Unlocking the Parable of the Lost Sheep

Jesus speaks in parables we have trouble understanding. Jesus told jokes we often miss the punch-line. Jesus answered questions we are no longer asking.We all know the Bible says Jesus wept but why doesn’t it say he laughed? I want to suggest that the reason the Bible never says Jesus laughed is because he was the one telling all the jokes.

What's So Funny?

When I was a teenager, I loved reading the Bible. I would read about Jesus fumbling disciples and I would laugh. I would read about how the religious establishment would give Jesus a trick question and how Jesus hilariously answered them.

One day my Dad heard me laughing and came into my room and very sternly asked me, “What’s so funny?” I sheepishly said, “I’m reading the Bible.” Our problem is we are so over-familiar with the Bible that we often miss the point. Because we think we already understand the parable of the lost sheep that we miss the joke Jesus tells.

Jesus tells this parable to a hostile crowd. He is being challenged by religious leaders on why he eats with sinners and hangs out with the wrong kind of people. People are upset or angry and one way to settle down people is to tell them a joke and that is what Jesus does.

We miss the punch-line of Jesus joke because we are not shepherds. When Jesus says “which of you” he is talking to shepherds. How many of you shepherds leave the ninety nine sheep in the wilderness and go after the one? When Jesus told this parable, all the shepherds were laughing. No shepherd would leave a whole flock of sheep in the dangerous wilderness and search after one that wandered off. No, you cut your losses and you go on.

If there is a parable we need to hear with new ears again, it is this parable of the lost sheep. Hear the reading of God’s word:

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complaining, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he had found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!” I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:1-7).

Jesus tells this joke that ends with the powerful description of how God sees lost sheep. God loves it when lost sheep are found and prodigals come home. The story not only tells how much God values us but also challenges our lack of concern and religious egos that think we are better than other people who need to repent as if we don’t.

Just like Jesus said the parable of the different soils is the key to unlocking his parables, so Matthew 13:13 says, “Though seeing, we don’t see, though hearing, we don’t understand.” The key to unlocking this parable of Jesus is to listen to God’s word with sinners ears and to respond with a repentant heart.  One of the oldest prayers in the scriptures is the prayer, “Lord, have mercy” or “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.” This kind of prayer invites Jesus into our lives and asks Jesus to help us find our way back home again.

Our problem is we can be like the religious establishment of Jesus’ day who did not rejoice when undesirables and messy people come home to God. I mean if Jesus is criticized for hanging out with the wrong people, when is the last time you got criticized for hanging out with the wrong kind of people? Does the church want people today to have their lives cleaned up and the messy baggage left at home before they are welcome in our churches? The sad reality is God loves everyone without exception and we do not.

Lost in Translation

This parable of the lost sheep in Luke chapter fifteen is part of three parables with the lost coin and the lost son. What we need to see in these three parables is how God works differently in the lives of his people. In the parable of the lost sheep, the good shepherd Jesus seeks after the lost. In the parable of the lost coin, the Holy Spirit seeks the lost with searching illumination. In the parable of the lost son, the Father seeks the lost with open arms.

I’m excited to see when the church reaching out to people who are hurting, abandoned, and forgotten. When people reach out to kids on the street who need attention and help, there is great joy in heaven. When men are trying to mentor boys who have been abused and abandoned, there is great joy in heaven. When people go to nursing homes to give a cup of cold water in Jesus name and simply spend time and love people, there is great joy in heaven.

Each of these three parables reveals an increase in value. One sheep was not worth much and one out of a hundred is one percent. Coins were more valuable than a sheep and one coin lost out of ten equals ten percent. Sons are far greater value than sheep and coins and one son is lost out of two so the value increases to fifty percent. Each of the three lost items happen differently. The lost sheep wanders away like people today wander away from churches. The lost coin is lost by someone else and the lost son is rebellious and leaves home.

Keep Counting

Each of these three parables are stories about counting. Our problem today is because times have become difficult for many churches, people have quit counting. I know a powerful Christian leader in Illinois who started a house church with twenty people. He led that group to grow to over nine hundred people in the past fifteen years. In the last two years, people have been wandering away for the last two years and now that church is less than four hundred. The leader of the church said that the numbers are so depressing that we have stopped counting.

Jesus powerful parable is a strong reminder to us today to not quit counting. Don’t stop noticing those who have wandered off into the world. Keep counting because every person has great value and worth to God and His kingdom. Don’t stop counting because every single person who has wandered away from God or the church is important to God. God cares about numbers because every single person counts!

Parables of Reversal

Jesus is this crazy shepherd who goes after those who nobody else is going after. Jesus tells us in many of his parables that God is not like us but extends his grace and mercy to others where we often do not. We like to think we are the safe ninety nine in the fold and not like the lost person wandering in the wilderness. Are you sure?

Do we care more about belonging to the church or about people who have left the church? Do we care more about the flock than the Shepherd? Does any of this sound familiar today? But the lost sheep left us. They get what they deserve for leaving the flock? Is that our response? Or how about, I rejoice and celebrate and laugh even when one returns. Is that our response?

I believe Jesus would give this parable differently in today’s church in which we live in. Jesus would say something like this to us. Ninety nine sheep have gone missing and only one sheep is left in the fold. Now what are you going to do about it? The hard reality is we are no longer a majority today. The church of Jesus Christ is now a minority. There are sheep everywhere that have gone M.I.A. (missing in action). What is going to be the response of our church in this new reality we see all around us?

Will the church live as a missionary outpost reaching out to those who nobody is going after? Will the church welcome back those who have left the church? Will the church start more missionary outposts to reach more people for God’s kingdom? Is God preparing you for a new mission in life?

The greatest thing in the world is knowing Jesus the good shepherd. He will never leave nor forsake you. He never forgets or ever misleads you. When we fall, he lifts us up. When we fail, he forgives. When we are weak, he gives us strength to go on. When we are afraid, he gives us courage. When we are hurt, he heals us. When we are blind, he leads us. He is the good shepherd and he is always there for us. When we face trials, he is there beside us. When we face problems, he comforts us. When we face loss, he provides for us. Even when we face death, he is there to carry us home. He is the faithful good Shepherd. Are you completely His?

Unlocking the Parable of the Net

How many of you have heard of big fish stories of the big one that got away? I have heard fishing jokes my whole like. One might even consider the story of Jonah as God’s fishing joke where a big fish caught a man.

Here are some of the humorous fishing sayings I have heard recently. “Fisherman don’t lie, they just stretch the fish.” Or, “when it comes to fishing, I don’t exaggerate, I just remember big.” I suspect a wife of a fisherman came up with this last one. “Men are like fish, when we open our mouths, we get into trouble.”

I have a confession. I don’t know how to fish. Oh, I have tried hared many times but I am simply horrible at it. I either catch fish that are so small I have to throw them back or I simply don’t catch any fish at all.

I’m just being honest, I really don’t like going out in the early morning in freezing cold weather to put slimy worms on a pole. This is not my definition of fun! Nor do I like to admit that my big fishing stories are all about the ones that got away!

In this parable, Jesus talks about fishing. In another place, Jesus talks about being fishers of men. Is others were honest today, some might say I really don’t know how to evangelize or witness or share my faith with others. This parable is so important to here again. Listen to Jesus words in Matthew 13:47-50,

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

When Jesus talks about fishing in this parable, he is not talking about pole fishing or fly fishing but fishing with a large dragnet between two boats. Notice that the dragnet catches everything and every kind of fish.

Everyone, saint or sinner, believer or unbeliever are caught in God’s huge kingdom net. When it catches “every kind,” this means it catches men and women, married and single, young and old, hearing and deaf, sighted or blind, speaking or mute.

You could say Jesus gives a very politically incorrect fishing story. He speaks about God’s kingdom catching everyone and even uses language like wicked and good. Jesus is describing God’s great judgment where everyone will be caught in God’s great dragnet.

Jesus says the righteous fish will be kept and the wicked ones will be thrown away. How politically incorrect is that? Rather than Jesus saying “wicked,” maybe he should of used more politically correct language like those who have “spiritually challenged lifestyles.” Rather than alluding to beautiful fish and ugly fish, one could say about the ugly ones, “aesthetically challenged.”

The hard truth and reality is judgment is part of Jesus message here. Life is cheap if there is no judgment. And why would anyone need salvation if there is no judgment at all? But the main point of this parable is hidden within it. We miss the deeper spiritual point. We are not judged by works but we are judged by what Jesus has already done for us on the cross.

Note that the angels do the separating, not us. We would rather judge others than let God or his angels do the judging. We don’t like this story because we are not in control, evil exists, and bad things happen. Heaven we love but hell is something we can do without. The great truth hidden within this parable is Jesus died for us all.

Dying to Get Caught

Earlier in Matthew thirteen, Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the tares. In Matthew 13:39, it says this harvest is at the “end of the age.” Likewise in the parable of the net, in verse 49, it says similarly, “so it will be at the end of the age.” This is not just a future event like most of us think from a surface reading of the biblical text. The Bible wraps past, present and future all together.

The Greek word for end of age here is “synteleig” which means completion. This word is closely associated and sounds similar to the word Jesus spoke and breathed his last and said, “It is finished.” The end of the age has arrived or is now completed.

Scripture repeatedly says we are made righteous through the work of the cross of Christ. Philippians 3: 9 says it like this, “that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” 

Please get this; this is so important to understand. No one is tossed aside because they had a bad track record on earth. No one is selected because they have a good track record. Our works do not make us good. Actually, the Bible says our good works are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).  They do not make us whole or complete but actually fall short in the end.

In the end, the only thing we are judged by is what Jesus did on the cross. We are not judged by the right or wrong decisions we have made. We are judged solely on knowing Jesus and the work he did on our behalf on the cross.

The Day the Revolution Began

We often miss the question behind the parable and in this one, the underlying question is why is there so much evil in the world? Jesus parable gives an answer to this question by saying that God deals with all the evil of this world on the cross.

Here is why people today are rejecting the Bible or not accepting what the church is telling them. So many church people have been saying by our actions for way too long this story----“God so hated the world that he killed his only son!” But that is not what the Bible says or teaches. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world (every single person and all of creation) that he gave his only begotten son.”

This is not just a story about sin but also idolatry! The problem is not simply about our bad choices and sin that need punishing. The problem is about our idolatry that is corruption and destroying God’s creation. The Bible story is not just about going to heaven when you die, it’s about living as God’s new creation on earth in the present. 

Can we capture this cosmic biblical vision where Christ is the very center of every parable he gives. Christ died and rose from the dead like a seed dying in the ground and rising to new life. We also are to die to self and live for Christ as God’s new creation.

If Christ is the center, then so is the cross of Christ that takes us to God’s grace. Just like in another parable where Jesus describes God’s kingdom like a great wedding party, the ones who are cast our or can not enter are those who are wearing their own self-righteous wardrobe. The only way any of us enter into God’s heavenly party is because we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

I love the way Scripture says this,

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved (God wants all of Israel and all people to be saved). For I bear them witness, that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (is that you?). For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God (have you submitted to the righteousness that comes from Christ?). For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:1-4).

Unlocking the Parable of the Wheat and Tares

"Don’t get mad, get even." How many times have we tried the revenge approach and find we were the losers in the end? The lie we are told today is “revenge is sweet.” The problem is it turns quickly into a bitter pill.

Being an identical twin has its advantages and setbacks. One of the things I disliked as young kid was my identical twin brother and I always got identical presents. If they were different, we might fight over them. All gifts were the same in every way. One of the problems this created was distinguishing his toys and things from mine.

I remember we had identical looking piggy banks. One day my twin brother told me he had accidently broke my piggy bank. I was mad and how did he know it was mine he broke and not his. The more I thought about it, the madder I got. We lived in a two story house with a concrete backyard. I thought, “I’ll show him” and I tossed his piggy bank out the two story window and watch it shatter into a million pieces.

Later that day my brother apologized to me and told me how bad he felt for breaking my piggy bank. He told me I could have his. At that point, I felt so bad, I did not have the courage to tell him I had destroyed his. He eventually found out.

Jesus parable of the wheat and tares is a very misunderstood parable. We hear things like this parable is about Christians and false Christians----Not so! It is about the world and not the church. There is a spiritual pattern in this parable we can apply to the church but Jesus plainly says the field is the world and not the church.

Others have suggested the parable is about weeding out tares from the wheat---Not so! This parable is not about us judging who is going to heaven and who is not. Some think this parable is about how tares can become wheat before Jesus returns----Not so! This parable is about evil in the world and not evangelism.

Jesus spoke powerful spiritual truths through parables. The parable of the wheat and tares is essentially about God shining in the life of the believer who produces good fruit for God’s kingdom.  Listen to the reading of God’s Word,

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owners came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in the field? How then does it have tares? He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servant said to him, “Do you want us then to go and gather them up? But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them together in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matthew 13:24-30)

A Tale of Two Sowers

What we find in this parable is both good and evil in the world and the underlying question is which are you? The good sower is Jesus who plants God’s word in our hearts to produce good fruit. There is an evil enemy sower named Satan who plants bad seed to destroy the works of God. Jesus goes on to explain this parable in verses 36-43. God’s desire for each of us is to have his word and Spirit planted so deep within us that it produces positive spiritual fruit.

Are you walking in fear and exhaustion, despair and death or are you walking in faith and love and joy and life in Christ? When we apply Jesus words to our own lives, his seed grows spiritual power and life in us. Are we praying honestly, seeking God fervently, singing songs worshipfully, obeying Jesus faithfully or are we just going through the motions?

Nobody wants to ask this difficult question today, “Am I a real follower of Jesus or a planting of the Devil?” The problem for many people today is they don’t even believe there is a Devil, and if there is, they are certainly not following the evil one. We think real evil people are crooks or lawyers or politicians----never us.

In Jesus day, all Jews were viewed as God’s chosen people. Despite all the immorality, idolatry and even taking revenge on one’s neighbor like this parable illustrates, they thought they were born into God’s kingdom by simply being in the line of Abraham. Some might think this is strange but don’t we do the same thing today? How many people think if you are born in America today that this qualifies you automatically as a Christian!

This is exactly why we need to hear the parable again. Am I wheat or a tare? Am I doing God’s work to please myself or God? Am I surrendering my loyalties and priorities to Christ or something else? Is my life producing Christ’s fruit and righteousness or am I simply following the lusts of my flesh?

How many times do we run into people who claim they are Christians who demonstrate no spiritual fruit or spiritual power in their lives? Can that person be me?

Let Them Grow Together

Jesus focus is to cultivate wheat and not weed out tares. I know there are some of you who say, “I have sown good seed in my home, where did the tares come from?” Jesus answer is it is a work of Satan. Our focus is to cultivate the fruit of God’s Spirit and God’s patience within us. If we think it’s our job to go into the weeding business, this may actually show you are a weed. Don’t do it Jesus says!

When Jesus tells a story or a parable, what we often miss is the question behind Jesus words. The question behind this parable is “Why doesn’t God do something about evil?” The whole gospel story is God has! Jesus death, resurrection and ascension decisively dealt with evil. When will evil be destroyed? It will at the end-time great judgment when all wrongs are righted.

Scripture tells us that our fight is not against tares but the enemy Satan (Ephesians chapter 6). It is not my job or your job or anybody else to judge whether you are a Christian or not---that is God’s job. Jesus says, “Let them grow together.” There is a judgment beyond our judgment and God’s judgment is the only one that counts in the end.

Be extremely glad that God is your judge and not your neighbor. I had a friend who had such low self-esteem that he was scared and terrified of God. He felt he never measures up and always fell short of God’s grace in his mind. No matter how hard he tied, it was never enough! One day he discovered he didn’t have to earn God’s love but that he already had it. Jesus parables have a way of sneaking up on us and changing everything.

What we discover in this parable is not what young people like to say to older Christians, “Please don’t judge me” or what some older Christians have never completely understood, God’s kingdom is about radical grace and mercy and not your performance. God’s compassion and patience is always there waiting for us.

By Jesus living word taking shape in us, we no longer have to walk in fear. No more living in the shadows or worrying who is in or who is out in God’s kingdom. We no longer have to compete or strive against one another or look good. IN this parable we find a place to rest our weary souls in God’s protective loving arms and that is enough.

Let me end with these comforting and challenging words by Jesus our great Shepherd. John 10:9-16, 27-30 is where Jesus says,

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by my own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. . .

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I have given them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

Unlocking the Parable of the Renters

The Trouble With Renters

I can't pay the rent because my dog ate my husbands pay check.
I can't pay the rent because when I deposited my check in the bank, they made a mistake and it will
    take two weeks to get it straightened out.
I can't pay the rent because I had a choice of paying the rent or buying a car and I bought the car. I
    knew you would understand.
I can't pay the rent because I knew my tax money was coming this week so I spent the rent money. I
    just found out my tax money is delayed.
I can't pay the rent because it is your fault my last check bounced. Why didn't you tell me you were going to go to the bank that same day.

Landlords can seem distant, indifferent and do they care more about their dirty houses or the dirty living? We think the landlord doesn't like us when the real problem is we would rather hide or runaway from the landlord. The problem of sin is we think the landlord God can't stand to be around sinners who can't stand to be in the presence of sin. The real problem is sin can't stand to be in the presence of God.

Hear again the parable of the renters:

There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country Now when the vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son." But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance." So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers? They said to him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruit of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind to powder. Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

God's Vineyard

God is the owner of the vineyard. The background to Jesus parable is the song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-6.  Isaiah the prophet says,

Now let me sing of my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding his vineyard. My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and  cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; So he expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? And now, please le Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take a hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

Notice how God is called "Beloved." God is the one who does the work. God is looking for good fruit. Lastly, because the vineyard produces bad fruit, it is trampled down and ruined. Jesus goes onto quote Psalm 118:22 that says, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Jesus is the cornerstone and we are his builders. The key verse in this text is the last part of the Psalm quotation, "This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes" (Matt.21:42).

Are the works of God marvelous to our eyes or have we become so accustomed to the routine and common that they seem only mundane? The problem of religion is it often breeds overfamiliarity. We can take our faith for granted and even be careless about it. It is when I marvel at the works of God that I know I belong to God. I'm God's Beloved and I love working and serving Him. The problem develops when I have been working in God's vineyard for so long. I begin to think its mine. "I manage the vineyard so I own it. I've been going to this church for so long, It's my church!" The Bible declares its God's church!

Please Don't Kill the Messenger

I saw a fascinating movie this year called "Kill the Messenger." The movie was a true story of how our CIA and government sold drugs to Americans to take down other drug dealers in the 1990's. There was this small town reporter who broke the story and because famous. But the powers that be did everything they could to discredit the reporter and kill the messenger. This reporter was reported committing suicide later but his original story did get verified later but did not get hardly any major press at that time.

Is this not a description of God's people throughout history. God sends his prophets to speak to Israel but they persecute some and kill others. God finally sends his son and they kill him as well. Why do we always have to kill the messenger. Why is it that when anyone breaks a corruption story of our government or blows the whistle on our government that those individuals must either go to prison or wind up dead. Must we continue to kill the messenger?

Jesus says in this parable that God sends his son to us. It's not your work or your vineyard. It's God's vineyard and even the work you are doing is God power and Spirit working through you. It's all about Jesus and not about you! We are to get our eyes off ourselves and put them on Him. If we look for tool long at ourselves, we will no longer see or honor the Son. The truth is I can not clean up the mess in my life nor can I save myself. The whole point of this parable is its the Lord's doing (v.42). Jesus did for me what I could not do for myself. If you think you can do it yourself, you will end up rejecting the Son!

We talk like this is God's world but we more act and live like this is our world. We wrongly think our dirty life will somehow make Jesus unclean. We have it all backwards! His pure life will make my life clean. Every time we partake of holy communion, we are not showing how faithful we are to Jesus. Partaking of communion celebrates and marvels at the faithfulness of Jesus.

Where are You?

God is still asking the question to us as he asked to Adam and Eve in the Garden. "Where are you?" Do we want to be found? Do we even care we have lost our way? This parable speaks judgement on the temple leaders because they no longer marveled at the works of God. They did not know God was still pursuing them. I believe we need a new definition of lost today. I got this idea from Joshua Ryan Butler. The religious leaders of Jesus day saw everybody else lost but themselves? Is that you today? Hey, I'm a member of the church. Others need Jesus, not me! I already have him. Do you?

We keep telling others you need to find Jesus. Has God ever quit or stopped pursuing you? This whole parable is about what Jesus is doing for you! Lost means God is coming to find you! Lost doesn't mean you are worthless or life doesn't matter or you are an outsider. Lost means you are pursued, you are valued, you are sought after. In other words, lost means you are wondrously and marvelously loved! Will you respond to that love that has loved you with an everlasting love? God is not a mean landlord. He is a wonderful Savior. Come and surrender yourself into God's loving outstretched arms for you.

Unlocking the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly

A man from a city decides to move to the country and start a chicken farm.  He goes to the local feed store and buys one hundred baby chicks.  A week later he buys two hundred baby chicks.  The third week he buys five hundred baby chicks.  The feed store owner says, “Wow, you must be really doing well.”  The man replies with a sigh, “Not really, I’m either planting them too deep or too far apart.”

Jesus says God’s kingdom is like a farm and unfortunately, the church which represents that farm seems to continue to keep losing ground.  I spoke to a man in the county jail the other day who told me his struggles to listen to the message I gave about God’s kingdom and church because his family were very involved in church and all they did was reject and judge him.

Betting on the Farm

When we look at what is happening in the American church today, we see a growing number of the unchurched, a breakdown of many families, and the rise of atheism in our nation.  There has been a fifty percent growth of atheism in our country in the last fifteen years.  If that was happening in the church, people would be saying this nation was going through a national revival.

If the parable of the soils teaches us that good soil produces a miraculous harvest by the power of God then what does this parable mean concerning the seed of God’s kingdom growing secretly?  Why does God’s kingdom so hidden and Jesus message seem so secretive?  I met a man named Kenny Moore this week who told me this incredible journey he was on with God for the last ten months.  He has been a Christian for many years but its like his relationship with God went into hyper-drive this past year.  God is using Kenny to not only transform his family but the community he lives in.  Despite all the terrible numbers and negative signs of the times we live in, Jesus says the kingdom of God can start like a little mustard seed or with one person who may produce such a supernatural harvest that the positives will way out weigh all the negatives.  Listen to the reading of God’s Word:

And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts a sickle, because the harvest has come (Mark 4:26-29)

 The Secret Message of God’s Kingdom Coming to Earth

Why is the message that Jesus teaches through the parables so hidden?  Parables are to stretch us and get us to ask more questions.  They get us to search a matter out and wrestle for the answers.  Jesus is never one who gives easy answers or takes short cuts to truth or ever gives five quick and easy steps to find success in life.  What we need to learn is not to listen to parables with our ears but with our hearts.

The seed is hidden under the soil.  God plants His word deep into our hearts.  Truth is often hidden and we have to dig deep and passionately seek after it if we are to really search things out.  Our heart is the place where growth secretly happens.  Pride says I have nothing new to learn.  Humility says, “I don’t understand.  Teach me some more.  Help me to understand.”

Last year I saw the movie “God’s Not Dead” which powerfully portrayed a college student standing up for his faith in a college class whose professor was an outspoken atheist.  Atheists got upset at this movie because they could only see an atheist being presented in a negative light.  Paul says it this way that “knowledge puffs up but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1).  What I have seen in the academy and higher education is whether the teacher is an atheist, agnostic or even a Christian, there have been many teachers who have fallen into the trap of intellectual pride and conceit.  Jesus parables often strike right at the heart of things and goes directly for our hearts.  His parables have a way of exposing our pride and arrogance and forcing us to look deeper at our own attitudes and prejudices.

Jesus parables often surprises us and takes us off guard.  Just like this parable, we can not hold the seed in our hand and expect anything to happen.  Unless we put the seed in the soil (one’s heart) then it will not grow.  When we do that we will see what the power of God does.  Another related teaching of Jesus is the seed must die to self.  John 12:24-25 says,

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who keeps his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Notice the farmer does not go out to the field each day to dig up the seed and see if there is any progress.  Life is in the seed of God’s word that grows quietly, secretly, hidden in your heart.  Within this parable is the pregnant expectation of resurrection.  Death turns into eternal life.  Dying to oneself turns into resurrection new life. 

You need to stop looking at what you are trying to accomplish for God and look to what God is trying to accomplish in you!  

God Delights in Us

God’s dream is to build a home in you!  God’s desire is to plant his Holy spirit in you.  You are the place where God’s dreams come true.  God delights in you and hides his treasure in you.  The mystery of the kingdom is God planted his kingdom on a bare hill called calvary and He also plants his kingdom in you.

The church like the  world wants everything superficially fast when it comes to instant spiritual growth or maturity.  But notice in this parable how God kingdom grows slowly and hidden.  Silent slow growth is the pathway towards deeper spiritual maturity.  This especially happens when we do as the parable suggests and plant and scatter seeds of faith, hope and love to others.  Where we tell our neighbors and co-workers and friends that no matter what they are going through, God’s kingdom grace and power is available for every situation in life.

How To Grow Seeds

      1.     Cultivate a vision of God’s kingdom.  God’s secret kingdom is more powerful and cosmic

               in nature.  God’s beauty, mystery and majesty is so wonderful to behold.

      2.    Patiently listen to God’s word.  God has planted his word deep into your soul and

             just like God patiently waits for the seed of life to grow in us, we also wait
             patiently on the God who waits on us.

3.  Learn the discipline of silent contemplation of God’s word.  Silent contemplation is where we wait on God and learn to be His ambassadors for His kingdom.

     4.  The secret message of Jesus is God’s kingdom coming to earth.  The church has
          focused so long on heaven as the goal at the end of life without calling people to
          the kingdom now focus of Jesus.  Jesus brings heaven to earth and he wants us to
          be a part of His great mission to bring heaven to every part of the world around
          us.

 When we keep the message to ourselves and not share it, we betray the message of God’s kingdom.  When we simply defend the status quo around us and not challenge the ways of the world, we betray Jesus message of the kingdom.  When we get caught up in pursuing money, power and status over others, we betray God’s kingdom message.

 Hiding the Message in New Places

Where have you taken the message of God’s kingdom lately?  Are there new places God is calling you to take his revolutionary kingdom message?  Is the secret message of God’s kingdom getting out in your life?  I spoke about Kenny Moore earlier in how God was producing a greater harvest in his life which is growing in abundance in God’s field of this world.

I am excited about the new mission and season of being a caregiver for my Dad.  I am moving him to an assisted living nearby and I look forward to the many opportunities and ways God takes me to this new field, new work, and  new ministry with my Dad and those who surround his life.  Ephesians 3:20 says it like this:

Now to Him (God) who is doing exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us . . . 

Unlocking the Parable of the Sower

A scientist announces to God one day, “God, we don’t need you anymore!  Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing.  In other words, we can do now what you did in the beginning.  We can take dirt and create a human being.  God says, “That’s interesting, show me!”  The scientist bends down to the earth to scoop up some soil.  God interrupts, “Oh no!  You get your own dirt!”

Jesus tells the parable of the sower and says this parable is the key to unlocking the meaning of all the other parables.  Jesus is saying God is the sower, the Word of God is the seed, and you are the dirt!  Jesus parables surprise, shock and turns our world upside down.  Jewish parables were more concerned about concealing that revealing.  Parables often confounded the listener where we are forced to say things like, “I don’t understand?  Help me Jesus.  Parables force us to look deep within ourselves and to dig up the hidden truth to discover the secrets of God’s mysterious kingdom.

 God takes ordinary dirt, clay vessels and God puts His Spirit in them and makes them into precious vessels that can produce an impossible harvest.  We are the dirt and the dirt reveals the condition of our hearts.  Jesus does not just want you to recognize what kind of heart do you posses?  Jesus wants us to see how at different times, each one of these different soils represents the condition of our hearts at different times.

Hard hearts really don’t hear or understand at all what Jesus is saying.  It is not tuned into spiritual truth.  Rocky hearts hear what Jesus is saying but one’s faith is very shallow.  There are no deep roots so faith in Christ is temporary.  When trouble or difficulty comes, and it will, it simply will not hold in the end.  Thorny hearts receive God’s word with joy at the beginning but when the stress and worries of life hit, it folds under pressure.  Chasing after material things quickly chokes out the life of faith.  The good soil produces and enormous bumper crop.  This harvest is miraculous.  Thirty yield is rare. Sixty yield is impossible.  A hundred fold is miraculous and revolutionary.  This can only happen by the power of God.

Jesus is God’s farmer sowing the seeds of the kingdom into the hearts of all people.  We are the dirt and God wants to plant his word deep into our hearts.  Hear the reading of God’s Word:

Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up and chocked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on the good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.  And he said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!  But when he was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that:

Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them (Isaiah 6:9-10)

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it will gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it and bear fruit; some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred  (Mark 4:3-20).

RECLAIMING DIRT

Jesus warning concerns spiritual soil erosion.  Soil is not the problem.  The problem is what do we do with the soil?  If we misuse and abuse it then we ruin the condition of our hearts with inward poisons, toxins, and our hearts become rocky and hardened.  We like to ask the question today, “What would Jesus do?  Do we really want to ask the question? Jesus often exposes and reveals things in us we would rather not see.  In other words, Jesus would probably make us mad.

I remember some time ago I went to a Christian conference where Clark Pinnock was the featured speaker.  Clark Pinnock was a popular Canadian Bible scholar who was well know for both his great humility and learning as well as not afraid of controversy.  I spent the weekend with Clark and it was a bumpy ride.  There were moments I loved being with him and his generosity filled the air with sweetness.  But there were other times where he seemed to be a magnet for controversy and he simply would never back down.  Those were moments I wanted to run and hide.  Not only did it seem like everyone was mad at Clark Pinnock but they seemed to be  mad at whoever happened to be standing beside him at the time which usually was me.

Why couldn’t Clark just easily fit in with the crowd like everyone else.  Why did Clark have to say the most outrageous things at the most inopportune times?  Why couldn’t Clark back off and not make so many people upset?  We all say we want to be with Jesus but I wonder?  I remember after the conference I wondered why it was so difficult to be around Clark Pinnock?  I suddenly realized Clark was one of the most Christ-like person’s I had ever met or spent time with.  If it was hard being around Clark, it is probably also harder being around Jesus than we think.

 FARMING IS RISKY BUSINESS

Jesus says this parable is the key to unlocking the mystery of God’s kingdom (verse 11).  Why was this parable so important to Jesus?  If Jesus disciples didn’t even understand this parable then how are the rest of us going to do any better? (verse 13).  What this parable teaches us is the heart is the key to spiritual understanding.  Is our heart humble or hard?  Is it stretchable of the fullness of God in us or brittle?  If the heart is an actual muscle and the blood flows and channels through it then this is the place where we get our endurance, our power and our strength.  If our heart is a muscle, like every other muscles, we either use it or lose it.

Jesus Christ would not make a good future Farmers of America.  Did you notice what Jesus did not say?  Jesus never said till the land or plow the field.  Worse, he’s throwing seed everywhere!  What farmer does that?  This is a powerful description of the radical grace of God.  Jesus parables not only show the all sufficient grace of God but they also reveal the radical spiritual revolution Jesus is calling people to join.  A little dab of faith will not do!  A little dab of God’s Spirit won’t sustain us in the end.  We need the all consuming power, grace and love of God flowing like a mighty river in our lives.

People are hungry today for God’s love and presence and word.  People say they are starving for God’s word but when they get it they say, “I’m good for the next six months!”  People say they are looking for the presence of God and when they run smack into the Creator of the universe, they say, “Wow, now I know God is real.  It is time to get back to my normal routine of life.”  What is the normal Christian life?  Michael L. Brown once said,

Our Spiritual temperature has grown so cold that when it comes to what God calls normal, the rest of the church will think they have a fever!  Jesus word is challenging us once again.  Some of us have lost our health for the Devil and we won’t lose our reputation for Jesus.  Some of us were brash for Satan but now we are bashful for Jesus.  Some of us were on fire for Hell and now we are lukewarm for heaven.

 The question this parable confronts us with over and over again is what is the condition of your heart?

SOIL DETECTIVES

If this parable teaches us anything it is the issue is not our ability but God’s generosity.  The point of the parable is not for us to try to use our wisdom and logic and figure out which soil other people are to whether they get to hear the gospel or not.  Who deserves to hear the gospel?  None of us do because of our sin but all of us do because of God’s grace.  Nor is the church’s mission to figure out who is in God’s kingdom and who is out.

Jesus makes people mad in Matthew 25 in the parable of the sheep and the goats.  Why?  Because those who thought they were sheep and were in found out they were goats and were out.  Those who thought they were out and were goats discovered they were in and were sheep.  Jesus teaches their will be surprises in heaven on who is in and who is out.  Don’t presume about others or even yourself.  It is only by the grace of God that anybody ends up in God’s magnificent kingdom.

Several weeks ago there were people handing our flyers in my neighborhood.  It was a block party for the whole family.  I knew it was a church sponsoring the event so I asked one lady which church was throwing the block party.  She stuttered and stammered and did not want to tell me.  She asked another lady what to say and that lady very hesitantly told me the name of the church.  I thought this is crazy where people today are afraid to tell other people what church they are representing.  Maybe they were afraid of a bad name that church has received and was trying to turn it around or maybe they were simply embarrassed by the denomination they represented?  But I thought it was great that here was a church that was trying to do something for and in their community.  I just found out they had thirty nine baptisms following that community event.   Now that is a church that is impacting their community for God and God’s kingdom.

 The whole point of the parable is sow the seed!  Throw it out to anyone who will listen!  When I was a teen, I worked on a farm.  I knew a guy named Danny who used to mock me for my Christina faith.  I wrote him off as somebody who was outside the grace of God.  When I saw Danny later give his life to Jesus, I realized then that nobody was outside the grace of God.  I also knew a woman who was miraculously healed from cancer and she lived her life for fifteen years for God.  Suddenly, she decided she wanted to live for the world again and I thought that is crazy.  I don’t get it.  Okay, I also know some people don’t get me.

              Sow the seed. Get over your fear and choose faith.

 Sow the seed and get over failure and trust God completely. 

 Sow the seed and get over yourself, see Jesus in all His beauty and glory and

 power.

JESUS THROUGH THE CENTURIES

I am currently teaching a bible study series working through Jaroslav Pelikan book Jesus Through the Centuries (Yale University Press, 1987).  What is fascinating is looking at how every century of history has captured a particular focus or snapshot of Jesus life.  In the first century, it was Jesus the Jewish Rabbi.  In the second century it was Jesus mission to the Gentiles.  In the third and fourth century it was Jesus as King and Lord.  In the twenty first century it is the global Christ over all the nations.

What is interesting is through the fifth through fifteenth centuries was this focus on the mystical Christ and mystical marriage of the soul.  How Jesus brings us into the intimate love that completely captures our heart and soul.  This mystical marriage is what God desires for our lives.  In the parables of Jesus we not only discover  the mystery of God’s kingdom and grace but the mystery and depths of God love.

*We know we are dirt but God is molding and forming us into something more.

*God is forming a holy union where each of us bear great fruitfulness for God’s kingdom.

*Where each one of us fully discovers what it means to be totally engulfed by God’s light and love.