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It was many years ago now, right after I had first started in the ministry that Sharlon and I traveled to Little River Canyon in Fort Payne, Alabama. Somehow along the trail we were separated and I found myself alone standing on the rim of the canyon viewing a vast expanse of indescribable beauty. Looking across to the other side, I shouted at the top of my voice, "Baloney!" Nothing came back. This is my chance, I thought to myself. Seeing that there was no one else around, I shouted as loudly as I could, "I'm the greatest preacher in all the world!" And the voice came back, "Baloney!" Some might say it is the law of the echo, "You get back in return what you send out." In short, you get what you give.

That story reminds me of another story of the minister who was called to be the supply preacher on Sunday at a small rural church. As he often did on such occasions, he took his small son with him. The arrangements were that he was to meet the layperson in charge of the service in the small foyer of the sanctuary. While waiting with his son, he noticed a small box in the foyer labeled "Alms for the needy!" He thought to himself, "Why not?" So, he reached into his wallet, took out a one-dollar bill and placed it in the box. The layperson showed up, took him into the sanctuary, and eventually introduced him. He preached his sermon and everything went well. After the service was concluded the same layperson explained, "We are a small church and have nothing in the budget to pay a supply preacher. We just give to him whatever is contained in the Alms box." He turned the box over and emptying into the preacher's hands was only his own one-dollar bill. As his son and he were walking to the car, the boy remarked, "You know, Dad, if you had put more into that box, you would have gotten more out!"

It may be true that we not only get back what we send out, but also true that we get back in proportion to that which we have given. In short, we get what we give.

Both stories illustrate the fact that we have to live with our choices. This group of sermons has been built around the theme that in Christ we have the freedom to choose. It also is true that we must bear the responsibility of our choices. We must live with the results. Perhaps no passage in all the Bible speaks to this truth more clearly than does our text. These famous words on reaping what we sow have been lived out in the human drama long before Paul wrote them. They have been quoted countless times since he did. We are so familiar with their application that sometimes we fail to remember their context. The bookend verses, 6 and 10, which buttress Paul's certainty, both speak to generosity. "Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (NIV). Paul's exhortation to generosity forms the immediate environment in which he reminds us that we get what we give. Perhaps Paul is pronouncing that we have a responsibility to look beyond ourselves, to be generous in caring for the needs of others. Whether we do so or not may have consequences in our own lives as to how we are treated with generosity or not.

It is with reference to generosity that Paul postulates that "we should not be deceived: God cannot be mocked" (v. 7a). It was one of the sawdust trail evangelists who said, "An individual's first thought in hell will be, 'I have been deceived.' "

Can it be true that sometimes we are deceived by others, Satan, or even some "well-meaning friends"? It was said that during the Franco-German War the German drummers and trumpeters copied the French signals to "halt," "cease fire," "move ahead," or "retreat." Sounding the signals, they would place the responding French soldiers in positions to be shot down like cattle. And what about those "well-meaning friends" of the prodigal son in Jesus' most famous parable? They were there while the money lasted and the party progressed. They were not there to lend a hand up or a handout when he was in the mire of the pig pen. Is it true that we sometimes allow ourselves to be deceived by others?

Or, could it be tragically true that sometimes we even deceive ourselves? It was the evangelist Dwight L. Moody who told about a remarkable picture that was once exhibited in London. From a distance it appeared to be a monk engaged in prayer, with his hands clasped and his head bowed. Upon closer examination, the observer would discover that the monk was actually squeezing a lemon into a punchbowl.1 What a picture of the human heart! It can appear to be the seat of all that is noble and good to the casual observer, but unless it is controlled by God, it can be the very dwelling place of corruption. In short, things are not always as they seem.

We can deceive ourselves as illustrated by the mobster Al Capone, who exclaimed as he was duly hauled off to prison, "All I have ever done is give people what they want!" I guess that we all have a little of Barney Fife in us with our visions of grandeur. Sometimes we think more highly of ourselves than we should. I know that I sound like Pavarotti when I sing in the shower, but somehow that sound does not translate into the world of reality. Paul is right! We need to be honest with ourselves. "Be not deceived!"

Do not fool yourself! "God is not mocked!" Only a fool would think that he could fool God. It is kin to trying to hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk! Ever tried that? Did it work? Didn't for me, either! I still had to eat the broccoli. It just won't work! Only a fool would try to fool the all-seeing Heavenly Parent.

The wording in the original language is even stronger. The word "mocked" connotes the image of "turning up the nose" or "to treat with contempt." Be not deceived. "No one thumbs his nose at God!"

Then Paul reiterates in our text that there is bad news and there is good news. The bad news is that we get what we give! "A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction" (vv. 7b-8a NIV). These sermons have talked about the choices that we have. There is no choice here. It will happen. We will get what we give. It reminds me of the evangelist of another generation, Vance Havner, who said, "Some folks sow wild oats all week long and then go to church on Sunday to pray for crop failure." How would you like those odds? I think that it was true in Dr. Havner's day. I think that it is true today, that we reap what we sow.

It is an unalterable law of the universe. It is the law of agriculture, of cause and effect, of deeds and destiny. We get what we give. In fact, the Bible states in Romans chapter 1 that the "wrath of God" is an impersonal principle that operates independently of God. It is an independent law of the universe that operates on cause and effect.

When I was fifteen years old, we moved from the city to an eight-acre "farm" in the country with a barn, pigs, cattle, and everything. My father immediately wanted to plant a garden like he did as a boy when he lived on the farm. We had a wonderful place in which to do so between the house and the barn all fenced in and laid out in 100-foot rows. The problem was, however, that it had been a few harvests since anyone in our clan had sowed a garden. So, we went to the feed store and bought seeds of every sample: beans, corn, squash, a literal cornucopia! My mother loved squash. So, we planted squash. We planted a 100-foot row of squash! Now, if you know anything about planting a garden, you know that three or four hills of squash will feed Cox's Army. We had 100 feet!

We then wanted to plant butter beans. But we could not find the butter beans. We surmised that we must have planted the butter beans instead of the squash. We didn't know! So, we planted another 100-foot row of squash. We had 200 feet of squash. We grew tons of squash! No one in our family even liked squash except my mother! We gave it away, threw it away, threw it at each other -- we had tons of squash. Oh, yes, a few weeks later we found that in the corner of the fence, we had many butter bean vines growing where we had misplaced and spilled them.

Now, was God punishing us because of our carelessness and stupidity by causing so much squash to grow? No! I think, I am not sure about this, but I think that we grew squash because we planted squash. That does seem reasonable, doesn't it?

It is true in our spiritual lives as well. If we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption or that which does not last. Here the word "flesh" not only is in reference to the inner struggle within each of us in decision-making, but actually describes a person who is outside of the rule and reign of God. A person of the "flesh" is a person who considers not God, could actually be in contempt of God, and shall suffer the corruption of such choices. We get what we give. If we sow hatred, we will reap hatred. If we sow selfishness, it shall be returned to us. If we sow violence, we do more harm to ourselves than others. If we sow exclusivity, we, too, shall be excluded. What we send out shall be returned to us.

This was never more evident to me than when I was playing golf recently. It was a horrible day. Nothing was going right. I was so frustrated that I lashed out at my caddie and said, "You must be the worst caddie in the whole world!" "No, sir," he responded. "That would be too great a coincidence." The bad news is that we get what we give.

Now, for the good news! The good news is that we get what we give! Sound familiar? It is what John Claypool calls the law of the identical harvest. We get what we give, bad or good! "The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life" (v. 8b NIV).

We may not have the choice in that we shall reap what we sow, but we do have the definite choice of that which we sow! We have the freedom to choose what we give and, of course, what will be returned to us. Because of Christ, we have the freedom to choose to sow to the Spirit. We have the freedom to exercise the choices of one who is under the rule and reign of God and thus can determine to a great extent what shall be returned to us. We can choose our own future! We know what the future holds because it has been sown in the past. We are not subject to every twist or whim of fate. We can determine the future we face by the choices we make. In God there are predictable consequences, even rewards, of making right decisions.

But I have noticed that it seems that the people who make right choices usually do not make those choices in light of rewards they expect to receive. Most of these people make right choices because the choices are right. I remember a story told of a missionary working in a leper colony, who was binding the horrible, even gruesome, wounds of a leper. Passing by and observing the scene was a group of society folks on tour of the colony, possibly being touted for donations. One of the society folks stared down at the unsightly scene and remarked, "Oh! I would not do that for $10,000!"

To which the missionary replied, "I wouldn't either!" Some things we do because they are the right thing to do, not because of some favorable consequence that we might expect to receive.

Too, we know that we not only get what we give, we also get more than we give! We don't plant one kernel of corn and get one kernel of corn. We sometimes sow one kernel of corn and get a whole stalk of corn with several ears and hundreds of kernels. As our Lord Jesus said, sometimes our harvest is thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.

C. Roy Angel relates the story of a hotel clerk serving his time in a small third-class hotel in Philadelphia when a tired, elderly couple arrived late in the night. The man pleaded, "Can you rent us a room? We had no idea of the big conventions that are in town. We arrived late. All the hotels where we usually stay are full. It is past midnight and we are bone-weary tired. Can you help us?"

"Well, we, too, are full. But I work at night and sleep during the day. It is not much, but you can have my room for the night." The couple accepted the offer with undying gratitude.

The next morning, the couple came down to the clerk amazingly refreshed. "You are too fine a hotel man to stay here!" the elderly man exclaimed. "Why don't you let me return to New York City, build a five-star luxurious hotel and pay you to be the general manager?"

The clerk was dumbfounded and he even thought the man might not be properly connected with reality. He managed to say, "That sounds wonderful!" It was then that the man introduced himself as John Jacob Astor. He did return to New York City, he did build the Waldorf Astoria, and the Philadelphia night clerk became the best-known hotel man in the world.2 Sometimes we reap more than we sow! We get what we give, even more.

With that in mind, Paul states one of the imperatives of the passage: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (v. 9 NIV). We will get what we give. The results may not be as immediate as we would prefer, and certainly it will not always be smooth sailing. We prefer quick, visible, and successful results. But when they do not appear as we would like, we need to remember that it may take an eternity to prove the good that we sow. But God knows our hearts and the quality of our work. In his appropriate time, we shall reap if we do not give up. Twice in this passage, Paul uses the Greek word, kairos, that refers to "crisis or opportune time" to bring about God's results. It was Robert Browning who said, "God's good time ... does not always fall on Saturday when the world looks for wages." Don't lose heart. You will get what you give. This is God's promise to you. This is your future.

Dan grew up as I did in the baseball-crazy town of Gadsden, Alabama, in the 1950s. Two years my junior, Dan was a good baseball player. Dan was a great football player. But Dan's fondest ambition was to be a coach. So, while still a high school student, Dan coached the Coosa Federal Little League baseball team. In his very first season, Dan's team had a perfect record. They played eighteen games and they lost eighteen games. But he would not quit, and in his second season, Dan's record improved 100 percent. They won one game. They played eighteen games and lost "only" seventeen. So, Dan's coaching record at the end of two years was one win and 35 loses.

Needless to say, no one was asking Dan to lead a coaching clinic or address a civic club. But Dan did not lose heart. He did not give up. He loved his kids. He often took them to church, especially if a Christian athlete was speaking. He taught them to persevere.

In 1981, Dan's team had another perfect record, only it was not baseball but football. And Dan's team, the Clemson Tigers, had a perfect record of 13 and 0 and were crowned NCAA National Football Champions. And Dan, Danny Ford, was chosen NCAA National Coach of the Year, the youngest ever so chosen.

For many years I have told that story, but it has a postscript. In the mid-1990s, Danny was no longer the coach of the Clemson Tigers, but was head football coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Danny was taking his "Hogs" into Tuscaloosa to do battle with the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, his alma mater. No coach ever wanted to win a game more that did Coach Ford.

The game began and from the outset it was nip and tuck. Tight, tense, it was a game where any one play could decide the outcome. Deep in the fourth quarter, the atmosphere was electric. Then came one of the most crucial plays of the game. The Arkansas quarterback threw a pass in the flat to the Razorback tight end. He was wide open. There was not an Alabama defender to be seen. The Arkansas player could have run all day and probably scored the deciding touchdown. But, he dropped the ball! Wide open and he dropped the ball! He not only dropped the ball before the television audience, before 80,000 fans in Bryant-Denny Stadium, he dropped the ball right in front of the Arkansas bench, and yes, right in front of the Arkansas head football coach, Danny Ford. The player just stood there. You could tell that he wanted to cry. He wished that the earth would open up and swallow him whole. He just stood there with anguish painted on his face.

It was then that Danny Ford ran out onto the field, ran right up to the embarrassed player, got right up in his face, opened wide his arms, and hugged the tight end as tightly as he could. Even the announcers remarked, "What parent would not want his (her) child to play for Danny Ford?"

You know, the best thing about making right choices is the kind of person that you become.

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1. D. L. Moody, Sowing and Reaping (Chicago: The Moody Press, 1806), p. 28.

2. C. Roy Angel, Shields of Brass (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1965), p. 50.