Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
March 16, 2008 - W0811

Today we will talk about the very important subject of seeds. Way back in the 1700’s, John Chapman began dropping apple seeds all around the United States. These seeds grew into numerous apple trees and he was later called “Johnny Appleseed.” It should be noted that one seed grew into countless apples and that a relatively few seeds populated America with a multitude of apple trees. If you plant one seed for God, he will return to you a thousand fold of blessings back. Only God can count how many trees are in a single seed.

Seeds are so important that there is a large super secure storage facility called the “Doomsday Vault” that holds about 4.5 million seeds for safekeeping in case of a nuclear war. It is located near Norway and buried deep beneath the surface so that a nuclear blast would not harm the seeds. It is intended to repopulate the world’s vegetation after a disaster.

All kinds of seeds are easily available to us today. A single seed can be the beginning of all sorts of things. A handful can eventually feed an entire city or become a forest. A pumpkin seed can become … Halloween!

Unfortunately, we can also sow the seed of unforgiveness that later leads to the death of hundreds in a terrorist bomb attack. Our unkind tongues are like careless matches that can set a forest ablaze. One careless moment or one careless seed sown can lead to another’s death. One bad seed or one bad man with no accountability can lead to a mass grave. One man with a bad seed or idea planted in him can lead to six million dead in the Holocaust. Whether it is a good or bad seed, it all starts with a seed. So we have to remember that there are bad seeds, better seeds and finally the best seeds.

We need to keep in mind that “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field …” (Mat. 13:31). In other words, even something great and wonderful will start small. On the other hand, something greatly terrible can also start as a tiny bad seed.  So what is a bad seed?

1.     BAD: SEEDS THAT HOLD INJURY.  

The Bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov. 18:21). The point is that you get to choose whether it is death OR life. You get to choose whether you are going to injure someone or help him in what you say or do.

There are two sources of bad seeds.  One source is us. When we hold grudges we tend to sow bad seeds. When we talk insultingly about other people we tend to sow bad seeds. For example, if someone takes a day off to be with his wife, we might accuse him of being lazy. If someone buys a new car, we may say that he is showing off. These tend to plant bad seeds.

In the Bible a servant reported, “Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full weeds!’ ‘An enemy has done it’ the farmer exclaimed…” (Matt. 13:27-28). All too often, we can be that enemy or the weeds among the seeds. Even today, there will be those of us that will sow bad seeds right after this sermon. Recently, someone parked their car so close to mine that I could not easily get into my car. I grumbled and grumbled about how inconsiderate that person was and before I was finished that person came up behind me and apologized. I was so embarrassed. If he had heard me, that would have produced some bad seed in him. All of us are guilty of planting bad seeds and we must remember too that bad seeds always come back at us at some time in our lives.

A cop stops a couple for speeding at 80mph. The husband protests that he had his cruise control at 55mph. The wife blurts out that there is no cruise control. The cop starts writing a second ticket for not wearing seat belts. The husband claims he took them off when he got pulled over. The wife blurts out that he never wears seat belts. The cop begins writing a third ticket for a broken tail light.  The husband claims he did not know.  The wife says she reminded him. He tells her to shut up.  The cop asks her if the husband is always that rude. She replies only when he’s been drinking!  So you see, sowing bad seeds always come back to you!

Sometimes though that bad seeds can be unintentional. My I-phone has a bad spell checker that changes words for you so when I misspelled “special” in a text message it was sent out as “sexual”! So sometimes we spread bad seeds through innocent mistakes.

The other source of bad seeds is the Devil. As the Bible says, “Now there was a day when the sons of god came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6). Satan will find his way in through bad seeds. He uses the bad seed to destroy marriages, friendships and families. Sometimes our remarks can grow to become huge offenses to others.

One dangerous thing about sowing bad seeds is that it is addictive. It is like taking pain pills. If you do it too much and too often, soon it becomes normal to take the pills constantly even when the original pain is gone.  Sowing bad seeds becomes normal if it is done too often.

Some elderly people become cranky because they get into the habit of voicing negative opinions and nobody challenges them.  But this is important to change because sowing bad seeds affects other people. You might survive sowing bad seeds but others might not. It may not be a big deal to you but seeds tend to grow. The Book of Mark tells us that Jesus’ disciples criticized the use of very expensive perfume on Jesus as a waste since it could have been sold and the money used for the poor. Jesus scolded them and explained that the girl used the perfume to prepare Him for His crucifixion. But Judas was affected by his fellow disciples’ criticism and so betrayed Jesus to the authorities. So while some may survive a bad seed, others pay a huge price. Remember …

·       SOME MAY NEVER SURVIVE.

As it is written, “But some were indignantly remarking to one another, ‘Why has this perfume been wasted?’ … Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them” (Mark 14:4, 10). The disciples’ grumbling about Jesus’ supposed poor stewardship of money may have contributed to Judas’ downfall so while you might survive sowing bad seeds, others might not. Therefore, do not spread bad seeds.

So what are better seeds?

2.     BETTER: SEEDS THAT GIVE HOPE.                

As the Bible says, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weights it down, but a good word makes it glad” (Prov. 12:25). A father that tells his son that he can “do it” plants the seed of a great athlete. Sow those seeds of hope generously. The blessings of the Old Testament come from hope. Start spreading the seeds of hope. Imagine in your mind that everyone has a sign that reads, “Please help me to feel valuable today.”

But this does not mean that we ignore sin.  We still have to draw a line against sin. We have to both draw lines and build bridges but need to ask God for the wisdom to know when to do one and not the other. Start sowing seeds of hope freely. And also note that better seeds are …

·       SEEDS THAT ARE WELL CHOSEN.                         

The Bible speaks of well chosen words or seeds like this: “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances” (Prov. 25:11). You can work wonders by simply telling someone that what he did was appreciated.

I had been invited to speak at a big conference that was loaded with big name speakers like Colin Powell and Jeb Bush. I was so impressed with the credentials of the speakers that I arrived ahead of my speaking time so that I could listen and take notes from these speeches. After I gave my speech, someone came up to me and told me that he had learned a lot from me BEFORE I had spoken. He said that he was impressed that I had been willing to arrive early to humbly learn from others. The great lesson he learned was to always be an avid student of life. This man saw something good and spread seeds of hope in me. His seeds or words were well chosen.

So what are the best seeds?

3.     BEST: SEEDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.                    

Only one people can sow the best seeds and they are Christians like you and me. We spread seeds or the message of the gospel through various ways including radio and television. We are like the two followers of Jesus as they walked on their way to Emmaus. “They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’” ((Luke 24:32). When the eternal seed is planted in your heart you will know it. When that seed takes hold, eternal life begins.

A long time ago, I attended a community college that had strong programs in business and jazz music because that was what I was interested in at the time. I intended to someday become a rich businessman. But someone took the chance of trying to plant that eternal seed and invited me to a Campus Crusade for Christ concert. I reluctantly went and the seed of Christ was sown within me. My whole eternal life changed from that moment on!

Some seed will fall on hard ground, shallow ground or weed infested ground. Only perhaps one fourth will find fertile ground. So a 25% chance may not sound like a good return but there is a 0% chance if you do not try to sow good seeds at all. And be hopeful because that one good eternal seed that finds fertile ground will produce a 3000% return! So God is going to ask you to sow four seeds.

While attending another conference I was introduced by another pastor. In introducing me, he said that many years ago I had spoken and performed at a Youth for Christ meeting and because of me at that meeting he became a pastor himself! I did not know my affect on him at that time years ago but it just goes to show that you do not always know when you have planted a seed in someone. And you may not know which seed is the one that will take hold but when it does it will return maybe a hundredfold in blessings! As the Bible says, “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:20).

So after this sermon, I am giving you the chance to sow some eternal seeds. I will give you packets of 4 Easter invitation cards. Maybe one in four of those people you give them to will accept the eternal seed. Remember, some doors unlock with a key, others open with a choice. There may be only a 25% chance but if you do not try, then the chance is only 0%. If the eternal life harvest is to take place then it starts with a seed. Let us all be sowers of seed.

There are 3 types of seeds; bad, better and best. The bad seeds are the ones that hold injury. We grow these seeds through unkind acts or words. While we may survive sowing a bad seed, others may not. The better seeds are the ones that give hope. Planting a good seed can be as simple as letting someone know how much you appreciate them or what they do. Choosing the right word at the right time can be like gold. The best seeds are those of eternal life. The best seeds are those that lead someone to accept Jesus Christ. While perhaps only 25% of those seeds actually take hold, it is 0% if we do not try at all.  And the best eternal seeds that do take hold will return many times more in blessings. So God wants us all to be sowers of the best eternal life seeds!

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.      What seed did you plant that you are very grateful for?

2.      What seed did you sow that you deeply regret? Why did you plant it?

3.       Who has been hurt by bad seeds that you planted?

4.      Are you continually watering the better/bad seeds? Why?

5.      How are you going to improve sowing better and best seeds?

6.      How are you going to lessen sowing bad seeds?