"It was good."

If it was good then where did evil and bad come from?

Is this not the very same question the stewards, the servants are asking their master.

"Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did these weeds come from?"

When God created the world, scripture tells us, that God took Adam and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.  And the Lord God commanded the man,

"You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."

A good seed

But the serpent said to Eve,

"You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God."

A bad seed.

The servants in this mornings parable, when they noticed weeds growing in the field, their immediate response was to point the figure of blame at the master.

"What kind of seed did you give us to sow?"

I wonder who they would have credited, if the field had no weeds and the crop was very prosperous.  Would they have said, "Master the seed you gave us to sow was very good."?

We live in a world where you will find good seeds and bad seeds.  At one time good and bad was determined by The Word of God.  Right and wrong was as evident as black and white.  Today however black and white don’t seem as apparent as does the huge area of gray in which we live.

Good seems to be defined more by what you and I want then by what God wants.  Our morals and values are shaped more by what the secular world dictates than by what God dictates.  Our decisions are based more on political correctness, than Biblical correctness.  Our actions are influenced more on being faithful to oneself than with being faithful to God.

All too often we gloss over the Word of God.  This is never more true then in the area of stewardship.

Christ admonishes you and me

"not to store up for yourselves treasures of earth" and not to worry about daily needs but to trust God’s provision. (Mt.6:19-34);

God commanded the Israelites not to store up manna, but to trust Him for their daily bread (Ex. 16:17-20);

Christ praised the poor widow for giving all that she had to the temple treasury (Mk. 12:41-44);

Paul commended the Macedonian Christians for giving out of "their extreme poverty" (2 Cor. 8:1-2)

Christ’s own example of giving: "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich." (2 Cor. 8:9);

Christ’s admonishment, "Any of you who does not give up everything He cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33)

These are very hard sayings.  They call for a lifestyle of sacrifice that is all too often foreign to most people. A lifestyle which is being challenged everyday with the sowing of seeds such as "Just do it." "The person who has the most wins." "We want something for nothing." "We want the best for the lowest price."

Recently, I was sent the following story entitled, Lost Chapter in Genesis

It seems Adam was walking around the Garden of Eden feeling very lonely, so God asked Adam, "What is wrong with you?’

Adam said he didn’t have anyone to talk to.

God said that He was going to make Adam a companion and that it would be a woman.

God said, "This person will gather food for you, cook for you and when you discover clothing she’ll wash it for you. She will always agree with every decision you make.  She will bear your children and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them.  She will not nag you and will always be the first to admit she was wrong when you’ve had a disagreement.  She will never have a headache and will freely give you love and passion whenever you need it."

Adam asked God, "What will a woman like this cost?"

God replied, "An arm and a leg."

Adam thought for a while and then asked God, "What can I get for a rib?"

The rest is history.

As humorous as that story may be it illustrates a great truth in American culture. We have succumbed to our culture’s ideals of material security and material indulgence.  We want the good life now, and we try to ensure our own material security.

Our use of time, talent and treasure is a crucial measure of our love for God; our obedience to His commands to deny self, sacrifice, and suffer for Him; and our faith in Him to provide our needs.

We must ask ourselves:

"How much do I love God?"

"How much do I care about the
hungry, the homeless, the hurting, the lost?"

"How much am I willing to deny myself,
sacrifice, and suffer to show them His love?"

"How much faith do I have that He will
provide for my needs if I sacrifice for Him?"

"Does my money, my life make me more
like Christ and proclaim His good news?"

"Will I be salt and light to a lost world if nonbelievers see me as no different from
them in my use of my time talent and
treasure?"

"What kind of seeds Do you Sow?"

What kind of seeds are you growing in your life? What kinds of seeds are you sowing?

amen

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