6/18/23 Mark 4:26-34 “The Little Engine That Could!”

16 Jun 6/18/23 Mark 4:26-34 “The Little Engine That Could!”

6/18/23    Mark 4:26-34   “The Little Engine That Could!”

I had a little trouble getting started on writing this sermon.  I didn’t have writer’s block or anything like that.  I learned early on in my ministerial career that as long as I had the word of God to read, then I had something to talk about.  Notice that I never said that I was good at talking about God, only that I could.  Anyway, what was perplexing me about this sermon was the fact that I had a definite direction that I wanted to go.  Many times, when I’m writing a sermon, I just kind of let the Holy Spirit take me to where He thinks I should go.  This, in turn, has led me to places and topics that I didn’t know existed or wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about.  Anyway, I’m talking to a couple of churches that have joined a new denomination and I want to be sure that what I say will help you to grow.  As I have said before, this is a very exciting time for you.  You are in the same church building but you are new.  Then with confidence, you can concentrate on Jesus Christ like you always have.  Hopefully, you put most of the crazy social justice causes behind you as you start out as a very new Christian church.  I only wish that I could be around to see where you go in 30 years.  It could be unbelievable.  If you advertise and show Jesus in all you do, you could add 100 new people by the end of the year.  That should be a goal.  I did not pick today’s Scripture.  It picked me and wouldn’t you know it fits right in with growing a new church.  Let’s see how much we are like a growing seed or a mustard seed.

In the 1920s there was a young African American child who was growing up in Cleveland. One day a famous athlete named Charlie Paddock, came to his school to speak to the students. At the time Paddock was considered “the fastest human being alive.” He told the children, “Listen! What do you want to be? You name it and then believe that God will help you be it.”  That little boy decided that he too wanted to be the fastest human being on earth. The boy went to his track coach and told him of his new dream. His coach told him, “It’s great to have a dream, but to attain your dream you must build a ladder to it. Here is the ladder to your dreams. The first rung is determination! And the second rung is dedication! The third rung is discipline! And the fourth rung is attitude!” The result of all that motivation is that he went on to win four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He won the 100-meter dash and broke the Olympic and world records for the 200-meter dash. His broad jump record lasted for twenty-four years. His name was Jesse Owens.

Like the growth of Jesse Owens, spiritual growth is not an accident.  It is intentional.  You must intend to grow. You must make a choice to grow.  I don’t know how to say it any clearer than this. You are as close to Jesus Christ as you choose to be.  If you are not growing spiritually don’t blame your wife or husband or kids or parents or pastor.  You are as close to God as you choose to be.  If you don’t feel close to God right now, guess who moved?  I know God didn’t move.

As we begin today, I would like to remind you of something that may be a huge help in starting a new church.  Remember when Jesus was by himself.  He went to the country side and recruited 12 men to help him.  There was only the 12 to begin.  The message that Jesus gave was so great, so inspiring that that number just grew and grew.  Soon there were 100’s and then 1000’s following this new religion.  Now I know that you aren’t that big as far as numbers are concerned.  But you do have the greatest message that this world has ever seen or heard.  Plus, I believe that your new denomination has the greatest theology that the world has never tried.  Think about that.  I think you can double your size in no time at all.  Never be afraid to let Jesus lead you in this endeavor.

Jesus begins by talking about the Kingdom of God.  Let’s not get confused here.  Some would think that we are in the kingdom of God but I would have to disagree to some extent.  Yes, we live in the world that was created by God.  Everywhere you look, you can see the Lord’s work and splendor.  We can enjoy many of the benefits of God right here today if you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  However, we also have to know who rules this world and that is Satan.  Therefore, as long as he is around, this cannot be the kingdom of God.  When Jesus comes back or we go to heaven, then we will see and be in the Kingdom of God.

So, while you are still here, you have a job to sow the seeds of Christ wherever you go and whatever you do.  Now I know some of you are farmers or gardeners and you know about the first part of this passage.  We are not in the kingdom of God yet but He is preparing us to be there.  The parable says that the kingdom of God is like when a man scatters seed on the ground.  The point that Jesus is making here is this.  Once that seed is scattered or planted there really in nothing you can do to help it along.  That seed relies that you have prepared the ground ahead of time.  There is nothing you can do after this that will really help it to grow.  I know that in a garden, you can water and fertilize to help but usually on a larger farm scale, this is not really possible.  This seed is at the mercy of God to be what it is going to be.  I think that this should make sense so far.

But God isn’t really talking about seeds at all.  He is referring to what we do with our lives and how we pass the love of Jesus on to others.  Here is what I mean.  I was your pastor for 10 years and I saw many things, some good and some not so good.  Since we have left, I have been very proud of you in many ways.  I have seen some of your lives turned around because of your love for Jesus.  However, there have been other times when I have to wonder if anyone heard a word that I said in those 10 years.  The really funny thing about this is that there have been times when I have felt both ways over the same subject.  This is because all I can do is preach the Word and try to show you the way.  I plant the seed.  I have no control over what you do with that Word.  I cannot control whether you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior or not.  I just put the seed out there and then I have no control.

You are starting a new church.  For the first time, you will have the total backing of this new denomination as you find ways to present the Bible and the teachings of Jesus to others.  You will have no control over what happens when you do this.  However, it is still your job to make sure that you only present Jesus Christ risen from the dead.  If you present the pure Gospel message, then I can only see a lot of growth in your future.  Always remember to have faith and let Jesus be God and take care of you and your new church.

The second part of this reading has to do with the mustard seed.  I remember growing up on the farm in northwestern Minnesota and we had wild mustard in our fields.  We would have to spray for it every year or it would take over the field.  But the mustard I remember was only about 2-3’ tall and there would be no way that I would ever confuse it with a bush or a tree.  So, I had to do a little research about the mustard plant.  I found that in very dry regions of the world, there is a tree or bush that is a mustard tree.  That is what they are talking about here.

Then Jesus goes on to describe the mustard seed.  He tells us that it is probably the smallest seed in the garden.  This is something that is still true today.  The modern and ancient mustard seed is very tiny.  In the old days or in a modern desert, this tiny seed could grow into a large bush or tree.  Large enough for birds to build nests.  While our mustard plant in this area is much smaller, it could still grow so densely that it could choke out whatever crop you were trying to grow.  What Jesus is trying to tell us here is that even though this is a very, very small seed, it can grow up to be some sort of mighty tree or bush.

You may be thinking about his time, “What has that got to do with anything?”  Just remember that anything is possible with God.  There is nothing that He cannot do unless it is something evil.  God sent Jesus to this world as a small baby.  He was a mustard seed.  There was only one of Him and He was a baby.  About 30 years later, He is still by Himself as He starts out on His ministry.  Remember that so far it is just Jesus.  So, Jesus goes and recruits 12 disciples.  The membership in their little group, their mustard seed, just keeps growing and growing for 3 years.  It wouldn’t be too many years later that Christianity would become the official religion of the Roman Empire.  Just let that sink in for a minute.  God took nothing and built a religion that many people and governments hated, and made it into the religion of the land.  Why did this happen?  First of all, it happened because God wanted it to happen and God will not be thwarted.  The second reason was that this new religion was the best one around and it still is.  God made Christianity perfect.  It’s too bad that we, the people are not perfect to run it.

So, what does all this have to do with us today?  To begin with, your new denomination is a mustard seed.  It started several years ago and now thousands of churches have left the old church.  This is because of something that I discovered years ago.  The basic doctrine and tenets of the Methodist Church are far better and more Christlike than any other denomination out there.  That’s why I became one of their ministers.  However, they have lost their way.  They cannot even follow their own rules.  Well, the country is sick of these types of things.  So, someone decided that they would create a new denomination by actually adhering to the basic doctrine of the old denomination.  Now this little mustard seed of a denomination is ready to fly the coop and get the ball rolling to worship our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, what does all this mean to your small churches?  First of all, once again, you are the mustard seed.  You are not very big but you have the potential to outgrow your buildings in no time.  That might be a scary thought but do not let it bother you.  You need to remember that Jesus Christ is with you every step of the way.  He will provide for whatever you need.  He is never going to leave you if you just follow Him.  This new denomination grew from nothing to something quite big today and they did it by following and worshipping Jesus every step of the way.

This is also going to take some effort on your part.  When God does something, like starting a new denomination, He lines things up but the people have to pitch in to do some or all the work in this world.  He has done this once again.  Look what He has done.  In the 1700’s He directed John Wesley to create the Methodist denomination.  This might be the ultimate in denominations of all time.  Thanks to the many men and women, it took off and became very big.

Then in our typical human ways, we started to fall away from this teaching.  This began in the late 1800’s.  It continues today as the old way supports just about any social cause that comes around.  It doesn’t matter if it makes sense or not. They have been doing this because they have trained their modern preachers to never talk about sin and the justice of God.  They will also refuse to give the invitation to join Jesus.  And by the way, if you have never done this, then I urge you to confess your sins to Him and ask Jesus to live in your heart as your Lord and Savior.  It is that easy to do but there aren’t many pastors around that will help you to do this.

This is the first part of your effort to grow the church.  You need this so that you are doing things for the right reason.  Then you need to make a plan to go out and invite everyone in your community to come to this church to hear the real message of Jesus Christ.  You have a good pastor and he will do all he can but you have to reach out.  However, if you decide not to do anything, then expect the worst results.  The choice is yours and I beg you to reach out with all that you have.

Today, we have been studying two parables.  There are several before this and many after this.  As a matter of fact, Jesus tells us that He uses them so that His audience will understand what He is saying.  Then, if need be, He will later explain this to His disciples when they are alone.  You may not know this but I have been telling of the same message since I began preaching.  It’s the story of Jesus and all that He can do for you.  What I have to change all the time is the stories or parables that I tell with the message.  That is because you remember these far better.  That is just human nature, from Biblical times until now.

This reminds me of the story line of The Little Engine That Could was that the train got stuck or something like that.  He couldn’t pull his load and the little engine was the only one willing to help.  He was little.  This is very similar to the story of David and Goliath.  None of the big men would step up and take on the giant.  It took a boy with a giant faith to step forward and defeat the giant.  He normally would have no chance to do this because he was so small as was the little engine.

You folks are David.  You folks are the little engine.  You folks are any of the underdogs in history who have overcome huge obstacles to win a victory for Jesus Christ.  As you begin this wonderful new adventure with Jesus, just remember this.  With Jesus, nothing is impossible.  Everything is very, very possible.  Jesus loves you so much that He will not leave you high and dry in the fantastic undertaking.  As I always try to tell you.  Trust Jesus.  Trust Jesus.  And thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.