So far we’ve
- Re:Newed
- Re:Committed
- Re:Applied

This week, Re:Position

Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:3-9
A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.

Jesus often spoke in parables for the purpose of delivering perspective shifting info in a metaphorical, yet cryptic way. Metaphors because they helped deliver the info. Cryptic because Jesus couldn’t just blast out that info to everyone. This is why he says if you have an ear, then hear. In other words if you are tapped into the spirit, listen.

In rare form, Jesus actually explains this one.

Matthew 13:18-23
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.[b] 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Do you remember what this parable is called?
You’d think it was the parable of the soils, after all, isn’t the soil the focus? “He who has ears let him hear.” What if I told you the main focus of the parable was not the soil but the sower? What if I told you Jesus was trying to tell them that he came to earth to sow seed everywhere, even among the ground that didn’t look worthy? Jesus was telling them I came for EVERYONE.

This is buttressed by another parable, the good Samaritan. A priest refused to help, a levite refused to help, but help cam in the least likely of places, a hated Samaritan. It is the parable of the sower, not the soil. It was a parable about a sower willing to spread the seed, yet we always read this parable as the parable of the soil, making it about us!

What I pray happened in you in these last few minutes is precisely what Jesus was wanting to happen in his listeners 2000 years ago:

a shift in perspective.

Why is that important? Shifting your perspective? Because we all have problems and we typically only see what we’re looking at.

Imagine I held up a sheet of paper to you, on your side a cross, on my side a heart. You'd be convinced there was a cross there and I would be convinced there was a heart. it would be a communication problem at that point.

If I want to solve the communication problem we are having, I have to be willing to move, to adjust. I have to be willing to Re:Position.

What are your 3 biggest problems right now?

Get those in your mind. Some problems we fight for a few hours or days. Others for years or decades. But all problems have at least one thing in common: there IS a solution. Before you push back, realize there really is a solution. You might not like it and it might seem impossible, but there is. But if you are going to deal with that things you’re struggling with, it might take something that you aren’t doing now.

You might have to reposition.

I want to share with you three maybes that just might help you solve your problem. Maybe your problem is biblical in proportion, so let’s apply a biblical solution.

1. Maybe you need to adjust what you're seeing.
2 Kings 6:14-17
(Elisha by the Spirit knew the thoughts of the King of Syria and was telling the King of Israel. This enraged the King of Syria who sought to kill Elisha)
14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Have you ever felt like this? You wake up and the moment your feet hit the floor it seems like the enemy’s armies are barreling down the mountainside to annihilate you?

Matthew 6:22-23
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

This is the “Eye is the window to the soul” source. This is a principle! What you look at drastically impacts you, good or bad. If you are focusing on the broken, you are going to feel brokenness, but when you change what you’re looking at, your attitude changes, too.

This doesn’t mean be oblivious to what is going on, but whatever you are dealing with right now, I am willing to bet a couple of things:
- You’ve been looking at the same view of your problem for a while now
- And all you re seeing is what is wrong.

How would your life change if you simply asked God in this moment to open your eyes to what he wanted you to see?
He might open your eyes to see what is really going on in the spirit, allowing you to see the miracle that God is working in your specific situation. He might open your eyes to another facet than the one you’ve been looking at which gives you a new understanding of an old problem, allowing you to change.

And maybe you need an Elisha, a third party, to pray with you about it.
I know it is easier to keep it to yourself, but sometimes problems only get solved when you being another person in who is already seeing what you need to see.

How incredible is our God that he would not only make a way for you to see another facet, but that he will also bring people in your life who already see it and who can walk that path with you!?!?!?

2. Maybe you need to change what you’re thinking.
You might think I would reach for Romans 12:1-2, renewing your mind here, but I’d like to reference Acts 9:1-9
1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

It is amazing that Saul(Paul) genuinely thought he was in the right before his Damascus Road experience.

Later on he wrote in Philippians 3:4-6
4 If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

What was Saul thinking? He thought he was doing everything God wanted him to do. We can get like this when it comes to our problems.

We get tunnel vision. We think we are right and nothing is going to dissuade us. We’ll even go to extremes, cutting off relationships, burning bridges, just to maintain our stance as right.

But SOMETIMES we are not as right as we think we are and if we are going to experience growth in that area, we have to experience change in what we are thinking.

Note what happened to Saul after the encounter:
- He was blinded. That’s a pretty intense metaphor. He was sure he had seen the light and that is why the church had to be eliminated.
- He had to be led. The most zealous Jewish leader had to be led around like a child. Talk about squashing some pride there! Don’t forget, physical deformities in those times were seen as a curse from God! “Jesus, who sinned”
- So beyond the physical limitations he was experiencing, there were other implications of his experience that may have led him to think he might not be as right as he thought he was.

But there was one thing that made the difference in his thinking, and this one thing will make the difference in you as well: He encountered Jesus.

Sometimes our thinking doesn’t change because we don’t get Jesus involved in the problem. We might ask him to help, but it is almost always in the context of helping to create the outcome we want, the one where we are justified. Are you willing to change everything you believe about your problem if Jesus wanted you to?

3. Maybe you need old bones.
2 Kings 13:20-21
(In v14, Elisha became ill and would pass away).
20 So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

Sometimes we need old bones.

I’ve been telling you today that when you face a problem that is persistent, you sometimes have to pivot, adjust, reposition so you can overcome. It takes thinking in new ways, changing how you’re looking at the issue, allowing God to shift the narrative, allowing godly people to come in and help you see and think what you can’t see and think. But sometimes what we need is to return to some of those old school techniques, those old bones, to see our problem dealt with. I love progress, I love new things, I love new ideas, but sometimes my issue doesn’t need a new song or a new idea. Sometimes I need some good old fasting and prayer. Sometimes I need Oh the blood of Jesus! Sometimes I need to walk my house and anoint the doorposts with oil and proclaim as for me and my house we will serve the Lord!

Sometimes I need those old bones that give new life to what is dead in me!
We can sometimes get so caught up in new songs and fresh ideas that we forget the time honored truths in practices that are not so common today,
practices like the spiritual disciplines. Solitude? Bro really? YES REALLY!

Practices like fasting.
I remember so many times me calling home and telling them about a struggle or even a job opportunity and my dad would say, “Well I am fasting for the next three days for you.” Who do you have in your phone who’ll tap into some old bones so you can get some victory?!?!?

Practices like prayer huddles.
At the end of my junior year I was so depressed and overwhelmed I didn’t want to even live and rather than putting all our eggs in the basket of therapy or medication, my parents got some people we loved and trusted from church and they put me in a chair in a circle and prayed until we got breakthrough. I’m not dissing therapy and medication, but we better be sure we don’t forget those old bones, those old fashioned prayer meetings.

Romans 15:4-6
4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Just like the Word was written for your instruction, those old bones, the old tried and true techniques of praying mommas and God-fearing daddies are there to bring life to you through the power of the Holy Spirit when death is all around you.

We are careful here to make sure our services are decent and in order like 1 Corinthians 14 tells us, but we want to always make room for the Holy Spirit to speak.

If you feel like you are being ambushed and attacked,
if you feel overwhelmed and broken,
if you don’t know how to solve the problem that you’ve been facing
I want you to stand

I know that is going to put you on the spot, but if you haven’t been able to solve the problem yet, maybe you need to reposition, and it might be as simple as standing right now in this moment.

I for sure want our presbytery to feel free to go to these who are standing and pray with them, but if you are next to someone standing, stand with them, and if they are comfortable with it, place your hand on them and begin praying for them.

You who are standing are not alone.
You have family. Praying people around you.
If God gives you a word for that person, say it quickly and discreetly to them.
It isn’t about you, it is about the word.

Holy Spirit, speak to us we pray.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?