Introduction: Lynn had wanted to go to a football game at WVU, so the other
day we went. Of course we went
north with high hopes of winning, but Miami had other plans for our team.
We left the game in the third quarter because we didn’t enjoy
watching our team getting crushed. The
beating that we took as a team left a bad taste in my mouth.
It may be awhile before we go back again. Something that I heard the
MSN announcers say has caught my attention.
They were making excuses for the team by saying that the best that they
had hoped for was an 8-3 record. They
knew that we wouldn’t be the best. I
wonder if Miami, Notre Dame, or Florida St. would have ever entertained that
thought. I believe that we settle
for second best because we have been programmed to believe that we can never
achieve anything else. What do
you think? How does this play out
in the church, family, schools, and businesses?
We accept mediocrity when we aren’t willing to pay the price of
progress and change to make things better.
Remember that the cost of progress is change.
As long as we believe that we can never achieve we will never attempt.
The other day I decided that our door needed to be fixed.
It was sticking on the top. So,
I took it down and sanded it down. Then
I put it back up to check it. After
doing this for 3 or 4 times I finally got it to the point that it doesn’t
stick. But, now it won’t stay
open it swings to a position of half open.
Boy, did I fix it.
Scripture
text: Luke 13:6 (KJS)
He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said
he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come
seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it
the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year
also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]: 9 And if it bear fruit,
[well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down.
If
it ain't broke - break it. Jesus
went outside the lines. You say,
but I say. Jesus could see a picture
of a preferred future. It is
broken if it is not being and doing what it was created to be and do. We accept a picture of brokenness as being the vision.
We accept second or third best when we could be the best for the Lord.
A. God’s Desires:
He wants to see the fruit. Why
is that so important to him? Without
the fruit that he wants then his garden is a failure.
The results are devastating. No
fruit means no seed to use to continue. We
must have the fruit that God wants so that we will and can be used by God to
accomplish his purposes.
B. God’s fruit:
- The
fruit of Repentance.
God’s people who have chosen to go God’s way.
To go God’s way is to be productive in his garden.
Have we decided to go God’s way?
If we have been saved and are now in God’s garden, then are we
bearing the fruit that he desires. He
wants to see his people bearing fruit. We need to repent from our way of
thinking to God’s. Could we
bear the fruit he desires? If we aren’t then we need to repent again and
get back on the right path with Him.
We have accepted the fact that we are not going to be the best and
we aren’t willing to become the best that he can make us.
Luke
3:8 (KJS) Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not
to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto
you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
{worthy of: or, meet for}
- The
fruit of the Rejoicing
or the Spirit. God’s
presence in the lives of his children.
This fruit comes from people who are willing to humble themselves
before God so that he may lift them up.
Gal. 5:22 But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
- The
fruit of Reproduction.
God’s seeds coming to life in the lives of others. God’s trees
who are giving themselves (time, talent, and treasures) to his plan for
their lives and for their church. What
fruit are we bearing with him?
Matt 28:19 (KJS) Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost: {teach...: or, make disciples, or, Christians of all nations}
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and,
lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.
C. God’s (the gardener’s) choices:
- Leave
it alone. It
isn’t hurting anything. It
has been there along time and no one has minded why should we worry now?
Why should we be concerned about the fruit anyway, doesn’t the
tree provide some benefit anyway without the fruit?
I believe that this is the condition of many of today’s churches.
They aren’t reaching the lost and they are slowly dying.
Have you ever heard of the Primitive Baptist Church?
They were a church that didn’t bear the fruit that God was
looking for. They didn’t
reach the lost because many of them believed that they would be saved any
way. So now they are almost
non-existent.
- Cut
it down
and plant another one. God’s
great patience is seen in lives of each one who is apart of God’s
garden. Give up and get
another is a choice that many make. This
is what has happened to the Jews. They
could have fulfilled God’s plan to save the world, but they would not
bear the fruit of repentance. They
wouldn’t go in his direction. We
are here to listen to this message, so we know that God has given us
another opportunity to bear his fruit.
- Work
it some more.
Break it. Because the
fruit of the tree is what the gardener desires.
Spend more time, spend more money, spend more labor, and give it
another chance. Have patience
with that tree. Are we
willing to do what it is going to take to become the fruit bearing trees
he desires? Are we willing to
make the sacrifice that is needed to become the best?
Invitation:
Are we bearing the fruit that God wants or are we ready to work toward
a picture of a preferred future? Are
we ready to strive to become the Christian and the Church that God wants us to
be? If people aren’t being
saved and their lives aren’t being changed then we haven’t been bearing
the fruit that God desires. We
have been programmed to stay in the lines, but if we dare to bear the fruit
that we need to bear we are to have to go the extra mile.
We will have to go outside the lines.
You will be the one who makes the difference to go outside the lines
and reach the lost for Christ. Then
we will be fulfilling the desires that God has for our lives.
If we aren’t growing then we are losing the battle for the lost of
our society. Let’s go outside
the lines and get the lost for the Lord.