I'm Giving Back!
Notes
Transcript
I’m Giving Back
I’m Giving Back
In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry.
And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.
Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Intro:
I am convinced that the reason God promises so much to us, is directly related to what God expects to be produced out of those same promises....
Over the last few weeks we have discussed the seed.....
We have talked about the germination phase......
We have dealt with the seedling phase......
And today I want to wrap it up by talking about the last phase of the plant cycle that is called Increase or Fruit bearing!
(pause)
And....
It is out of this phase of Increase, or Fruit bearing that we are able to see REPRODUCTION!
(pause)
All of this growth that we have been talking about this month.......
.......has led us to this point to talk about REPRODUCTION!
The seed had to die and come up so that we could get to this point....
The seedling had to grow out its roots so that we could get to this point.....
And....
all of the growing pains that went into the process wasn’t for nothing.....
But....
every pain that is connected to each phase and season was so that we could get to this last phase of REPRODUCTION!
(pause)
And when I look at this phase of Increase....
I’m determined to see how the reward of REPRODUCTION outweighs the growing pains of the process.
(slight pause)
Because....
......maybe if we can understand the value of REPRODUCING it will motivate us to grow to this level in our lives spiritually...
(pause)
And....
In today’s text we notice this fig tree that represents,
fertility, peace and prosperity.....
And it is in this Gospel of Matthew that we find this tree symbolically teaching us that uselessness invites disaster.
meaning....
Anything that is useless is on its way to elimination......
Contextually speaking.......
(pause)
(pause)
And make no mistake about it.....
Every one of us will be judged by God in terms of our usefullness......
(pause)
Yesterday First Lady was watching a Women’s Conference online and I overheard one of the speakers share a powerful testimony of Usefullness....
She shared how one of the speakers who had suffered a stroke was asked to pray......
......and how even though she was restricted to a wheelchair
.......she made her way down to the front in her wheelchair and begin to pray with ferver!
And in my spiritual imagination what the speaker was sharing is that.......
.........her usefullness could not be reduced to existence because of God’s promises!!
And I wonder if,
.........there’s anybody in here that’s driven by the Promises of God to know that you have USEFULLNESS!
(pause and expound/shift)
Let’s look at the text.....
In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry.
Matthew’s Gospel opens this pericope by showing us Jesus’s humanity...
…because according to the text
“Jesus is pictured as being hungry”
And......
from a Christological perspective this is important to establish the value of human need
being found in Jesus....
and so later when we watch Jesus’s divinity proven we are able to marry it with his proven humanity in this verse.
(pause)
And so Matthew’s Gospel says,
Jesus is hungry...........
......and then in verse 19 it says,
“He saw a fig tree”
Look at it....
And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
And based on what we preached last week on how important our Root placement is.....
.........I want to point out the root placement of this fig tree....
“And you shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of waters”
And verse 19 says,
Jesus finds this fig tree by the side of the road....
I don’t hear anything about any water being close by the side of the road
I don’t hear anything about the side of this road that would make it so special
But the bible says,
Jesus sees this fig tree, and approaches it with expectation!
And the first thing God told me is that.......
I need to encourage some of you who were thinking that you were out of placement so you stopped believing you were supposed to PRODUCE!
(pause)
But I need you to pay attention to how Jesus perceives this fig tree...
He takes a good look at this fig tree.....
And......
......roadside placement did not diminish what Jesus expected to see based on this fig tree that was full of leaves.
(pause)
But now here’s the next thing God showed me.......
because the bible says that when Jesus goes over and examines the tree
.....he finds leaves
.....but NO fruit!
(pause)
Now this is apparently the only tree in this area that has leaves.......
So when Jesus sees this
.....regardless of its ROADSIDE PLACEMENT
.......this fig tree is presenting itself as though it can promise fruit for Jesus’s hunger!
(pause)
Watch this......
This fig tree is 5 months out of season for a current batch of figs to show up
So Jesus is not expecting this fig tree to have figs because this is not the season for figs.....
(pause)
As a matter of fact......
This aint even the season for leaves to be this full on this fig tree......
And so because this Fig tree is presenting itself as though it has something to offer.......
Jesus is expecting a certain level of INCREASE and FRUIT BEARING based on His father’s promises and principles.
(pause)
But the text says,
“he found nothing but leaves!”
(pause)
Freedom family,
I thought about that thing.......
(slight pause)
Because sometimes I think that God finds us just like Jesus finds this fig tree.....
......we have leaves on our life
.......but no fruit!!
(pause)
And I don’t know about you but.....
I don’t want to just look like I’m supposed to produce......but don’t got nothing
(pause and expound)
And I believe that there are at least 2 dangerous outcomes from looking like we got it going on, but can’t PRODUCE
Dissapointment of a God expectation
Believe it or not Freedom family, pretty leaves don’t impress God
(pause)
A pretty life does not replace fruit, and God has an expectation for our lives to PRODUCE fruit!
b. Dissatisfaction of a God hunger
Believe it or not Freedom family, pretty leaves don’t satisfy the appetite the way that fruit does.
(pause)
If you have ever been hungry for real, you understand that in order to satisfy your appetite you need the real thing!
(pause)
And the text says,
When Jesus does not find the real thing on this fig tree....
When Jesus does not find any fruit on this tree.....
“He cursed it!”
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination I hear God saying,
“I know you don’t expect to use the promise just to look pretty!”
(slight pause)
“I didn’t give you a promise just to look pretty,
but I gave you a promise so that you could PRODUCE!”
And so....
.....since you don’t intend to PRODUCE, I’m taking away the promise, and replacing it with a curse
And Jesus says,
“May no fruit ever come from you again!”
Jesus says,
“I refuse to let somebody else that’s hungry walk up on you and get fooled.......
....I can’t let “NOTHING” act like it has “SOMETHING” that it really doesn’t have
And the bible says,
the fig tree WITHERED or dried up at once....
(pause)
Watch this......
.....this fig tree was in the last phase of growth called INCREASE
.....it had gone through all of the other phases to get to this last phase
.......the Seed died and germanation took place
......the skinny seedling weathered the winters because of a great ROOT SYSTEM
(pause)
This fig tree went through all of that........
.....and then didn’t have nothing to show for it when JESUS WAS LOOKING!
(pause)
Expound -
And Freedom I don’t know how you feel about it,
......but I refuse to go through all of what I went through to get to the last phase where I’m supposed to PRODUCE what God promised for my life
......and when JESUS was looking
He found leaves.......
........but I aint REPRODUCED nothing in my INCREASE phase!!!!
(pause)
And I just believe.....
.........that God is going to examine our lives
......and just because its a rough season doesn’t mean that the PRODUCTION was supposed to STOP!
(pause)
Look at it........(repeat)
The bible says in verse 20 and 21.......
......that the disciples can’t believe that this beautiful fig tree full of leaves just dried up this quick at the WORD of Jesus!
(pause)
They saw what happened........
......but they didn’t understand how it happened!
(pause)
And that’s when God said,
Baker.........
there are some folk at Freedom that are stuck in the exact spot that my disciples were.
(pause)
They understand there is POWER in my WORD
They understand that there is a PROMISE in my WORD
But they don’t know how to make nothing HAPPEN!!!
(pause)
And I need you to show them what showed my disciples......
And the bible says that when the disciples asked Jesus,
“How did this happen at once?”
Jesus says,
The way this happens is with FAITH!
Because Faith is what causes a PROMISE to come alive!!
Faith is what talks to the PROMISES at the ROOT level......
.......that causes FRUIT to start REPRODUCING!
(pause)
And Jesus says to the disciples,
If you think what happened to this fig tree is something.....
“If you have faith, and doubt not”
(slight pause)
If you speak to a MOUNTAIN, what I said to this fig tree.....
You can lift up a mountain......
(pause)
Notice.....
Jesus is telling them.......
........... what they are supposed to be able to REPRODUCE with their FAITH!
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination,
I hear Jesus saying,
Promise Driven Lives........
......that speak with a FAITH language are able to LIFT UP mountains.
(pause)
And usually......
.....whenever our lives are failing to produce, its because of a MOUNTAIN that needs to be MOVED.
(pause)
But what I hear Jesus saying is........
When we got a GOD PROMISE driving our lives forward
Not even a MOUNTAIN is supposed to stop us from PRODUCING!!
(pause and optional Expound)
And so Pastor.......
How do you know Increase and FRUIT bearing is what God expects from us?
(pause)
It’s right there in verse 22.....
Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Freedom.....
That’s how I know..........(repeat verse)
Prayer.....
gives us the power to transform life experiences
And Freedom,
You went through everything you went through to get to the REPRODUCTION level so that you can GIVE BACK!
(pause)
And....
The Word declares in Psalms 37.4
“Delight yourself in the Lord.......
.......and he will give you the desires of your heart”
(pause)
And so if we tell God,
“LORD........
I’m GIVING BACK!”
I’ve gone through the Seed level
I’ve gone through Germination
I’ve gone through Seedling
(pause)
And now......
“Lord........
Make my life USEFUL!!!
(slight pause)
God.......I’m ready to REPRODUCE!”
And......
I didn’t receive this fruit for me to keep it!
But God I’m ready to REPRODUCE to bless somebody else!
(pause)
Zacardi Cortez,
has a song that says
“Lord let you POWER FALL
......when your NAME is called
Proove the doubters wrong
Because God you’re still MIGHTY AND STRONG!”
(pause)
I wonder if I got any FREEDOM........FRUIT bearers
......that are ready to look like the PROMISE GIVER that planted you!
......and you’re ready to REPRODUCE so that when people who are hungry approach
your lives
you can say,
“I went through what i went through so that I could give you this FRUIT!”
“I’m ready to.....
.......GIVE BACK”
(pause and repeat)
FRUIT that tastes like I been through something....
FRUIT that tastes like the GOD that planted me, and the Jesus that REDEEMED me
FRUIT that looks like PROMISE.........POWER...........PURPOSE
AND we aint just got the LOOK
Baby we got the REAL THING!!!!
Love
Longsuffering
Justice
Joy
Peace
Gentleness
goodness
Faith
Meekness