In my community group we have been going slowly through the book of Mark. Due to the amazingly gifted leader that we have, I am learning to look at this book in a new way. We are only into chapter 3 or 4 but what I have learned overwhelms me. Our leader has us looking at Jesus words as if we had never heard his name before, what was he trying to say. Over and over He speaks of the Kingdom of God, and what that really is.
This past Wednesday we reached the parable of the sower. and for the first time I looked at the full context of this parable amongst the other words that Christ was saying and instead of focusing on the different soils, focused instead on the sower. What is the seed? The very word of God, the Gospel, the secret of the Kingdom of God. Then the next parable he speaks of a light and what would you do with it? Let it shine of course. Then the one after that speaks of the growing seed and the farmer sows it, then unbeknownst to him the seed flourishes and produces a harvest.
So we as Christians have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God…wanna know what it is? Jesus, pure and simple, He is the Gospel. No more no less. What are we to do with this gospel, put it under our bed, hide it from the world? No we are to let it shine for the world to see. We are to sow the seeds and leave the spirit work up to the Spirit.
So often I get caught up in the reality that I chase after Christ and I see few people come to Christ. I do see lives being transformed by what I do and the words He gives me to say. But lets face it, we all want to see the desperately lost around us see the freedom that is in Christ. But that goal changes how I act and what I am willing to do.
At Dulles Airport today I had a perfect example of this shown to me. As waited to board my plane to take me to Dubai I overheard a woman arguing on the phone with someone. I won’t give you details but I heard the heartache and saw the tears on her face. I wanted to swoop in and rescue her, but in my thoughts that meant I had to give her my ticket because it sounded like she couldn’t get on our flight. I felt the spirit urge me to approach her and I flat out refused. Nope wasn’t gonna do that. So I quit listening. Finally the Spirit softened my heart and I agreed to approach her. I did, asked her if I could help and she said no. I boarded the plane and felt like a failure.
After 11 hours of the 12 hour flight I had honestly forgotten about her. When suddenly she appeared in front of me, held my hand and thanked me for offering to help. And she did so again as we left the plane. I was and still am flabbergasted. Is that all God wanted, I don’t know her story, may never see her again but who knows what her story will be because of that small gesture I made.
Okay, back to the parable, if we focus on sowing seeds (the small things) and let the spirit till the soil we are portraying and living out the kingdom of God. But if we only focus on the circumstances where we get to speak His name, instead of be His hands and feet as well, we miss the point and we miss letting our light shine. For one brief moment I was a conduit between that woman and God. For a moment it was His hands who touched her, His voice that whispered I see you, I know your pain. It is His tears I cry now for her pain and her story, as only He knows what that is.
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