Sermonette: August 6, 2018

I have blueberries in my garden. No, I’m not confusing it with haskaps or juneberries (neither of which do not taste like blueberries.) No, I have literal blueberries growing in my garden. If you don’t believe me, give me a call and I’ll show you. Just give me a couple days warning, so I can weed a bit. You’ll be as surprised as when my NDSU extension friend came and took pictures because she didn’t believe me, either.

I’m proud of my berries because the truth is, while they are technically growing in North Dakota dirt, I’ve made it as unnatural of dirt as you can imagine. I dug out the soil and mixed it 50-50 with peat moss. Since I did that 4 years ago, I’ve been testing its pH semi-regularly and augmenting the soil with aluminum sulfate. The pH of North Dakota soil usually tests around 6-7. My blueberry patch pH tests around 4, due to my efforts. Beyond that I’ve also been depositing a thick coat of pine needles on top. The experts say that pine needles don’t do anything, but I know blueberries grow near pines in Minnesota, so I treat it with a “couldn’t hurt, might help” mentality.

I fully respect that God determines what grows and what doesn’t (as my four failed attempts will attest to) but I’ve worked very hard to have blueberries without having to move. The efforts I’ve poured into making blueberries grow have given me an insight into Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. There, he talks about how various ministers worked together to draw people to Christ. One minister may plant the Gospel, but a different minister waters it. Overall, it’s God who causes the Gospel to grow. The insight I gained is that we can plant and water differently. I plant pumpkins and do very little after that. Maybe throw some water upon them when they get really dry. I treat them this way because I don’t care as much about them as my blueberries. Technically, you can say that I plant both blueberries and pumpkins. But in reality, much more effort, time and planning goes into one over the other.

So it is with Christians. Technically, if you mention Jesus or even come into contact with an unsaved person, you might be planting a seed of the Gospel. It’s God who determines whether or not someone is saved, and he can work with anything. However, just because God alone makes the final decision shouldn’t stop us from actually trying to reach people with the Gospel. There’s no reason we can’t live with purpose and interact with people with intentionality to lead them to Christ. Sure, if you want, you can share Gospel like we plant grass- just throw it around and see what grows. But why not put some effort in? Why can’t we take a second out of our day to consider not just if someone needs the Gospel, but how they need the Gospel? Why wouldn’t we attempt to share the Gospel in a language they might understand? If I were to read the Bible to my youth group in its original Greek, I’d be doing God a disservice because they wouldn’t understand. No, good gardening means putting in the effort to give your seeds the best chance to grow. Good evangelism means putting the Gospel in a language people can understand

I’m sure God appreciates every attempt we make at planting the Gospel and encouraging it; but let’s not be lazy and settle for the participation award. Let’s actually try. Let’s treat the people around like we’re growing blueberries in North Dakota, and not pumpkins. Consider how exactly the people around you need Jesus, and how you can show that Jesus meets them where they’re at.