The Message that fruits into harvest!

Introduction

Thanks, Shannon. We are a church. We believe the Bible is God’s word and that He speaks to us through it. We commit time in our service every week to reading some of it, which we just did. And we commit some time to unpacking it and seeking to understand it more, which we’re going to do now. So, for the next 25 minutes, if you join with me, you might want to keep that open. We’re going to refer to it. I’ll also have some verses on the screen. I want to think about the different layers we see in communication. We see different layers of the stories that we just read. We see different layers of all kinds of stories that we see.

I saw a great video on one of the social media shorts this week of a couple who were packing for a holiday. The girl says to the man, “I hope you’re not going to propose to me in Paris because that would just be so predictable.” He says, “Oh no, I wouldn’t predict that.” You see a bit of disappointment in her face and a bit of a huff. Then she says, “Michael, what are we doing?” He says, “We’re packing for Europe.” She says, “No, no, where is this going?” He says, “Well, hopefully France.” She says, “Michael, you’re not hearing me.” He turns around and says, “Well, then where is that voice coming from?” She says, “This would be right. I finally dive into the pool and you’re swimming backstroke.” He says, “We’re going swimming.” She says, “Not with you,” and storms out. He looks after her and he goes, “Wasn’t my idea in the first place, but bathing suits, that’s a good idea,” and he continues his packing.

If you don’t catch on to the layers of the conversation there, then you’re probably a male, or you’re just so used to politicians that you’ve gotten used to that don’t quite get to the question sort of scenario. You can understand when you have a conversation, there can be multiple layers of what’s happening in that conversation. When we come to these stories that Jesus is speaking, we call them parables. They’re stories with a point. When we come to these stories, there’s layers happening in those stories. If you were here last week, we looked at the parable of the soils where multiple seeds are thrown out on different soils and there’s a different response to each of the soils: soils that the seeds are snatched away by birds, soils where the seed doesn’t get root, and soil where it does get root and it grows.

In these stories, there’s at least three layers we think we need to look at as we understand it. The first layer is to those who are just disinterested, who don’t really care much. Jesus has those people in the crowd as He speaks. On one level, it seems like Jesus tells parables to give them something to focus on if they don’t want to focus on the true message. That’s what’s happening here. These stories that He tells, they just hear them as a story and not hear the deeper message. That’s the category of people who are disinterested. The second category of people who are interested but are not followers of Jesus. They’re seekers, they’re open, but they’re not followers of Jesus. The messages here, the parables, give us a space of intrigue, a space of exploring what this might mean. There’s a sense where that second layer that we see is an invitation through the parable. The last layer is for those that are followers of Jesus. These parables offer a layer of inspiration, a layer of encouragement in faith. We’re going to see those three layers, and we’re going to see them through those three stories that we read.

Jesus really articulates this is exactly what He’s doing when He tells us what we read in verse 24: “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you’ll be given, and you will receive even more.” This is exactly what Jesus says is happening with these stories. We see them and we can unpack those layers. We get the first story. It’s the story of a lamp. Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not. A lamp is placed on a stand where its light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. That’s the message. That’s the story that we get.

The Story of a Lamp

The Disinterested

Now, the first layer we read as we hear that story is just a story. If you’re uninterested in what Jesus is teaching, then this is just a story about where to put your lights in your house. You may look at that story if you want to be disinterested and say it’s not even that wise. They say don’t put lights under your bed. I’ve watched the block. They’ll put lights anywhere and everywhere. Don’t put it under a basket. I’m sure someone here has a light under a basket. It casts cool shadows. To be fair, they didn’t have electricity back then. So if your light is a flame, my advice is not under the bed and not under a basket. That’s pretty practical advice, but this is not a message about feng shui. Jesus is not trying to teach you about interior design. If you want to disregard what He has to say, then fine, that’s what you will hear.

The Interested

There is a message here for someone who is interested, someone who is seeking, and it’s actually quite a confronting message. The message that He gives us in this story is if you’re not shining a light, then you don’t have the light. The point of a light is to shine. If it’s not shining, then it’s not a light. In the message of this story, the challenge is if you’re not shining the light, then you need to take serious question over whether you even have the light. The light we are talking about is the light of Jesus. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus is the one that has come to bring light into this world.

Jesus is the light, and He’s declaring that He’s the light of the world. The light we’re talking about that the person would be shining is the light of Jesus. The message is if you’re not shining that light, then maybe you don’t have Jesus. One of the challenges is that sometimes we fall into a danger of just thinking we have concepts of God, an idea of God, an openness to God, and that is just enough. Jesus is saying in this parable that if our faith isn’t genuine, if there isn’t genuine trust in Jesus, then that eventually will come to light. That’s what He means when He says, “For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light.” Jesus is saying if you’re not shining the light, then you might not even have the light in you. It’s a sober challenge.

There’s a danger that someone can say, “I believe. I believe in Jesus. What more do I need?” James, one of Jesus’ disciples, writes a letter that we have, and this is what James says: “You believe there is one God. Even the demons believe that.” To believe the idea of God is not enough. The message of the Bible is that it is necessary for us to have active trust in Jesus. Jesus is the light, and Jesus came to shine the light to us and make a way so that we might be part of the light. Every human being can never add up to being up to a perfect God. Jesus makes a way that we might receive forgiveness and trust in Him as the way to God. We receive the light by putting our active trust in Jesus.

I think of it like those little glow-in-the-dark stars you can get. That journey happens for every kid when you get glow-in-the-dark stars, and they think when the lights turn off tonight, you stick them up on the roof on the wall. When the nights turn off tonight, it’s going to be amazing. If they’re young enough, they will think that. Often it feels a little bit overwhelming, or it is amazing for a while, but it dulls quite quickly. Last year, I was putting together a fish tank, a large fish tank. I got a light for it, and that light isn’t a fish tank light. It’s a panel LED panel light that you put in your house in your roof. It’s way too bright for the fish. Poor fish, they get a suntan in my fish tank. I had that light. I hadn’t installed it yet. I took it into my daughter Olive’s room at night when she was going to bed, and I stuck it on the wall covering a whole batch of her glow-in-the-dark stars, and I turned it on, just supercharged those stars with this light. When I pulled it off, she’s tweenaging. She’s at that age where some things are not cool, but I had that moment. She was like, “Oh wow.” I was like, “Yes, I am awesome.”

The reality is even in that moment, those stars require something. They are not lights. They just reflect the light that they have received. They are not lights in themselves, and even then, without the light source, they dull quickly. The message here is Jesus is the light, and the only way we will shine true light is to have His true light in us. We want to put our trust in Him. It’s one of the reasons why I think baby dedications are so great. In this service, in this church, we do both baby baptisms and baby dedications. We think both are in alignment with what the Bible teaches. We celebrate in both ways. You notice the one we did today wasn’t with water. It was a dedication, not a baptism. I really love that because I think in the time and place, the cultural moment we’re in, there’s a real danger that we assume that something like a baptism is kind of this right of passage into God’s kingdom. I’m one of Jesus’ followers because I was baptized. There’s nothing we can do that can earn our place before God. There’s no list of things that we can do that will make us good enough for a perfect God. Baptism isn’t actually a right of passage to God. It’s an expression of a God that does work within us. It’s that expression that we do in the image of being washed clean. It’s something that happens on the outside that shows what happens on the inside.

When we do that with a child, we are praying that that might be something God does for them through their life, knowing that God is good and kind and merciful to young children and will treat them with justice. In the tragic situation where a young child dies, we trust that God is good and kind, and His justice will be right for someone who’s in the place of knowledge that they or limited knowledge that they have. There will come a time where every person needs to make that decision for themselves. We also do adult or late teen baptisms, believer baptisms we call them, which is people who are making that declaration for themselves. We do both those things, and both those things I think can be really helpful for us in our spiritual development. I do wonder sometimes how much we are misguided by infant baptisms and fall in danger of assuming that’s the right of passage into the kingdom. It’s important we don’t teach that. We don’t teach that here that it is a right of passage. The Bible doesn’t teach that. I don’t think any church should teach that because that’s not what baptism is. God calls people to Himself through active trust in Him. It’s not through something we do, but it’s trusting what He has done for us. In that way, we shine the light of Jesus.

The Followers of Jesus

That’s the layer for the seeker. The layer there for the person who is already a follower of Jesus is a message of inspiration. The message of inspiration for the follower of Jesus is you should be shining that light. If the light is in you, your purpose is to shine. Your purpose is to shine the light of Jesus. That is the most loving thing we can do is to share the love of Jesus with others. There’s also a reminder as we do that that we’re not the ones that cause people to grow, but God is the one that causes people to grow.

The Parable of the Growing Seed

The Disinterested

We get the second parable, the parable of the growing seed. The kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. If you are disinterested in what Jesus has to say, you can come to that little story with a bit of criticism. You could say, “I’ve watched Clarkson’s farm. It’s not that simple as just throwing seed in the ground.” If you watch that show or if you know anything about farming, you’d say it’s not as simple as just to say you scatter seed on the ground and it grows and the next day it’s just there. Farming, if that was true, why are farmers in such a difficult situation? Why are we always talking about how hard it is for farmers if that’s true? It’s clearly not all there is to it.

The Interested

There’s another picture that Jesus wants to draw us to. Nonetheless, what a farmer does, there is something else that happens that is not inside the farmer’s control. Seeds grow not by the farmer, but the way God has created them to grow. God makes seeds grow. The second layer is for someone who is interested in Jesus. The invitation is that God wants to grow you, that God wants to grow you spiritually in Him. It’s an invitation to grow that if you’re interested in having this light, then God has this invitation to grow you. We think Alpha is a world-renowned course with world-renowned material done in many different languages. It’s one of the places just to unpack what the Bible teaches about who Jesus is. We do the first six sessions as the Alpha course, and then we offer what’s we call Alpha Plus, which is a few more sessions for anyone who wants it, but six sessions asking the question, “Is there more to life than this? Who is Jesus? What does that mean?” We really do that. Our whole aim in the way we approach that is a very open, safe place for people to ask questions and discuss things. We watch a video, which is just an opportunity to hear the content and then go into a place of a small group where you’re welcome to ask questions yourself or just listen to what others are saying and asking. The invitation in exploring something like that is that God does the work of growing. He does the work of growing us spiritually, which is encouraging and an invitation for that the one who’s seeking.

The Followers of Jesus

It’s also inspiration for the one who is a follower of Jesus. It’s a great reminder that when we are trying to shine the light, we know we don’t do it perfectly. We know that often we don’t shine the light of Jesus. What’s even worse is as sinful, broken people, followers of Jesus, sometimes actually darkness is coming out of us. Sadly, people who either say they’re Christian and do horrible things, or even people who are Christians and make horrible mistakes and hurt people. That is the message here that God is the one that actually does the growing, even in our mistakes and failures. God does the growing, and He is growing His kingdom.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

The Disinterested

We get the last parable like this mustard seed that grows into a giant tree. Jesus said, “How can I describe the kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It’s the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants. It grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.” That’s the story of the mustard seed. It’s a small seed and it grows into a huge tree. The person who is skeptical to that might raise questions like the mustard seed is not the smallest seed. You can find a smaller seed, and the mustard plant is not the biggest bush around that you can find. There’s a number of factors going into that one. Jesus is talking to a Middle Eastern group, talking about something that’s familiar to them, but actually the main point of the story is that it is a tiny seed compared to the size of plant that it is, that the mustard plant is one of those plants that has this huge differentiation between a tiny seed and a huge plant.

The Interested

For the seeker, the reminder here is that God only needs the smallest amount of faith to do the most greatest transformation in someone’s heart. It only takes a small amount of faith and trust in Jesus for God to do that work of growing us spiritually. That’s the invitation that’s there.

The Followers of Jesus

For the one who’s following Jesus, it’s a reminder that God’s kingdom is always growing from the smallest things. Picture this scene that’s happening for Jesus in His day. He’s got a very small group of followers. He’s got 12 direct followers. One of them we know is going to betray Him, Judas. There’s really only 11 dedicated followers in Jesus. Such a small start. How overwhelming it must be. When Jesus is telling these stories, like people are going to hide their light, or we look at the story before, which is some plants just won’t grow at all. They’ll land on the path and they’ll be snatched away. You can imagine a small group of followers feeling really discouraged by that. Jesus’ message here is the kingdom grows, and it can grow from the smallest things. We amazingly sit here on the other side of the world 2,000 years later and are witnesses to that growth. That small band of followers shared something that has spread to what is now the largest has the largest following of any other belief system ever in history or in the world. Christianity is really one of the only belief systems where the vast majority of people who follow it actually look nothing like the person who they’re following. Jesus was a Jewish Middle Eastern man. Christianity has grown around Europe, around Western civilization significantly, continues to grow in Africa. They’re saying it’s hard to know because in China some churches need to be in hiding, but they’re saying China has probably got more Christians in it than any other country in the world at this point in history. It’s probably the largest Christian country in terms of sheer numbers of people. That’s what’s happening with the good news of Jesus around the world. That is this tiny seed.

The comedian actor Ricky Gervais, he’s a fairly outspoken atheist, and he makes an argument that religion isn’t about truth. He says religion is just about tradition. It’s about wherever you grew up. If you grew up in India, then you’ll be Hindu, and if you grew up in Asia and China, you’ll be Buddhist, and if you grew up in the West, you’ll be Christian. There’s a couple of problems with that statement. First of all, the same thing can be said for atheism. Atheism hasn’t existed in all of history until the last few hundred years. All of history people have grasped hold of a concept of God. That idea of atheism is being passed on like a tradition just like any other. If that’s his argument that what you believe is not about truth but it’s about tradition, then he has to face his own questions. Also, that’s just not true of Christianity. It started in the Middle East, and it has spread to the whole world. It’s not true that it’s just if you grew up. We have people in our church here who grew up in India and are not Hindu. We have people around the world that have grown up in lots of countries and follow a man who is not from their own country. This is the kingdom of God that keeps on growing. It takes the smallest amount of faith in someone’s heart to bring huge transformation. God continues to do amazing things around the world. It feels especially in Western civilization, there are moments where the church is struggling. It feels like Christianity is on decline. Across the global scale, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. God continues to do amazing things.

The message is don’t miss the message. There’s multiple layers to these stories, and you can stop at the beginning if you wish. That is your choice. God has given us free will to make a decision whether we are followers of Him or we are not. The next layer there is a layer of intrigue and invitation. It is the invitation to question more, dig more, explore more. Be careful of the danger of saying I believe in God or the idea of God or even Jesus. Actual faith in Jesus requires active trust in Jesus. It involves loving that that will result in things like loving Him more. It’ll result in things like loving the church. Jesus calls the church His bride. It’s difficult to love Jesus and not love His bride. It involves just loving obedience to Him. That’s what pours out of active trust in Jesus. For the follower, the message is to shine Jesus and to shine bright. That is what we that is the purpose we’ve been called to. If we hide that, if we hide our faith under our bed or under a basket, then we’re not living in our purpose and we won’t see God at work in our lives. The reminder is God is at work.