Farmer or Harvest?⤒🔗

Reflection, evaluation, judgment, no person can live without it. More than that: we have been created with these capabilities and need to use them. Whoever does not dare, or want, to be critical, lives irresponsibly. Whoever accepts everything that presents itself will drown. Life and society would be unthinkable without people making choices. There is therefore nothing wrong with taking a critical stance in the church. The church-goers in Berea, of which we read in Acts 17, are praised for their circumspection when they peruse the Scriptures to find out whether what they had been told, was correct. You cannot exist without evaluation and selection. But you do have to remain aware of the jamming action of sin. You cannot just randomly judge or rely purely and solely on your own estimation. The Proverbs author already warned against relying on your own insights. You can be wise in your own eyes, but have taken the road to death. You can mislead yourself. It is important that on the micro-level of your own life and functioning you remain open for the teaching of God and the correction of your environment. You cannot only judge yourself incorrectly, you can also do injustice to your neighbour in the church and neighbourhood. That is when we come to the meso-level (meso = midst): the mutual fellowship and associations. The Lord Jesus warns us against judging our neighbours; consider that you will be measured by God with the same measure. The apostles warn against judging from the heights and for the writing off and condemning of fellow church members. Who gives you the right to judge the servant of Another? You need to live by God’s grace as well, will you remember that when you judge your brother or sister? At a still wider level, the macro-level, we judge what we see in the church and in the world around us. Lots of things occur which have an influence on your life and wellbeing, about which you have to have an opinion, but about which you seldom oversee the scope and depth. You seek and investigate these things but must concede that you do not really fathom it all. In retrospect, it often appears that our (rapidly given) judgments need amendment. Aside from our limited and vulnerable judgment capability, it is important to remember when reflecting on the state of the church that we keep the greater picture in sight in which our reflection, analysis, evaluation and judgment take place. The Lord Jesus passed this on to us in one of his parables; the one about the seed that germinates in the field, by itself, without the farmer knowing how (Mark 4:26-29).

The Sower←⤒🔗

The kingdom of God, says the Lord Jesus, is the same as a person who sows seed on the ground. The seed germinates and grows and ripens without the farmer knowing how. The ground itself does the work. The sower sleeps and gets up day in and day out until the grain is ripe. Then it is time for the harvest and he takes the sickle to it. Who is the sower? Various commentaries have many different answers to this question. It is often likened to preachers of the gospel. But the sower in the parable is the same person who, at the end of the parable, takes the sickle to reap the grain harvest. The Lord Jesus uses an expression that we also find in Joel 4:13. In Joel it is the Lord himself that reaps. The Lord Jesus’ parable is about the kingdom of God, and that aligns well with it. In this parable we should not be thinking of a normal person, but of Christ. In the book of Revelation, it is also he who takes the sickle to the ripe harvest. The reaper is the sower. That means: he who sows the seed is Christ.

A Long Process←⤒🔗

Christ calls himself the Sower. We are familiar with this description but for the disciples and the masses in Israel it was an unexpected description. If the Lord Jesus was the Messiah, then they expected him to do something other than sowing. The Messiah was going to reap when he came. He was going to exact vengeance over his enemies and in one foul swoop right all wrongs. Had John the Baptist not announced him in this way? He was heralded as being stronger than John. He would purify the threshing floor and burn the chaff with fire. He would come to put the crown on all God’s work and round it off. He would crush his enemies and elevate his people.

And now Christ proclaims himself, not as the reaper but as the sower. With this the Lord is saying: it is not yet time for the harvest. He did not come for the final battle or the judgment over his enemies, or to reap the harvest. He has just come to sow. There is still a whole process to be worked through. He has not come to reap without first doing extensive sowing. Notice that Christ takes his time and that he is not pressurized by evil forces from outside. Sometimes the impression exists that Christ himself would want to make a quicker end to history, but that through evil forces obstructing him he is held up, so that he cannot progress as quickly as He would want to. What is remarkable in the parable is that we do not hear anything about evil opposing forces. In other parables we hear about thorns and thistles that suffocate the seed, about birds that pick up the scattered seed, about stony ground in which the seed cannot shoot roots and about a wicked enemy who sows weeds amongst the wheat. But in our text, we do not hear anything about such jamming actions. It is solely and purely about the Sower and his seed. And about the process that takes place very naturally. Seed is not immediately an ear of wheat, it takes a long time: sowing, germination, sprouting, growth and ripening. And it is just the same in God’s kingdom.

Holy Impatience?←⤒🔗

I want to stop right here and make an attempt to understand what this means for my view of the position of the church and the kingdom of God. An enormous impatience can grow within me. Why are things not better? Why does restoration not go faster? It could and should all be a lot further and better in the church and the world by now should it not? Has the time not come to intervene? What is there to wait for? What is God waiting for? It is an impatience that we meet in various guises. According to one there is not enough joy and freedom in the church, according to another not enough obedience. Regardless of which end of the church spectrum they occupy, they experience the same impatience. They are looking for the fruit that appeals to them and see too little of it, and are quick in their judgment: this is no good. If God really exists, if we are really the church, then there would have been a lot more to see by now would there not? Oh yes? Christ teaches us here: be careful that you do not expect everything to already be ripe for harvest. Do not reach ahead for what still lies in the future. And do not place your measure of what is to be expected in enthusiasm and joy, or of obedience, on another. We are not there yet. There is still a whole trajectory to complete. We find that in the kingdom of God it is as a seed that is planted, but which is not immediately ripe and ready for harvest. Our God understands — better than we — the length, the inconsistencies and the dangers of that process. But e is the God who does not snuff out a smouldering wick or break a bruised reed. He is the God who does not ask for faith as large as an oak tree, but, with faith as small as a mustard seed, will allow us to shoot like trees. If it comes to us looking at the state of affairs in the world and at the life in the church, it is important to think about the teaching our Saviour gave us. The kingdom of God is comparable to a seed that has been sown and is now in a process of germination, sprouting, growth and ripening. The Lord takes this time so that all whom he has chosen come to repentance. He can wait for that. For him a thousand years are not more than one day. That is how great is patience is.

The Seed is Sown←⤒🔗

In the meantime, he does not sit still. Because the seed has been sown. This is not so clear in our translation, but in the Greek, Mark 4: 26 is written in the past tense: the kingdom of God is like a man that “sowed” seed on the ground. Sowed: past tense. In verses 27 and 28 we find the present tense: the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. That all happens in the present tense. And when the fruit is ripe, in the future, the farmer puts the sickle to it. Here we are talking in the future tense.

The past tense used to describe the “sowed seed” is important. The sower is Christ, is what I wrote earlier. His whole life, all his work on earth, was sowing. The good news that he brought, has been sown and has found a settling place on earth. We are now living in the time that the kingdom of God is germinating and sprouting and is producing fruit. The sowing is over. The process has begun, most emphatically begun, by no-one else than the Sower, the Son of Man. The Bible contains the good news of what has happened in the past. Christ has come, has paid and has risen from the dead. He is on the way to his kingdom. Therefore, it does not depend on what we do or how we guide, the seed has been sown and it is growing and ripening.

That gives us confidence when we sometimes have no idea of what God is doing, or what the time is on his clock. If we look around us and come into danger of disappointment and impatience at the phase in which it appears God’s kingdom currently finds itself, it is of crucial importance to look back and think on the work that Christ has already done. Whoever does not believe in him, would give up in disappointment and despair. But, thanks to Christ, there is comfort. The seed has been sown. God has begun his kingdom and he will complete what his Son began. That for which his Son gave his blood, he will never let go. That which has been sealed in his blood can never-more be undone. We live in the time between sower and harvest. The sowing is over, the harvest will definitely come. Christ is the guarantee. That is definitely not a minimizing of sin and evil. On the contrary, it is living in the confidence that Christ is hard at work and is on the way to his day. In his own way and at his own time. Be courageous!

The Present Time←⤒🔗

The seed, says the Lord Jesus, is sown on earth. It germinates in the ground, sprouts and grows to form a stalk, an ear, and becomes grain. That happens without the farmer doing anything about it. He does not nervously and impatiently constantly fiddle with the seed. No, the Lord Jesus says he goes to bed and rises the next morning. He rests and works, day after day. The farmer is busy with all sorts of things. Life follows its normal pattern. The sun rises over the good and the bad, the rain gives life-giving water to the fields of the righteous and the unrighteous. But the farmer does not suffer from nerves and impatience. He does not meddle with the soil. He trusts the ground itself will produce the fruit.

I mentioned earlier that in this section of the parable the Lord Jesus uses the present tense. When speaking of the “sowing” he uses the past tense, now he uses the present tense and later with the harvest he uses the future tense. The seed that is God’s kingdom goes through a process. Today we are in the phase of the germinating, growing and ripening phase.

The Lord places special attention on the farmer, who, throughout this process carries on with his normal work, without interfering with the seed. The farmer does what he must, but does not become nervous because he cannot as yet see much change in the seed. He also does not get irritated by the slow pace of growth. He does not even have a blueprint according to which the seed should perform. The Lord says: The seed germinates and grows, without the farmer constantly watching it. What the seed eventually produces will also be a surprise for the farmer. It is, we say, a godly miracle. God gives each seed its own body. He allows each seed to bring forth its own fruit, as God wishes it to do. And he allows it to bear the measure of fruit that he has determined for it. The farmer’s attitude is that he relies on the soil to produce its fruit. The Lord Jesus says: The earth produces its own fruit. It is the soil that is fertile. That is what contains the growing power.

Christ and the Spirit←⤒🔗

The farmer in the parable is Christ himself. He has gone to his Father in heaven. He is no longer on earth to meddle with the world, or in the church, or in us, neither to tell us exactly what the state of affairs is or where we are in the process. As the Son of Man he does not even know the time of his return (Mark 13:32). Before his ascension into heaven he tells his disciples that it is not their business what the Father, in his sovereignty, has decided about the time and the moment which will be definitive for his kingdom (Acts 1:7). Christ has sent his Spirit to equip them for their tasks. The Spirit is the rich soil in which the seed germinates and out of which the fruit grows. Christ is leaving it over to him. The Spirit and his teaching, those are the methods of growth in God’s kingdom. The church needs to gain her strength from them.

When we look around us at the world today, we are often disturbed and have the inclination to interfere in lots of things. We look; what time would it be on God’s clock? Where exactly are we in the process of world history? Do God’s promises really happen? Where do you see the fruit of the gospel? You look at your children and you become irritated and impatient. You look at your brothers and sisters and become concerned. How often do we not portray the image of a farmer who is constantly interfering and meddling with the seed or bulb? How often do we not think it is not the soil but we, ourselves, who have to make the plant grow? Do we dare to leave it to the gospel, the sacraments, and the church community? Or do we want to control God’s deeds using a detailed transport schedule, with self-planned stops, that must be perfectly executed? Do we have our pet perceptions which must, in contrast to the farmer in the text, be exactly met to the last detail?

I have often had the idea that I personally had to stop or prevent all sorts of objectionable developments. As if it was dependent on my effort and success. It seemed to me it was my failure if church people took what was to me, a bad decision. I acted as if I could prevent or should pay for the sin in the church, while Christ has taken them upon himself and fully paid for them. I forgot to see that it is Christ who knows and sees all sin and evil and has carried it, and that the Spirit is at work in church and kingdom. It does not depend on me, but that I, as a toddler with my bucket and spade, can walk alongside while he does the heavy and real work in the vineyard. I forgot that I am a sinner too, who cannot for one moment do without the grace of God and the deliverance of Christ. And then, not just a sinner by what I do or have done. It is much deeper than that. How easy it is to find that you are lacking in trust and an understanding of guilt, how easily a desire to control and an imagined self-deliverance can gain the upper hand, how anxiety and self-centredness, a lack of openness to God and your neighbour manifests itself in your life. We get caught in quicksand if we think that love is that you have to love God, instead of that God loves you and has sent his Son to atone for your and others’ sins.

Am I saying that we must just let God fulfil history without any contribution on our part? That we can no longer correct or encourage anybody? No, of course not. The Bible encourages us in all sorts of ways to walk the road together and to make sure that everyone comes along. We form one body and Christ asks us to look after the weakest of our fellow travellers, to give them special care. But it also means that we look at how we do that, and from which attitude. Out of a desire to control? Or from a trust in the Spirit? Are we aware, above all, that we are not the farmer, but the seed? The seed that is growing and ripening? We too, are not there yet. Let us not imagine that we are the farmer. We belong to the seed too, to the head that still needs to bear fruit. And we notice how we still desperately need the ground to feed us and make us fruitful. Whoever wishes the Spirit to work, should also allow the Spirit to work. The seed should allow itself to be fed by the ground in which it has been sown. So we should allow ourselves to be filled by the Spirit. Living in community in the church in the same head, living from the same feeding ground that possesses the power of growth. Together we benefit from the same worship services and Biblical teaching.

The Harvest←⤒🔗

As soon as the grain allows, the farmer begins the harvest. It is time for the harvest. As soon as the grain allows. The Lord is speaking here not of the whole field that should be full of fruit. The field is the world. That will never be full of fruit for God. We will never, as long as we are on this side of the Last Day, ever experience a human race that, as a whole, turns to God. On the contrary. The church remains just a collection of heads of grain in a very large field.

The harvest comes when the grain is ripe. That is to say: when the kingdom of God is ready for it. This world is controlled and influenced by all sorts of powers. As church and Christians we are but a very small, and steadily more pushed aside, part of it. But what is decisive for the day of the harvest is not the underhand doings of government leaders or influential people. Neither is it coincidence or fate. But the question of whether the fruit is ripe and ready. The state of the kingdom of God is decisive. Not the production of CO2, or nuclear explosions, but the preaching of the gospel and the fruit it produces are decisive for the moment of the harvest. The world will not end as a result of disasters, but is in transit to the fulfilment of God’s promises. The Last Day will not come when man has reached the apex of his self- destruction, but as the fruit borne on the gospel of Christ. If the fruit is ripe and allows it, the sickle will be put in and the Lord will start the harvest.

As soon as the fruit is ripe, then will the sickle be put in and the harvest begun. The Lord will not allow the moment of harvest to be delayed any longer than is necessary. Necessary for the repentance of all whom he has decided beforehand. It is, as Peter shall write later: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Even though it looks like a very long time before his return. The Lord is not dawdling. He will come immediately the moment it is time! He is looking forward to that day himself, to that moment. Each day that it takes, feels to him like a thousand years. That is how impatient he is.

The grain and I←⤒🔗

The harvest comes when the fruit allows. Just to clarify: I am not the fruit first of all. When it comes to the mature, ripe fruit, we are talking about the kingdom of God. I am not the centre of the universe. And the Lord is not waiting till it pleases me to ripen in good works. The Lord harvests when the fruit of his kingdom is ripe. And the big question directed to me is: do I belong to that kingdom? Do I want to display the fruit of that kingdom? Do I grow and ripen within that kingdom? Do I allow myself to be fed by the Spirit and carried along by my fellow church members?

When considering the Last Day and the fulfilment of God’s kingdom, we are inclined to think that we can bring in the complete harvest. We look at what we shall gather into the barn. But the Lord Jesus speaks differently. We will not be harvesting on the Last Day. We will be the ones to be harvested. The Sower wishes to harvest us.

To be really critical means first of all: take a critical look at yourself. When the Bible speaks of sinners, before anyone else it speaks about you. Among sinners you are the first (1 Tim. 1:15). The law does not address others first, but speaks firstly to you. In answer to the question of who will be saved, it means that personally it will take a struggle to enter (Luke 13:23-24). It is not those who look down on others, but instead, know themselves to be sinners who will be made righteous. If the gospel shows us that we are more sinful than we ever thought, it means us. And if the gospel teaches us the great miracle of salvation, then that miracle is greatest when applied to me.

Self-Examination←⤒🔗

For every critic in the church there are some big questions to be asked: do I know my place in the kingdom of God? How do I allow the fruit of the Spirit to mature in my life? What do I do to prevent the head of grain from breaking off? How desirous am I of being fed? How much patience can I muster for others, for myself, for God? Do I consider that the process of ripening is still underway? Can I see him who has sown the seed and now resides in the heavens? Christ dared to leave it to the Spirit — do I? Let me not act as if I shall decide who else will enter the kingdom of God, but let me strive to enter myself! I am not the farmer, I am part of the harvest. And the harvest does not consist of me only, I am a part of the grain, the kingdom, the church. Not singly, but I belong to the harvest as a component of the harvest.

When I consider these things, my criticism emanates from loves, exercises patience and is carried by faith.