Jump Start # 1116

Haggai 2:19 “Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.”

The Lord, through Haggai, was promising the nation of better days ahead. New blessings were coming. They had come a long way. Some didn’t make it. Those that remained committed to the Lord would see a future with hope and not disaster. Some of these promises would be fulfilled in the coming of Christ—the greatest blessing of all.

Our thoughts today center around the question asked in our verse. “Is the seed still in the barn?” That’s a great statement for us to consider. Farmers, and even gardeners, understand what that statement implies. The best seed is of little value sitting in the barn on a shelf. The seed must get into the ground for it to do any good. Seed that remains in the barn will always be just seed. In the ground, wheat, corn, beans, flowers will grow. The famer will have a harvest if the seed gets into the ground. In the Lord’s parable, a sower went forth sowing the seed. Some of the seed fell upon the hard road, some fell among the thorns, yet the seed was getting out of the bag, out of the barn, and into the ground. That’s where the seed was supposed to be, in the ground.

Simple principle with profound impact upon us today. Do we keep the seed in the barn? Consider two applications:

First, as a congregation. Do we keep the seed in the barn?  How much time, how much energy, how much money is spent on getting the seed out of the barn and into the hearts of the community? Think about this, folks drive up and down the road and pass the church building every day. They see a nice building, a sign, but what do they know about the church? It is not uncommon to have two or three different churches on the same street. Some buildings have been there for years and years, yet the community doesn’t know much about them. Never stepped inside. We build nice buildings. We keep them clean. We invite guest speakers to come. But the extent of the activity is within the “barn.” What if no one ever comes into the “barn.” The seed must get out of the barn. How about mailing something to all the homes in the neighborhood? How about renting a place, like a school, for a special series of lessons for the community? How about putting chairs in the parking lot and having a singing outside so people can hear you? How about thinking and planning and brainstorming ways to get the seed out of the barn? Maybe we’ve spent too much time in the barn and we think that folks will simply show up because we are here. The message from the Master was “GO.” Go into all the world and preach….That doesn’t just mean Africa, that means in the neighborhood and across the street. How do folks in the community think? What’s bothering them? What message do they need the most? Barn thinking or community thinking?

Second, as an individual. Do I keep the seed in the barn? It’s not just a “church” thing, it’s my thing as well. I need to be busy getting the seed out of the barn. How? This is done by looking, praying and being ready for opportunity. A guy at work has been out for a funeral. It was his mom.  Engage in conversation. Let him know you are sorry. Most will talk. Knowing he’s been out for the funeral, you’ve picked up a couple of CD’s from the church house (the barn) about death. Now, when he’s back, not at first, but after some dialogue, you hand them the CD’s. You tell him these might help. These explain things. After a couple of days, you follow up and ask him about it. The seed is coming out of the barn.

Someone else you know is getting married. You talk to her about the wedding. Future brides love to talk about their wedding. You hand her a CD about marriage or give her the Jump Start book about weddings and marriage. Tell her that this is something that might help her. Don’t  have the Jump Start book? Email me (Rogshouse@aol.com) and keep a stock ready to hand out. Seed getting out of the barn.

Other situations, you are looking, watching, ready to help. Ready to connect a person to God’s word. You hear someone trash talking their church. They’ve had a bad experience. Jump in and invite them to come with you. You see someone reading their Bible, ask them what they are reading? Do you understand what you are reading? That’s what Philip did with the eunuch. The seed comes out of the barn.

Years ago I heard of a family that had their own tract rack on their front room wall. It was very odd but it was very useful. When people came to the door, they were ready with information to hand to them. The seed was coming out of the barn. Invest in some inexpensive Bibles that you can give to people. The seed comes out of the barn. There are many, many of our readers that are using the Jump Starts as a means to connect with others. The seed is coming out of the barn. Hospital visits, as a visitor or as a patient, or even as an employee, can be opportunities to get the seed out of the barn. Visits to the funeral home…walks through the neighborhood…opportunities to get the seed out of the barn.

It is important for congregations to be well stocked and supplied with a variety of material that the members can use. CD’s, colorful tracts, Bibles, flyers that briefly tell what the church is all about—these are the things that need to be in abundance so the members can pass them out, have them handy and use them. The expression, “strike while the iron is hot,” comes from the blacksmith days. The piece of iron would be pulled from the fire and it would be bright red. On the anvil it would go and the smitty would hammer it and shape it. Back into the fire and back on the anvil. Once it was the shape he liked, he would plunge the iron into a barrel of water. The steam would rise, the iron would cool and then it was no longer able to be shaped. Too often, when opportunity arises, while the iron is hot, we are not ready. We don’t have anything to give a person, we have to go ask the preacher if he has anything on this particular subject, and it takes him a while to get back and by then the iron has been in the barrel, it has cooled down and our efforts are to no avail. Strike while the iron is hot. Be ready. That’s what Peter said. Be ready to answer those who ask you. Be ready. Keep a supply of articles, tracks, CD’s in your car, desk, home. Take them with you when you are going to see people, visit hospitals. Get the seed out of the barn.

Now just handing a guy a smart looking tract or a cd won’t be the end, it’s just the start. Follow up. Ask to read one of the passages with him. Ask if he understood. You listen to the CD yourself before you give it.

This is how a church functions like a team. Someone preaches the lesson. Someone makes the CD’s. Someone stocks them. Someone gets them and passes them out. Many people involved. Use the internet—email, fackbook, twitter. Get bright, colorful and sharp lessons on things that matter. Let people know about the website. Advertise. Use all available means. Nothing is held back from getting the seed out of the barn and into the ground. The modern farmer will use the latest technology. He will invest in high tech equipment. He has GPS, radar and all kinds of help—all for the purpose of getting the seed into the ground. And churches? Well, some are still using methods of generations ago. Today, people don’t read much. So long, tedious articles and tracts, written in plain black and white will sit in a track rack in the barn. Short. Colorful. Catchy. Pictures. Attractive. Simple. Positive. Helpful. Truthful. That’s what needs to be done. Where do you find there? Write them. Get the preacher busy. Give him an assignment. Get after it. Spend money on seeds. Invest in color printers. There are all kinds of tools today to make things the best we can. We are in the seed business. The guy who gathers the seed. The guy who packages the seed. The guy who sells the seed. The farmer who buys the seed. And the one who puts the seed into the ground. Many people –all in the seed business.

It’s time for churches to get in the seed business. There’s a lot of people needed. There are a lot of things to be done. Make it attractive. Make it the best. Make it so someone will want to read it, listen to it, take the time with it. For too long, congregations have had classes upon classes about evangelism with little results. Get the seed out of the barn. Spend a class making material. Spend a class putting things together. Stock the barn and stock the home so the seed can be get out.

Is the seed still in the barn? I wonder how many times God asks that? I wonder why we don’t get it?

It’s time. Get the seed out of the barn…

Roger

Jump Start # 648

Haggai 2:19 “Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.’”

Haggai is that little prophetic book that separates the two “Z” books—Zephaniah and Zechariah. Our passage is found at the end of hard times. Better days were coming. This had nothing to do with elections, weather, economy or an end of war, but rather, God’s renewed blessings. There was a period of time in which the harvest would not be much. God was withholding His hand upon the people. Punishing them for wrong ways. It would not be a perpetual punishment. The blessings would restore, especially with the coming of Christ. Salvation was the hope.

The expression found in our verse today is a great question, “Is the seed still in the barn?” Now I’ll admit that I do not know much about farming. This hot, dry season destroyed by few tomatoes. But I do know that if the seed stays in the barn, there won’t be any harvesting. Seeds must get into the ground for any good to happen. A farmer could have the best of equipment, including the finest and newest tractor, a massive planter and the best of everything, but if the seed stays in the barn, there won’t be a harvest. The farmer can buy the best seeds, read up about the latest technology in farming, study weather forecasts and talk all day about farming, but if the seed stays in the barn, there will not be a harvest. The farmer could have the best season for farming, rain at the right time, mild summer and just ideal weather, but if the seed stays in the barn there won’t be a harvest.

There is a principle here that I hope you see. The seed has to get into the ground. If the farmer is lazy, too tired, doesn’t feel like it, or simply doesn’t want to do it, there won’t be a harvest. The seed doesn’t do any good sitting in a store, a seed bag or in the barn. For a harvest, the seed must get into the ground. It’s that simple. That’s true whether you are talking about flower seeds, watermelon seeds, corn seeds, or the word of God—called a seed by Jesus in Matthew 13. The sower sowed the seed. It didn’t stay in the barn.

Consider some applications:

1. The seed of good intentions must get in the ground. Many of us think of great things to do. There is a family that’s visiting and a call might encourage them. There is someone in the hospital that we could visit. There are some folks that we could invite over to our home. There is a new neighbor that I could invite to services. So much to do. I have found that there is never a time when there is nothing that could be done. Yet, good intentions are like seeds. If they stay in our heads and we do little about them, the seed remains in the barn. Like the farmer, it takes effort, work and time on our part. The farmer that can’t pull himself away from the TV will be a poor man because he will not harvest unless he spends the time to get the seed into the ground.

2. The seed of teaching God’s word. There are so many wonderful ways of doing that these days. It’s really become easier and there are so many tools available to do that. One way is simple to bring the subject up. Invite someone to worship services. Ask someone if they have looked that up in the Bible. There are sermon CD’s on specific topics that could be shared with others. There are bulletin articles, even these Jump Starts, that could be given to someone. Do you know when most people think about death, the hereafter, and Heaven? When they come home from a funeral. It’s on their mind. Do you know when most people think about suffering and where is God? When they are in the hospital. So much good can be done, but the seed must get out of the barn. It’s not our job to convert, God will do that. Our job is to get the seed into the good and honest heart. Far too many places talk about the seed, study ways of getting the seed in the ground, discuss different soil types, best methods of planting, what worked long ago and what works today, but they do so little in actually getting the seed in the ground. The seed in the barn will not bring a harvest.

3. The seed of a good word. Encouragement is like oxygen to our souls. We need it. Not false flattery. Not rehearsed and unfelt praise, but genuine encouragement. Young people need that. They get beat up for listening to the wrong music, wearing the wrong clothes, going to the wrong movies and having the wrong friends. You’d think that they couldn’t do anything right. But there they are on a Sunday morning, with Bibles in their hands. They are trying. Give them a good word. Build them up, not shoot them down. Don’t forget the leadership—the elders and preachers and busy deacons. They do so much and often few know about it. The death of young preachers is harsh criticism that some think will help them out. All it does is pushes more to quitting. Encourage comes in nice words, small gifts, a pat on the back, telling others about the good they are doing.

There are more but this will get you started in your thinking. Good intentions…the word of God…encouragement—each only good if put into service. Get the seed out of the barn!

Roger