Title: The True Meaning of Harvest and Gratitude
Contents
(20071118 Sunday) Matthew 13:24-30 Hits:107
Today is the day the Korean church observes as Thanksgiving. Reminds me of last year's Thanksgiving. There was a question I asked back then, but I don't know if I'll remember it. Let me ask that question again. Gratitude is an important virtue of the saints. Is this thanksgiving in the form of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit or not?
Yes, no is the correct answer. Although gratitude is the most basic virtue that a Christian should have, why is it not included in the image of the fruit of the Spirit? If you think about it, it seems that gratitude is not a fruit that grows automatically. As John 15 says, when a branch of a vine is attached to a tree, it automatically produces grapes. If you live according to the world's way in the world like that, things that make you angry, grimacing, resentful, and gossip will come naturally. But being thankful seems to come only when you live according to God's word against the ways of the world and decide to say, 'I will give thanks.' So when we approach God, our attitude is to give thanks and praise.
When you came to worship today, what kind of gratitude did you come out with? The most clear statement of the spirit of gratitude is in 1 Thessalonians. In 5:18, it says, “In everything give thanks.” The content is easy and pleasant to listen to, but it is very difficult to put into practice as a human being. The song of the prophet Habakkuk shows this spirit of gratitude very well.
“Though the fig tree bear no fruit and the vines no fruit, though the olive trees yield no crops and the fields produce no crops, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God who saved me. The Lord God is my strength.” (Hab 3:17-19a, The New Translation of the Bible)
Can you say this? Imagine that there was an indescribable drought and famine, and one sack of rice was cultivated, but only one sack of rice was produced. Can you still sing a song of thanks? like this
“Even if only one sack of rice comes out of one heap of rice fields, I will rejoice in the Lord. Even if there are no cabbages to offer as a commodity in the kimchi cabbage field, I will rejoice in the God who saved me. Even if the work life is difficult, even if there is not much left in the business, I will rejoice in the Lord, who is my strength.”
In fact, we are the people who can sing like that. This is because they are people who have known God the Father through the grace of the cross of the Lord Jesus and have tasted the kingdom of heaven and eternal life. A gathering of such people is the church. However, if the people of heaven do not look to the sky they should be looking at, but keep looking at the earth and wishing for a good life on earth, their gratitude will inevitably fade. I hope you guys can decide to be grateful.
When good things happen, both sinners and wicked people can give thanks. However, the saints know how to be thankful not only for a bountiful harvest but also for hardships and adversity.
In the past, our church in Gumi has faced great ecclesiastical difficulties. Have you ever thanked God at that time? When such a situation arises, rather than quarreling, we should ask God for His will and humbly wait with patience. Then you will receive what you promised. It says in Hebrews 10:36. “You need patience, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”
When I was serving in a large church before, I often had a thought. On a time like Thanksgiving, I often thought that all the church members would come together to worship together and hold a festival of thanksgiving. Although the members of the church are one family, there are many people who do not know each other and it is difficult to confirm that they are one family because worship services are held separately on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd parts of the week. So, how wonderful it would be if we could worship together without leaving out a single member of the congregation, adults and children alike. Then I thought a lot about whether I would be able to see the image of heaven a little bit more clearly.
Since our church in Gumi is not yet very large, we are thankful that all the members of the church can worship together at once. We hope that our church in Gumi will become a church like heaven as a member of the heavenly family. Amen.
What kind of heaven can you show on this earth? When Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven, he is speaking thoroughly through the trusting relationship of faith between God and the saints who believe in him. Therefore, we must remember that the kingdom of heaven is a personal kingdom made up of God and believers. And eventually it will appear as a visible and real country. So when I see believers gathered together, I think of heaven. Seeing the saints gathered here today, it is like seeing heaven. You and I are the grains the Lord will harvest on the last day of the harvest. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you feed things like us.
Today's message is the parable of the wheat and the tares. As long as we live on this earth, we harvest every year, but this is the story of the last harvest. The weeds are gathered and burned, and the grain is gathered and put into the Lord's treasury, completing the farming of human history. It means there will be a final harvest. At that time, the grain that has been sown and grown will shine like the sun in the Father's kingdom. Here is a lot of gratitude and joy. Harvest is always associated with gratitude. Every year we harvest our own crops or watch the harvesting of the grains, or those who do business or work, we should give thanks to the Lord for harvesting me with the grains in the last time of the kingdom of heaven. Because this is a “real harvest” and a “true thanksgiving.”
Occasionally, if you look at certain rice fields, there are rice fields with so much blood that you cannot tell whether they are rice or blood. Then you will want to curse the farmer in that paddy field. "I was lazy and didn't draw blood," he said. But I think it would be better if you could understand that there was another circumstance like that. If you were a farmer in that paddy field, wouldn't you want to pull weeds?
Anyway, it is basic to draw blood when farming rice fields. It pulls weeds out even when you are farming. However, in today's Bible verse, the Lord tells us not to pluck the weeds that grow among the grain. Here, the grain is wheat and the tares are called poison ivy. When it grows, it not only spoils the farm, but also causes stomach upset when eaten. This means don't pull it out. The reason, he says, is because “I am afraid that I will pull out the weeds and even the grain.”
We can notice two things in this statement.
The first is the Lord's confidence in the grain. The Lord says that good seeds are sown, but these good seeds are grains that can be harvested and grow no matter how many weeds there are. When God's word of the gospel truth is sown and begins to grow, no matter how many tares, no matter how many tares are harassed and harassed, there is confidence that the wheat will surely be harvested. It takes time, but the wheat will surely be harvested.
Second, the Lord cares for and loves the wheat so much. Usually, when farmers cultivate rice fields, blood is removed. However, the Lord is telling us to leave it alone until the harvest, and he is worried that the grain will be pulled out. The Lord intends to ensure that none of the grains go to hell. Not a single person can send wheat to Hell. This is the love of the Lord.
The disciples and many other Jews hoped to form an army as soon as possible to capture Jerusalem, advance to Rome, defeat the occupying forces, and establish the kingdom of God in the land. I really thought that the kingdom of God would come in that way. But the Lord thought differently. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven has already begun in this world. It means that the kingdom of heaven has already begun when the Word is sown. The seed of heaven has been sown. Sowed good seeds. And until the Day of Judgment, God is making the kingdom of heaven by allowing the word of the gospel truth to be spread through us who believe. But that takes a long time.
When we look at the world, we don't have to be surprised or afraid even if there are more people who are vicious or mean like beasts. This is because the weeds are growing together in this world, but the wheat of God is growing faithfully among them.
Jesus said that the tares were sown by the enemy the devil. Because what the devil hates the most in this world is for people to repent and return to God. So they try to sow false gospels in order to prevent people from turning to God and hearing the word, repenting, and praying.
If the church teaches human lessons other than the pure Word of God, those who have grown up listening to those false lessons will not be able to survive. Therefore, the church must thoroughly guard the words of Bible truth from being contaminated with falsehood. Good seeds must fall into the world. The word of truth must be planted. If false truths are planted, the whole world will inevitably become a land of weeds.
However, the devil always enters the place where God's work of revival takes place and sows tares. And sometimes the tares seem to grow bigger, and sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between wheat and tares.
Like the Apostle Paul, at first glance it seemed like weeds persecuting the church, but later on, there are grains that have become great workers of the church. It is because they accepted the truth of the gospel by the grace of the risen Lord.
We think it is right to pull out the weeds. But surprisingly, the Lord tells us not to pull up the weeds. I thought the weeds were pulled because it could be grain. It looks like tares, but in reality it hasn't changed yet, and it's not yet grown properly, because there are many good grains.
We should not judge people based on their current appearance alone. So the Lord said, “Do not judge people by their appearance” (John 7:24), “You judge according to the flesh, but I do not judge anyone” (John 8:15) “There is one who asks and judges” (John 8:15). :50) said.
It's lacking now, but it's not the time yet, so there are many cases like that. If someone prays with love and leads you with the Word, it will soon become the true form of wheat.
God tells us to leave the weeds alone so that not a single grain is hurt. No matter how good a judge is, he or she judges innocent people as criminals and sends them to prison unfairly. There are many people who have become prisoners because they cannot prove their innocence even though they are innocent. Sometimes people are found not guilty and released after serving a decade or more in prison. But God never makes such a mistake. God gives enough time to those we can trust. That is why he makes no one out of the wheat go to hell.
In particular, we need to think about what kind of wheat the Lord thinks of. In Matthew 9, after Jesus said, “When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them, because they are like sheep without a shepherd, and are tormented and lost” (36). Ask the Lord to send workers to the harvest.” Seeing the multitudes suffering and wandering like sheep without a shepherd, Jesus “went through all towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.” That's right. Those who “toil and wander like sheep without a shepherd” are the ones to be harvested. As long as you sow the seeds of the kingdom of heaven, good seeds, and the words of the truth of the gospel, you will reap the harvest.
It seems that there is still time until the last harvest. In the meantime, the Lord has given us all authority in heaven and on earth so that we can sow the good seeds of heaven in this world only with the seed of the Word.
Praise the Lord who will bring us back in the last harvest. Praise the Lord who will give us victory with hope for that country. Praise the Lord who will surely gather the wheat and bring it into the barn. That joy and that emotion are with us. I bless you in the name of Jesus that this harvest season will bring true harvest and thanksgiving abundantly.