Plant, Water and Harvest

I will be preaching at Trenton, MO on Sunday. I left there about 19 years ago. This sermon will be based on 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 and this poem came to me as I worked on the sermon.


Plant, Water and Harvest
By Larry Linville

For the spreading of God’s work to take place
People are employed as God’s points of grace
There are three tasks that must always be done
And we may be called to do more than one.

The first task is always to plant each seed
To meet each person at their greatest need.
We cultivate the soil for the sowing
And after that’s done we may be going.

Watering the seed must always come next
Moisture and seed in the ground soon connects
The maturing small seed begins to sprout
And then several roots begin reaching out.

The harvest comes when the time is just right
When the plant grows to its ultimate height
The crop is finally placed in the bin
There to be eaten or planted again.

Sometimes we plant God’s seed in tender love
But its growth always comes from God above.
Sometimes we pour water so it can grow
while we wait for growth which God can bestow.

Sometimes we get to harvest the new grains
Which from the beginning God will sustain
And sometimes we are asked to do all three
With the help of others we never see.

Seeds we have planted while we are here
someone else harvests in another year.
This cycle would seem to be very odd
If the growing wasn’t done by God.

So plant, water, and harvest where you are
so humbly because you are not the star.
And in God’s kingdom your heart will know
You had a big part to help it grow.

Not Like The Old Days

“Not Like The Old Days.”
By Larry Linville

“Not like the old days,” she said
with a discontented sneer
as she rode on her mobile
which was in the slowest gear.

She’s had all that she could eat
while sitting with a big crowd.
Though the music was from her day
it was just to blasted loud.

The residents’ families
had all come to celebrate.
But just as you might have guessed
her family was always late.

She’s been outside for an hour
and would like a place to hide.
As she rode past me in haste
to go to her room inside.

Next time there’s a special thing
she’ll be the first to arrive.
But something will upset her
and her joy it will deprive.

It isn’t like the old days.
There is truth in what she said.
She wouldn’t be in that wheel chair
perhaps she’d still be in bed.

Bumblebee Dance

Bumblebee Dance
By Larry Linville

It was way back in the days of old
when cars without air cooling were sold.
I drove with the windows open wide
and a big bumblebee flew inside

He hit my chest and fell to the seat
somewhere between my belt and my feet.
I did not know just where he went
but my quick searching would not relent.

I’m sure he must have been stunned a bit
and I saw that devil right where I sit
while driving sixty down the road
I tried to move before he’d explode.

With foot on the pedal I tried to stand
so I could reach him with my right hand.
The car was swerving and so was I
trying to keep him from stinging my thigh.

We must have driven for several miles
with other drivers giving me smiles.
At last I got that pest to the floor
and gave him a kick right out the door.

When put to music this awkward prance
is my invention of a new dance.
Not like the twist but it could go far
if I could just do it outside the car.

My Willer Won't Will

I preached a sermon at Paradise this morning based on Romans 7. Paul is talking about doing the things he should and not doing things that he should. I used this poem to look at his situation in our lives today. I hope you like it.


My Willer Don’t Will
By Larry Linville

My willer don’t will
and my don’ter won’t don’t.
My doer won’t do
and won’ter don’t won’t.

I don’t know what
has come over me.
When I try to do right
it’s the wrong thing I see.

My willpower is
always doing fine,
but my won’tpower
is on the decline.

I’m a wretched man
this I must admit.
When I want to go
I just have to quit.

Who can save me from
this dreadful state.
Only Jesus Christ
on whom I must wait.

Jesus' First Sermon

Jesus’ First Sermon
Larry Linville

He wasn’t sent there by a Bishop.
No pulpit committee gave a call.
But he stood up to preach just the same
and with God’s help he spoke to all.

He read the scroll with Isaiah’s words
about bringing good news to the poor.
He said it was fulfilled when he spoke
and he quietly walked out the door.

People were shocked at this home town boy.
In anger they drove him from their town
to push him off of the highest bluff
but through the mad crowd he walked back down.

They were mad because the things he said
were not the things they wanted to hear,
but he knew he had to speak for God
and make God’s message clear.

When your preacher gets under your skin
and says thing you think are absurd
be thankful he’s not trying to please
but is only preaching God’s Word.

My Twenty-Second First Sermon

My Twenty-Second First Sermon
By Larry Linville

I’ve preached a first sermon twenty-one times
in churches both large and small.
Some were located in small country towns
and some in no town at all.

Some were in buildings in county seat towns
with a very tall steeple.
Others found their place in a big city
with the pews full of people.

There’s one thing common in every sermon.
I became nervous each time.
But I stood up and never let it show
and tried to speak so sublime.

As I prepare for my sermon this week
good old number twenty-two.
I know I’ll be nervous, but I’m doing
what God’s asking me to do.

She Turns Forty Today

She Turns Forty Today
By Larry Linville

Forty years ago today
my wife woke me up to say
it was time to deliver
our baby, which made me shiver

I drove to the emergency
where the doctor said he would be.
I parked the car and went upstairs
to those with tender loving cares.

I sat calmly to wait my turn
And then the things began to churn.
Nurses rushed all over the place
as I sat with my puzzled face.

Soon there appeared a friendly nurse
with a line she had to rehearse.
“I know things have been a big whirl,
but now you have a baby girl.”

So now she turned forty today
it seems like only yesterday
that this girl came to live with us
after causing such a big fuss.