[Rainer Salomaa] Many years ago Al Capone virtually owned the city of Chicago. He wasn't famous for anything heroic – we know that. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootleg booze to prostitution to murder. Al Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie”. He was Al Capone's lawyer for a really good reason, because Eddie was really good at what he did. He helped Al Capone set up illegal enterprises. In fact, his skill at maneuvering Big Al kept him out of jail for a long time. To show his appreciation Al Capone paid him a really good salary. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help with all of the conveniences of that day. The estate was so big that it filled an entire city block in Chicago – where Easy Eddie lived. He lived the high life with the Chicago mob and gave little consideration for the atrocities that were going on around him.

But Eddie had one soft spot. He had a son that he dearly, dearly loved. And Eddie saw to it that his young son had everything he needed – clothes, cars, good education. He didn't hold anything back because money was no object. Despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach his son right from wrong. He wanted his son to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he could not give to his son. He couldn't pass on a good name – and it was talked about in the sermonette – he could not pass on a good example. His example was not very good.

One day Easy Eddie reached a very difficult decision. He had been stewing about it for quite a while, and he wanted to rectify some of the wrongs in his life. Maybe he saw the handwriting on the wall or maybe he just got very altruistic, but he decided to clean up his tarnished name the best he could, and offer his son a semblance of integrity. To do this he would have to testify against Al Capone and the mob. And he knew that the price would be great. So he testified and he helped the government bring Al Capone to justice on tax fraud evasion charges in 1931. He went to jail for tax purposes.

Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago street on November 8, 1939. The evidence points to a hit ordered by Al Capone. But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer. The greatest price he could ever pay. When police arrived, they removed from his pocket a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion and he clipped out a little poem from a magazine – a short poem. The poem said, “The clock of life is wound but once; and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop; at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time for the clock may soon be still.” So he was laid to rest. I'll get back to that. There is a purpose for it.

But this universe that God has designed is filled with beautiful laws. Some having to do with cause and effect. We see God's same law abide in nature in laws that help govern our lives, there are principles of cause and effect in our human conduct. And one of them is, and that's what I would like to address this morning: we reap what we sow. We reap what we sow – nationally, organizationally, personally. We understand the concept of physical sowing, physical reaping. I mean, I just went to Regina on a church circuit, crops are all doing good, just like an ocean of wheat just waving in the wind under the prairie skies. Beautiful. But the ground is prepared for the crop. The rocks are taken out, or crushed, or rolled over. The farmer scatters seed on the ground, which has been prepared and at some point in the Fall, or whenever harvest takes place. You know, out in the prairies in Canada and here in the states, they have combines that can harvest 25 acres of wheat per hour. Amazing – one guy, 25 acres of wheat per hour.

Reaping and sowing is an inviolate principle. It's like gravity. We can't get away from it. We can't pretend it does not exist. Plowing and sowing are deliberate activities. We might not recognize our plowing, we might not recognize our sowing, but they are there. Day by day. Year by year. People reap the trouble which they sow. Nations reap the troubles which they sow. But also we reap the good that we sow. We can leave vapor trails in our lives. Just like high flying jet aircraft.

Job 4:8. Thought about this during the time of his trial, as he observed human behavior. An observer of life, and he said: Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same. Those who plow iniquity, sow trouble, reap the same. It comes back. Recently this week we've had political upheaval in the province of Alberta, our first female Premier resigned. And as she resigned her seat it all boiled down to the fact that she sowed seeds of self-indulgence. Use of corporate aircraft and so on for personal gain or personal use and she reaped the public outcry and an RCMP investigation. It came back to haunt her. Ruined her career.

Years ago in the ministry, I got a visitor request from a lady way up in northern Quebec. We were living in Sudbury, Ontario, so myself and my assistant, we drove up there, pretty well an all day drive, she was kind of distraught and it was kind of hard to get her to open up. She had a little child kind of wobbling around in front of us in the living room. Obviously the child was not well. She was in tears, she wanted to know if God would ever forgive her. She went on to explain what happened. When she was expecting, she tried to perform an abortion by herself, unsuccessfully, and ended up with a retarded child. I think of the scripture: My sin is ever before me.  And, of course, we tried to encourage her. Read Romans 7, but unfortunately, because of stupidity, something crazy happened.

Proverbs 22:8. He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow. In other words, if you play with fire, you're going to get burned. If you abuse your body, you might get sick, or have pain and suffering. If you sow hatred, you reap strife. This is different than someone who slips than one who sows evil. This is different than someone who has an occasional kind deed as one who sows good.

Let's go to the national principle of Israel. In Hosea 8:7. Hosea is talking about the nation of Israel. A short statement: They sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind. The context is the idolatry of Israel is so much blustery wind. As a consequence Israel reaped a whirlwind of trouble. They got involved with breaking God's law. Breaking the covenant agreement with their Creator. In fact, Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 are principles of we reap what we sow. Either good or bad. Blessings or cursings. Hosea 10:12-13. Just read that. So God is pleading with the nation. He said: Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Eternal, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. That's what God wants us to sow. Righteousness. But He said: Hosea 10:13, you have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men. Things haven't changed. They haven't changed.

You know, you look at what happened in 2008, the financial crisis, we're attempting still to avoid harvesting the crop that was sown prior to 2008. A lot of North America was in a 'get rich quick' scheme. People bought homes they could not afford, thinking they could sell at a higher price. Bought and fell out, foreclosures hit, real estate market dropped, and the whole idea of a stimulus package as it tried to circumvent the principle of reaping what we sow. So, the solution in man's eyes is get more debt. To get out of debt, get deeper in debt.

Again, the Bible shows that we need to be generous and think the good things that we sow because the blessings would be there. In the early church, they had a church crisis involving famine, involving shortage of food, and they had their Good Works program back then, so the Corinthian church was among those that helped organize a relief effort for those in Judea. And Paul addressed the issue of sowing and reaping in 2 Corinthians 9, and I'll just read a few verses. 2 Corinthians 9:5, because they were coming around to collect food produce and take it to those in need. He said: Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare their generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that may be ready as a manner of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. And he said in 2 Corinthians 9:6, But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. You want a good crop? Don't skimp on the seed. Seed is relatively cheap. Last year in Canada they had a bumper crop. And I think the farmers are hoping to have another one. But, you have to prime the pump. You have to put the seed in there. And a lot of it is faith after that. And you are dependent on circumstances beyond your control, weather and hail. He said in 2 Corinthians 9:8, and God is able to make all grace abound toward you, for you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written 2 Corinthians 9:9, he has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. Now may he who supplies seed to the sower, you know, it's a team effort, God could do it all Himself if He wanted to but we're part of the crop, we're also part of the labor. He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness. And he equated this that God would be glorified, 2 Corinthians 9:13, through their liberal giving, their liberal sharing.

We had the theme for the GCE on creating an environment for spiritual growth. Excellent theme. And around the time of that theme I was reading a book, on the subject of evil, actually, these two books, Marketing of Evil, one of them. But the author talked about a speech that James Dobson gave in 2002 to about 3,500 people, and he asked a question. Do you understand what a stem cell is? A stem cell is a cell, in a human being at least, that in the very early stages of development is undifferentiated. In other words, it's not yet any kind of tissue, but it can go in any direction depending on the environment that it is put in. Stem cell.

The stem cell, if it's in the brain, develops into a nerve cell, or into substance between the nerves. Or if it's in the heart, it becomes a heart cell. Or, if it's in the eye, it becomes a part of the eyeballs. Wherever it is it takes on the characteristics of the surrounding areas. And he talked about children, and you know, we're God's children. He said, do you understand children are the stem cells for the culture? The environment that you put them in is what they will grow up to be. If you can control what they hear, if you can control what they're told, if you have access to their minds you can make them into just about whatever you wish. They could be molded. And, rightfully so, there is an emphasis on having our congregations warm, friendly environments where God is calling children. They can fit in and have an easy time becoming a part of the Body of Jesus Christ. In a very comfortable way.

When we were raising our two girls, my wife and I, I had this poem framed, a nice font on colored paper, I had it framed, and looked at it for years. I'm not going to read it, copyright issues, but you can download it, it's entitled “Children Learn What They Live”, by Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D. Probably a lot of you have read it anyway. But it talks about the effect of an environment of criticism, or hostility, or fear, or pity, or ridicule, or jealousy, or shame and how it bowls children. She contrasts that with an environment of encouragement, tolerance, praise, acceptance, approval, recognition, sharing, honesty, fairness, kindness and how that impacts children. Even in parenting as we reap what we sow. It's a tough job, it's a challenge.

You know, the principle, all across life, there's a proverb if you want to have friends, show yourself friendly. Right? It's a simple principle. Christ talked about it in parables. Matthew 13:3. Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow”. Whenever I read this I think of that Walt Disney movie, Johnny Appleseed. Johnny Appleseed went across the United States with his bag of seeds and he kept planting apple trees all across the states. We're doing that through the internet around the world. Seeds are dropping all over the place. In Canada we get continuous responses to the television program, to our internet efforts, our literature. Seeds continue to be sown and dropped. And as he sowed, Matthew 13:4, some fell by the wayside; Birds came and devoured them. No guarantee, is there? Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth. They sprang up because they had no depth of earth. Sun was up. They were scorched. Because they had no root they withered away. Some fell among thorns. Thorns sprung up and choked them. Others fell on good ground and yielded a crop. Some hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

Years ago, my original Bible I got at Ambassador College, with the wide margins. This was back in the '60's. When I read that I started writing names in the four categories. People I knew that fit those categories at that time. So Christ explains Matthew 13:18 therefore hear the parable of the sower; when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, when the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart, this is he who receives seed by the wayside. I had a close friend, Ian, when I started getting literature from the church, we were in junior high. And we'd walk to school two miles I'd discuss all the stuff I was learning with him. I'd bring along the Plain Truth magazine and here I'd say, you read it. And he'd read it, mark it all up, X's disagree with Herbert. So I wrote his name. Matthew 13:20. But he who received the seed on stony places. This is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself it is only there for a little while, before tribulation or persecution arises because of the word immediately leaves stones. You know, some people get so excited, so turned on, so enthusiastic, they come to services, want to serve, they'll get baptized. A year later? They're gone. Matthew 13:22. Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. I could think of names then. When we had a major split back in 1995 a lot of people in the church were involved with pyramid schemes of selling. And all of a sudden changes came and they were off to meetings on Saturday to promote their products. All of a sudden you see, I didn't think that was a high priority but it was a higher priority than the Sabbath. I shook my head.

Matthew 13:23. But he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word, understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces. Hundredfold, sixty, some thirty. But I still have my name with a question mark in that category. It's not over yet, okay? But that's where I want to be.

There is a lot of things you can digest from this, but the type of soil can determine the bounty of the crop, obviously. And God also demands sometimes a harvest from areas He hasn't even sown. There is a scripture about that. But only a small amount of seed produces lasting fruit. Christ said, remember narrow is the way, difficult, few are able to find it. So, there is a lot of seed thrown but the overall result is not a high yield so far. Not till the world tomorrow. The Kingdom of God. But yet Christ said the fields are white to the harvest. We are told to pray for laborers. It's interesting at harvest time foreign workers come help harvest the crop. Locals can't keep up with it. They come from across the border. They are hired to pick, harvest because it's a lot of work. Doesn't take as much work to sow the seed, but the harvesting time. We have one farmer I talked to in Regina about this. He said, yes, of course, it's much more labor intensive during harvest time.

Now, Christ started with twelve, pretty small seed. One hundred and twenty. Not that much. Then thousands began to be added. Matthew 13:24. Another parable He put for us saying: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while the man slept this enemy came and sowed tares among his wheat and went his way. Satan is so crafty. But when the grain has sprouted and produced a crop then the tares also appeared. So a servant of the owner came and said, “Sir, do you want that we not sow good seed in the field?”. How come we've got tares? He said the enemy has done this. The servant said do you want us to go out and gather them up? He said no. Lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. They are so connected. Side-by-side sometimes, and it can do a lot of damage if you don't handle it in the right way. So Christ said let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, first gather together the tares. Bind them up in bundles to burn them. Gather the wheat into my barn. Well, that's then there will always be opposition. Paul at times talked about one of his hazards was false brethren. Not always obvious. I've learned, in the church for fifty years or so, when a person sows discord, when they sow anger, when they sow suspicion, and distress, you get division. Factions. Parting spirits. Malice and hatred. And a lot of times it just starts with the mouth. Satan is an expert at it. He is called the accuser of the brethren. But God will prevail. He will reap His harvest, thankfully. Beautiful.

I think there is a Protestant hymn about that. I like it. Psalm 126:4-6. It will be a beautiful time when God harvests. Bring back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping bearing seed for sowing shall doubtless come again with rejoicing. Bringing His sheaves with him. Beautiful harvest analogy. Reaping spiritual crop.

John 4:35-38. Let's read that also. Do you not say there is still four months and then comes the harvest. Behold I say unto you, lift up your eyes, look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest. Just like the canola fields are turning beautifully yellow on the prairies now. Beautiful. And the wheat is starting to form their head. And the barley. Christ said that back then, would He not say it emphatically today? John 4:36 And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit. Notice, for eternal life. That both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, for one sows, another reaps. I sent you to reap for that which you have not labored. Others have labored and you have entered in to their labors. When I was called into the church, a lot of others were laboring that I was not aware of, and they were paying for radio. They were paying for literature, booklets. And I'm glad somebody was. He could have changed my life.

This is the primary scripture I'm working toward. Galatians 6:6-7. Basically the title of the sermon here in verse 7. Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Don't be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. That's a living law in life. And he goes on: For he who sows to his flesh, will of the flesh reap corruption. But, just like the principle of seek ye first the Kingdom of God, God knows our fleshly needs, but he who sows to the spirit, will of the spirit reap everlasting life. And that's what we need to be doing, continue to do. However there's a factor; I've run into of this employee. Carmelo and I were getting some stuff at the grocery store. I'm so tired. I'm so glad it's Friday, it's been a long week. And God says in Galatians 6:9, and let us not grow weary while doing good. For in due season we shall reap if we don't lose heart. Sometimes it takes quite awhile from the time you plant until the time you reap. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. The nations of Israel have been God since the beginning. Yet, you can outsmart sin, sometimes there is a time delay between the sowing and the reaping. Good deeds are not always realized immediately. The crop we reap is determined by the seed we sow. Plowing occurs preparatory to the sowing. The ground we prepare also determines what crop you are able to reap. You have a different type of ground to grow rice and to grow vegetables, right? My wife grew up on a farm. She loves gardening. She loves planting. She's got a green thumb. I just try to stay away because I pull the wrong stuff out all the time. But I realize not everybody is good at horticulture. Some people are better at it than others. Sometimes I think in the church, sometimes we feel I know as much as everybody, and some people know a bit more about certain things.

This is kind of a weekend for young people this afternoon especially. And it's so important to sow good seeds in our youth. Even from my youth, O God. Remember? Book of Proverbs. Designed for young people. Wonderful words of wisdom.

William Ralston, a University of Maryland professor of public policy, I think he even worked with Bill Clinton for awhile during the Clinton administration, he found that following these five steps gives a young person almost a 90% chance of avoiding long-term poverty. If you sow these things early in life, 90% chance that you're not going to be really poor all your life.

Number one:  Finish high school.

Number two:   Take a job. If you're not continuing your education beyond that, get a job. Any kind of a job. Just get in the workforce, because you get experience.

Number three:  Don't have a baby until you get married. Single mothers struggle financially.

Number four:  Marry wisely. The best premarital advice I can give somebody is to marry the right person. It makes life a lot easier. Marry the right person. Don't marry a sloth, okay? Marry someone who is stable. Someone who is kind. Someone who is a hard worker.

And Number five: he says stay out of trouble. You don't want to spend your life in jail. Stay out of trouble.

Five simple steps. Young people, sow those seeds.

I've got two more scriptures. Ecclesiastes 11:1. So this principle is throughout the spectrum of the Holy Scriptures. Different ones are written about it. Solomon did. He said: Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. It comes back. Feed the fish, they'll get big, you can eat them. If you had a fish farm.

Here are some things; you know the list is endless; of things to sow in our lives. This is a beautiful time of the year, I really enjoy the quiet serenity here. The openness, the plants out there, the trees. Beautiful time of the year. It's a time for growth. And it's a time for horticulture.

So let's go to 2 Peter 1:5-8. Some things to be sowing. But also for this very reason giving all diligence add to your faith; virtue. This is sowing spiritually. And to virtue; knowledge. And to knowledge; self-control. And to self-control; perseverance. And to perseverance; Godliness. And to Godliness; brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness; love. It's beautiful, the summary of it, it's saying more if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in all ways of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Guaranteed to produce good fruit.

Another story: World War 2 produced a lot of heroes. One such hero was Lt. Commander Butch O'Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the south Pacific. One day, his entire squadron was out on a mission. After he was airborne he looked at his fuel gauge and he realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to the ship, the aircraft carrier. His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly he dropped out of formation, headed back to the fleet. As he was returning the mother ship he saw something that made his blood turn cold. Coming at him a squadron of Japanese aircraft, Japanese Zeroes speeding on their way to the American Fleet. The American fighters had gone out on a sortie; the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach the squadron to bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of approaching danger because there was certain radio issues. There was only one thing for him to do. He had to divert the Japanese fighters. So laying aside all thought of personal safety he dove into the formation of Japanese aircraft, the wing mounted 50 caliber blazed as he charged in attacking one surprised aircraft after another. Butch dove in and out of the now broken formation, fired at as many planes as he possibly could, until he used up all of his ammunition. Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or a tail in the hopes of damaging as many aircraft as possible making them crash. Finally, you know how sometimes you get a bunch of mosquitoes and you get out of there. Finally the Japanese were exasperated and they took off in another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. He landed. Upon arrival he reported and related the event and what happened. The film from the gun camera mounted on the plane told the tale. They watched the film. It showed the extent of his daring attempt to protect the fleet. In fact, he had destroyed five enemy aircraft. This took place on February 20, 1942. And for that action, Butch became the Navy's first ace of World War 2. And the first Naval aviator to win the medal of honor. Unfortunately a year later he was killed in aerial combat when he was 29 years of age. His hometown would not allow the memory of this World War 2 hero to fade. To honor him, they changed the name of the airport from Orchard Depot to O'Hare International in 1949 in Chicago. Next time you find yourself at O'Hare Airport International, you might want to stop; the display they have there, a beautiful display; and it's located between terminal one and terminal two, in a little alcove there that gives you a little bit of history and a sculpture.

What do these two stories have to do with each other? Butch O'Hare was Easy Eddie's son. He was Easy Eddie's son. Easy Eddie reaped what he sowed. Shot down by the mob. But also Easy Eddie planted some seeds of redemption. Some say that Butch O'Hare was accepted into Naval Force Academy because of what his father had done to bring down Al Capone. Possibly. In the long run, what we sow is what we reap. We need to live our lives day-by-day knowing that we have the results in our lives based upon a seed that we planted. God says sow to the spirit. He encourages us to bear good fruit. And He will be so pleased to harvest the first fruits and in the latter harvest which we can help Him with.