“He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.” (Mark 4:27-28)
Our world is filled with chaos and fear. To make sense of life a lot of people try to make sense of things with beliefs and worldviews that give them control and comfort. They try to shut down all opposing views so as to maintain their composure. These beliefs are based on their own thoughts and ideas or those of their chosen gurus and mentors. Those beliefs and lifestyles not based on God’s word will only lead them to eternal destruction.
It is up to believers to tell them the truth of the gospel, no matter how difficult that may be. The three readings for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost remind us of this calling we have. The problem is that most of us do not do it at all or make feeble attempts at it. We often feel that we are not good evangelists, so we often shy away from our calling. We think we have to be like salesmen who have to work hard to seal the deal before the person walks out.
But these parables Jesus taught in Mark as well as the portion of Ezekiel’s prophecy show us otherwise. We may be the ones sowing the seed of the gospel but we are not the ones who make that seed grow and bear fruit: the Holy Spirit is. Along the way He uses us to accomplish the steps in the process, but the result as well as the who, where, when and how is up to Him, not us.
When we realize this, we should feel some of the pressure taken off of us. What we have to do is place ourselves at the Lord’s disposal. We can start to do so by being a loving friend, neighbor or relative right where we are. One way we can do this is by striking up conversations with people about almost anything and in any place: the doctor’s office, a wedding, the supermarket, the coffee shop, the park, the mall, out in our neighborhood streets, or wherever we go. These can all be divine appointments that God has with people that He desires to reach. In these appointments He is, in a sense, incarnated in us so He can use us to do His work to preach the gospel of salvation in Christ. We become friends with people and eventually, in God’s time, the Holy Spirit provides us the right opportunity and the right words that will touch that person and lead them to repentance. Other Christians may be involved in that process anywhere along the line, but it is always the Holy Spirit who produces the fruit.