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There was an old farmer who really knew how to farm. He could make a crop when no one else could. Part of it was that he was a hard worker. His wife was up and had breakfast made before day light so he could get in the fields early. He usually had a big noon meal and took a nap right after but was back at it and worked while there was still light in the sky. He wasn’t afraid of sweating or getting dirty.
The other part of his success was he knew his land. Oh, he had some land that anyone could make a crop on… the soil was deep and rich and low and caught the excess rain that ran off. Sometimes he liked to just go and watch it grow. The rest of his land was a bit more challenging; some of it was on a hill and didn’t retain much moisture. On some of his land the soil was thin and weak and if he didn’t catch a rain at the right time his crops would dry up and blow away. On that land if it got too dry he would have to haul water to save the young plants until a rain came.
The other part of his land was next to a brush patch and tended to be a little weedy. If he didn’t get out and hoe those rows four times during the growing season the weeds would out compete his crop for moisture, nutrients and sunlight.
The old farmer was the right mix of hard work and understanding how crops grow.
In this parable the savvy Farmer is an Evangelist, Elder or any Christian who is interested in the souls of others. The crop in the weak soil is the new Christian who hasn’t developed the deep tap root of faith… he needs a little help and protection until he can develop. The teacher devotes time and energy teaching about God and giving encouragement and support during stressful times that can be potentially overwhelming.
The crop in the weedy soil is the new Christian who has the wrong friends who pull him away from God and encourage a life of pleasure seeking. In this case the teacher points out the destructiveness of that type of lifestyle and encourages other members to reach out and build relationships with this new Christian… replacing those old friends.
The crop in the deep, rich soil was just a joy to watch. These are the new Christians who don’t need a lot of help. The love of God springs up in their heart and with great energy their faith grows in leaps and bounds. The teacher loves watching the power of God’s word on deep and rich hearts.
Like the farmer, God’s people can accomplish a lot through hard work and understanding what it takes to protect a crop and get it to grow. No one ever said it was going to be easy.
The Parable of The Pounds (Luke 19:11-27) has two stories going on in it. The one we’re interested in has a master giving 1 pound each to 10 of his servants. The master is going on an extended trip and tells his servants to invest his money and when he gets back there will be an accounting to see how they did.
When he gets back we see only the results of three of the servants… the two most profitable ones and the guy who did the worst. The star of the class was the fellow who invested his pound and made 10 more pounds. The master was very happy with him and praised him and put him in charge of ten cities.
The second guy took his pound and made five more. The master put him in charge of five cities.
The last guy was governed by the fear of losing his investment principle and instead of investing it… hid it and preserved it for his master. The master was very unhappy with him and punished him by taking the pound away from him and giving it to his star performer.
How to Discover and Develop Talent.
1. People have to be given an opportunity to perform. In this story the master did not judge the abilities of his employees. He treated them all the same. They all started on the exact same footing and had the same opportunity.
2. When a responsibility is given to someone there has to be an accounting or evaluation process.
3. Finally, after the evaluation process those who have performed well need to be rewarded (positively reinforced) and those who have not performed well must be reprimanded (negatively reinforced).
The master gave opportunity to 10 of his employees and discovered a really high performing individual who he groomed to be even better. He also discovered an employee who was a disaster.
This may sound like advice on how to run a business but it is really about God’s people and the Church.
Lazarus was a beggar. I don’t know how he came to be that way… maybe the same way people become beggars today; Poor economic times, destructive life styles, mental illness, who knows? Lazarus was alone in the world with no one to help him. He was incapacitated and had skin sores and was hungry. Only the local dogs had compassion upon him… they licked his wounds. There are two Lazarus’ mentioned in the New Testament. The other one had two sisters and when he died there was much sorrow and many tears. When the beggar Lazarus died he went to his grave unloved, unwept, and not missed.
The rich man on the other hand liked to dress nice and lived in “mirth and splendor” every day. He had a lot of friends and five brothers who loved him. I’m sure at his funeral there were many tears shed and accolades spoken… and yet the rich man ended up in “Hades”.
You see, the rich man had a low opinion of beggars and after a while beggars just become a part of the landscape… like a fire hydrant. He probably thought Lazarus had “earned” his condition (like that makes a difference) and he wasn’t going to support Lazarus in his poor choices. That thinking kind of makes sense but that thought process landed the rich man squarely in the fires of Hell.
I’m sure when Lazarus was born he was a beautiful little boy and his mom and dad were overjoyed to have him but somewhere along the way Lazarus lost the ability to work, lost his family, lost his health and lost the capacity to be liked. In the Hebrew language names mean things and Lazarus’ name meant something… it meant “God has helped”. I’m reminded of Jesus’ words… blessed are the poor who are in a relationship with the Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. God does help.
Someone told me they kept a supply of Whataburger gift certificates in their wallet in case they came across someone who looked hungry… not a bad idea.
When we moved to Corpus Christi, Texas in 1982, Elmer Moore was preaching at Parkway. He gave me a Thompson Chain Reference Bible with the above note in it. I didn't think too much about that note in 1982 but when I pulled out that old Bible today for the first time in years, the caption really pulled at my heart. Here was an old fellow who apparently had lost his wife after 44 years of marriage. And as he reflected on how much she had meant to him he decided to honor her by honoring the thing that was so dear to both of them... Our Lord Jesus Christ. Brother Blake had provided these Bibles and told Elmer to give them to young men who had a zeal for the Lord. What a great gift... and great example.
Uncle Rob
In Luke 10:25-37, in a discussion with Jesus, a Jewish lawyer correctly states that to inherit eternal life one must do two things; love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.
Then the Lawyer (true to his profession) asks, “Just who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus tells the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. There are three major characters in this story and they are not there by accident. One is a Jewish Priest and the other is from the tribe of Priests. They represent the best of Jewish faith… they possess the truth and they practice the commandments of God faithfully (John 4). The third is a Samaritan who practices a corrupt version of Judaism. The Samaritan does not possess the truth nor does he practice it correctly.
And yet in the story of the “Good Samaritan” the righteousness of the Samaritan surpassed the righteousness of the other two… He truly loved his neighbor.
So who of these three characters is saved according the two things that must be done to inherit eternal life? The Priest and the Jew from the tribe of priests have the truth and have the correct religious practice but fail miserably when it comes to “loving their neighbor”. The Samaritan practices a corrupt version of Judaism, so by definition he is not, “loving God with all his heart” and yet he excells in “Loving his neighbor as himself”.
The correct answer would be that none of the three were saved. To be saved we must love God by doing his commandments and by demonstrating love to our fellow man. We don’t get half credit… it is not enough just to be “good”. Let’s be sure in our pursuit of eternal life that we do everything God asks of us.
I find it interesting that the letter to the Romans contains more than 60 quotations from the Old Testament. That is interesting because the majority of Christians in Rome were from a non-Jewish back ground. And yet Paul makes extensive use of the Old Testament to a people who were totally ignorant of the Old Testament before they were introduced to Jesus Christ.
For comparisons sake we usually say that the Gospel of Matthew was written to a Jewish audience because it contains 64 references to the Old Testament. That makes sense because the Jews knew the Old Testament.
I submit to you that the reason Paul used so many references from the Old Testament to the Roman Christians was because they were very familiar with it… they were converted to Christianity through the teaching of the Old Testament. In fact, when the Gospel is referenced in Romans 1:16 it is referencing the Gospel (or good news of salvation) revealed in the Old Testament.
The “righteousness of God” (Ro. 1:17) that is revealed from “faith unto faith” is revealed in the Old Testament as God dealt righteously with faithful men like Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, etc.
The “wrath of God” (Ro.1:18) that is “revealed from Heaven” is revealed in the Old Testament as God dealt with righteous wrath against Sodom and Gomorrah, Egypt, the destruction of Jerusalem, etc.
Paul uses over 60 quotations from the Old Testament when he writes the Roman Christians because they had been taught extensively in it. The stories of the Old Testament were their stories, the heroes of the Old Testament were their heroes. Abraham was their father and Sarah was their mother.
Sometimes, in my opinion, we over emphasize the New Testament and under emphasize the Old Testament and relegate it to children’s classes. To do so would be a mistake. After all, the faith of the Romans that was famous world-wide was based upon the teachings concerning the good news of salvation found in the Old Testament.
Julie and I were at a gathering last night and I saw an older couple (probably married 50 plus years) who I know on a casual basis. A friend told me that the wife had gone into the hospital for a cardiac procedure and had nearly died. He added that at the time he was pretty sure she would pull through but he wasn’t sure her husband would. My friend told me the man was so shaken and overcome with worry for his wife that he couldn’t even talk.
I watched the older couple and while everyone else was gathered around tables, playing games and having fun… they sat off by themselves just holding hands and looking at each other and saying a few words to each other and smiling at each other.
And I thought I saw in him happiness and sorrow. Happiness that the thing he treasured the most in this world, his wife, had been given back to him and sorrow that it was just a preview of what was to come.
It was a learning moment for me that things don’t last forever and to treasure the moments with each other and perhaps be a little more patient with each other.
There are a lot of great things in this life but unfortunately a lot of sorrow too. Thank God there is something better waiting for those who believe in Jesus Christ.
