The Kingdom of the Spirit
Mark 4: 30-34
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Back to Basics The
New Testament Witness of the Apostle
Peter |
Max
A Forsythe | |
When the video cassette revolution hit the American market some decades ago, I was finally able to view some movies that I had missed when they were available on the wide screen. One of those was a cartoon version of the Camelot saga of King Arthur and his court. The movie in question was The Sword in the Stone. This delightful Disney tale focuses on the imaginary youth of Arthur and in typical Disney fashion the story is emended much as the Arthur tale has always been changed from generation to generation. One of the characters added to the story line was a feminist opposite for Merlin. Her name was Mad Madam Mim. In one climactic scene the two magicians were engaged in mortal combat. When the Mim character changed to a dragon and swallowed Merlin, the voice of Merlin emerged as that of a particularly nasty germ. And this little microscopic germ triumphed over the monstrous macrobic dragon Mim.
In a culture that so mightily prizes bigness in corporate and everyday enterprises, I prized the minuteness of cause in Mim's condition. In that same time frame I bought a book on advertising and read a similar plan for success in business. The book was entitled Guerrilla Advertising. The author advocated an abandonment of the full page spread and the regular and costly mass appeal in favor of small specialized ads for minimal prices which by their low cost could maximize profits.
Finally, for more years than I care to admit, I have discussed the goal of building Christ's Church in our day and time with a close relative. I always advocate a small church, my brother a large church. Neither of us have succeeded in convincing the other of the desirability of the other's model. He thinks that I am pessimistic in thinking, that when things went wrong as they often do in any human institution, I believe that a smaller congregation could better weather financial, emotional and spiritual storms.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't believe that by artificial means we should ever limit the potential of any particular congregation. But, just as each Christian is unique in their knowledge and practice of the Christian faith, so should every congregation pursue the opportunities given to them by the grace of God. And yet, no matter the size, every congregation has had its beginning in a handful of God's elect who have gathered to worship and praise our Creator and His Son Jesus Christ.
Further, the spiritual ability of congregations to survive is often absolutely amazing: At the end of World War Two, the congregation of the centuries old German Kuln Cathedral only numbered one pastor and one member, not even enough to clean up the mess. And yet by the time I visited the place twenty-some years later, the group of Christians had regained sufficient numbers to present a viable witness.
Again, in Uganda, after Iddi Ammen's attempt to resurrect a pagan state dedicated to witchcraft was undone by neighboring armies, a local Presbyterian Church was but a burnt out shell of what it had been before the civil disturbances. Many martyrs had been sent on to glory by the debauchery of President Amean. Yet, when it was announced publicly that services were going to begin again after some years hiatus, there was standing room only, and many could only see in through the burnt out windows.
Well has one Catholic Bishop stated, that while it is exceptionally difficult to establish a new congregation, it is almost impossible to stamp it out by any worldly means available! When we look at the very beginning of Christ's Church, there was no great mass appeal, instead the mass of people were left to their own devices and false faiths. Only the handful of disciples was carefully taught, and even they misunderstood and argued against the divine plan for Holy Week. Slow they were to comprehend and even slower they were to come to adequate knowledge of Jesus Christ. While we always treasure those who come to Christ by God's grace and election, we must always make certain, that like the apostles they appreciate the divine role of the Holy Spirit in their new birth.
So many new converts who have decades of worldly experience on their way to conversion, little realize the patience of our God in heaven. And it is always slightly amusing to see someone who has taken thirty years to accept Christ argue with parents, children or friends and expect them to make a decision in less than thirty minutes! Just as the whole Kingdom grows by the grace of God, so does each and every single Christian. Many little seeds must be planted, watered and prayed over if we would expect to prepare a crop for the Lord to harvest. Whenever one of you tells me about a relative or friend in need of salvation, I have learned to be careful about sowing seeds so as not to stunt the harvest. One person that I knew took three years to accept the necessity of Christ's death for their sins. Others have different stumbling blocks.
It is always amazing what can turn people off! I remember one lady who took offense at the name on our hymnals. She was not ready to even discuss the concept of the Trinity let alone focus an any aspect of the very Son of God. In another decade, when I attempted to start a PCA congregation, the very month that I was putting things in the paper - there was an area scandal involving a Production Credit Association. So much for any PCA emphasis in that county - since none of the locals yet knew anything about us and because of that other scandal - were not going to learn anything either!
Obstacles are sometimes political, sometimes popular issues, other times doctrinal, superstitions and even second hand opinions. I remember one hard shell individual who I visited and talked to twenty or more times only to finally discover that his false faith was centered in a pagan notion of an old Indian guardian spirit who was opposed to any more powerful Spirit, holy or other wise! Then there are those who maintain popular evangelical suspicions that Calvinism is the first lie of hell instead of a fundamental outline of biblical orthodoxy. Another time, a person spent eighteen months with us before they figured out that the Sovereignty of God that we preached was just another way of saying "predestination"!
The ministry that we have is to plant spiritual seeds and pray for the Lord of the Harvest to cause growth. Perhaps some of you have thought that some unpromising prospects have come our way over the years. I have sometimes heard of saintly frustrations about the slowness of growth of some inside and outside of our fellowship. Well, so have I, some lessons take several years to comprehend and even longer for people to act upon the knowledge that the Spirit gives to them. Stop and think of when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Was it the work of minutes, hours, days or years? Isn't it great that our Father God was patient with you?
We have this mental image that fishing for converts is as simple as throwing nets over the side. Except when the Gospel is in season, that image is contrary to reality. Fishing for souls in my experiences is more like fly fishing with rod and reel! Remember, if you can - what kind of bait caught your attention before you accepted the gospel hook, line and sinker? Then look at verse thirty-three and remember that God's Spirit led you along only as fast as you sometimes allowed Him. While God certainly can save even a naturally unredeemable person like yourself, your salvation is not based upon how much you can understand or upon how much work and witness you can do for the Kingdom of God.
No, His salvation is sufficient in and of itself. Now, I do believe that we are called to grow and to study so that we may be of more use to our Lord. Notice the image of the mustard seed which grows to shelter many worldly birds. And if the mustard plant also produces seeds, may not those worldly birds peck at and consume the same seed that led you to the new birth? But, perhaps I am reading too much into this parable which is only told to describe the growth in the Kingdom of God. But, really, what is the nature of that birth and growth?
Isn't it the conversion of one person at a time? And isn't the growth of the Kingdom based upon the increasing number of saints who gather together to flesh out the assorted congregations and denominations in the service of our King? Our little congregation began with only six committed people. In eleven short years the Lord has blessed us fivefold! In addition to what we see here, many others on the cyber fringes of our ministry have been touched.
You never know what influence you may have upon another person. The first time that I preached on this text, I had just received a letter from an editor of a national magazine who had received a letter from me seven years before. He was still carrying that letter in his briefcase and wrote to thank me for that seven year old word of encouragement. Hardly a month goes by that someone somewhere in the cyber world of the web, doesn't send in a very touching email. Who could have dreamed even five years ago the potential of stored electrons in cyberspace and the use that the Holy Spirit could make of them? These thank you notes both email and by letter, always come at a good time. Secular and sacred goings on weigh heavily upon my mind from time to time. Earlier this week, a very kind note arrived in the mail box when I came home discouraged from work. The kindness of one little letter always reminds me that every little mustard seed that we plant has implications in the growth and prosperity of the Kingdom.
May we learn to appreciate that our own acts of kindness and work and witness have eternal implications. And finally may we all be encouraged to do the little tasks of the Kingdom which when watered and fertilized and weeded by the Spirit, turn into ministries which advance the Kingdom of our Christ and our God. Someone recently shared with me a story of a whole congregation growing up from the sharing of books with a little child who had a hunger to read and learn. Tim has shared with me the fact that the increasing knowledge of doctrine within the Wednesday night Bible Study has piqued a fervent desire for sharing the gospel with friends and relatives.
I remember a story from another church in another time. The minister's sermons were printed in the newspaper and one person always cut them out, highlighted important points and wrote in the margin. Invariably - they found someone by the end of the week who needed just what they had underlined and learned. Now Jesus tells this parable to His disciples to encourage them in their work and I share this with all of you to encourage you to multiply not only our ministry, but more importantly - His as well! May you be encouraged such endeavors today and always. Amen.
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Resources Used | |
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Briscoe, D. Stuart. |
Parables of Luke: Patterns For Power. |
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Cole, Alan. |
Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries: |
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Keener, Craig S. |
The IVP Bible Background Commentary:
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Pringle, William. |
Calvin's New Testament
Commentaries: |
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The
New Geneva Study Bible
(NKJV) | |
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B2b23 |
10 October 93 & 05 March 00 |