? How urgent is the message of Jesus?

I. …Not on Our Time.

For King Herod the message of Jesus was not very urgent. He had heard it from John the Baptist and he had kind of liked what he heard at first. He liked that John was helping to “clean up the city” and calling out various people for their immoral sins. Herod wouldn’t have had a problem with that. It made his job easier as ruler easier. (Mark 6:20)

That is until John accused Herod of sin. John told him it was sinful because Herod was living with and sleeping with his own brother’s wife. Not his. He wasn’t married. That was sinful.

Herod didn’t listen. He didn’t find that message very urgent. Instead, Herod had John arrested. He put him in prison. He decided he would much rather continue in his sinful lifestyle. (v.17-18)

As much as Herod didn’t want to listen to John – his woman – desired to listen even more. So when Herod promised to his “fling’s” daughter that he would give her whatever she wanted up to half his kingdom, Herod’s mistress took advantage of this foolishness.

“Ask Herod for the head of John the Baptist,” she said.

Her daughter asked. 
Herod listened.
John was killed.
No one had to listen to John anymore.
No one had to listen to God. 

Now, I imagine that many of you reading this haven't just been accused of beheading someone. (If so, we need to talk.) But isn't it possible that you have done the same thing as John did? Not cutting off John's head, but cutting off God's Word?

It's easy to do. It's easy to tell God's Word to take a back seat. It's easy to say "I'll follow God...later..  

·         ...when they come out with a Bible that doesn’t mention the sin I struggle with.
·         …when I’ve had the chance to experience life.
·         …when I’m older.
·         …when I’m less tired.
·         …when I’m settled down.
·         …when my friends think it’s cool.
·         …when I get a special calling.
·         …when I own my own house.
·         …when that person that I don’t like that much isn’t at church anymore.
          …when I am married.
·         …when I have children.
·         …when the children leave the house.
·         …when I go to the retirement home.

Or, if we're being entirely honest about all of these reasons...

·         …WHEN I WANT TO.

 
Is that how it works? Can you ignore God until you are good and ready? Does God work on your time? Is God cool when you give him a raincheck? 

There is nothing worse than hearing your alarm go off in the morning. I was having trouble getting up really early to work out. So not that long ago I downloaded the “I Can’t Wake Up” Alarm. It plays an obnoxiously loud song and it doesn’t turn off until you complete an array of mental tasks: Answering addition questions, solving word problems, putting a puzzle together. It was working really well too.

Until I discovered a brand new way to turn it off. Take the battery out.

Guess what? That doesn’t stop time from coming. It doesn’t stop the sun from rising. It doesn’t stop the day from happening. The same is true with Jesus. If you ignore God’s message to stop your sin, follow him, and study his Word – that doesn’t stop it from being true.

Bottom line – your unbelief and your sinful lifestyle will not slow down God’s coming!

It’s coming all the same.

 *************************************************************************************

II... On God’s Time.

Look at the words from our Mark 1:15. That verse alone gives us three reasons to listen to Jesus right now!


1.       “The Time has come.” Jesus doesn’t say, “The time is coming,” “the time will come eventually,” or even “Don’t worry you have years until it will be important for you to listen!” It’s a perfect tense. For the people who heard Jesus, the time had come for them to listen.

That was 2000 some years ago. What does that tell you about the importance of listening now?

2.       The Kingdom is near. Literally for the people Jesus talked to the kingdom was very near them. Jesus himself is the one who rules the kingdom of God. Thus – he was literally feet away from them. It was time for them to listen.

Jesus speaks to us today in his Word. Where’s the closest Bible to you now? Listening to this in church? It’s about a foot in front of you. Are you a Christian? Listen to Jesus because Jesus is in you. It doesn’t get much closer to you than that!

3.       “Repent” and “Believe.” These are imperative directives of Jesus. He doesn’t say “repent” later. He doesn’t say “believe” later. He implores you to repent and believe right now!

Why wait? Do you really want to continue going on a path farther away from God? Do you really want to continue feeling guilt associated with sin? Do you really want to stay away from the peace, the joy, and the confidence of God’s love that come with the knowledge of sins forgiven?

In another part of Scripture Jesus tells the parable of a very rich man. He was so rich that he didn’t have time for God. He was too busy buying fancy suits and investing his dividends to make even more money. In fact, he was so rich that he decided to build himself a huge barn in his backyard. It was like his own bank in which he’d store all the riches that he had collected.

When he finished, it he partied! It was done. His “urgent work” of collecting things and stuff” was done.

Then God came to the party. “You fool!” he said, “This very night your life will be demanded of you.”

Do you understand the urgency? Repent. Believe. The time has come. The kingdom of heaven is near!


********************************************************************************************************

III.                …God’s Time…is the Best Time for You!

Now maybe you’re wondering. Why does God care so much? Why does God want me to follow him now? Why can’t he wait for a time that’s better for me? I don't go around sticking my nose in my neighbor's business and telling them there's a better way to spend his time than playing video games all the time -- so why should God care about what I do? It's my business. 

The answer is simple. God cares for you. And following God on God's time is the best thing for you!

Take a look at verse 15 again. Jesus went about preaching the good news.

Do you know what the good news is? The good news is…

….that when you were too distracted by the urgency of worldly things to follow God, Jesus was not.
…that as death was sneaking up on you to take you to hell, he urgently confronted it to take you to heaven.
…that as the bodies of all humans rested without any urgency in the grave, Jesus came back to life early in the morning – to urgently spread his message that in him I have life!

I’ll tell you the truth – the urgency God expresses is for YOUR Benefit! Not God’s. Here are three reasons why believing on God's Time (right now) is of great benefit!

1. God Loves You Urgently! This is why he came to earth. It's why he keeps calling out to you. It's because he knows the struggles that life brings when you depend on things and people that don't even have you on their priority list. 

But God placed you as number one. He died for you! Come and revel in that love. 

2. God Wants You to Punch your Ticket to Heaven...before it's too Late! Scripture says the the end of time will come like a thief in the night. God doesn't want you to miss it. The only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. 

I don't know any stats on how often people die in this world, but I do know that it always seems like, "it could never happen to me." How foolish! Repent and believe now for the confidence of heaven. 

3. God Wants You to have Peace Now. Why wait? Why wait to hear that God loves you? Why wait to know that you are forgiven? Why go through life nervous and frightened that God is against you? 

Repent and believe in Jesus – God will not be slow in responding. God says to all who turn from their sin: “You are forgiven!” He rushes to say “You are mine.” He quickens his Spirit to speak to all believers “You will be in heaven!”

It’s very interesting that in direct contrast to the actions of Herod, chapter 1 tells us about a few fishermen. Guys who found their livelihood in hard work. Men who needed to find fish, clean fish, and sell fish so that their families could eat.

Look at verse 17 Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Their response? Verse 18 At once, they left their nets and followed Jesus.

URGENCY.

Then Jesus meets some others. Verse 20 Without delay, he called them.

Their response? They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

URGENCY.

Their urgency in following Jesus is impressive. They realized Jesus was greater than work. They realized Jesus was greater than money. They realized Jesus was greater than their family!

God is calling you to abandon work, money or family. These things are not bad. In fact, they can be very good. But God is calling you to place Jesus as the highest priority. To order your life and make him Number One!

Will you delay? Or will you follow without hesitation? All it takes is the next step. 

Because if these disciples were serious about following Jesus, they couldn't just say, "I'm following you." They had to literally put one foot front of the other and follow him from town to town. 

They needed to take the next step. 

What's your next step? For all of us it's different. Maybe your next step is contacting me by email to talk more about Jesus. Maybe you are ready to be baptized into his name. Maybe you come to church once in a while and now is the time to make it an every week affair. Maybe you are ready to join our church. Maybe you are ready to get involved in Bible class. Maybe you need to leave behind that sin that has been gnawing as your souls. 

Everyone's steps are different, but everyone's step is the same. Follow Jesus!

The time has. The Kingdom is near. Believe and follow Him. Amen. 

On the wall in my office is my Seminary diploma. It is a certification that I have been schooled in Theology. I studied for 8 years. 4 in college and 4 more at Seminary. I studied Hermeneutics. I studied Homiletics. I studied Isagogics, Exegesis, and a host of other disciplines that I barely remember how to pronounce anymore. However you get it, this type of certification verifies that you might have a semblance of an idea of what you’re talking about as you preach at a church.

You wanna know something amazing? Jesus didn’t have one.

Yet there he sat as he had so many time before, in the temple courts preaching and teaching. There were crowds of people at his feet and they were hanging on his every word.  

This was a problem for the Pharisees, the one who had earned the right to teach in the temple. They had gone to school. They had paid their dues. They were official members of this teaching groups.

Not Jesus. He was not a card carrying member of the Pharisees. He didn’t work his way up in the Sanhedrin. He didn’t graduate from local Hebrew school with a special preaching license. These men had rightfully earned that respect. They had paid their dues and they wore authentic religious teacher garb.

They stormed over to Jesus and the infuriated teaches snarled at him, “What authority do you have to do such things?” (21:23) “What gives you the right?”

But Jesus didn’t bite. Instead, he told them a story.

Matthew 21:28-34

A man owned vineyard (Jesus really liked parables about vineyards). Instead of going to the market and looking for workers, he recognized that he had two very capable workers in his own household. His Sons.

He found the first son. “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.” (v.28)

“I will not!” (v.29) came the sassy reply.

Maybe  he was getting close to conquering the final level of Angry Birds on his cell phone. Maybe he was watching a funny video on YouTube. May he just wanted to get some sleep under the tree, like any self-respecting teenage boy.

But later he thought better of it. Maybe he felt sorry that he had disrespected his dad or maybe he felt a wave of responsibility rush over him. He changed his mind and went. (v.29)

Meanwhile dad approached his other son.

“I will sir!” And one can’t help but see the pride in this respectful answer. “Yes, Dad. You are the greatest. I will come like always. I will be there. I’ll work hard for you. I’ll do the good work just like a good son should because I’m a good son.”

But the ‘good son’ took a good time in coming to work. In fact, he did not go. (v.30)

And maybe he got distracted. Maybe he fell asleep. Maybe a friend texted him that a bunch of them were headed to the local ice cream shop and the girl that he had a crush on would be there. I don’t know.

What we do know. One son said he wouldn’t do the work, but did. The other sons said he would do the work, but didn’t.


Then, the riddle: “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” (v.31)

Did you come to the same conclusion as the Pharisees? “The first,” they answered, “the one who actually did the work that the Father had asked.” They were right. It’s no shocker.

But what Jesus said next was shocking, “I tell you the truth,” he told the Pharisees, “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to show you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” (v.32)

Do you get it? Do you see what Jesus is saying with the parable? Do you see the tragedy in the answer of these teachers?

Jesus was using this parable like a mirror. He was revealing to the Pharisees how God saw them. It wasn’t how they saw themselves (as even better versions of the first son.) They, these “followers of God,” “holy people,” “descendants of Abraham,” and “Experts on what God has to say,” were the second son.

Consider this: God the Father called them. In Scripture, he had told them to watch for a Messiah. He gave them clues as to who the Messiah would be: Born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin, causing the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the sick to be well, and the dead to rise! They were ready for such a Messiah. They were ready to do the work of their Father and follow Him.

But when they saw this Messiah, when they saw a regular looking carpenter who spoke softly and lovingly, they didn’t listen. The Prostitutes did. The Tax Collectors did. The “scum of the earth did.” But not the ones who had pledged to follow God! They didn’t believe the Scriptures. They didn’t believe John the Baptist. They didn’t believe the miracles. They didn’t believe the testimony of God the Father himself.

They said, “We’ll listen to you Heavenly Father,” but then, “they didn’t do what he said.” They didn’t do what his work was.

What was that work? John 6:29 -- Jesus said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One he sent.”

That’s what they didn’t do. And they were forfeiting their place in heaven because of it.

WHAT KIND OF CHILD ARE YOU?

Which son are you in the parable? Is this whole Christianity thing fairly new to you? Are you just getting your feet wet in the church? Maybe you’ve spent your life addicted to drugs, alcohol, or pornography. Maybe you’ve been too busy chasing worldly wealthy and careers that you just didn’t have time to listen to God. Maybe you’ve finally rethought life and you are ready to do the work of the Lord (But you can’t shake the feeling that you are unworthy to do such a thing.)

Or maybe you’re more like the second son. Maybe you’ve been a ‘follower of Jesus’ your whole life. Maybe you’ve been in church, you know all the books of the Bible, you can say the Lord’s Prayer in less than 15 seconds, and your seat at church is specifically cushioned to the exact way you sit there each week.

But you don’t really believe this stuff. You find yourself doubting as you read more and more on the internet. The world has affected you. This Jesus’ teachings don’t line up with what the world says he should teach. You’ve gotten distracted by your job. You couldn’t care less what He has to say in His Word. You are more worried about you and what you do, than what God has called you to do.

Either of these Sons sound familiar?

Did you tell God “no,” but have changed your mind and are now ready to say, “Yes?”
Did you tell God, “yes,” but have changed your mind and are now telling him, “No?”

Which son are you?

The truth is that it is less important which son you are or which son you have been. What matters is what son you will be!  

Because here it is! Whether it’s for the first time, the 23rd time or the 1 thousandth time in your life: REPENT OF YOUR SINS! BELIEVE IN JESUS. BELIEVE IN THE ONE HE SENT.
 
When you do put your faith in Him, listen to will say of you what he said to the tax collectors and prostitutes. You “are entering the kingdom of God…”

It’s what the woman caught in adultery heard.  Angry men surrounded her ready to give her the very punishment that an angry God had described for her sin. A sin she could not deny. A shame that lowered her tear stained eyes.

But when God himself approached, he smiled. “I do not condemn you.” She heard the call of her Father this time. She jumped to her feet in joy. She would devote herself to her Savior!

It’s what Zacchaeus heard. He was hated by the whole town. His greed and deception had angered God and others.

But when God himself looked at him up in the tree – that was not the voice of an enemy, but a friend. “I’m coming to your house today.” (Luke 19:5) And Zacchaeus heard the call from his Father again. He believe and scurried down that tree faster than he would’ve scurried out of a house he had just cheated out of their taxes.

God will say the same to you. You who have never followed Jesus. You who followed, but have lost your way. You who have gotten distracted. You who have chosen the world. You who have backed down from this difficult work.

God does NOT approach you in anger today. Instead, he lovingly, kindly, gently calls you, “Repent. Believe in me. Believe in the One God has sent!”

Because the One God sent lived perfectly for you. The One God sent died innocently for you. The One God sent rose triumphantly for you. That “whoever believes in Him and is baptized will be saved!” (Mk. 16:15)

So. Get up and do God’s Work! Follow Jesus.

Challenge time again. Here are some practical ways to follow Jesus this week!

1) If you have never been baptized, then be baptized. In Baptism, God makes you his own. He washes away your sins. He makes you his child! He promises that he will no longer refer to you as “HIS ENEMY” but as “HIS OWN.” Speak to your pastor about this today!

2) Come back next week. If you come every other week to hear from Jesus, come every week. If you come every week, join Bible class. If you go to Bible class, start up devotion. Whatever you do, devote yourself more fully to God this week. Do God’s Work and let God work to grow your faith.

3) Share God’s Work. Once you’ve studied up on what God did for you, tell others! Tell your family. Tell your friends. Invite them to church. Invite them to Reformation. Share the sermon you’ll get from the email group with three friends!

Brothers this is what the children of God do. They do God’s Work. They believe in Jesus. They grow in Jesus. They share Jesus.

As Jesus told this parable, those Pharisees were being called to do God’s Work one more time. Sadly, many rejected this call. They got lazy. They got distracted. They chose to do as they pleased.

May that not be you. Listen to your Father’s gentle call. Listen to his voice calling you to faith.

Repent. Believe in Jesus. Believe in the One God sent.

Amen.