(7/8/18) Message by David and Vicki Elliott
Mt. 13: 3b There was a farmer who went out to sow seeds… 8 Someseeds fell on good, rich soil that kept producing a good harvest. Some yielded thirty, some sixty, and some even one hundred times as much as he planted!
The seeds were planted in various conditions & had various results.
The seed planted in good soil flourished.
The question that we’re going to look at today isn’t what type of soil we are, but since we all want to be good soil, what makes good soil good?
Question: in the natural world, what are some factors that make good soil? (get responses)
Today we’re going to look at one, often overlooked key factor/quality of good soil – humus (hyoomis).
But what in the world is humus?
Humus is organic material in the soil.
Organic means it was once living.
According to Encyclopedia Brittanica Online, Humus is produced by the decomposition of plant and animal matter.
In other words, as plants & animals die and breakdown, they enrich the soil to enable plants and animals to thrive.
Humus is the root of another word/words/concept:
Humiliate/humility/humble
So for the soil of our hearts to produce 30, 60, 100 fold,…Guess what we need? Humility!
To be humble, we must submit to the process of humbling!
We all value humility! But no one likes to be humbled – except when it’s someone we think needs or deserves it!
However:
Humble people aren’t always what we think they ought to be.
They aren’t always modest..They aren’t always agreeable and submissive
And they aren’t always nice — at least not the way we think.
We don’t always recognize humility.
Sometimes we mistake humility for pride and pride for humility.
Truth be told, we don’t always like to be around humble people.
There’s a lot we could say about humility, but I love CS Lewis’ quote.
CS Lewis’ quote: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.”
Often what we have in mind is self-deprecation.
The key is, they don’t think more highly of themselves than they ought to think (Romans 12:3)
Humility is not needing “it” to be about them.
We are going to tie together over the next few moments the process and importance of humus in the soil with the process and importance of humility being worked into the soil of our hearts.
So, the process of forming & adding humus; and the process of humility, is to be fruitful.
Before we start, are we all in agreement that fruitfulness is our goal?
Can we also agree that we are going to produce something?
Can we also agree that most of what we produce is unintentional?
According to Jesus, in His parable of the talents, not being intentional about producing what the Master desires is not winked at by the master.
So we are created to produce.
We can’t help but to produce.
But to produce something valuable, and to produce it 30, 60, 100 fold, the soil of our heart must be submitted to a process to support fruitfulness!
1. For humus to be formed in the soil, something must die.
Parallel: For humility to be formed in us we must die to ourselves.
Jesus said: “Let me make this clear: A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops into the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces a great harvest of wheat—all because one grain died.” (Jn. 12:24)
I’ve heard this scripture applied to dreams, hopes, things we are believing for. And that may be true, but that’s not what Jesus is talking about.
He’s talking to the disciples about his death.
He then shifts to the disciples, including the new folks that Phillip just brought to Him!
25 “The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life! But the one who detaches his life from this world and abandons himself to me, will find true life and enjoy it forever! 26 If you want to be my disciple, follow me and you will go where I am going. And if you truly follow me as my disciple, the Father will shower his favor upon your life. (v25-26)
I’m gonna find another Church!
Paul said, “I die daily to self.”
We all know this verse, but how does it happen?
-Not prioritizing me and mine (But if I don’t, who will?)
You may say, “I don’t prioritize me; but do we prioritize ‘mine’”
-Choosing not to live out of my opinions, my desires, my way ,…
You can tell this is the case when you hear phrases coming out of you like..
”me time,” “I deserve,…” “if you ask me…” “I’ve done so much,…”
or not willing to avoid that interaction on FB or a conversation without trying to make your opinion known
Technically, we die to ourselves when we’re saved.
We can’t embrace His Lordship until we let go of ourselves.
But with good motives, trying to make salvation easier and more accessible, many have skipped this part & contributed to a weak understanding of salvation.
Even so, Paul had to die daily to His own urges/impulses/self-preservation.
If we lose our life, we will save it. If we save our life, we will lose it.
2. For humus to be formed in the soil, the dead thing must be broken down. - The breaking down is done by fungi, bacteria, earthworms, and other organisms.
A. For humility to be formed in us, we must be broken down.
First we die, then we face the process of breaking down by circumstances and individuals.
(If we were truly dead, this break down wouldn’t bother us.)
We are broken down, brought to humility, by things we wouldn’t necessarily want, just like fungi, bacteria, or earthworms
The breaking down never occurs in the ways of our choosing!
In fact, it’s almost always EXACTLY the thing or person that hits us at our weakness,… makes us feel that awful feeling of failure.
In fact, we hate failure.
We avoid it at all costs.
We do or don’t do things because we don’t want to fail.
We say failure is . . . HUMILIATING! Same root word!
We fear/avoid humiliation. But God can use humiliation to humble us, to create humus!
God allows people to run right against our grain, our opinions, our ways, our desires, so that we learn to give those up
Why is that?....God is breaking us (unless we harden ourselves).
The story of Joseph is a great example.
He was given a great dream; a promise, that he would be great.
He was beaten, thrown into a pit and sold as a slave (not great).
Sounds like death to me!
But wait, there’s more! The process isn’t done!
He was when sold into Egypt, that’s enough, right?
Falsely accused of rape. Done right?
Imprisoned. Ok. Now we’re done, right?
Forgotten by those he helped.
THEN he was made great; ruler over Egypt under Pharaoh.
He was 17 when he was sold into Egypt
He was 30 when he was made overseer
13+ years of breaking down.
“Dying” was quick. The breakdown took time.
A broken and a contrite heart, He will not despise……Why?
3. Humus changes the soil & becomes nutrients for plants and animals.
Parallel: The same circumstances and people God may have allowed to break you down, become catalysts for us to enrich others.
Joseph wasn’t humbled so that he could be great.
He was humbled so a great nation could rise from the process in him!
He was humbled so the seed of promise would not be cut off!
We cut off the process when we think what we’re going through is just about us.
(the breaking, the exaltation is always about fruitfulness – so others, so God’s purposes can grow and thrive)
Can what you’re going through possibly benefit others?
The saying…“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Betrays the self-focus in our struggle.
It actually hardens the soil that God is trying to enrich/soften.
God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
This is because God has broken us down, so He can make us effective.
There’s always purpose in the process when we are about His purpose.
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Rom. 8:28)
There is room for His authority when we are made low. (He can be seen, when I allow me to be lowered)
There is room for Him to use me, where there once was ‘too much of me”.
Up until now, I’ve lived out of what I thought I could produce (which isn’t effective for good growth).
His nutrients begin to be what I live off of and what others can live off of as well.
Closing
1. Humility was a core character trait of Jesus. Phil. 2
2. Humility allows God to grow His life in us, because it doesn’t have to compete with our life.
3. Without humility, this Grace process is closed off to us, because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. If we want grace, must have humility.
4. For humility to flow through us, the mind of Christ must be in us.
5 And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your motivation. 6 He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. 7 Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! 8 He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion! (Phil. 2:5-8)
Humility results in (among other things) an outward-focused life.
Let’s be honest, Hell isn’t really that concerned about you & me.
But Hell is terribly concerned with your impact! With you reproducing yourself.
The Church has always been one generation away from extinction.
Hell knows that & is counting on your impact ending with you. No fruit!
If Hell can keep us self-focused and self-protecting, more concerned with “being taken” than in giving ourselves away, Hell can keep us from nurturing & nourishing the next generation – from being fruitful.
If we cannot be an example of this humility, how can we expect our children to risk being:
Peaceful in a violent world
Kind in a competitive society
Faithful in an age of cynicism
Gentle in the face of harshness
Loving in a world of hate
