1146AFC111811 A Handful of Seeds
Read it online here.
This is a verse from next Sunday’s epistle. I have it in several versions:
KJV 1 Corinthians 15:21 – For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
NIV 1 Corinthians 15:21 – For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
NAB 1 Corinthians 15:21 – For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being.
NLT 1 Corinthians 15:21 – So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ.
NJB 1 Corinthians 15:21 – As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead.
Mustard Seed Tree
For me, this is a Seed Verse. If you look at Matthew 17:20 and Luke 17:6, those are places where Jesus talks about “faith the size of a mustard seed.” He tells his disciples that if you plant a mustard seed, it grows into a huge bush, big enough for birds to nest in. Here’s a sample of how that tiny seed can grow. So why do I call the verse in 1st Corinthians a Seed Verse? Because when it got planted in me it took root and grew to enormous size in comparison to the tiny bit of Scripture it is. I had heard this passage in churches many, many times; but I never gave it much thought until I heard it sung.
I’d say I was probably a Sophomore in High School when I heard Handel’s Messiah performed, live. This passage is a Chorus – #46 – just two passages after the famous Hallelujah Chorus. It starts off with a very slow tempo in a minor key, and then bursts into a dazzlingly bright chorus. When I heard it that way, it really stuck with me. I thought deeply about it. I suppose I thought about it so much you could say I meditated on it. I thought, “That makes sense. It went down this way, so it has to come back up that way.” That led me to reflect more deeply on a couple of things: How sin started, and how it was overcome.
Sin came into the world through Adam. Let’s take a detour and see why it gets pinned on Adam. You’ll remember in Genesis that it was Eve who was tricked by the Serpent, and then she gave the “apple” to Adam. He took a bite and that’s where sin came into being. That’s way over-simplified, but let’s follow it for a bit. First, God said to Adam and Eve, “Don’t eat from the Middle Tree, or you will die.” Next the Serpent told Eve this was a great place to try something new, because God himself had said they could eat of any tree in the Garden. Then Eve replied with a bit of a lie: “You can’t eat or even touch that fruit!” (God said nothing about touch.) The Serpent said to Eve, “Did he really say you would die? No! You will not die! You will become like him and know good from evil.” So she took the bait because she was tricked. Adam was not tricked. He began the tradition men have kept ever since that day. Eve said, “Honey, you want a bite of this fruit from the Forbidden Tree?” and he replied “Yes, Dear.”
That was the sin. He knew what it was but did it anyway to please his woman knowing full well it would displease his creator. Again, that’s overly simplified, but it helped me understand “For since by man came death,…”
So, to undo that, God implemented Phase 2 – Redemption. It took a long, long time for that phase to kick in – God gave the World several thousand years of chances to do the right things better and the better things right – but nearly all the earthlings after Adam failed to come up to the Original Creation Specifications: Friends of God in Spirit and in Truth, flesh from clay, and without guilt or shame in his Presence. The Redemption would require a New Covenant based on Flesh and not on Spirit, based on the willing surrender of Righteousness (in Jesus) to counter the righteous surrender of will (in Abraham).
Somewhere, somehow, back in those days when I heard those verses sung, my heart, my mind, and my spirit all said in unison, “Huzzah! That’s TRUE!” And because that was, is, and always will be True, I wondered what else God had done that worked in that way – setting one thing against its opposite. That little seed sprouted and grew, and grew, and grew. The roots got deeper, the branches more profuse, and the crop I gathered increased incredibly. It grew just as Jesus had said. And yet, I still haven’t cast a mulberry tree into the sea; my faith isn’t big enough yet, but it’s still growing. And this was just one of many Seed Verses that came into my life.
Do you have a Seed Verse in your life? See if you feel a seed-like response when you read the first few words of these Seeds:
“The Lord is my shepherd…”
“For God so loved …”
“I was glad when they said…”
“Some men brought him a paralytic…”
“We walk by faith, not by …”
“… everyone born of God overcomes …”
“Thy Word have I hid…”
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”
“anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me…”
“I am the resurrection and the life…”
“There is salvation in no one else…”
“Jesus Christ–he is Lord of all.”
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord…”
“For I know the plans I have for you…”
“… so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs…”
“… if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
“Don’t let anything [or anyone] keep you from your work for and service to God.”
“Settle for nothing less that God in Christ Jesus.” That’s not a Seed Verse from the Bible. It is a seed from my mustard tree. In fact, this whole series of messages that stretch back to the early years of last decade are harvested seeds from those original seeds planted by my parents, pastors, Sunday School teachers, friends, and hours of deep-see diving in God’s word (no, that is not misspelled. It is DEEP-SEE – Look Deeper)
Beloved, where is your crop? Where is your mustard -seed bush, your acres of wheat, your vineyard of grapes, your orchard of fruits of the spirit? You cannot expect a harvest if you do not commit to the stewardship of planting. In the Gospel last week we heard about a greedy king who harvested where he had not sown and gathered where he had not scattered. He coerced others to do these things on his behalf. Good stewards saw that opportunity and profited by it. If your harvest is small, unsatisfying, and unsustaining, did you plant enough seeds? When you plant the Word in the “good soil” of your heart, you have to plant more than one seed to get a harvest. You must also add to the stewardship of planting the stewardship of nurturing. And if you nurture the seeds, the crop they bear will require you to add the stewardship of harvest. It is from the harvest that the sower gets seed for the next crop and grain for the bread to feed himself and others.
Beloved, become good stewards of The Word. Plant the Seed Verses – LOTS OF THEM – and nurture their growth by keeping the weeds out and irrigating them with the Waters of Life. From their abundant harvest gather more seeds to be sown and share the Bread of Life with your Brothers and Sisters. James said, “Be doers of the Word and not just hearers.” Today I want you to go beyond that. I want you to consider being Stewards of the Word and not just doers. Take it up a notch. That’s what Jesus did. Amen?
Share-A-Prayer
I want to do something a little different with this section today. Please prayerfully consider these suggestions
🙂 Think of someone who has inspired you. Say a prayer of blessing for that person.
🙂 Think of someone who has enlightened you. Say a prayer of blessing for that person.
🙂 Think of someone who has hurt you. Say a prayer of blessing for that person, and forgive them …
🙂 Think of someone who has loved you no matter what. Say a prayer of blessing for that person, and multiply that love by reciprocating it and by passing it forward.
🙂 Think of someone who is not as blessed as you are. Say a prayer of blessing for that person, and then find a way to bless that person’s life.
🙂 Think of someone who led you to Christ. Say a prayer of blessing for that person, then find someone you can lead to Christ.
🙂 Think of someone who has suffered a great loss. Say a prayer of blessing for that person, and then share that prayer with them
🙂 Think of someone who thought of YOU when they followed any of these suggestions, and then thank God for that prayer.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.
chick
Rest In Peace Polly Faso
