Introduction:
Everyone likes to hear a great story. Jesus Christ was one of the best story tellers the world has ever known. Roughly a third of Jesus’ words came in the form of parables. A parable is a short statement or story designed to illustrate or teach some specific truth, spiritual principle or moral lesson; it conveys a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison or analogy. They are the authentic red-letter words of Jesus and are considered by scholars as direct sayings ascribed to the historical Jesus. It has been said that parables are earthly stories with heavenly messages.
It is important to study how a parable is crafted, however, if we seek to study ever word exhaustively we could end up missing the main lesson of Jesus’ story. We must remember he is telling a story to make a point. His story telling comes across as thoughtful and as a work of art to those who follow his new teachings. To others, his parables come as a slap across the face, causing them to question what he is saying. His parables often have a surprising twist that catches the reader's attention. Jesus was transitioning the people of God from one Covenant to another. He used parables and their hidden messages to draw listeners into new ways of thinking and feeling and acting. Clearly stated, parables were one of the main ways Jesus introduced the New Testament.
Mark 4:1-20 (READ)
One of the questions I hear from time to time is this, “Why did Jesus teach in parables?” Story telling was one of the main ways’ truths were passed onto from generation to the next in Jesus’ day. However, Jesus took this storytelling to a new level using parables. The question is this, if parables have a hidden meaning why would Jesus let people wonder about the story and not simply tell them the truth. The answer to this question is found in the Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13:3-9, Mark 4:2-9 and Luke 8:4-8. When Jesus was alone with the Twelve disciples and other he told them, “the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” (Mark 4:10-12). We might think that Jesus is uncaring or even unkind as we read these verses. However, Jesus was speaking in parables because he knew that many who would hear him speak were so lost in sin that they would not respond well, and deliberately reject his teaching. Therefore Jesus spoke in Parables to weed out those who were intentionally unrepentant. Hence, Jesus shared the Parable of the Sower.
The Parable of the Sower concerns a sower who scatters seed, which falls on four different types of ground. This parable is very well known, and Jesus even provides an explanation of it. The parable is simple: the sower scatters his seed generously and it ends up on four different types of ground. Some lands on the side of the road, some on rocks, others in thorny soil, and some in good soil. The first three groups of seed don’t survive, but the seed planted in the good soil produces a bountiful crop. When we listen to the parable most people immediately say, “I want to be the good soil.” Or others may say, “I know some people who are like the rocky soil,” or “I’m glad I’m not shallow and hard.” Maybe we say, “Let’s pray for those who are stuck in the thorny soil.” Jesus tells us that the farmer scattered seed which represents the Word of God, on all types of ground. He didn’t say that the farmer was carefully planting the seeds in designated ‘good soil’ or in nice, neat rows. The story tells us that sower was scattering the seed everywhere. This might seem wasteful; however, this method of planting wasn’t so strange back in Biblical times. First the farmer was to first scatter the seed and then plow it into rows in the soil.
We know from the Scriptures that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. In light of this I see three meanings to this parable.
· To show that Christ came to share the Word of God with everyone. Jesus scatters his Word everywhere to everyone. This should tell us that God is not stingy, but abundant. He is not picky or choosey only wanting only those good enough to understand his message. The Word of Grace is sown into everyone who is willing to accept his word.
· To show us how the different soils in our life can help us or stop us from receiving the Word of God. There are all kinds of things that can keep us from producing in life. We can be too shallow or superficial. We can be pretenders who mimic the Word of God but don’t survive when persecution comes. We can let fear paralyze us. We can let riches rob us of true life. Or we can be good soil which produces fruitfulness, 30, 60, 100 - fold. We see this principle in John 15 – fruit, more fruit, much fruit… Let’s become fruitful and so prove to be God’s disciples.
· To inspire us to share the Word of God with others. Jesus spirituality is meant to be an ongoing conversation in our lives. He is God with Us, moment by moment and we have the opportunity to scatter the seed in our everyday chatting with people.
‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear,’ was Jesus challenging the listeners to think about the meaning of the parable. That’s the message for us too. Think about these different types of soil not only looking at the lives of other people, but with respect to yourself as well. This is an opportunity to search our own hearts and to remove anything that may hinder us from not having good soil in our hearts. So, what is the main point of the Parable of the Sower? The condition of your heart determines how you receive God’s Word. Salvation does involve a joyful hearing of the gospel, but also calls the believer to grow onto maturity producing a good crop.
In Conclusion
The Parable of the Sower or of the Soils is an important reminder to us today regarding the soil of our hearts. We live in a society where the pointing of the finger at the misdeeds of others is prevalent. Cancel culture is parading around. Political correctness is destabilising society. Jesus’ parable cuts through to the heart of the matter so to speak. It challenges us to look first at our own hearts, to take the log out of our own eye and to press into the Word of God.
Jesus even states that “Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” We have to be careful. We must intentionally evaluate the soil of our hearts. We must take God’s Word seriously, if we want to produce a crop, 30, 60 or even 100 times what was sown.
It may be tempting to say, “Oh, I am glad I am not like so and so who has rocky soil.” Or to smugly rejoice that we that we do not have thorns in our own circumstances. However, all to often we can find ourselves very subtly falling into a non fertile soil. What happens to the seed of God’s Word when it falls on soil that is resentful, bitter, angry, arrogant, disruptive? How about soil that has become passive, yawning, not caring…
One of the challenges of our day is the prevalence of temptations due to the bombardment from the media. They is so much coming at the believers today that is anti-Christ in its message. We have to be intentional not superficial in our faith, otherwise we can be easily led into the cares of the world. In other words, when things are going well our faith in God and his word everything is fine; Sunday faith, Bible study faith, Prayer faith, Worship faith. But when things do not go well our faith is ruined by the thorns and we don’t grow in maturity.
What’s one of the major problems we are facing today? Covid – 19. We are all experiencing a variety of feelings, feelings of hopelessness, feeling sad or anxious, restlessness, being irritable. We must not let these things steal from us the seeds of God’s Word. We are good soil. We are aware of keeping our soil clear of rocks, thorns and weeds. There are times in our lives when we feel like things are going well. Use those times to press into God’s Word. Firmly plant the Word of God in the good soil. Take care of the Word. Water the Word with the Spirit of God. Weed the soil of your heart. That’s when we begin to reap 30, 60 and 100 – fold. And when we begin to reap fruitfulness, scatter the seed everywhere and to everyone at all times…
In Application
Let’s pause for a moment and connect with the Sower and his Word. I want us to think of a Scripture that we can think about and meditate on and even memorize for this coming week. Next Sunday is May 30th, and on our church calendar is Mission’s Sunday, Testimony Sunday. Bring your Scripture and share what you learned as God’s Word went into the good soil of our hearts… Maybe God wants to soften the soil of your heart. Maybe God wants to remove some thorns or thistles. Let’s press into God and not tune him out. We know the Word of God is powerful. So, next Sunday we can share with each other our testimonies out of good soil.
Secondly, we want to plant a garden as a church family. We have several planters here at the church and we want you to bring a flower or plant for your family and we will plant and water and care for the garden at Courts of Praise. Next Sunday there will be more instructions. We are waiting to hear from the Government with regards to opening up more at the tail end of Covid – 19. We are hoping in June to be able to meet together again and plant this garden and celebrate coming together again.
Let’s pray…