This sermon was delivered to St Oswald’s in Maybole,
Ayrshire, Scotland on the 13th July 2014
(a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Summary: In the parable the seed is sown everywhere without discrimination, representing responses from all people; but in the end, it is only strength through humility that prevails.
Genesis 25:19-34 Psalm 119:105-112 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)
Introduction:
Today’s Gospel reading is very familiar to all, and so it is difficult to put a different slant on it, and after much deliberation, I gave up and decided to face it head on, so picture the scene in your mind where Jesus is teaching from a boat on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, and picture a breeze blowing as he nods in the direction of a farmer in the distance sowing seeds in his field.
We can also picture also the crowd in the bright sunshine as they listened to Jesus, while watching this sower sow his seeds from a bag at his side; scattering them onto all sorts of ground; some suitable, and some not.
Now the fields in biblical times were not like our fields today which have been prepared by modern machinery … and crops planted all neatly in a row; because in those days, the farmer would cast the seed all over the ground, and then … plough it under. The fields also in those days were different; … instead of a whole field as we know today, the fields were really long strips of ground, with paths between them so that people could walk through them in their daily business, without disturbing the crop.
This then allowed free travel; and so the Romans without regard to the farmers, built their roads right through their fields which made the soil rock hard. … Sometimes the land next to the field was allowed to grow fallow, (that is, it was resting for a year), so that thorns and weeds were encouraged to grow free; … and so with the ancient process of scattering seeds onto all these different types of soil, Jesus used this analogy as the basis of this parable.
There were other symbolisms in there as well: the farmer or sower for instance is “the Son of Man”, that is Jesus himself; and the seed of course are the Word of God. The various soils conditions of course represented the people’s diverse responses to his Word.
And so there are many things to be discussed in this wonderful parable that were worth sharing, so I will limit them to a few, but the first is this: The seed is allowed to fall onto every type of soil without discrimination: the packed earth, the soil full of rocks, the soil full of thorns and weeds and the good soil, from which we can conclude that one of the things that Jesus is saying is that God spreads his word to everyone, indiscriminately; even though there is little chance of the seed germinating and taking root.
He does this regardless; he gives an opportunity for everyone to hear his word, and respond. Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities … have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse”.
Every person alive is given an opportunity to respond to God in some way or other and 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise … He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.
And we, who have the privilege of worshiping here, at this time of the world’s history, certainly have an opportunity and a responsibility.
The apostle Peter too had a revelation from God about this very issue when God showed him that he cares about everyone, no matter what their race, nationality, economic or spiritual condition: Acts 10:34 Peter said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right” The King James Version simply says, “God is no respecter of persons.” And that is why Jesus said in Mark 16:15 “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”.
This means that the worst sinner on earth will be given an opportunity to respond to God, even when God knows they will not, the fault therefore not being on God, because he has tried, but on the listener, who refuses to respond. I find this quite disturbing … it is just like that seed, because if it is not going to grow, then it will die without purpose.
And this takes us to our second point where we need to look at the different soils to see what they represent; and of course we all know that this represents four different types of people, or more accurately, four completely different responses to the word of the Lord.
The first type of soil is of course the path, as we have heard; it could equally well be a main road; in either case, it is impossible for the seed to take root. It just cannot penetrate the ground which is hard and dry, and it quickly dies.
This type of soil represents the cynic, the rebel, the proud and arrogant. They have absolutely no use for the Christian life, and even though they may be familiar with it, they will never every admit their sin to anyone, particularly God as they see this as being a threat to themselves. They have absolutely no intension of submitting anything to anybody. Sin to them is only a problem when they are caught; and they are basically the most horrid of people, totally unwilling to see anything other than themselves.
These people can be belligerent, but most likely or not, they are sly and devious, and the damage they commit is well hidden, never obvious, but everyone knows where they have been. You will never be able to tell them anything. Romans 3:18 says of them, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” and the word of God will never penetrate, just like the seed on the path.
The problem for them is not a lack of understanding, but an unwillingness to receive. Mark Twain fitted this type of attitude when he said, “It is not the parts of the Bible I do not understand that bother me, it is the parts I do understand.”
It is not that they have never heard with their ears, it is that they have never heard with their hearts. Jesus said in Mark 4:12 that they are “ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding”. The seed is good, but the ground is hard.
The second type of soil is shallow, rocky soil, just like the soil the people could see around them as they listened to Jesus. The rocks simply pushed their way through the soil to the top, so there were more rocks to be seen than soil, but every now and again, some seed would grow quickly in this thin soil, and once it grows a certain size it dies just as quick … because it was impossible to form a root system from which it could receive nourishment to develop.
Jesus here was talking about those who immediately receive the Word of God with enthusiasm, who welcome it with genuine joy, but something happens in their life; some kind or persecution or trouble, (as it always does), such as an illness or some personal crisis, and they cannot understand why God would allow something like this to happen to them, and so they become cynical, and are offended at God, and fall away in disappointment just a quickly as they received.
And by the way, in today’s society, many people are put off by people making fun of their faith and going to church, much more than you think; as it is not cool to be a Christian; and so this is typical of the seed falling on rocky ground.
When persecution comes, they run; their faith is shallow; it is all enthusiasm with no depth; they run away from the Lord, instead of running towards the Lord. They have no commitment, they do not know him, and I think we can all relate to that at some stage in our lives, just as much as we can relate with the third type of soil which is where the seed fell on soil full of the thorns and weeds.
Jesus described this soil as, “the worries (or the cares) of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things.” These too, choke the Word of the Lord, and make it unfruitful. Notices that this is good soil, seeds grow well here, but the soil is crowded with other things; things that constantly need attention, and all drawing that life force away from the word.
Our busy lives and modern living certainly do this, and it can be hard acting out the Christian life with what we have to put up with, but notice Jesus said it was “the cares of this life” which kill the Word, and from last week, this is a lack of humility; where people put themselves first, at the expense of the lord. It is their wants and desires that comes before his, and so they are choked from letting his good soil nourished them.
Remember last week I said, we have to wean our way from this type of thinking of our wants and desires; and put him first, because this kind of worldly thinking is overly tolerant of the weeds in our lives, making it impossible for the Word of the Lord to grow.
Dangerous weeds grow within if we are not careful, and choke the Word, leading to spiritual self-destruction. I am the last one to talk here, as always … but we need to get rid of all selfish thinking, and I know it can be very difficult; but the best way to start, is to sow things like humility, repentance, forgiveness, commitment, obedience and a single-hearted love for God; and as I said last week, it wont happen over night, we have to develop an attitude towards Lord, and away from ourselves. This then takes me on to the good soil, and to those who respond well and who want the Word to grow in their lives.
Good soil
Jesus said that the difference between the good soil and the others was that they “hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop … thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”
They want their lives to be fruitful for God; their hearts are not hard as they welcome his Word into their lives. They work at the soil of their hearts: they plough it, they weed it out, and through away all that is holding them back. They also fertilize it, keeping it fresh and relevant, and they are therefore productive. They produce a harvest, verse 23 “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that hears the word, and understands it; and which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty”.
It is quite amazing that this very topic is similar to my sermon last week on strength through humility, where we spoke of the blessings that we sow, being returned to us, time after time. (Maybe this sermon should have proceeded last weeks; as a fruit of humility … and where seed is thrown humbly on good soil, it produces an abundant harvest. The seed is thrown humbly, asking the blessings of our Lord, so that the harvest can multiply the original blessings.
This good soil represents the people who desire the Word of God, and who are eager to grow in him. They are receptive to his Word, and cherish it in their hearts, then they live it in their lives; being spiritually productive and more importantly, growing continually in the spiritually. Their lives in return are good, rich, and bountiful, with their roots deep in the love of God.
It wouldn’t be right to conclude this parable without pointing out one final important truth: … in spite of all the poor soil and all the trouble the seeds have growing; … in the end there was an abundant harvest. God did have his way, and Christianity spread throughout the world; so in spite of all these different types of soil, the good soil excelled, and the good news spread.
Just like when we start out in Strength through Humility, the seeds will first germinate, then they grow, small weak and un-impressively, with many obstacles in their way, but any gardener will tell your to never under-estimate a plants desire to grow, and so never under-estimate God’s desire for his word to be spread, as when it is blessed, it overcomes.
And so it will be in the end times, the final days; there will be an overwhelming gathering of the people of God from all over the world; people from every nation, of every tongue, from every race, all who will make their way to the City of God. The good seed will multiply exponentially, and cause the Word to grow. Let us pray that we are part of this great revival.
Amen
Let us pray.
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he died for us all those years ago; and so, let us be part of your great revival for the end times; … let us be the ones counted in your army, let us be the ones who you call brothers and sisters.
Father, this passage can be confusing at times, because we do not all agree, and we all respond differently to different kinds of ministry, your ministry, … and so to receive your word, for our ministry, let us be sensitive to your calling, and direct us to where you want us to go.
Then Father, let your word penetrate our hearts, let us receive with joy your ministry for us, and let us keep that vision fresh, keeping us focuses regardless of who would discourage us.
Father we understand that we must start small in order to grow strong, and we also understand that as we grow, we need to encourage others, and promote you word for the times to come.
Father, in today’s society we know that we cannot do this in our own strength, so we ask that you strengthen us to live for you, and produce your blessings, 30, 60 and even 100 fold as your word clearly says.
Father we pray also for Rodney Buchanan for his help putting this sermon together.
Father we ask in Jesus name, Amen.
