(A note to those reading this material: This manuscript follows the presentation of the material as it was originally given. What may be difficult to tell by just reading the original text is the presence of a thick, southern accent – deliberately used in the introduction to make the material more lively and enjoyable for listeners – and to put them in the mood for some good old-fashioned southern gospel preachin’…)
Good morning patients. I’m your doctor and I’m here to administer a test this morning. I think you will find this test quite useful. Think of it as a pulmonary examination. It’s a check-up on your heart.
But before we get too far into the test, let me alleviate some of your concerns. How much will this cost? Now, I know, some of you are working on a tight budget. After spending $100 Friday night on a dinner out, a movie and a baby-sitter; and then spending another $250 on groceries at Wal-Mart, you’re not too high on big doctor bills. But I think you’ll find my rates fairly reasonable.
I did have one rather high bill last week. This old boy came in to see me; he was complaining of frequent headaches. So I did a little looking in his ears, in his nose, down his throat. I told him, you’ve got a head cold. Get some rest, some chicken soup and gave him a prescription for an anti-biotic. But he wasn’t sure that’s all there was too it. He told me I needed to get more research and testing done.
I stepped out of the exam room and grabbed my black Labrador retriever. She came into the exam room with me, barked at him quit a bit. That old retriever can get pretty excited. Then I took her out and grabbed my daughter’s kitten, fluffy. I waved fluffy over his head a couple times and threw her out of the room.
Then I told this old boy, “like I said, it’s a head cold. Okay, go settle up with the receptionist. That’ll be about $1200.”
“$1200? Are you kidding? What for?”
“Well, its $50 for the office visit, $150 for the lab work and $1000 for the cat scan.”
Those prices can add up. But today, we’ll consider this mission work – I’ll be rendering my services for you with someone else picking up the tab. But before we begin. I have to make sure we’re speaking the same language. There are a few medical terms we’ll need to review.
I’ll introduce you to the fancy medical term, we’ll all say it together, and then I’ll explain what it means. Simple enough. The first one is probably one you already know: Artery. Artery. That’s the study of paintings. See how that works? Easy. Next: Nitrates. These are cheaper than day rates. Cauterize. That means to make eye contact with a girl. Bowels. Letters like A, E, I, O or U. Bleeder. That’s what your wife’s checkbook is… a bleeder. Barium – What we doctors do with patients who don’t take our advice. Pregnancy – no joke here. My wife continues to insist that when you’re pregnant, nothing is all that funny. Gangrenous – An honest description of most health insurance companies.
Easy enough? Now that you’ve got some medical terms under your belts, you’re ready for your test. It’s pretty straightforward. It’s more of a mental and moral check-up than a physical examination. And you can find it right there in your Bible. Look at the gospel of Mark – chapter 4. Let’s read this little heart-check together:
“He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ‘Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.’” Mark 4: 2-8
Now what we just read is what most modern theologians call a parable. And it’s a pretty well known parable – or story. Most people have heard it at least a couple times. Now when Jesus gives the people this parable he’s actually giving them a way to do a self-examination. This isn’t just some nice little story that Jesus used to impress people – he took a very important truth from the spiritual world and translated it into an easy to understand, familiar setting story. Everyone who heard knew what a sower was; they knew what seed was; they had walked on roads; they had tried to plant gardens in rocky ground and soil filled with weeds and thorns. This was easy for them to understand – on one level.
But no so easy on another. You see, often we hear only what we want to hear. We kind of just tune out anything we don’t like, or don’t want to let inside our hearts. And there were plenty of people who heard Jesus tell this story and heard only the story. Then there were folks who got it. They realized Jesus was actually giving them an elementary tool to kind of test their hearts.
This morning I’m going to show that exam. Actually, by highlighting Jesus’ explanation of the parable, I’m going to show your four different heart conditions. I’ll show you symptoms, I’ll give you a diagnosis; I’ll give you a long-term prognosis. And then I’ll give you a prescription for treatment.
Here we go.
Condition number one. Jesus says, “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” (Mark 4:15) This is our first condition. Recognize it?
Symptoms are fairly obvious. Those who are suffering in this condition have impairment to the hearing of the Word – they fail to seek out or recognize spiritual truth. Think of them as deaf to God – couldn’t hear him if he was yelling through the Owasso stadium loudspeaker.
Another symptom is they demonstrate a rebellious or unsubmissive attitude towards God and his leaders. They’ll refuse to turn their lives over to God’s authority, or never see any reason to listen to the advice and instruction of scripture. Their definition of right and wrong grows out of their own personal desires, feelings and circumstances.
A third symptom of this road-like condition is no commitment to the body of Christ. People with this condition really never make any commitments to other people – especially not to relationships in the church. They don’t want to be accountable, open or changed.
What is our diagnosis for this first condition – “Hardening of the Heart.” A terrible disease to have – and one with life-long implications. This hardened soil of the heart is fairly common these days. We as Americans have become pretty insensitive and cynical these days. We’re distrustful of people – just sure they’ve got a hidden agenda for us. We’ve disenchanted with organizations and institutions – just sure they’re only interested in us for our checkbooks or to force us to mindless conformity. Suffering, sentiment, good causes all bounce off our rock-hard hearts without missing a beat.
The gospel of Christ can’t take root in this kind of heart. Jesus won’t work where he’s not trust. The rock-hard heart is a terrible condition to have – and a painful one to see in others.
Prognosis. Well, I’m afraid its not good. The prognosis is a life that has been stolen away. You see, Satan comes down and steals the seeds of hope and life that have tossed towards the hardened heart. So those in this condition never see the life Jesus has offered them. They never know about his endless, open, loving grace. They never know about the tender and tremendous strength Jesus pours into His people. They never see the hope to which they’ve been called – and in the end – they never see the golden streets and beautiful homes where there is no cynicism, no sarcasm, no suffering, no pain, no worry…
Prescription? Well, to be honest – there’s not much we can do. Not much we can do. But God might be able to break through that hard exterior. God might be able to punch a hole in that unholy armor. How?
First – through patient suppliction. That is, through God’s already treated patients – praying. Pray for God to break through the gates Satan has erected around this person’s heart. Pray for habits to be broken, pride to be swallowed, fear to allayed, pessimism to be curbed and for God’s light and love to be seen – for the first time. Patient supplication.
And secondly – compassionate care. Those in this condition need giant helpings from God’s agape feast. They need huge servings of wine of joy. They need an almost endless supply of encouragement, patience and hope. And God can do that through you. As he transforms you and grows fruit of His Spirit in your life – let him pour that fruit into the lives of those who have yet to taste of his love.
Next, let’s look at our second condition. Jesus says, “Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” (Mark 4: 16-17)
The symptoms for this second condition are little different, and perhaps not always as easy to spot as the previous one. Those in this second condition show wilted, lifeless expectation of Christianity. They don’t expect Christianity to make any real impact on how they live or the life they experience. And you can tell they don’t expect much by the way they don’t practice Christianity except when they’re at places of public Christianity. This is what we call playing church: Carry your Bible your class, but don’t it at home; Volunteer to lead communion prayer, but no real prayer life on a daily basis; Dress right for Sunday morning – even if your heart is filled with all kinds of filth. All pretty on the outside, but inside, unhealthy as can be.
Other symptoms include an anemic, meager prayer life. At best, prayers are said over Thanksgiving dinner and when someone body is taking a test or getting ready for a job interview. Also, symptoms for this condition include thin, trite answers to the deep questions of life. Cute phrases with less meat behind them than a kid’s meal at McDonalds.
Diagnosis: Internal Mal-nutrition. Oh, it looks they’re eating well, but the internally malnourished are always on the verge of spiritual starvation. They mean well, but their goodness is crippled by inability to do the right thing. The gospel suffers from those who grasp its promises but retreat from the effort, energy and life-change needs for its power to be made real.
Prognosis – we’re looking at a continuation of withering of the major muscles of the spiritual skeleton. No strength for heavy lifting of burdens; no stamina for long-suffering with others; And definitely no ability to weather the seasons of life. The first time these people face a long, cold winter of difficulty (which they will) they seem to freeze up or drop out.
The story is told about a family who was visiting the state of Florida. After driving through multiple orchards – just full of beautiful oranges, they stopped in a little café and ordered some fresh-squeezed orange juice.
“I’m sorry” the hostess said, “I can’t bring you any right now. Our machine is broken.”
The problem wasn’t a lack of oranges, but that she couldn’t make orange juice without the machine to do it for her. You could just hear the astonishment of the father as he said, “Well, how ‘bout you bring us some glasses, some oranges and a couple knives. We’ll make our own.”
I think part of the problem in our churches is too many people want to find a machine where they can insert their money and have someone hand them a pop-top can with instant spirituality. Too many families don’t know enough about orange juice to make it for themselves! Our homes are filled with pretty Bibles, cute posters, and Christian music – yet if something should happen to the Sunday school teacher or the Sunday morning preacher – we’d have no nourishment in our lives for weeks. The problems isn’t a lack of spiritual food – but that many Christians haven’t learned how to get to it for themselves.
And so when the heat of summer comes, they just wither on the vine and die.
Prescription: First of all healthy spiritual ingestion. Not that heat-and-serve frozen dinner Bible study stuff – but serious, personal, self-examining Bible study. The kind of study that demands a little time, a little energy. Its okay to use some study guide with questions and insights – but no more accepting the first cute sounding little answer; no more simple statements, pat answers or trite phrases. Start ingesting some meat here!
Secondly, Strenuous exercise. If you are in the condition number two – you need to get a healthy routine of spiritual exercise. Start praying each day – more than a wish list – a personal time of prayer that asks God to reinvent you from the inside out. Go back over the lessons and instructions of our Praying for Reign series. Check out books about spiritual discipline by authors like Dallas Williard, Richard Foster or John Ortberg. Its high-time to get into shape.
Now let’s look at our third condition. Jesus describes it this way: “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Mark 4: 18-19)
This condition is very common today – we spiritual doctors see it all too often. And it hides itself well, in some well-meaning people.
Symptoms – First a continual exhaustion and anxiety. Those who have this condition often describe themselves as overwhelmed, living in a whirlwind, too busy to breathe. They talk on the run, eat on the run, pray on the run, sometimes even sleep on the run. They’re always worn out, frazzled and fray. And their always worried – worried about being on time, worried about being good enough, worried about having enough… exhausted and anxious.
Secondly, these people have repetitive injuries. We see patterns emerging. They’re always breaking their word, they’re always dropping commitments, they’re always breaking loyalty, always giving in… They can’t seem to stop certain sins from creeping back up again and again. They seem to repeat their struggles of honesty over and over. They never seem to experience true victory over struggles and sin.
Thirdly, those with this condition always seem to have a growing religious disassociation. That is, they never seem to just completely give themselves over to God and His will. They struggle with hearing God’s will and even will seek advice from those who they see as being good listeners to God. But when all is said and done – there’s still this gap in their life between them and God. They never feel really ‘close’ to God. They rarely ever fully commit themselves to His cause and His church.
Why? Look at the diagnosis – Congestion of the heart. You see – their heart is clogged with competing desires. The lifeblood running through their veins is being redirected away from God and towards other “loves” – career, passion, personal agendas… The constant demands on their time and energy keep people in this condition from doing self-examinations. They don’t notice that they’re directing more and more of their time, money, energy and heart towards the thorns of this world.
There’s an old saying preachers share – beware the barrenness of a busy life. Don’t confuse frequent activity with meaningful achievement. No one in heaven is going to ask how high you climbed the corporate ladder. No one in the world is going to go to heaven because of how well their kids played soccer. The cares of this world will disguise themselves in gold and jewelry and promise to be true, life-pleasing treasure if you let them.
One man once wrote – “the feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no more time. It is, on the contrary, born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life.”
All that glitters is not gold. I’m all for doing well in your career. I’m all in favor of your children performing well in the band or on the football team. But not everything is the treasure it disguises itself to be. Don’t confuse the glittering, empty promises of this life for the eternal, endless treasure found in the Kingdom of God.
Let me give a diagnostic tool. Consider taking 5 or at most 10 minutes of each day for a family reading. Sit around the kitchen table and read the bible together. Take turns reading or Dad read to everyone. Pick a story and read it together and then say a prayer of thanksgiving. The harder that is to do… the more of a whirlwind you’re in… the more concerned I would be about which kind of treasure you’re chasing. Don’t choke on the sweet, unhealthy candy of this world.
Prognosis – for those trapped in condition three: Spiritual futility. You may mean well, but you can’t ever seem to discover this spiritual power God promises. You hear others talk about their lives being changed and you’ve got this sinking feeling your missing something. Left unchecked – your condition can only worsen. And what we’re talking about is true futility – no power, and no ability to spiritually reproduce. Sharing your faith sounds unfeasible – training your children in righteousness sounds impossible.
And also, there’s a prognosis of faith suffocation. Eventually, the thorns will choke out the good seed. The promise of wealth and the chasing after the fool’s gold of this life will smother the spiritual life out of you all together. Maybe not today, but your enemy figures he’s got time on his side.
Prescription: It won’t be easy – and it won’t be getting any easier tomorrow. The longer you wait to act, the harder it will get.
First, take an honest appraisal of the situation. Step back. Get away from everything for a few days. And look at what you’re chasing after every day. Find a couple people who you know will be candid with you and take a hard look at what you’ve been focusing on.
Secondly, revise your feeding schedule. If God is going to be first in your life – he’s got to be on your daily planner and part of your daily routine and an element of your daily passion. Change your lifestyle and eating habits. Start marking some of your treats off your grocrery list – start putting some distance between you and those lustful promises of your enemy.
And thirdly, it may be time for some radical surgery. If you hand causes you to sin… Cut it off. It may be time for some radical changes. Change who you consider your closest friends. Change where you spend your spare time. Change how much time you’re willing to pour into this interest, this hobby, this activity. It may be that you’re going to have to ask God to cut some things out of your heart to make room for Him.
Finally, let’s look at Condition Four. Jesus describes it for us: “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:20)
Jesus calls this condition the “good” soil. Don’t confuse ‘good’ with ‘perfect.’ Somehow we’ve never been comfortable letting people feel good about God working in their life. We somehow make it a sin to say that we’re doing well in our relationship with God. Can’t you just hear Jesus reminding you of how proud of you he is, and how much he loves you?
Symptoms for this condition include a willingness to accept and personalize the instructions of the great physician. His words just sink right into you when you’re in this condition. His words enter into your life and change everything about your attitude, your actions and your lifestyle.
Another symptom of this condition is a measure of growth since previous examinations. Now, don’t confuse this with some artificial measurement of ‘achievement.’ There’s not some growth chart you stand up next to and we make little marks… the goal is continual growth.
A third symptom is a healthy desire to become contagious – a desire to share with others the health-news that you’ve discovered. This idea of spiritual multiplication becomes more than just good sounding rhetoric – it becomes a lifestyle.
Diagnosis for this condition – Spiritual Health. Now there’s a phrase we’ve lost the value for… We pay people good money to help us maintain our physical health, our dental health, our financial health, our family health, our intellectual health, our corporate health… and sometimes hardly listen much less accept someone trying to help us value spiritual health.
Prognosis – Long life – life as it was meant to be – life that is more level, the world less powerful, temptation less attractive, fear less loathsome and God is so much clearer… because of that diagnosis - spiritual health. The prognosis – eternal life walking with the Lord.
Prescriptions for those in this condition and those wanting to get there… First of all – practice continual faithfulness. That’s not just pretty language it’s a lifestyle! A lifestyle of unending, unyielding faithfulness. A lifestyle that centers around your first love – letting no loyalty lie to anything or anyone other than God himself.
Secondly, regular appointments with your Physicians. Spend a lot of time at his feet listening to his counsel, at his table feasting on his bread and wine of love. There’s no such thing as spending too much time with our Lord and Savior – reveling in his grace, his peace and his love.
Well, there they are… all four conditions. Which one is yours? Find yourself afraid to answer; unsure of what to say; or unwilling to say aloud what your heart already knows to be true?
This little Sower’s diagnosis is a pivotal teaching and test from Jesus. He himself says, “Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” (Mark 4:13) If you don’t get this one… you won’t get any of them – because this one has to do with getting Jesus. Getting Jesus and his truth, his leadership, his reign imbedded in your heart and in your life.
And if he’s not first, he needs to be. Its time to make a change to ask God to till and remake the soil of your heart so that His seeds of hope and love can take root and the depth and room they need to grow.
Kyle Meador
New Heights Church of Christ
106 N. Main
Owasso, OK 74055
(918) 274-1725
newheightschurch@yahoo.com
www.newheightsfamily.org
