“Together Bearing Fruit With Joy”
July 13, 2014
The 5th Sunday In Ordinary
Time/Kingdomtide/Time of the Church
Isaiah 55: 1 - 5; 10 - 13/Psalm 65: 9-13/Romans 8: 9 - 17/Matthew
13: 1 - 9; 18 - 23
The Reverend Father Leo Yanguas
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the
Charismatic Episcopal Church
Welcome to our new and temporary home. This
reminds us of the tabernacle of our journey. One thing about journey,
there may be some discomfort, afflictions or trials, but it shows to us that
God’s work is greater than them if we will just open our hearts and our minds.
Scriptures this Sunday, our move here, and the
weather, the early rains, are all in unity and are speaking to us. As our first
time here, everyone is expecting the Word of God to us for direction. At
the same time, Christ talks to us about the Parable of the Sower.
We are in the rainy season and the effect is different for those in the city
and the provinces, especially for the farmers. For those who are in the city,
it is traffic, flooding and chaos and we are hot-tempered. For
those who are in the provinces, for the farmers, it is joy, hope and a time to
move. It is time to plow and to plant seed.
At this time that Jesus is talking about the Parable
of the Sower, and we are having early rain, it speaks to us so loud and
clear. The parable shares to us three things about the condition of the
heart. One was sown on the path, which did not bear fruit. The ones
sown on the path are the ones what Jesus called those hearts who are
hardened. There are three instances when Jesus mentioned hardness of
heart and one of them is divorce, where He says, “Because of the hardness of
your hearts, you allowed divorce.” When there is divorce, there is
unforgiveness, there is irreconciliation and there is hatred. You cannot plant
anything.
The second soil that Jesus shows to us is the one
that grows for a while because it is sown on rocky places. Because of
temptation, because of the sun, the seed is scorched and immediately it dies
down. We can relate that to Matthew 7 where Jesus was sharing to us
about the parable of two foundations. One was just hearing the Word of
God which is likened to the one who built his house upon the sand. The
other one is the one who heard the Word of God and acted on it which is
compared to the one who built his house upon the rock. The temptations come;
the wind comes; the affliction comes, but the house did not fall because he
acted on the Word of God. If we act on the Word of God, our foundation is
sure and stable.
The third soil is the one that succumbs to the worries
of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. The Word of God did not
prosper in this kind of heart. Philippians 4:4-8 says, “Rejoice in the
Lord always; and again I will say, rejoice by prayer and thanksgiving and make
your request be known to God and the God of peace will surround your minds and
give you the peace that you need in life.” It is hard for us to die to
the worries of the world. The parable shares that if we are to die
to ourselves, the kingdom of God will be fruitful. We have to die to our
own kingdoms – to our own desires, to our own directions, to our selfishness.
The root of the hardness of heart, the root of the
one sown on the rocky places, the root of those who are choked by the worries
of the world and the pride of life is really about one who is having a hard
time dying to his own kingdom. If the kingdom of God is to be manifested
among us, there needs to be a dying to our own kingdom. One of the things
that is hard to die from is the worries of the world. We say, “Can we die
to this? Can we act on Philippians 4:4-8, that we are not to be anxious for
nothing but by prayer and thanksgiving, we make our request known to God and
all will be fine?” This is true!
There is an actual situation that happened about
Napoleon’s General. “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true
faith is the end of anxiety. George Muller Massena, one of Napoleon’s
generals, suddenly appeared with 18,000 soldiers before an Austrian town which
had no means of defending itself. The town council met certain that
capitulation was the only answer. The old dean of the church reminded the
council that it was Easter, and begged them to hold services as usual and to
leave the trouble in God’s hands. They followed his advice. The dean went to
the church and rang the bells to announce the service. The French soldiers
heard the church bells ring and concluded that the Austrian army had come to
rescue the town. They broke camp, and before the bells had ceased ringing,
vanished.”
This is an actual account where surrounded by
armies, a town made prayer, thanksgiving and supplication made known to God.
They just rang the bell which signified that it is about time to have the
Easter Mass. The soldiers surrounding them were confused, and they
all left and vanished. They trusted in God. It is important
that we understand the principle of God and realize that we have to die to
ourselves that the seed of the Kingdom may be seen in our lives.
One of the things that will help us in our worried situation,
especially in the city, is one saying, “If you cannot have everything, make the
best of everything you have.” Talking
about the deceitfulness of riches and money, one reason why it is hard for us
to save money is because our neighbors are always buying something that we
can’t afford. If this is the motivation of our lives, another saying
says, “We are most miserable if profit is the measure of our
progress and competition is the law we live by.”
Jesus was asked by His disciples, “Why do you talk to
the crowds in parables? For us, you explain them. You will let us
understand the parables.” One thing about the crowds is that they
are following Christ because of His miracles. They are there for what
they can get and what benefit they can receive. The disciples were there
following the person of Christ because they have a relationship with
Christ. Christ brings them to the daily situations because they are
followers, and as they follow, the seeds of the Kingdom are planted in their hearts.
The seeds of the Kingdom were allowed to grow in their hearts as they continue
to follow Christ regardless of the rebuke or the correction of Christ and where
Christ brings them. The disciples are not there for what they can get or
receive and “for me and myself” but to follow Christ.
Origin, a church father, says that it is important
for us to develop that relationship with Christ. He says, “In the gospel,
Jesus is the kingdom Himself.” If we want to grow in the kingdom of God and for
the kingdom of God to grow in our lives, then, we are to follow Christ because
He Himself is the Kingdom. We are not here for what we can get, receive
or what will make us comfortable. We are hungry as Isaiah 55 says, “Seek
the things which will really satisfy you.” Don’t seek the things which are
temporary and shallow that will not fill us. He says, “Seek God first.”
Quoting Archbishop Francois Fenelon regarding the
kingdom of God, “To want all that God wants, always to want it, for all occasions and
without reservations, this is the kingdom of God which is all within.”The
kingdom of God was shared to the disciples because their attitude was that they
had a living relationship with God. Having a living relationship with God
will cause the weeds, the hardness of heart, the rocks to melt as we follow
Christ in our lives. It will guarantee for the kingdom of God to be
seen in our lives.
I have a story about a janitor in a factory. As a
janitor, he was looked down. Every day he would bring out the wheelbarrow
filled with garbage. To make sure that he is not stealing anything from
the factory, the security guard would always check the garbage.
Every day, he would go out with the wheelbarrow and the garbage. After a
few years, he retired a rich man. All his companions were still working in the
factory and were still poor. One of his companions asked him, “You are just a
janitor. Why are you now prosperous? What is your secret?” The
janitor said, “It is just simple. Every day, I bring out the wheelbarrow
and sell them.” Like us, we magnify the garbage and the most important
thing passes our noses without noticing it. In the hardness of our
hearts, we judge and we are irreconcilable. We see all things negative
and we miss out the most important things in our lives.
Granting that we have removed all the hindrances –
the three types of soil (hardness of heart, rocky places, stones and weeds) –
and we have corrected them, does that guarantee that the soil is fertile?
You can remove all these things, and yet the soil is not productive.
Jesus was talking about people who are fishermen and farmers. They are
Jews. From the beginning, they understood the laws of the land about
plowing and sowing. There are rules that will make the soil or our hearts
productive. How can the heart be productive and reap a hundred fold
return in our lives granting that we have removed all the hindrances?
Genesis 26:1-12, talks about Isaac. During
famine, he sold and in verse 12 it says that Isaac reaped a hundred fold.
To reap a hundred fold is a miracle in itself because on a regular basis, just
to reap ten times what you sowed is already successful. God says thirty, sixty
and a hundred fold. Isaac is an example for us of one who was able to
reap a hundred fold in the time of famine. What is his secret? He
had a relationship with God and God told him not to go down to Egypt but to
stay in Gerar. “Don’t go down to Egypt and stay in the land that I will
show you.”
I would like you to tell your seatmate: Stay in the land that
God showed us. Isaac obeyed God. He wanted to go to
Egypt, but God told him to stay because Gerar is not a good and ideal place and
situation for Isaac to prosper. Isaac obeyed God and he stayed. It
is tempting to go to Egypt. “This place is far from me. It is hard to go
this place. I will go to Egypt.” God told Isaac, “I will be with
you and I will bless you.” In fact, Gerar is not a good place to
stay because Isaac was so much in fear that he said to his wife, “Rebecca,
pretend that you are my sister because they may kill me. It is either
that they rape you or kill me or rape me or kill you. This place is not a place
to proper.” But Isaac stayed where God told him to stay and he sold
in that place and he reaped a hundred fold.
Taking a story not from the Bible, I will give you a
temporary example in the life of George Washington Carver who is a botanist and
an inventor. “We have been encouraged by George Washing Carver and his testimony of how
he over and over again went to the Creator and asked Him to teach him what the
peanut was for. One of the most important things that George Washington
Carver learned was to hear God speak to him and to teach him how to make
products from the peanut. George Washington Carver in his lifetime
discovered: 32 different kinds of milk from the peanut; 300 different
products from the peanut; 300 products from clay; over 100 products from
the sweet potato.
A few years before his death, Dr. Carver explained the secret of his
success: "It is not we little men who do the work, but it is our blessed
Creator working through us... Other people can have this power, if they only
believe. The secret lies" — touching his Bible — "right here, in the
promises of God. They are real, but so few people believe them to be real." "He
said, "I always sleep over a problem. I go to sleep with it on my mind,
and the next morning I see the method and the new perspective which usually
clears it up. I did not do it. God has only used me to reveal some of His
wonderful providences." Dr. Carver, like Isaac,
listened to the word of God. The word of God to us today: stay where God wants
you to stay.
The farmer to whom Jesus was talking knows how to
make the heart as a fertile ground. One, they knew that the Lord was the
One who owns the land. Since God owns the land as written in Leviticus
25:23, the farmers knew it and they paid their tithes. This is
good! Isaiah and Malachi says, “Test Me now if I will not open the
windows of heaven and cause the rain to fall down and cause the rain to accomplish
its purpose and the creation will sing on your behalf.” It is a powerful
thing to pay our tithe. It opens our hearts to God.
The farmers knew that during harvest time, they are
not to harvest the corners of the field. They are for the poor. They are
not to pick up fruits that have fallen on the ground. They are for the
poor. They are not to go back to the gleanings or the fruits that they
have forgotten in the field. They are for the poor. They have always
something for the poor that is why God blessed their land and made it
fertile. This is because they care. They are giving and they care
for the poor. They allow people to take the fruit of their labor;
it’s not only for themselves. Galatians 5 says that the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Let other people pick your joy, your faithfulness and your
loving-kindness. This will cause the Word of God to be multiplied in our
hearts.
Another thing that will cause the Word of God to be
multiplied in our hearts and make it fertile is to take time to rest.
There is this Sabbatical year for the land- to make it rest. Many of us
are always under stress and tension. We don’t rest and it seems that is
normal for us. Take time to rest; take the Sabbath. Allow the soil
of your heart to take rest and have a Sabbath and you will be productive in
your life.
Another thing that will make the soil productive
is: don’t sow two kinds of seeds or else your soil will be
infertile. Don’t allow negatives things to affect your hearts.
Psalms says to guard your hearts with all diligence for from it flows issues of
life. James says to guard your tongue. It cannot be that fresh
water and salt water will be coming out from the same fountain. Don’t
allow two seeds.
John 10 says, “Hear the voice of the shepherd.
Do not listen to the voice of the hireling.” Don’t allow two seeds to
pollute our hearts. Don’t sow two kinds of seeds in your hearts.
Take time to rest. Allow others to take the fruit of the Spirit in your
life. Pay your tithes. All these things and so many more that God
guarantees a hundred fold return in your lives if you follow these principles.
Take time to meditate and to look at the Word of God.
In conclusion, what is the word of God to us?
What is the word that will make our hearts fertile, at this point of time in
our journey? God speaks in many ways: through the Bible; through
our neighbor; through our situation. What is the word of God that we can
meditate upon and to allow it to grow in our hearts?
In Haggai 2:3-9, God is asking, “Who is left among
you who saw thistemple in its former glory? And how do you see it now?
Does it notseem to you like nothing in comparison” But
now take courage, Zerubbabel,(Cathedral of the
King)’declares the Lord,
‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you
people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the Lord of hosts.” God is with us! The “work” is to celebrate.
“As for the promise which I made you
when you came out of Egypt,My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not
fear!’ For thus says the Lord of
hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens
and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the
nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I
will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord”
LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
CARDINAL OF HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
AND
VENERABLE PRIMATE
OF THE PHILIPPINES
THROUGH
THE WORD EXPOSED
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