Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text: (Luke
8:4-15)
As for
that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an
honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Prayer: May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
The parable of the sower is one of the greatest of Jesus’
parables, and every time I preach on it, I have noticed that different people
often have a real fascination with it, and are quite struck by the power of
this parable.
In some sense, it provides an answer to that question that
many people often ask themselves: Why are some people saved and not others?
And the answer that Jesus gives indicates that the problem
is not with the seed. The problem is not the word of God. The problem is the
quality of the soil: Does the seed fall alongside a path? Does the seed fall
upon rocks? Does the seed fall among thorns? Or does the seed fall on good
soil, and grow, and yield a hundredfold?
But the only problem with diving into the parable in this
way is that the parable doesn’t actually address us at our particular situation
in life. When we read the bible, we need to take each part of it and apply it
to ourselves in such a way that we ask ourselves, “Where do I fit into this
parable?” How does this parable show me my sin? What does this parable teach me
about Jesus Christ, and what he has done for me?
So let’s listen to the parable:
Jesus says: A sower
went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was
trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the
rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some
fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell
into good soil and yielded a hundredfold.
Later Jesus explains the parable: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have
heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that
they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when
they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe
for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the
thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by
the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As
for that in good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an
honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Many people will listen to this parable and simply say to
themselves: “Obviously, the place where I fit into the parable is that I am
part of the good soil. I enjoy listening to the word of God and I’ve been
listening to the word of God for a long time.”
But the problem when think like this is that we begin to
imagine that the rest of the parable doesn’t apply to us at all. The path, the
rocks, the thorns: that’s all talking about other people.
But then people will say: “But if I am on the path, the
rock, the thorns, then I’m up the creek without the paddle.” People even may
start to think that they are predestined to hell by God, and that there’s
nothing that they can do about it. People might think, “I want to believe in
Jesus’ words, I want to be good soil, but I just can’t, no matter how hard I
try—and maybe I’m doomed, no matter what I do.”
That’s simply not the way God works. God always sows his
seed, and he always wants to call people to faith. He’s always scattering his
blessings on you, and the fact that you are here to hear the word of God is a
good thing. God is planting his seed. And the seed is the thing that grows into
the plant—it’s the word of God that has power in it for you to believe in it.
The word of God itself creates the power to believe in your heart when it enters your ears.
But right at the centre of the passage today is wonderful verse
where it says: And when his disciples
asked [Jesus] what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to
know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so
that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”
Listen to these words: To
you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. Actually,
a better translation for the word secrets
is “mysteries”: To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
When you tell someone a secret, it’s not a secret anymore.
But when you tell someone a mystery, it leads them in, and the mystery becomes
deeper.
In these parables there is a great mystery hidden. To many
people, the parable won’t make any sense. But Jesus is inviting you in through
his door to show you this great mystery of the kingdom of God.
And Jesus says: To you it has been given to know these mysteries. When we hear
the word “know”, we think it has to do with knowing some information, or
something like that. We say, “Yes, we’ve heard the mystery, and now I know it.”
But in the bible, the word “know” means not something that happens in your
head, but something which happens with the whole of your being, your body,
soul, heart, mind, spirit. It means something like “experience”. So we could
also translate what Jesus is saying like this: To you it has been given to
learn by experience the mysteries of the kingdom of the God.
In Hebrew, the word “know” is often used to talk about
sex, for example. It says in Genesis, Adam knew his wife and she conceived. So
you can see that here “knowing” has something to do with “experience”.
And so Jesus says: To
you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
But also, then Jesus says: The seed is the word of God.
Now also, in the bible, especially in Hebrew, the word for
“word” isדבר (dabhar), which can also mean an
event, and thing.
So when the shepherds hear the angels in the fields, they
say: “Let us go to Bethlehem and see the thing [or see the word, or the event] which
the angel has told us.”
A “word” in the bible isn’t simply a bit of information.
It’s something physical. It has a power in it. It doesn’t just say something,
it does something. It creates something. It brings something about. And this is
especially true when we talk about the word of God. That’s why preaching is so
important in the church, because the word of God is also an event, it’s
something that takes place and happens. As it says in Hebrews, the word of God
is living and active, sharper that any two-edged sword. Think now about how
Jesus says: The seed is the word of God. Think about how a seed is living and
active. You plant a seed in the ground and it does something. It fattens up and
bursts forth into a shoot, and it grow up into a large plant.
What a wonderful thing it is that God created life to work
like this! Jesus also tells his disciple about the tiny mustard seed that grows
into the largest bush in the garden and all the birds come and make nests in
its branches.
But now, let’s look at the different types of ground.
Firstly, Jesus says: Some
[seed] fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air
devoured it. He explains: The ones
along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away
the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
Now, does this part of the parable apply to you? God
forbid it! But notice that Jesus says: The
one along the path are those who have heard. We are all hearing the word of
God now. The ones along the path have heard the word of God just like us. But the devil comes and takes away the word
from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
We learn here just what a pain in the neck the devil
really is! And right from the time of the fall, the devil just enjoys messing
things up for people! He goes around like a roaring lion, looking for someone
to devour. But Jesus has already conquered the devil and defeated him. Jesus
and the devil are not equals. Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the
dead. The devil could never do that. And St John says: The reason why the Son
of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
And the devil doesn’t have a powerful word like this seed
which Jesus describes. All the devil can do is twist, destroy, trample
underfoot, peck and undo good work that has been already done. Martin Luther
wrote that wonderful hymn: A mighty fortress is our God, where it says: Though
devils all the word should fill, All eager to devour us, We tremble not, we
fear no ill, they shall not overpower us… and then it says: One little word can
fell him. One little mustard seed.
And the devil knows just what a powerful word this word of
God really is. And so he desires to take it away.
Do you know how precious the word of God is? The devil
knows! Does the devil know better than you? Do you seek to cherish and learn
and meditate on the Scripture? Do you go home after church and read the
readings in your bible at home? Do you read your bible at home at all? You need
good weapons to spit in the face of the devil—and if the devil attacks, it’s
not for you to fight him, but to stand your guard, and call in Jesus to do to
heavy lifting. He knows best how to ward him off. Jesus knows how to fight for
you.
And so we pray: Jesus, come and fight for us. Come and
scare off the devil and all his pesky crows. Take my heart and change it from
being the devil’s walkway and work it, and till it, and make it into good soil
so that your word can grow.
Then Jesus says: Some
fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no
moisture. He explains: The ones who
fell on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy.
But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall
away.
These people hear
the word, and receive it with joy, just like us! But many a time, the beams
of the sun really crack down on us in our life, and we really feel worn out and
under attack. We come into a time of testing. Someone close to us dies, or we
have an accident, or we experience bad health, or depression, or something like
that. We have a time of testing.
Many of us, throughout our life, have been close to giving
up on God, and have thought of tossing in Christianity. And people leave the
church for such petty reasons and with trivial excuses, like they have been
waiting for the last 20 years for their opportunity. And for many of us, it has
been by the grace of God alone that we have been carried through those dark
times and come through the other side. For many of us, God has kept us at the
foot of the cross, crying and lamenting, sighing and groaning, and writhing
under his almighty hand in all that great darkness, but then later the hope of
the resurrection has also shone through.
You see, the sun which beats down and kills those seeds on
the rock, is the same sun that is supposed to be good for the seeds. It’s that
sun that brings about photosynthesis, and brings about life and growth and
health and energy. Sometimes, God’s love shines on us almost too brightly for
us, and we feel like we’re being cooked. Don’t despair in these times. Psalm 57
says: In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge till the storms of
destruction pass by.
We pray: Lord Jesus, you know my heart is hard and stony, so
smash it in pieces with your hammer, and take this heart of mine, remove the
stones and gives me a heart of flesh as you promise. Work me into good soil so
that your word may take root in me and flourish in your sunshine.
Then Jesus says: And
some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. He
explains: And as for what fell among the
thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by
the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
This part of the parable is particularly hard hitting for
us in our affluent society. But it doesn’t mention simply riches, but cares,
riches and pleasures. What are the things that you care about, that weigh you
down? What are your cares? Are you worried about what’s going to be in the bank
account tomorrow? Are you going to have everything you need? What about your
health?
Do you have riches? Do you have a look at all the nice
furniture, and TVs and stuff that your next-door neighbour has, and want it all
for yourself? Do you buy your kids every latest piece of equipment that
Microsoft and Apple produce, to make you look good, so that the floors of their
bedrooms are littered with old ipods, and ipads and mobile phones? Do you have
everything in the latest fishing gear in your shed, and a collection of all
sorts of gadgets and trinkets stashed up in your cupboards, but never have any
money to buy a good Christian book, a bible, a good devotional book to read at
night? Jesus never promises to give you today your daily gadget: He wants you
to pray for your daily bread. St Paul says: If
we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
Listen to these words and how important they are! Notice
how nobody takes them seriously anymore today. And then one day we might wake
up and our money is gone! Don’t sit around and smile at how these words affect
other people! Think about how they affect yourself!
What about pleasures? Jesus says: They are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life.
Pleasures? There’s always something more pleasurable to do that to go church on
a Sunday and read the bible at home and to pray. There’s always a TV show to
watch, a computer game to play, some party to go to, some sport or the gym, and
whatever little thing we have to entertain us. Don’t think about other people
here, though! Think about yourself: you will know soon enough what the idols of
your heart are. We know that God has given us all sorts of things to enjoy! But
we always need to examine our hearts between the words “enjoy” and the word in
our reading today “choke”. Jesus says: They
are choked.
And so we say, Jesus Christ, let your word be my greatest
care. Increase in me the desire to learn your word more, and to read it every
day. Let your word be my greatest riches and let your word and your presence be
my greatest pleasure. And pluck out from me anything that may hinder your word
bearing fruit.
And finally, Jesus says: And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. He
explains: As for that in good soil, they
are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart,
bearing fruit with patience.
Jesus says: hold it
fast. So many times, so much of the word of God falls on deaf ears week after
week, but then later in life, the light comes on, and we wake up, and realise what
a wonderful gift God’s word really is after all. God is the one who works the soil,
and sometimes he does it over years. He puts some manure down, and covers it with
some mulch. And we don’t see God doing this work.
But all he wants is a place to plant his seed. He wants to
plant his seed right into the soil and cover it up and to bring forth a great
harvest.
And what a wonderful, powerful, life-giving word it is! It’s
a word that is full of Jesus! What a wonderful gift it is! What a wonderful
kingdom it is that grows from it! What a wonderful mystery the kingdom of God
is! What wonderful gifts God gives! What a wonderful generous hard-working
Saviour Jesus Christ we have, who prays for us every day and every minute and
works the soil of our hearts!
Hold this word fast! Give it time, and you will bear fruit
with patience.
To you it has been given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Amen.
Lord God, heavenly Father, let the seed of your word be
planted deeply within us, and let it grow there and blossom and flourish and
produce a wonderful bountiful harvest. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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