So in the evenings, Paul is doing a short series on encouragement, which we're taking a break from tonight.
! But I guess my aim really is to give you a little boost of encouragement, I hope, particularly with a view to evangelism from this passage.
In Mark 4. I don't know what you think when you think of the word evangelism, or how you feel. It is normally the word that brings sort of terror into our core, isn't it?
It is a great responsibility, it is a great privilege of the church, to think that God has set up the church as his mouthpiece to the world.
That he has commissioned his church to go to all the nations and to share his gospel message.
And I think we know that well, don't we, as a church? We have a high view of evangelism.
And with that, I think, comes a feeling of pressure.
We can often think that it is all about us, as evangelists, as a church or as individuals, wherever we are.
And in that, I think we can become slightly control freakish about evangelism.
I know that I want that feeling of being in control as I share the gospel.
I don't like to be out of control.
The problem is, recognising, isn't it, that evangelism is actually more about God than it is about me.
It is more about God working than it is about me.
I can think back over conversations, perhaps, that I've had with non-Christians.
And I normally go one of two ways, and I kick myself afterwards.
I can go in a bit too hard and sort of bamboozle fake with biblical language in terms which just alienate them.
And just push them further away.
They don't understand.
Or, perhaps more commonly, I've actually not had enough Bible in my speech and in my language and in my conversation.
I've not been biblical enough.
And I've just given them platitudes or some of my own cherished thoughts.
And really, I'm scared of their reaction.
And that feeling of wanting to be in control determines how I speak to people.
Slightly control freakish in evangelism.
But I think that is why this passage is so refreshing in Mark chapter 4.
Because despite our involvement in the kingdom of God growing through evangelism,
God's kingdom grows independently from us.
Jesus gives the parable here of the picture of a farmer who knows the job of sowing seed.
The analogy is sowing the word, isn't it?
And yet he knows the limits of his job.
Do you see that in verse 27?
He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows.
He knows not how.
Verse 28.
The earth produces by itself.
The growth is independent from him, the farmer.
He is quietly confident of a harvest, isn't he?
At the end in verse 29, he puts in the sickle.
But he has to give up that feeling of control.
He has to rely on the seed itself.
And on the earth, and on the weather,
and on things that he has no control over whatsoever.
Just remember, this is farming without pesticides,
without genetic modification,
without modern machinery.
And so as a farmer, you have to relinquish control
over the whole process,
and get on your knees and pray
for bread at the end of the season.
You have to do that as an ancient farmer in Jesus' day.
And this, Jesus is saying, is what the kingdom of God is like.
It grows, in a sense, independently from us.
And so there is no need for control freakishness.
Now as we get into this more,
I want us to see that actually,
Jesus himself, in his own ministry,
has modelled this to us.
He is the ultimate evangelist, isn't he?
The ultimate seed sower.
And yet we see, in his ministry,
that he is not a control freak.
But his confidence is in the power of
the seed of the word.
He is convicted that, despite appearances,
he's actually chosen the right method
for the job,
as the kingdom grows.
So I want us to see three things in this parable
that show Jesus' mindset.
Jesus is not a control freak in evangelism,
because he knows the kingdom will grow
through the word.
The kingdom will grow through the word.
Now if you look at this farmer here,
in this parable,
there's an intentionality here, isn't there?
He is doing something.
He is intending on there being results.
So he bothers to go outside,
and he is sure that this strange process
of putting these tiny little seeds
in the ground has a point.
These tiny, tiny specks
of genetic material
are going to do something.
He relies upon them.
And the kingdom, it grows
only through
the specks, the seeds,
the word.
Now back in chapter 2 of Mark,
if you look at verse 38 there,
chapter 2, the seed is that
Jesus is with his disciples,
and he's got a long queue of people
waiting for healings.
But in chapter 2, verse 38,
listen to Jesus,
let us go on to the next town
that I may preach
there also.
For that is why
I came out.
And this is the pattern,
the priority for Jesus
that comes up again and again
in Mark's Gospel.
Chapter 1, verse 39,
he went round Galilee
preaching in their synagogues.
Chapter 2, verse 2,
he was preaching the word to them.
Chapter 2, verse 13,
he was teaching them.
Chapter 3, verse 1,
he entered the synagogue,
presumably there,
to teach.
And as he sends his disciples out,
in chapter 3, verse 14 and 15,
he does say that they would
preach and cast out demons
with all authority.
You see, there is a priority
out of all of the things
that Jesus could be doing
and he has been doing.
His priority is the word
for the kingdom to grow.
And so you see how Jesus
is not a control freak
to start off with
because he chooses
the one method
that looks most
out of control.
It's interesting,
as you get to Mark chapter 4,
you see a division
amongst two sets of people.
There are what Mark calls
the insiders
and the outsiders.
We see a number of people
listening to Jesus
and hearing his word
and they want to know more.
They ask questions.
They get close to Jesus.
They want to pursue him.
But on the other hand,
you see this group
that Mark calls
the outsiders
and they hear Jesus' word
and they don't take it
any further
and they give up
and they walk away.
Jesus' word,
it's kind of like
the Marmite of words,
isn't it?
Some people love it
and stick around.
Some people hate it
and don't want to go
anywhere near it.
And yes, you see,
rather than looking
in control,
choosing this priority
of sowing the word
makes Jesus' kingdom
look out of control.
And that is how
seed sowing feels
so often, isn't it?
It just feels
out of control in a sense.
We cannot control
people's response.
How are they going
to react?
How are they going
to respond to me?
Will they ever
speak to me again
if I say this?
But Jesus knows
despite the appearances,
God's kingdom grows
because the seed
does its work
independently
from the sower.
Now that is quite a thing,
isn't it?
Jesus,
the son of God,
he must also rely
on the power
of the Holy Spirit
and the power
of his word,
isn't it?
Even he faces rejection.
It looks as if
even he and his word
are out of control.
But he is assured,
he is assured
that despite appearances,
God's kingdom
grows only
through the word
going out.
Now all of this
sounds pretty obvious,
doesn't it?
Maybe to you.
Evangelism
must
be about
God's word.
That might sound
obvious.
But I think the real
challenge in this
as we think about
our own
perhaps personal
evangelism
with folk
is that
conversations
need to be
biblically
flavoured,
don't they?
It is getting
the meaning
of the Bible
into people's
minds
and hearts.
It is getting
Jesus' words
into their ears.
And as I think
about that,
I know that as I
speak with people
I can just be
far too cryptic
at times.
I can pretend
that people
will understand
the gospel
just from
suggestions
that I make.
That I expect
them to join
the dots
where they just
do not have
the categories
that I'm
expecting them
to have.
And what is
going on there?
In all honesty
I'm just too
embarrassed about
the seeds,
about the
word.
Too embarrassed
about the seeds
to plant it
confidently.
I look at the
raw materials
that God has
given me
and I just
think,
no way
are they going
to swallow
this.
I look at
what God
supplies and
I think,
no way.
It's just like
what the
disciples did,
isn't it,
with the feeding
of the 5,000.
They look at
the supplies,
they look at
Jesus and
they go,
no way.
But Jesus
says,
no,
you feed
them.
You feed
them.
J.I.
Packer
once said,
you have
liberty and
authority
when you
allow the
Bible
to talk
through you.
And our
desire is to
have biblically
centred
conversations
with folk.
And that is
quite a radical
thought,
isn't it?
Our religion
is supposed
to be private
in our
society.
We don't
expect that,
we don't
look for that
perhaps enough.
And I'm
not just
talking about
scattergunning
people with
Bible verses.
Occasionally a
Bible verse
helps,
doesn't it?
But it is
conversation which
is gospel
flavoured.
And I want to
say,
we can
actually get
the Bible
open with
people,
can't we?
that might
not freak
people out
as much
as you
think.
It's so
easy to be
embarrassed about
the raw
materials that
God gives
us.
I was hearing
the other day
about a Bible
study that
someone was
laying on in
a Christian
union in
a workplace.
And this
workplace was
full of
hard-nosed
business people.
And this
Bible study
leader was
getting a bit
discouraged.
we're going
through the
gospels,
but is this
really sinking
in?
Is it doing
anything?
Well, there
was one
particular
executive,
she was a
woman who
had a no
nonsense air
about her,
she was quite
intimidating,
and she'd
been coming
along to
this Bible
study for
quite a while,
and she
came and
spoke to
this leader
and said,
you know,
I haven't
been able to
get Jesus
out of my
head.
I keep
asking myself,
what would
Jesus do
with the
power that
I have
in my
job?
You know,
I can spot
a person a
mile away
who has
complete
authority,
and Jesus
possesses
authority like
no one else
I've ever
seen.
And yet,
he uses
his power
so beautifully
to serve
others.
I found
myself wanting
to talk to
him about
important decisions
I had to
make in
business.
But then I
said to
myself,
wait a
minute,
you don't
even know
if you
believe in
Jesus yet.
You see,
she'd spent
time,
hadn't she,
in the
Gospels.
She'd been
confronted
with Jesus
in God's
word,
and the
seed was
working there.
God uses
his word in
ways that
can't be
measured,
or explained,
or controlled.
The seed
works,
as that
Bible study
leader,
found out
independently
from the
sower.
And we
are sure,
along with
Jesus,
that the
kingdom will
grow only
through the
word,
even though
it feels
weak and
banal.
So don't
forget the
liberty and
the authority
that you
have when
you let the
Bible speak
through you,
and don't
be embarrassed
about the
raw materials
that God
has given
us.
Let go of
that feeling
of needing
to be in
control,
because the
seed grows
independently
from you,
the sower.
It grows
by itself.
So the
kingdom grows
through the
word.
That's an
important thing
to get in
our minds,
but secondly,
the kingdom
will grow
gradually
through the
word.
Verse 28,
the earth
produces by
itself
first the
blade,
then the
ear,
then the
full grain
in the
ear.
It grows
gradually
in stages.
Just imagine
the farmer,
there he is,
Monday,
he goes out
and he
plants the
seeds,
doesn't he?
But he is
not there
on Tuesday,
wondering
where the
grain is.
He understands
that it's
gradual.
He doesn't
expect too
much too
soon.
First the
blade,
then the
ear,
then the
full grain
in the
ear.
And again,
isn't that
reflected in
the way that
Jesus ministers
with his
disciples?
You can see
it in Mark's
Gospel.
Just think
of all of
the times
in the
Gospels,
where Jesus
gives clear
signs of
who he
is and
how he
is going
to fulfil
his mission
to the
disciples and
they are
clueless,
aren't they?
They just
don't get it.
Because there
are stages
to the
understanding
of the
disciples.
Later on
you can read
in Mark
8,
the midpoint
of the
Gospel,
the episode
of the
gradual
healing
of a
blind
man.
It's a
strange
thing.
There are
two
stages
in his
healing.
And that
is an
active
parable
of the
gradual
understanding
of the
disciples.
And Jesus
throughout
Mark,
he is so
patient with
them,
isn't he?
He
perseveres
with them.
He teaches
them and he
shows them
himself and
he knows
that the
kingdom,
it grows
gradually.
He is in
it for the
long haul
with them.
He is not
expecting too
much too
soon from
them.
But with
that there is
a calmness
in his
approach.
He is not
a control
freak.
He is not
trying to get
them to pray
a prayer after
a five week
course and
expect them
to know
everything all
at once.
But he is
confident that
his word will
do its work
in its own
time.
He is not
a control
freak farmer.
And that is
so encouraging
isn't it,
I think,
for many of
us who
have got
friends and
neighbours
who we've
perhaps shared
the gospel
with in the
past.
We are to
be calm
in evangelism
and yet
quietly
confident
of gradual
growth.
Perhaps those
conversations that
have happened
years and
years ago
and you're
beginning to
think that
they are a
lost cause.
I just
forget about
them now.
Perhaps you can
remember that
conversation that
happened years
ago.
And we are
not to lose
hope, are we?
Because the
kingdom grows
gradually.
On the other
hand, I do
want to say
that actually
we need to
be wary of
times where
there is
exceedingly
quick growth
and it's
exceedingly
speedy.
We long
for a
revival,
don't we,
in London,
in this
country,
that would
be a
wonderful
thing.
But at
the same
time, we
are wary
when there
is exceedingly
speedy
growth.
We do
not want
folks to
be like
those people
in the
parable of
the sower
who spring
up quickly
but they
do not
have the
roots and
they wither
under the
pressure of
living for
Jesus in
the world.
We should
not expect
too much
too soon.
I heard
the story
just the
other day
about a
conversation
someone had
had with
a young
woman
friend
years and
years ago.
she had
lost touch
with this
girlfriend
and she
had apparently
stopped going
to church.
She'd
seemed
completely
lost to
the gospel
and Christian
things.
This was
years ago.
But then
just recently
she'd
re-emerged
and life
had led
her on a
path to
a new
city,
to a new
job and
a marriage
in which
the husband
turned out
to be a
Christian.
And he
took her
along to
church and
over time
she's returned
to the
Lord.
And as
these friends
got chatting
she said,
you know,
I really
never forgot
that conversation
we had all
those years
ago.
See, that was
the planting,
wasn't it?
And it took
years and
years for the
blade and
the ear and
the full grain
to appear.
Seed farming,
it takes great
patience.
There's one
lesson we know
very well here,
isn't it,
in Ealing.
and we
can't expect
it all at
once.
And it's
easy to think,
isn't it,
well,
nothing's
happened yet
in that
family,
amongst that
family in
the estate.
Nothing's
happened yet
with that
family member
that I know.
Nothing's
happened yet
with that
colleague.
And so,
because of
that,
Jesus is not
working there.
That is wrong.
The kingdom
grows,
gradually.
This kind of
thing,
it does apply
to us as
well,
I think,
in the
church,
as believers.
Each of
us have
different stages
of faith
and of
knowledge,
don't we?
And our
approach to
each other
should be
one of
patience.
As Jesus
is patient
with his
disciples,
we need
to know
what people
need to know
and when.
We need
to be
long-suffering
and accommodating
with people's
gaps,
I guess.
John Owen
said that we
can be justified
by faith
without
understanding
justification
by faith.
faith.
We do
not slam
somebody
because they
don't
completely
understand
a doctrine
or something
about Jesus.
We need
to know
what people
need to know
and when
they need to
know it.
So the
kingdom grows
through the
word
and it grows
gradually
through the
word.
And lastly,
the kingdom
is heading
for a
great
harvest.
Verse 29,
the grain
is ripe
at once
he puts
in the
sickle
because the
harvest
has come.
Finally,
in the end,
there will be
a great
harvest.
The harvest
has come.
God's
kingdom,
it seems
banal,
it seems
small now
and there
is nothing
spectacular
about it.
it's just
some little
seed,
Jesus says.
It seems
commonplace.
Even the
king of
the kingdom
is rejected
in the world
today.
And yet
the farmer
is confident
in its
final power
and in its
end result.
It's inevitable.
So rather
than embarrassment
about the
material God
gives us,
we should be
optimistic
actually.
It seems
so insignificant
and its
king seems
so hidden.
But the
goal
is inevitable
of great
harvest.
I wonder
whether you
think about
that day.
I think
Jesus is
referring here
to the day
when he
will return
and all
of his
people will
be joined
together with
him on
the last
day.
On the
day of
harvest,
I wonder
will there
be people
there who
you thought
were lost,
who'd heard
the gospel,
the seed
had been
planted,
and perhaps
you will look
at them
and you'll
say,
is that
really you?
I saw you
years ago
and even
then I
didn't believe
it, but
God was
working
independently
from me,
wasn't he?
And you're
here.
there is
no doubt
about it
for Jesus
because the
seed grows
independently
from us
farmers and
so we're
not to be
control freaks.
This is the
liberation
and authority
you have
when the
Bible talks
through you.
And this
is real.
This is
everyday
Christianity,
isn't it?
It is
worth
remembering
who we
are speaking
to as
we share
our lives
with non-believers.
Let me
finish with a
quote from
C.S. Lewis.
It is a
serious thing
to live in
a society
of possible
gods and
goddesses.
So remember
that the
dullest,
most uninteresting
person you
can talk to
may one
day be a
creature which
if you saw
it now,
you would be
strongly tempted
to worship.
Or else
a horror and
a corruption
such as you
now meet,
if at all,
only in a
nightmare.
There are
no ordinary
people.
You have
never talked
to a mere
mortal.
But it is
to immortals
that we joke
with,
work with,
live with
and speak
to.
And immortal
horrors
or everlasting
splendors
follow them.
There are
no ordinary
people,
no mere
mortals,
but each
one has an
immortal soul.
And so this
is Christianity
and speaking
biblically,
biblically
flavoured
speech to
people
is so
crucial,
isn't it?
It does not
have to mean
quoting verses
of people.
gospel,
it is simply
to explain
the meaning
of the
gospel,
to speak
of Jesus
without
embarrassment.
And that
is scary,
isn't it?
That is scary.
But it's
exciting.
And gloriously,
we are not
in control
of that.
And that is
humbling,
but it's
incredibly
liberating.
Our lives
are so
messy,
and we are
not very
good at it.
But this
passage
encourages us
to see that
the seed
will grow
independently
from us.
And so I
can let go
of my
control
in my
witnessing,
in my
evangelism,
in my
seed sown
with folk
that I
meet.
And I
must get
on my
knees
and pray
for the
harvest.
Spurgeon
said,
whether we
like it
or not,
asking
is the
rule of
the kingdom
because it
grows
independently
from us.
It grows
through the
word,
it grows
gradually,
and there
will be a
harvest.
Let's
pray together.