A.  Seeds have to be planted.  The parable begins with a man scattering seed on the ground, just as the sower did in the previous parable.  In the previous parable the seed landed on four different types of soil which pictured four different types of listeners.  Do you remember the four ways of listening?  The way side pictured a hard heart which didn’t hear a thing.  The rocky soil pictured a semi committed listener who had reservations about anything too hard.  The thorns and briars pictured a distracted listener who was trying to multitask as he listened.  And then there was good ground, the one who welcomed what he heard and held on to it and worked at obeying it.  This parable develops out of that last type of soil described in 4:20.  What happens when seed finds good soil? 

          After it is planted, nothing much happens.  The farmer plants the seed and then goes to something else, described as “sleeping and rising.”  He pays no attention to the seed and what it is doing.  The seed doesn’t sprout and grow because he’s an agriculture specialist, or a chemist, he just puts the seed out and some happens to fall on good ground. 

          The picture is of the work of God’s words.  Jesus went around planting seeds. He taught, He preached, He explained, He corrected, all the while focusing on the words of the Father.  What I am doing this morning in this message is planting seeds. I am speaking about the Word of God.  I am sowing.  What happens next?  I don’t know.  The farmer places the seed in the ground and doesn’t know what happens next. 

          B.  Once planted, seeds grow on autopilot.  28 "For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.

          Notice, “the earth yields crops by itself.”  “By itself” is the Greek word, automatee, which is translated by Kenneth Wuest, “self-moved, spontaneously, without external aid, and also beyond external control, with a way and will, so to speak, of its own that must be respected and waited for” (Mark, 92).  The English word we get from automatee is, automatic.  And that’s the word here.  The earth brings forth fruit automatically.  It needs no help from the farmer.  God has so designed nature that dirt is smart enough to work with seeds, break them open, and encourage their growth.  And seeds are preprogrammed to develop into tomato plants and trees.  Of course the quality of the soil comes in, the weather and the cultivation of the plant, but the tomatoes come, not because the farmer makes them, but because that’s the nature of the seed!  Let’s hear it for seeds! We normally don’t think much of seeds; they are cheap, and lying around everywhere.  And yet they play a significant part in life.

          And the seed will sprout and come up.  Under normal conditions nothing will stop this process.  Seeds keep growing sometimes even when concrete is poured over them!  While the seed is doing its work, the farmer is doing something else, sleeping and rising, paying bills.  He sees a little blade coming out of the ground.  Does he make it come out of the ground?  No.  And then appears the head of the plant, and then the entire plant grows and it comes time for him to get up suddenly and start harvesting what he has planted. 

          What happened in the interval?  HOW did the seed produce the blade and the head and the plant?  NO ONE KNOWS.  It is one of the mysteries of nature.  The point is that there are things we don’t know.  We see it growing but we don’t know how it grew, or what made it grow.  Jesus said the work of the Holy Spirit is like wind; we can see its results, but we don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.

          On the other hand, there are things we DO know.  The farmer knew that he would get a crop from the seeds, so after he planted them, he let them grow.  He didn’t exhume them every 24 hours to see if they were really growing.  He knew something was happening, even though he didn’t understand what it was.  And he couldn’t change the process.  Tomatoes are going to take 80 days.  Even a creative, brilliant farmer can’t get tomatoes in 40 days.

          The progress may seem slow, but it is at work day and night.  It comes up as a tender blade which a cat can step on and crush, but it keeps growing, quietly, without noise, incessantly without stopping.

          C.  Planted seeds “guarantee” a harvest.  29 "But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  There comes a time when the farmer goes back to work because it is harvest.  Now the seed needs him.  What he has been waiting for has arrived.  Now he can’t wait and sleep.  Harvest means that he has a window of opportunity to get the produce reaped before it spoils.  Planted seeds bring about a harvest.

          Is this parable talking about us?  Or Christ?  Isn’t Christ the sower?  He was the sower in the first parable.  And He is the final reaper in Revelation 14:14.  But verse 26 says, “a man”, and this man sleeps and rises day after day.  Does that sound like Christ?  And this man is ignorant of the process going on under his feet.  Does that sound like Christ the creator of all things?  Would He not know what is going on?  Hardly.

          The picture is of human beings planting spiritual seeds, in their own hearts and in the hearts of their children, and friends, relatives, neighbors and co-workers.  They plant, they wait, and they like what they see.

          Do you remember Mutiny on the Bounty?  If you didn’t read the book, you might have seen one of the movies.  Here’s the way the story is described by D. James Kennedy: the heartless captain of the ship, Bounty, provoked a mutiny among the sailors.  Nine of these British sailors fled to an island, but left there, fearing they would be discovered.  They took with them their Tahitian wives – nine British sailors, nine Tahitian wives, five Tahitian men, including a chieftain, and their wives.  They went out into the open sea, seeking a place to hide.

          They found an island, which they called Pitcairn Island.  In the trilogy of books, which begins with Mutiny on the Bounty (the third one is entitled Pitcairn’s Island), there are probably few other places where you can see such evidence of the powerful effect of the grace of God.

          The sailors were rough, to say the least.  The Maori Tahitian natives built an altar to worship their pagan gods.  The Britishers did nothing of the sort, for they had no god.  Soon, they began to drink.  They fell to arguing, then to fighting, and then the killing began.

          Some of the natives killed one of the British men, and three of the Tahitian wives of the Englishmen cut off the heads of Tahitians to show their anger at this.  Finally, someone put an axe in the back of the head of Quintal, the biggest, roughest one of them all.  McCoy drank so much he lost his mind, ran right off a 500 foot cliff, and died on the rocks below.

          Soon there were only two Englishmen left, Young and Smith.  Young was the only one there who knew how to read.  Smith found a Bible in a chest they had brought with them.  Young began to teach Smith how to read from the Bible.  Not only did he begin to learn how to read, but he began to read about the great message of the New Testament – the message of grace (mentioned 150 times in the NT), of a God who loves them, of a God who is willing to change them and to receive them as His sons and daughters.  Both of these men were converted.

          Unfortunately, Young died – the first man to die of natural causes on the island.  They had arrived in 1789, the year of our Constitution.  I am sure they didn’t know about that, but interestingly, Alexander Smith changed his name to John Adams and began a new colony.  He began to teach the Bible.  Every evening he had devotions for the entire colony.  Soon everyone was converted to Christ.

          Children were born, the colony grew and grew, and they were all converted to Christ.  Finally, twenty years after they landed, the first British ship discovered them.  They were so astonished at the peaceful, blissful, model community that had been created on that island, they dropped the charges against them (from the introduction of D. James Kennedy’s Bible with devotionals, 1996, 5).

          What happened?  No one could detail how the changes came about.  But people read the word of God and the seed was planted – and continued night after night as Smith taught.  And the continual planting of the seed brought about amazing results.

          So what?  How does this fit our situations?

1.  This is an striking parable of hope.  There is as much confidence in this parable as there is when you plant tomato seeds because you expect to eat tomatoes in June.  The primary thing you need to do in order to reap a spiritual harvest is plant the right seeds, that come from the Word of God.  Seeds are words.  You place words from God in your mind and your heart, and you WILL GET RESULTS!  We don’t need to understand how it is going to work, or how we are going to get spiritual results. 

          Our responsibility is to plant the seeds.  How do you “sow” that seed?  You get God’s words into your mind and others’  minds.  You talk about it, read it, memorize it, discuss what it means, keep our minds coming back to the seed which is God’s Word.  Tonight Dan and Deborah Long are going to talk about how to get these words into the heart of someone who is a Muslim, who is listening to the words of the Koran.  How do you turn a Muslim terrorist into a kind, gentle, loving person who wants to serve others?  Get the word of God into his/her heart and the Holy Spirit will use it.          And once you get the word of God in there, it doesn’t matter if they leave and you don’t see them again.  That word will keep working.  Matthew Henry has this delightful statement in his commentary: “The prophets do not live for ever; but the word which they preached, is doing its work, when they are in their graves” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, 473).  Remember that, parents!  Remember that, teens.  You say a word from God’s Word at Bowie High and it will bear fruit.

2.  This is an striking parable of warning.  We need to be careful what we plant.  We become what we plant.  Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”  This verse says that we cannot control the harvest.  The harvest is automatic.  But we can control the planting.  You plant homosexual thoughts in your mind, you plant pornography in your mind, you plant bitterness in your mind, or gossip, or deceit, and you will reap “corruption,” an awful harvest.  You can control what comes in, but you cannot control what it produces.  Garbage in, garbage out.  The Word of God in, everlasting life out.

2.  Seeds contain a “multiplication” element.

30 Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? 31 "It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; 32 "but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." 33 And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

          Notice the question, “to what shall we liken the kingdom of God?”  I think this question comes as a result of the two previous parables.  “We’ve talked about your responsibility to listen closely; we’ve talked about what the Word of God will develop in your heart; how do we picture this entire process of the development of the kingdom of God?”  What is happening as I speak and you listen, and you speak and others listen?  Here’s the picture.

          A.  The kingdom of God is like an in-ground mustard seed.  We have talked in the past two parables about seed sown in general, now we are talking about a specific seed sown, a mustard seed.  The mustard seed is not the absolute tiniest seed in the catalog, but it was a well known Jewish term for anything extra small.  So the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed placed in the ground.  Alright, now what do you have?  I have placed a mustard seed in the ground.  Let me demonstrate that this morning.  I’m going to plant a seed in this little pot of dirt that I am holding.

          Now what do I have?  I have planted a seed in dirt.  Are you impressed?  No one seems to be cheering.  I don’t hear any trumpets blaring or bands marching.  Why not?  Because there is nothing to it!  People don’t get excited about the planting of a seed.  When I plant 144 tomato seeds in my garage, my wife doesn’t even come out to watch me!  It’s not worth watching.

          Think of that.  That is what the kingdom of God is like – a tiny seed you can hardly see, under a little pile of dirt.  Do you find this picture a little strange?

          It’s an accurate picture of the arrival of Jesus on earth.  His arrival was like a mustard seed in the ground.  He was born where?  Bethlehem?  How big was that?  Not even on the register of cities in Judah.  It was insignificant.  A manger?  How important was that?  Who noticed that He was born?  Shepherds?  How significant were they?  And He had to make a run to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill Him?  And He was crucified with criminals?  Do you see what is happening?  The kingdom of God is a mustard seed in the ground. 

          The same thing happens to us individually.  The important things that God does in your life are often too small for you to think much about.  What is the value of spending a minute in prayer?  What is the value of a word of encouragement to that co-worker?  What is the value of a smile, a sacrificial dime in the offering plate?  The Kingdom of God is a mustard seed in the ground. 

          Here’s the punch line.  We’re not impressed with insignificant things, insignificant people, insignificant actions, insignificant amounts of money.  We like the evidence that it is significant.  And to us, the evidence that it is significant is that it is big.  What makes a significant church?  1000 people?  Can God do significant kingdom things in a place as small as Belcroft?  Can God do significant things in a SS class as small as the one Seth Kendrick and Brian Johnson teach, or Brian Patterson and Micah Jones?  Or Jenn Kendrick?  There are just a couple of kids there.  Who cares about a couple of kids?  Give me 150 kids and then I know that God is at work!!!  But the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed in the ground.

          B.  Mustard seeds don’t stay in-ground and small.  Once planted, they change.  They grow to be larger than all herbs.  The mustard bush can reach 9 and 10 feet high.  Do you see what this parable is doing?  It is a prophecy!  Here’s what happens when the seeds of the Kingdom of God are planted.  Even though they start in insignificance, they don’t stay that way.  When Christ was raised from the dead, the Kingdom of God exploded and spread through every land, so that Paul could say in Colossians 1:23 that the gospel was preached to every creature under heaven.  And what started as a “little flock” will some day in the future be an innumerable multitude from every nation, every tribe, every people, every tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9-10).  That is the fruit of the mustard seed.

          Joanne Shelter and a co-worker entered an isolated tribe of headhunters in northern Philippines called the Balangao in 1962.  They went in to do medical work and to try to write down their language and translate parts of the Bible.  After years of nothing except work, Joanne one day asked Ama, one of the head men and the one helping her learn and translate his language, to use his new skills of reading to “correct” her translation of I John.  As he read he was amazed and said, “this is good.  People would believe it if they could hear it.” 

          He gathered others to listen, and soon people were coming from other villages so that there were 50-60 gathered on Sundays to listen to Joanne.  Soon people were streaming in wanting to know about the “God who has more power than the spirits.”  At first they were afraid to talk to Him, but when I Timothy was translated and they got to chapter 2 which says, “men everywhere ought to pray,” they began praying.  When they read that believers ought to take care of widows, one man went to the shack of a very poor widow, gathered her and her two cooking pots and installed her as the grandmother of his family.

          Joanne says, “the power of God’s Word became so strong to the Balangaos that they challenged my own spiritual growth with their obedience to newly translated portions of the Bible.  A few days after I’d handed out a dozen or so typed copies of the drafted book of James to the teaching elders, an elder named Fanganan came running to me in a panic.  His boys had been to the forest, where they had eaten poison berries, and they were dying.  I stood there, paralyzed.  I had assisted the tribe medically, but I had no idea what to do for poison!  Fanganan’s frustration grew.  “Can’t you at least come and pray?  That’s what that James says you’re supposed to do!” he spouted.  Of course this was true, but fear gripped me and what-ifs flooded my mind.  Yet, I knew that if I was going to hand God’s Word to others, I would have to do what it says.  Trembling, I followed him to his little house-on-stilts and climbed up the ladder to where his two little boys were writhing, looking near death.  I prayed.  I don’t know what I said, but when I looked up, they were well!  I was amazed, but Fanganan wasn’t.  “That’s what that James said, isn’t it?” he asked.

          Today, churches exist in every village in the Balangao valley.  Bible conferences, youth camps and training programs are held for church leaders.  Young mothers teach the Bible in the public schools.  And Balangaos are reaching out beyond their borders to take missionary journeys to neighboring language groups.  This year they’ve trained 88 Daily Vacation Bible School teachers for outreach in villages throughout the mountains as well as in some lowland areas.  And a ripple effect has begun.  One Balangao couple is now translating the Scriptures for a neighboring language group.  Two Balangao women have even gone beyond the Philippines to East Asia – one to be involved in Bible translation and the other to teach English in a Bible school behind closed doors (from Decision July-August, 2006, “A Message for all People,” by Joanne Shelter, 14-15).  Where did it all start?  Just like this pot in my hand, with a seed in the ground.

          Have you ever thought that God might want to give you your own special tribe to minister to, to translate the Bible into their language and be the first one to share with them the incredible news that they can have forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ?  Wouldn’t that be awesome?

          What should we take away from this parable?

1.  This parable is a striking prophecy.  What you do in obeying God may be very small, but it won’t stay that way!  It definitely will not stay that way!  When you share your testimony with someone else, that word will grow and develop and be repeated to others.  It will not stay as a word under a pile of dirt.  Your words may do very little, but God’s words are alive, and will germinate and produce plants and fruit.  God said it!  The tiny moves you make in obedience will grow and spread out.  God said it!

2.  This parable is a striking warning.  We can be so worried about the “big” things, that we miss the important things.  We are out making a name for ourselves at work when we could be reading the Bible to our children.  We may have so much to do that we miss prayer.

          Do you want some mustard trees in the garden of your life?  Keep sowing.  Keep reading and memorizing your Bible.  Keep asking God to give you listening ears and an open heart to hear His voice.  Keep sharing the good news with others.  It’ll happen.  You don’t need to understand how it works.  You only need to know (and obey) the directions.  It’s as sure as tomato seeds.

02/18/07, BBC am