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Harvest Time

Mark Dunagan
12/03/17 - Sunday Morning

Harvest Time

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Galatians 6:7-10).

Whatever a Man Sows

“Because there are no quickly perceived cause-effect relationships between moral acts and quality of life, some jump to the conclusion that there are no connections at all. In spite of what can be observed over the span of a historical age, we still engage in the self-deception that the universe is random, that things are not connected… Acts of giving are not like pebbles dropped in a pool that make a few temporary ripples and then sink to the bottom. They are not pebbles, they are seeds planted in the soil of life, and they will come up one day. The harvest is inevitable. Decisions are seed. Attitudes are seed. Acts are seed. Prayers are seed. Thoughts are seed. All of it will come to harvest” (Traveling Light, Eugene H. Peterson pp. 179-180). 

The term “whatever” covers a lot of territory in our lives, in fact, it covers all of it. Sometimes we think that we will only reap in either the big good deeds that we did or the real evil ones. Yet we probably end up reaping a lot more when it comes to the persistent and daily pursuit of doing the right thing, no matter how small, and the tragic misuse of our minutes and hours in what really doesn’t matter. Thus, Solomon exhorts the reader to sow in the morning and do not be idle in the evening (Ecclesiastes 11:6).

“Sows to His Own Flesh”

“Is a person absorbed in himself, in herself. This way of life is encouraged by greedy advertisers, self-indulgent celebrities and self-help psychologists. Obsession with self necessarily pushes others to the sidelines and assigns them the rule of validating my self-esteem. ‘How do I look?’ “How am I doing?’… A person all wrapped up in himself makes a very small package” (Peterson, p. 178). “A life of self-love, self-pleasing… and self-serving can only end in corruption. It is unhealthy  It is diseased.  It is vanity – a preoccupation with self in isolation from others, severed from all the organic relationships of helping and being helped, giving and receiving. It can only produce rottenness” (pp. 178-179).

“Will Reap Corruption”

Too many people think of sowing and reaping as kind of a gamble, that if they do sinful things there is a chance or maybe an even higher chance that they might suffer some consequences. This passage goes far beyond that, the passage is saying that the person, any person, no matter who they are, who sows to the flesh, will reap corruption. It is not a matter of “if”, but “when”. “Soon or later men sit down to a banquet of results and consequences” (Raymond T. Stamm, The Epistle to the Galatians). Other passages are just as certain:

• “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices” (Proverbs 1:31).
• “Receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error” (Romans 1:27).

“Will From the Flesh Reap Corruption”

There are some people who make the decision to live selfishly and sinfully, because they reason that while they a trading eternal life with God for an earthly pleasure, at least their stay on earth will be a pleasurable one. Yet this passage is reminding us that in addition to paying a spiritual, emotional, relational, mental and eternal price for life apart from God, the sinner equally must pay a physical price, that the consequences for sin will not simply separate him from God while leaving his body alone. If we put all our emphasis on living for here and now and pursuing the pleasures of the body, we will reap corruption from that same body. It is just a matter of time. The body of the adulterer, fornicator, homosexual, drunkard, etc… begins to pay them back for the abuse. 

“Let Us Not Lose Heart”

A common temptation when it comes to doing the right thing, is to give up. “Persistent, faithful, plodding belief and hope are necessary if we are to remain free to give. Despair, which descends by dungeon steps to depression, is one of the major afflictions of our society. People seek relief from it sometimes in entertainment, sometimes in violence. Christians make their way out of it step by step, sometimes with great effort, on hardly visible footholds of sharing. The besetting temptation of the life of the Spirit is simply to quit” (Peterson, pp. 180-181). There are various reasons why it is tempting to give up:

• Sometimes the reaping comes long after the sowing and we are impatient. In a world of where so much of life is offered immediately or instantly, waiting is a very important skill.
• Becoming impatient is costly, remember Abraham and Sarah. Instead of waiting for God to fulfill His promise on his terms, they opted for another plan that seemed reasonable at the time. Yet it brought disaster and we as the human race are still playing the price for that single choice.
• We may be tempted to quit when it seems that all the results thus far for our labors are very meager. Yet the results are not as small as we think. When Noah entered the ark with seven others it seemed like all his preaching had yielded very small results. Yet, every human being on the planet today exists because of Noah’s faithfulness.
• Other times we get discouraged because it seems like all our efforts are not appreciated by others, yet this loses sight of who will really reward us. The Holy Spirit has already told us, and we have seen it often demonstrated in Scripture, that our efforts in serving God are never wasted or in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
• It is easy to get distracted and spend our time seeking to solve some earthly, national or world problem, rather than dealing with that needs changing in our own lives.

“In Due Time We Will Reap” 

The reward is coming, it is just a matter of time. “Patience, the freedom to stay with something or someone, not hurrying, not rushing for a result. Kindness, the freedom to deal with life in a relaxed and leisurely fashion, not forcing, not coercing, not pushing and shoving” (Peterson, p. 165).

“While We Have Opportunity”

Peterson observed that the freedom to give or serve is often stifled by the false idea that the real opportunities for significant acts of giving are in faraway places or extreme situations. “Most of us would be generous with our lives, but we are waiting for a worthy dramatic occasion” (Peterson, p. 181). 

• So instead of merely praying for opportunities, look around, the opportunities to do good are already around you. This means that presently there is someone you know that can use your help. There is someone you already know that you can talk to about Christ.
• We spend a lot of time getting ready to help or teach others, which is necessary. But we need to realize that the opportunities we are looking for are not in the future, they are in the present.
• We don’t have to spend our lives watching and waiting for our “big chance” to do something. Rather, we have the freedom to respond to any opportunity, no matter how small it may look to us at the moment (Revelation 3:8).
• In the previous chapter, Paul had mentioned the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). In this chapter, he has reminded us that fruit needs to be used. Patience, kindness, etc…that are not used will only rot. If we are believers, and if we have the fruit of the Spirit, then we need to use it in serving not only Christians, but non-Christians as well. Our brethren and neighbors need our kindness, gentleness, patience, love, joy, faithfulness, peace and self-control.

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net