May—the month of new beginnings. It’s when people begin to dig in their gardens, when they begin to plant, when they begin to fertilize those plants, when they begin to water, when those plants begin to pollinate, when people begin to sneeze from that pollination… Wait a minute! That last one’s out of place, isn’t it? The first ones struck harmonious chords with several of you, and while the last may have resonated with several, it was certainly out of tune with the rest of the thought.
But think about it: not everyone is really happy about spring. Many of us are excited about the weather, and many of us are really excited about the idea of working in gardens and planting things. Most of us are willing to help out if asked, even with the hard task of weeding. And none of us who are not good at growing things, or who really do not like the hard work, the allergies, or just being outside, would stop those who love gardening from working their gardens. Perhaps it’s because we like the beauty of the flowers or we like to eat their harvest—and they always have too many tomatoes and zucchini!
Yet that sometimes happens in Christ’s church—not people turning down tomatoes and zucchini, but people unhappy about the work of growing His garden, His Church. When Jesus taught, in the parable of the Sower and seed, (recorded in Matthew 13.3-9, 18-23), that the seed is the Word of God, (Luke 8.11), He said that when that seed takes root in the believer, the believer produces fruit, and the best believers produce fruit that is 100 times greater than what the believers originally were. I know, fruit is often character, but it is often more believers, too. The growth of the Church of Christ is not just spiritual, it is numerical as well.
Whereas we’re willing to help in the literal gardens of our friends or family members, sometimes we’re not willing to help in Christ’s garden, or we get in the way of the growth of that garden: letting the “weeds” grow, refusing to sow the seed, complaining that the new crop, new believers, have the audacity to act like new believers—imagine, babies acting like babies!
Any time we decide not to help the Master Gardener, Who, according to John 15 is God Himself, in the work He has asked, no, commanded us to do, we are saying we no longer believe Christ wants more fruit grown. We are like allergy sufferers or non-gardening types who have decided to prevent the gardeners from planting, gardening, and growing. We have decided to prevent the Master Gardener from growing His Garden.
It’s May. It’s Spring. It’s planting and growing season, especially in Christ’s garden, Christ’s Church. So, c’mon, roll up your sleeves, take your anti-histamines—whatever they may be in this analogy—and pitch in: evangelize, greet and welcome visitors, practice hospitality, join a K Group, invite others to a K Group, willingly divide that K Group when it gets 8-10 families, pray for God to grow New Hope, give to the Ministry Expansion Fund. I guarantee it will be a glorious harvest. You think about that.