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July 6, 2003
4th Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 4:26-34
Pastor Ben Berger

Plant the Seed of the Gospel

We all want to grow, don't we? We want to grow in our personal lives. We want to become better parents, better children, better workers, better students, better spouses, better friends. As Christians we also want our spiritual life to grow, to become better disciples and children of God. As a group or congregation we want to grow. We want to increase the strength of each member of the body and we want to add members to the body. We all want to grow. How will we do it? Society and other churches offer many suggestions on how to grow; God offers one: His holy Word. Today, on the basis of God's word, I will encourage you to plant a seed that I know will grow. Plant the Seed of the Gospel and the trust that 1) It will grow and 2) It will produce fruit.

Jesus used two parables, or earthly stories, to describe the kingdom of God. In both of the stories, he emphasized the importance of the seed and its growth. In the first parable Jesus said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain." A man wants something to grow so he plants a seed. And it grows. He doesn't know how. He doesn't do anything. He sleeps, he gets up, he goes about his business and the seed grows…by itself.

If we want to grow, we need to plant a seed. But, which seed will grow? Different people and different churches all suggest different seeds. Some plant the seed of fear or guilt. If you do your best to follow God's requirements for your life, then you will grow. Others plant the seed of need. We will help you grow by finding out what you want in life and supplying it. Are you lonely? We will give you friends. Do you have kids? We'll give them a place to play. Some plant the seed of prayer. If you really want to grow, all you have to do is pray. If it doesn't work at first, just keep praying. And still others use the seed of emotions. Come to worship with us and you will leave excited and refreshed. If you're bored, you must not be growing. We'll sing songs that will get you moving and preach a message to make you fly high.

My dear friends, do not get sucked into thinking that any of those seeds can provide growth. Don't get me wrong, some of those things are beneficial. We want you to leave worship feeling uplifted, to pray often; we want to fill your needs and give you support. But, none of those things are seeds that will grow. There is only one seed that will grow; it is God's word, more specifically, the Gospel.

Oh, we often doubt the power of God's word don't we? We see that it is like a mustard seed. It's so little; it seems so insignificant. We tell ourselves that it's just a bunch of words; it's just talk. We ask ourselves if it really can change our lives; after all we've been who we are for so long. Stop doubting and believe. God's word is powerful and effective. God said that like the rain he sends it out and it will not return to him empty, but will accomplish his desires and achieve his purposes.

We do have the ability to destroy the seed. We can refuse to plant it. We can plant the weeds of fear and guilt all around it. We can drown it out with our feelings, but we cannot make it grow. That is God's work, and thank God that it is his work.

If growing were left up to us, we would be left with constant doubt. I might get you to change your actions with the threat of hell, but only for a little while. I might fill your need for friends or a social life, but it all ends with death. If you had to pray hard enough or feel good enough to grow, you could never be sure.

However, when we plant the seed of the Gospel, we can be sure that it will grow because it depends on God. God planted a root that will never be cut down and that will never let us down. Ezekiel mentioned it in the Old Testament reading. God said, "I myself will take a shoo from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break of a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain." That sprig or shoot or root is God's own Son Jesus Christ. Jesus took away our fear and guilt when he took away our sins on the cross. He filled our every need when he kept God's requirements for life in our place. He gave us access to pray to God whenever we want. He gave us peace and joy that will last for eternity. While all those other seeds are weak and produce only weeds, Jesus and his word provide the power for us to grow. Paul said that God's word is the power for all who believe. And again in Ezekiel God said, "I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish." God makes us grow through his word.

Therefore, if you truly want to grow, spend less time with all of those other seeds and plant the seed of the gospel. Plant it in yourself. Find lasting peace and comfort for your lives based on the fact and truth of God's never-changing word rather than on how your day went or how you feel this week. Be excited to come to worship or Bible study mostly because you know you will hear the word there. Live your life always motivating yourself by remembering God's promise to forgive you and give you eternal life for Jesus' sake.

Plant the word in those around you. Do you really want to be a better parent or spouse or friend? Do you really want to help someone else grow? Stop trying to give the rules to follow or to just make them feel better. Plant the seed of the gospel. Plant it also in the world. Support the public planting of the church with your prayers and dollars and most of all with your hands and your mouth.

We all want to grow. When you plant the seed of the gospel, you can trust that it will grow. After growth has begun, we will want to keep planting because then the gospel will also produce fruit.

Listen again to the end of the first parable. "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." The seed grew by itself. The man did not know how, but it grew. And, it continued to grow and produce fruit; it grew a head and then a kernel in the head. The mustard seed also grew and produced fruit. It became a fairly large tree - probably 8-10 feet high - with large branches. When the crop is ready, the man harvests it.

So also, the seed of the gospel that has begun to grow in each of you will produce fruit when you keep planting the gospel. When farmers plant corn seed, they don't just want to see the corn pop out of the ground. They want to see it grow into a large stalk with ears of corn on it. They can't make it grow, but they can provide good conditions for it to grow. The same is true of your faith.

Somewhere along the line, someone planted the gospel in your heart and it grew. If you want it to keep growing and produce fruit, you must now tend to your crop. You cannot make it grow; that is God's work as we've already said. However, you can provide good conditions for growth. You can do two things.

First of all, root out the weeds. Admit that you are a sinful person and that everything you do only leads to death. Be specific. I have a temper, I am easily annoyed, I am not faithful to my God or to those around me. I deserve to die and go to hell.

Secondly, keep planting the seed of the gospel and let God water you with his forgiveness. Repent and give God the chance to say, I forgive you. I sent my Son to die on the cross for you. He never lost his temper, he was always faithful to me, he always showed love to those around me. He always showed love to you and died on the cross to take away your sins. And believe those words of God. Those are the words that will produce fruit in you. Those words will give you the power to become a better disciple and a better child of God.

Then God will harvest your crop. One day, when he decides that you are ripe and that your harvest is ready, he will call you home to heaven. Then you will become a full-grown mature child of God sharing in the inheritance of your Father.

Just as you have opportunity to plant the gospel and produce fruit in your own life, so also you have the same opportunity to plant the gospel and produce fruit throughout the kingdom of God. Did you notice how the branches of the mustard tree were so big that all the birds of the air could nest under its shade? We have the opportunity to plant the seed of the gospel worldwide. In fact, I would say that we are already doing that through our missionaries. You too can be a local missionary planting the seed right here. You have to do two things.

First, you have to be willing to tell others that they are sinful. You have to be willing to point out to others that they are sowing weeds that will choke out their faith and lead to death. Second, you have to be willing to forgive them. Tell them that you forgive them for whatever they have repented of; tell them that God has forgiven them. Parents, tell your children. Teachers, tell your students. Husbands and wives, tell each other. Friends, tell each other. Christians, tell each other.

Then, as God calls each soul to heaven we will know that the seed of the gospel has grown and produced fruit; we will know that more and more souls have gone home to heaven.

Very, very soon the MVTF will suggest a vision for the future. That vision will be centered on the seed of the gospel, looking for new ways to plant. That vision will require trust, trust that when we plant the seed of the Gospel, it will grow and it will produce fruit because it is God's powerful and effective word.