Reaping a Harvest part 4
Reaping a Harvest Requires Reaping the Harvest
For the last few weeks we have been looking at the Truth, “We reap what we sow.” How do we reap a harvest for the things that we want…especially in light of growing and making disciples. There are many, many books on the subject, but it really boils down to these four principles:
Reaping a harvest requires prepping the ground.
Reaping a harvest requires sowing seeds.
Reaping a harvest requires the workers to work.
Reaping a harvest requires reaping the harvest.
For those that be just joining us, don’t worry, these principles relate directly with what we are discussing today. The previous messages are also on the church website, if you’d like to go back and watch them.
These are not just nifty metaphors that relate to anyone who farms or grows a garden, they are how the Bible describes the Christian life. Unfortunately, there are many ideas about what it means to be a Christian. Some see Christians as ‘holier-than-thou, self-righteous types’ with little concern for their fellow man. Some see them as angry people who are against a lot of things in life. Some see Christianity as a heavenly credit system. As long as you check the right boxes, do the right things, and avoid some ‘no-no’s,’ then God will make you healthy, wealthy, and happy.
But the Bible describes Christians as people who enjoy “life-giving life,” or as is traditionally translated “abundant life,” in this world when that shouldn’t be possible. Death surrounds this world, and continues to haunt each person. It brings about the horrors and tragedies we all face—the abuse, the hate, and the myriad of problems that really boil down to what the Bible calls ‘sin’. The world is broken, and though humanity seems to understand this truth, it can’t seem to find a way to fix it. The Good News is Jesus came 2,000 years ago to transform this world, and us, opening the doors of heaven. Now, though we still deal with the consequences of sin, and our sin, we can live in victory over death and be transformed into new creatures that enjoy abundant life.
How is this possible? Well, the answer goes back to those four principles, and of course, Jesus. The story of Jesus is called “The Gospel,” because ‘gospel’ is a word that means ‘good news’. The story of Jesus is Good News for the world. If we start listing all the problems with the world, and with ourselves, it doesn’t take long to realize something is terribly wrong. God did not create this world to be broken. He created it very good. But sin entered the world and broke everything, including our ability to know our Creator and live as He designed us to live.
Jesus came to fix our broken minds, hearts, and destiny.
That is the Good News. That is the Gospel. We do not have to remain in our brokenness. And remember when I said ‘abundant life’ also means ‘life-giving life’? That’s because when we turn to Jesus, and He restores us, He also makes us able to spread this new life to others around us. We receive life, eternal life, and that life affects others around us, giving them life as well. And if that broken person turns to Jesus receiving eternal life, then they, too, will become another life-giver. And that is what changes our destiny, and what will transform this world from a broken death pool into the Paradise it was designed to be.
So let’s look at this wonderful story that we call “The Gospel.”
The Gospel transforms our minds
The first principle of reaping a harvest is “The harvest requires prepping the ground.” What this means is we have to get rid of those things that prevent growth from happening. For example, if you try to plant a row of crops on rocky ground, it won’t take long for those crops to die. The rocks will get in the way, and the roots won’t be able to do their job. And that’s of course, if the seeds are even able to take root at all. Or, if you have a bunch of trees in the field, those trees are going to take all the water and nutrients before those little seeds will even have a chance to grow.
When we begin talking about what it means to follow Jesus and experience that eternal life, the first thing we have to do is clear away what prevents us from receiving eternal life. And the first thing that will get in the way is our head. We’ve been lied to for so long, the lies sound like the truth.
Hear the truth that speaks against these lies.
(1) Jesus says God loves us unconditionally, but we hear the lie that God will only love us when we are good enough to be loved.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:9-10
How is Jesus the propitiation—or substitute—for our sins?
But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:9
How much does God love you? He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sin. Notice, Jesus came while we were still sinners. He didn’t wait for us to clean up our act, because we couldn’t get clean enough if we tried. We were hopelessly lost in sin and death!
(2) Jesus says He can and will give us our heart’s desires. He can fill us and give rest where everything else in this world leaves us unfulfilled. But many times we listen to the lie that the riches and pleasures of this world will fulfill the hole in our hearts.
Jesus said,
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:10-11
The thief, Satan, comes to destroy by offering substitutes for life, but these substitutes cannot give us what we need. Jesus laid down His life so that we can have the one thing that we long for most, but our sin prevents us from even recognizing as what we need—the need for true life!
The Gospel transforms our minds by giving us Truth in this world of lies.
We experience true life when we quit listening to the lies of this world, and listen to the One who made this world.
The Gospel transforms our hearts
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10
When David wrote these words, he was king over Israel. He had just used his position as king to seduce another man’s wife, and then have that man killed in battle. The truth and shame of his sin was slapped in his face, and in his repentance and shame, he asked God to change his heart.
Later, God would tell the prophet Ezekiel that a day was coming when He would transform the hearts of all Israel, and the world. He said to Israel,
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean form all your uncleannesses, and form all you idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone form your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be you God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses.
Ezekiel 36:25-28
Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise. Jesus came and through His death and resurrection, we have open access to Heaven. When we turn from our sin, asking for forgiveness and eternal life, Jesus promises to transform us from the inside out. We are given new hearts.
The Gospel transforms our bitter, stone hearts into hearts of flesh and compassion.
It is a total transformation.
There is a story in Mark 2 in which four friends are trying to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus. Being paralyzed, the man can’t walk, and the crowds are keeping anyone else from entering the home in which Jesus is teaching. Now, these four friends being first century DIY enthusiasts decide to take their paralyzed friend up to the roof. From there, they pull up the thatch-work to make a hole. They, then, lower the man down using blankets and rope right in front of Jesus.
Jesus is impressed by the faith of these men, and tells the paralytic that because of his great faith, his sins are forgiven. Now, some of you may be thinking what these guys may have thought. “Sins? He wanted to be able to walk!” Now, some of the religious, self-righteous types were also in the crowd, and they were upset that Jesus believed He could forgive sin. Only God can forgive a person’s sins!
Jesus perceives the confusion on all sides, and this is His response:
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Mark 2:9-12
When we change our thinking, we will recognize the truth of our sin. We are paralyzed, maybe not literally, but our family history, our relationship history, our addictions, our habits, and all the sin and death in our life makes us feel paralyzed. Even if we wanted to go to Jesus, we feel like we can’t.
The Good News is Jesus came to us. In the story, the man had four friends who brought him to Jesus. But consider, Jesus first had to come from Heaven. Today, you may feel like you can’t go to Jesus, because you have been paralyzed by the sin and problems of this world, but the Good News is Jesus came to you first! And there are those around you who have tried to tell you about Jesus, they have been tearing at the roof trying to get you to Jesus.
Now that you are sitting in front of Him, He offers you healing. Jesus can transform us inside and out. Spiritual healing begins with a new heart. He turns our bitterness into forgiveness. He turns our sorrow into joy. And as we are transformed, we discover our relationships with our family and friends, and even our enemies, are transformed to.
The Gospel transforms our destiny
The Gospel transforms our mind, it transforms our heart, and it will transform our destiny.
When we consider this broken world, it is fascinating to me that even the most ardent unbeliever can recognize it as broken. What makes us believe that the world should be anything other than what it is? I say, it is because God created us for a very different world. Consider how this world works.
The fish are made for the water. They have gills to let them breathe the water. They have fins to move about freely in the water. Take them out, and they die, because they are made to swim.
The birds are made for the air. They have wings to send them soaring high in the air. They have eyes that can zoom into the ground to find their prey even while high in the air. They have talons to latch on to prey and trees when they need to rest. They belong to the sky.
Every animal is made is live where it lives. It is perfectly balanced to fulfill its role in Nature, and to live in the environment it occupies.
And yet, when we look at humans, creatures that some would argue are ‘just another animal,’ we struggle to find our place in this world. We have to create fire to keep warm. We invented air conditioning because of the heat. We can swim, but we certainly aren’t made to stay in the water for our lives. We can’t fly. And even worse still, we have the brain capacity to be self-aware, to have empathy, to join with others in community, and yet we also can’t seem to cooperate well enough to accomplish a balance in nature. We are the only creatures who suffer from depression or that feeling of unfulfillment.
Have you ever seen a deer on the side of the road thinking, “This is it, Carl! I’m jumping in front of the next vehicle. I’m done with this life!” Of course, not!
Could it be that the reason we find ourselves struggling to find contentment in this world is because we were not made for this world? We have a sense of morality and justice, and yet, this world leaves us in the clutches of immorality and injustice. We have a sense of eternity, and yet, our lives are short-lived. We have a sense of love, and yet, we struggle to find true love in this world.
My friends, the reason is rather simple. This world is not the world that should have been. It has been corrupted and broken by sin’s curse. Jesus came to us, died on the cross, and resurrected to open the door to heaven, our true Home.
The love we only sense, but can never find in this world, is the love of God.
The justice and morality we desire, but can never find, is found in the justice and goodness of God.
And yes, even the eternal life, the life that never ends, we can experience in God.
As Job says,
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.”
Job 19:25-26
How can I say that? How can I believe that even when you lay my body in the dirt, I will see God?
Because Jesus promised it!
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26
The Gospel changes our destiny from death into everlasting life!
Do you believe this? Do you believe in Jesus, who died on a cross for your sin, who rose on the third day, and who one day will return to complete the task of making this world the Paradise that it is supposed to be?
The invitation to eternal life is open. Start by prepping the ground—get rid of the sin and lies that prevent you from following Christ. Next, sow some new seeds—receive a new heart from Jesus. Receive forgiveness, and you will find yourself forgiving. That’s actually the third step. We don’t work for salvation, we could never do enough to be saved. But, when we turn to Jesus and receive salvation, we become life-givers. Our bitterness turns to forgiveness, and we can get to the task of forgiving others, and receiving forgiveness from others. Our sorrow turns to joy, and we can get to the task of spreading joy to the world around us. Our worries and fears turn to peace, and we can get to the task of spreading peace to the world around us.
The ‘work’ of a Christian is to share the Good News and life found in Jesus Christ.
Living the Christian life is not supposed to be hard, and in fact, it really isn’t. The hard part is turning from sin. But, if you will turn from your sin, you will discover more love, peace, and goodness than you ever believed was possible.
You see, Jesus came to bring us eternal life. But, if we want to have that eternal life, we have to receive it. It is a wonderful feeling to see the fruits of your labor growing in the orchard or the field, but if you never actually pick the crop off that tree, vine, or stalk, then you'll never enjoy the food. Jesus has done all the work for your salvation. But, if you never actually receive it, then you'll miss out on an eternity of goodness and love. You'll die in your sin, and forever spend eternity bound in death and despair.
If you will change your thinking, repenting from your sins, and believe in Jesus, He will change your heart and give you eternal life. And your destiny will go from death to eternal life!