I Corinthians 3:1-15
Paul says in verse 6: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Paul was the person who introduced the Corinthians to Jesus. Apollos came later, after he had been at Ephesus, then came across the Aegean sea to minister at Corinth. He was building on Paul’s work, not disputing it. But I have no doubt that there were a number of other people who had not heard the Gospel from Paul who owed their conversion to Apollos, so that he became both planter and waterer.
Today’s reading should cause each of us to reflect on what sort of builder we are. Frankly, most of are not “Paul”. There are not a lot of Bethany Tennents or Mark Bruners who are true evangelists, planting Gospel seed where no one else has been before. Most of us are of the Apollos model, with some planting and a lot of watering. Consider someone even like Father David. If you were to ask him I’m guessing that he would say that he is an evangelist – or at a minimum that he has an evangelist’s heart. But he came to a congregation already filled with God’s people. He became a waterer. But then as he preaches, others come to know Jesus. But even when you think about that, in most cases someone brought those converts to church where they could hear David preach. As I’ve quoted David’s own words before, “You bring the people and I’ll preach the Gospel.” But again, I have no doubt that David has brought people to the Lord on his own who have had minimal faith seed planted.
So again, let’s consider ourselves. Have we done any planting or watering? You might say that everyone around us already knows who Jesus is, so we can’t possibly be planters. But consider this. I read an item from my Alma Mater, the University of Illinois. They had a practice football field that had been covered with artificial turf for some forty years. When they finally removed the turf, within days sprigs of grass were growing all over that field. Seeds that had been dormant all those years had come to life when the sun hit their soil. Someone had planted those seeds many years before and they would never have grown if someone had immediately covered them with new building materials, such that they never saw the sun. But they did see the sun and they grew.
Folks, we are sunlight to a darkened world. Whatever we say, whatever we do can have an impact on those we meet. I’ve said many times before, “Walk the walk and talk the talk.” Another of my favorite lines is from Acts 4:20, …we can’t help but speak of the things that we have seen and heard. We are sunlight and (from yesterday’s reading) …we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:16)
Slava Bohu!
Well said!