Title: Listen!
Text: Matthew 13:1-9 and 18-23
Thesis: The Word of God has maximum potential when heard and applied by receptive people.
Introduction
Last week I read a blurb about a research group that was studying something they called “inattentional blindness.” They say inattentional blindness occurs when “people fail to become aware of objects unrelated to their current task.” In other words, when we are busy doing one thing we will likely not see or notice what is going on around us.
The researchers clipped money on a tree branch on a walking trail. The branch was bent about head height so no one would miss it… and then they observed the reaction of the passersby.
Here is what happened. 396 people were observed walking down the path. Most people failed to see the money but 94% of those who were using their cell phones were so distracted they did not see the money. Some of those did not even see the branch until it whopped them in the face.
The researchers concluded that “becoming aware of an object generally requires focused attention.” I think that means you need to be looking for something in order to see it…
When people look at a tree they expect to see leaves so they see leaves… not money. So when they are not intentional or are inattentional they cannot see the money for the leaves. If they had been told there was money hanging on a tree branch when they began their walk down the path, they would have been looking for the money. But because they were not looking for money they did not see money. Inattentional blindness.
You generally see what we are focused on seeing or expecting to see but inattentional blindness is exacerbated when we our attention is focused on something totally unrelated to what we are doing.
Earlier this week I looked across Agate Lake… the same lake I looked across last year. The same stand of dead trees I saw last year stood in a gap between the greenery along the opposite shoreline. But this time, in the morning sunlight I could see what looked to be an old white house with four windows… in the five years we have gathered there in that same spot no one had noticed the house hidden behind the stand of dead trees. Suddenly we could all see it because now we were looking for it. Otherwise we had been inattentionally blind to it.
I wonder if there is also such a thing as inattentional deafness in which we do not hear because we are not listening.
Jesus’ teaching begins with a parable that places the emphasis on the “sower” of the seed.
I. The Parable of the Sower (The Seed is the Word of God)
“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across this field…” Matthew 13:3-9
The setting for our text today is lakeside where Jesus had gotten into a boat from which he began to speak to the crowd that had gathered on the shore. The bible says Jesus told them many stories in the form of parables.
I like how the NLT begins with the attention getting “Listen!” Jesus having gotten their attention then asks them to “look” or “imagine” a farmer going out to sow some seeds. It was possibly a scene that literally played out within their view… perhaps they could just look up or over and see a farmer sowing seed. Even if they could not see the sower sowing it was a scene they readily could imagine in their minds because it was familiar.
When I was a kid we had spreaders for scattering or broadcasting seed like oats. We also had grain drills for planting crops like alfalfa or wheat that planted the seeds close together and in narrow rows. We also had planters for planting row-crops like corn and beans. So I get it. We did not walk back and forth across a field broadcasting seed by hand but I get it.
Times have changed. Now it is all no-till and all the planters are no-till planters. The soil is never disturbed and the moisture is trapped beneath the residual remains of the previous crop. Tractors are monstrous and planters extend 40 – 50 feet… everything is computerized. The tractor operates by GPS and the cab is a veritable computer bank… monitoring every detail of the planter. The tractor sets out on a perfectly straight GPS controlled line across the field. If the tractor comes to a low spot or a swale the farmer steers the machine around it and then the GPS takes over and puts the tractor back on course. When the farmer makes the turn at the end of the field the GPS picks up again and the tractor and planter travel in a line perfectly parallel to the previous route. When the tractor comes to that swale and the planter overlaps an area that was previously planted, the planter senses there is already seed in the soil and stops planting until beyond that spot… Not a single seed is wasted on unproductive soil or by over sowing.
Unlike modern day farmers, the farmer in the parable was rather indiscriminate in his planting.
A. The sower sowed on paths
“Some seed fell on a footpath and birds came and ate the seed.” Matthew 13:4
B. The sower sowed on thin-soiled, rocky places
“Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock… the seeds sprouted quickly but wilted under the hot sun since they didn’t have deep roots.” Matthew 13:5-6
C. The sower sowed among thorns
“Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants.” Matthew 13:7
D. The sower sowed on good soil
“Still other seeds fell on fertile soil and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Matthew 13:8
In this we see the largess of God’s grace. The image we have of the farmer in our story is a guy who is just throwing seeds everywhere… all willy-nilly. It is as if Jesus wants us to understand that God anticipates that the seed will touch someone, somewhere who will receive and respond to the Word of God.
This piece of the parable speaks to the grace of God. Jesus is intent on getting the Word out. The sower scattered the seed indiscriminately. The sower used no discernment in his seed scattering. Jesus is intent on getting the Word out to as many people as possible in anticipation that someone, somewhere will receive and respond to the Word of God.
So it is that Jesus compels his audience to receive and respond to his Word:“Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Matthew 13:9
When we listen we are giving hearing with thoughtful attention. When we really listen we are giving consideration to what we are hearing. In James we are reminded that hearing is more than just hearing… hearing translates into doing or acting on what we have heard.
One of the first bible study methods I learned was to ask: What is God’s Word saying? What is God’s Word saying to me? What action do I need to take in response to God’s Word? Jesus is asking his audience to hear and understand and then act upon what they sense they should do.
Now Jesus reframes his teaching to place his emphasis on the soils where the seed was sown.
II. The Parable of the Soils (The Soil is the Human Heart/People)
“Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds:” Matthew 13:18-23
It seems that Jesus is making a determined effort to move from the big picture of a farmer scattering the seed anywhere and everywhere to narrow the focus on the places or types of soil being seeded.
As we begin to get a sense of what Jesus intends for us to hear… we ask two questions:
1. Is the focus on others? Is this simply a series of soil studies so that we may be aware that there are a lot of people out there who may or may not for a variety of reasons, accept or reject the Word of God. In other words it is a seminar on various kinds of receptivity.
2. Is the focus on each hearer? Is this a series of soil studies to make each hearer think about his or her own receptivity to the Word of God?
In the second piece of this parable Jesus makes sense of the parable.
A. Hard-hearted people
“The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts.” Matthew 13:19
These are people who will not listen! These people have shut their minds to God’s Word to them and God’s will for them.
The second kind of people is the shallow-hearted people.
B. Shallow-hearted people
“The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.” Matthew 13:20-21
These are people who are spiritually superficial! Shallow or superficial people like what they hear and they buy in. They are like those of us who hear the physical fitness ads and see the physically fit bodies and join a gym without realizing you have to spend a lot of time and effort to become truly physically fit. Being a follower of Christ is to buy into what following Christ will mean in terms of ongoing commitment. Their initial response to God’s Word and inviting Christ into their lives was likely an emotional one but lacking the will to truly walk with Jesus through life.
I frequently see a man who attended our church for a time. But as quickly as he blazed up he burned out and returned to his old way of life… superficial Christians have no depth because they do not attend worship, they do not practice daily bible reading and prayer, they do not get involved in a life group, and they do not get involved in the life and ministry of a church.
The third kind of people are the thorny-hearted people.
C. Thorny-hearted people
“The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth so no fruit is produced.” Matthew 13:22
These are people who are too preoccupied! The pre-occupied people not only neglect the spiritual disciplines outlined in the previous point… they are so engaged in or involved with or preoccupied by things that literally detract them from living the life of a faithful follower of Christ.
I sometimes think about the people I know, people who are really nice people. Good people who profess to be Christians but I only see them on Christmas and Easter. I only hear from them when they are in a jam. I only hear from them when there is a death or a wedding or a baptism or a confirmation. These folks are so preoccupied with life and work and recreational pursuits and sports and leisure and whatever that Jesus is pretty much choked out and of little influence in their lives.
When we look at this from the “others” perspective, this is the sobering truth: Most people reject the Word of God!
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the seed. The same seed was sown in every heart… the problem is not the seed, it is the condition of the human heart.
The fourth kind of people is those who are the good soil people… the receptive-hearted people.
D. Receptive-hearted people
“The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.” Matthew 13:23
Being a person who desires to be a good-soil person does not mean you have to be or will ever be Super-Christian.
I don’t know if you have noticed but not everyone is a homerun hitter on the Colorado Rockies team… or any team for that matter. Some batters are more productive than others. It does not mean that anyone on the team is slacking… it just means some are better batters. When the parable speaks of seed yielding 30, 60 or 100 fold it means there is room in the Kingdom of God for us ordinary folks and for extraordinary folks as well.
Years ago a very unhappy lady asked me to visit her. I did. What I thought would be a nice pastoral call turned into a good skewering on her part. The gist of her complaint was that I needed to watch Billy Graham on TV and learn to preach like Billy Graham. I needed to watch Jimmy Swaggart and practice preaching like Jimmy Swaggart. Today she would likely put me onto Joel Osteen… Believe me, I am not above honing my craft, so to speak. But the fact of the matter is simply this. Some mechanics are better than other mechanics. Some dentists are better than other dentist. Some chefs are better than other chefs. Some builders are better than other builders. Some fishermen are better fishermen than other fishermen… some of us are ordinary and hard working people who love God… we hear the Word of God and we by the grace of God do our best to live it.
No… we will not likely become theologians like Norm T. Wright. No… we will not likely become a Mother Teresa and found Missionaries of Charity in a place like Calcutta. No… we will not likely have a life like Billy Graham, who even in his old age, has recently published yet another book, “The Heaven Answer Book.” No… we will not likely do lots of dazzling, news making things but we will likely teach our children to love and serve God and sing our praises to God and give our tithes and offerings to the glory of God and the good of his work here and around the world and plant gardens to grow food for the hungry and have a daily walk with Jesus that involves bible reading, prayer and spiritual reading and enjoy the spiritual life and support of a life group and love God and others as we love ourselves.
The whole key here is to be receptive to what God is saying to us and act upon it.
Conclusion
In his book, How Is Your Soil, Douglas Vincent wrote of watching a Krispy Kreme Donut machine, or as he liked to call it the “Dream Machine.” He noticed something that made him very upset. At the end of the conveyer they were throwing away a bunch of the donuts.
This is how the donut machine works. First there is the dough plopper that makes the doughnut shape. But some of the donuts come out misshapen, and those are then destined to be thrown away.
Next comes the fryer and as they go through the fryer they cook on one side, and then halfway through they are flipped over. Unfortunately some of the half-cooked delicious pieces of dough did not flip over, and they were also headed for the trash.
The last step in the process is the glaze. It is just this beautiful river of glaze that pours over the donuts. But sometimes a donut is too far to the outside, and at other times a dry piece of glaze stops the flow in a certain area. And those donuts that have made it this far, but don't get properly glazed, are banished from the serving line too.
Thankfully there are those that make it through this refining process and are served as the premium, perfect, and always delicious Krispy Kreme donuts. (Douglas Vincent in "How is Your Soil" on www.sermoncentral.com.)
The batter has the potential to become a nicely plopped, perfectly formed, deep fried and flipped, sugary glazed and delicious tasting donut. And the seed, the Word of God, has the potential of resulting in a fruitfully lived Christian life when planted in the receptive and responsive soil of the human heart and mind.
Just as we can be inattentional in our seeing, we can be inattentional in our hearing. So the key element in a seeds life is the condition of the soil in which it is planted. The good soil is the person who listens, understands and who obeys God’s Word.
