Arise, Shine
Chapter Six
GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS
And
when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: "A sower went out to sow
his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some
fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew
with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundred-fold." As he said this, he called out,
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Luke 8:4-8
When the sower went out to sow his seed he sowed in every direction. He sowed with unspeakable generosity.
All kinds of seed was wasted, but it didn't matter because the sower knew that some of it would grow and bear fruit. That's how
Jesus sowed the seed of his word across Israel. He didn't care whether people appeared to be prospects or not. He didn't care
whether they were deadbeats or geniuses ... he gave out his word in all directions.
But when some of that seed begins to grow and produce fruit, now this generous sower, who doesn't seem to
care how much seed he wastes, becomes very frugal ... very careful. Each new plant gets his personal attention. Now there must be
no waste. Now, if you have one hundred sheep and one goes astray, you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and seek the one
until you find it. If you have ten silver coins and lose one, stop everything and turn the house upside-down until you find it.
And so along with the lesson we've been learning, of being very generous and wonderfully carefree as we
spread the word of the kingdom, there is another lesson we must also learn: when you get a response, you watch over that emerging
fruit...those new sheep ... with great care.
We need to learn this lesson, especially now as we are seeing fruit coming in ... new souls finding their
way into the kingdom in increasing numbers. If we are careless with this fruit, if we are slovenly, if we ignore one missing
sheep, one missing coin...the revival among us won't last.
After
this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a multitude followed him, because they
saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. Now
the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus
said to Philip, "How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" This he said to test him, for he himself knew
what he would do. Philip answered, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two
fish; but what are they among so many?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the
place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he
distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told
his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up and filled twelve
baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten.
John 6:1-13
Notice how Jesus who is so generous with the word ... gives it so freely ... along with signs of healing, is also careful
about detail.
First, he's concerned about the fact that they're in need of physical bread. But the disciples’ view is:
that has to be their problem. We didn't tell them to come here.
Second, he's delighted when Andrew finds one lad among thousands of people who still has some food ... five
little loaves and two small fish. The disciples’ view is: what good is one boy's lunch among a multitude in need?
Third, when everybody's been fed Jesus says, "Gather up the fragments left over that nothing may be
lost." The disciples might have left what was left over for the birds or let the park service clean up the mess ... no, every
fragment is important, they have to be gathered.
If the outpouring of life and the ingathering of souls which is taking place among us now and will be in
the coming days is to have any lasting impact, we will have to learn to "gather up the fragments that nothing may be
lost."
In the late 60's and early 70's revival spread across this land that involved many of us. We saw a sudden
ingathering of people... wonderful changes in lives we had known for years. Many of us were permanently affected by this revival.
Yet, in a large measure, that revival faded away and many many people who were part of it for a while sank back into lives of
despair, lives of greed, arrogance or cynicism.
Looking back at our own part in that revival we can see that we were much better at sowing the seed with
carefree abandon then we were at gathering up the fragments or sweeping the house for the lost coin or looking for the stray
sheep. We didn't attend to detail as well as we might have. Believers started following Jesus with joy, but it didn't seem to
bother them if they showed up late for work or if they even got jobs at all. They saw nothing wrong with witnessing or having
devotions on company time, or exaggerating their testimonies when the meeting was over ... litter everywhere ... if you left the
building you let someone else turn the light off ... loose ends.
The only places that revival of the early 70's matured and grew were where people learned to gather up the
fragments and tie up the loose ends.
So now the Body of Christ across the planet, including here, is beginning to feel the impact of a stirring
of the Spirit far greater than anything we saw in the 70's.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come."
But along with our clear, bold, generous, aggressive witness there must also be the careful tending of
every plant that grows up.
Isaiah 60 begins with "Arise, shine, for your light has come." Notice how it ends:
Your
people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land for ever, the shoot of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might
be glorified.
The
least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation.... Isaiah 60:21-22a
"Gather
up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost."
If the glory of the Lord that is rising upon us is going to draw and hold nations we have to learn to
gather up the fragments.... meaning three things:
To gather up the fragments means that everybody counts.... everybody counts.
The people who seem to have the least to offer are given the highest honor.
The eye
cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On
the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those parts of the body which we think less
honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more
presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may
be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer
together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together...
2 Corinthians 12:21-26
In the world, the one who produces the most advances the most. In the kingdom, there are rewards for
faithfulness which the Lord will give when the time comes. Meanwhile, everybody counts ... nobody is left behind, nobody is passed
or ignored. Each one is honored. Am I honoring each one? Praying for each one? Caring about each one?
To gather up the fragments means to tie up the loose ends... to make sure that our faith in Jesus is making
a difference in the details of daily life.
"He
who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If
then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust you with the true riches?"
Luke 16:10-11
Some of us are trying to be spiritual and irresponsible with money at the same time. How we handle money
may seem trivial compared to the kingdom, but it is very very important. How we treat our wife, husband, children, fellow workers,
parents, bosses, may seem trivial, but very very important. How we use our time may seem trivial, but it is of vital importance.
To gather up the fragments means top priority is to be given to the lost sheep and the lost coin.
"Or
what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she
finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the
coin which I had lost."'
Luke 15:8-10
So we sweep the house and seek diligently by praying, by reaching out, by going out of our way. Of course,
if the person has demonstrated a disdain for the kingdom ... refuses to receive it ... then we may have to shake the dust from our
feet. But when there is some remorse, some repentance, some homesickness, some hurt, we go and bring them home.
And so as we go out into the world with a bold, powerful word we can be generous, we can be carefree. We
don't have to test the soils, just sow the seed. But as the fruit starts coming in, as we see lives turning from darkness to light
and from Satan to God, we need to attend to detail ... to be careful, to be thorough.
And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing be
lost."
Everybody counts. Every loose end is to be tied up. Top priority given to that one lost sheep.
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