The First Baptist Church of Redlands
TA PE S T RY Woven Together In Love: Colossians 2:2
JULY 2015
ISSUE No. 7
A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR RICHARD
Spreading seeds of kindness
W
hile preparing a sermon recently, I found myself once again exploring Jesus’ parables from Mark 4 about sowing seeds in the process of building the Kingdom of God. In the course of my study I came across an old favorite story of mine, the story of Johnny Appleseed. Let me tell you about him. Johnny Appleseed’s real name was John Chapman and he especially loved apple trees. He planted them all around the town where he lived. However, that was not enough for John, he wanted people everywhere to enjoy apples just as much as he did, so he traveled all around the country planting apple trees and giving away apple seeds. He was a simple man. One might even say he was an eccentric man. Legend has it that he traveled around the country on foot, often without shoes. He wore a shirt made from a seed sack with holes cut in it for his head and arms. He had a beard and wore a tin cooking pot as a hat. When it came time for supper, he took the pot off his head and cooked his supper in it. He was a kind and gentle man who liked everyone he met. Eventually he became well known and people began to call him Johnny Appleseed. His life was, one might say, a truly fulfilled life. Johnny Appleseed was passionate about spreading apple seeds. He did not worry about the seeds once he spread them. He seemed
to have faith that they would develop and grow. So it was with the sower in Jesus’ parable. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he is asleep or awake, the seeds sprout and grow, but the man doesn’t know what happened.” ( Mark 4:26-27) Just as Johnny Appleseed and the sower in the parable diligently sowed seeds, I believe the Lord wants us to diligently sow seeds of the Good News, God’s message of love as we travel on our faith journey. However, there are two other kinds of seeds that I believe the Lord also wants us to sow in our society today, perhaps in preparation for sowing the seeds of the Good News. They are seeds of love and kindness. The message of love and the demonstration of love were paramount in Jesus’ ministry. His great commandment said that we should love the Lord our God and love our neighbor as ourselves. He also taught His disciples that people would know they were His disciples if they loved one another. One writer commented that the milk of human kindness has curdled. In a poll taken by U.S. News & World Report, 89 percent of people believed that incivility is a serious problem. If anyone should make a difference in spreading kindness it should be those of us
“He did not worry about the seeds once he spread them. He seemed to have faith that they would develop and grow.” who call ourselves followers of Jesus. Ephesians 4:32 reminds us to “Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you.” Let us become passionate about spreading seeds of love and kindness and of course the Good News everywhere we go, praying that those seeds will take root and grow, advancing the Kingdom of God.
Richard