The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. 3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear. . . 18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” (NASB)
Life, that is human existence and our individual lives are filled with variables. One day a person is healthy and all is well. The next day, something happened and now life is not the same. Without warning life can become unstable, harder, inconsistent, and uncertain. A job is lost. A revelation that destroys a marriage. A diagnosis. A family member is injured to such a degree that life will never be the same. The death of a loved one.
Clinicians in the counseling industry have a diagnosis for clients and patents struggling in the midst of a life crisis. It’s called an “Adjustment Disorder.” People with adjustment disorder are not mentally ill, they are just trying to come to grips with life in light of some hard reality.
For the Christian a deep rooted, healthy, and right thinking faith, trust in Jesus and His Word not only results in the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation for the Christian, but it should also produce the kind of understanding and comfort that anchors the person in the knowledge that Christ redeems all, even the worst possible circumstances. But tragically, this is not the kind of faith of the church in the West has instilling in our congregants, children, and grandchildren over the past 50 years. Today religious leaders discovered there is more money and fun in catering to a shallow faith.
Today’s Gospel lesson is commonly called “The Parable of the Sower.” This is one of those few parables wherein Jesus also provides an explanation of its meaning. The parable teaches us several lessons, some more important than others, but all aspects of this parable ought to help shape the preaching and teaching of the church and you understanding of the Christian Faith and your place in it.
The “facts” in today’s Gospel are simple enough. Picture a first century farmer walking in his field with a bag of seeds over his shoulder. As he walked, he grabs a handful of seeds and tosses it to the ground in a rhythmical motion insure that the ground is covered evenly. The scene would have been as common to the people who first heard Jesus speak this parable as it is seeing farm equipment at work during the spring and fall of each year for us.
But Jesus’s parable is different than what would be expected by right thinking people. Jesus’s farmer is wasteful. He seems careless and sloppy in how he goes about spreading the seed. Jesus’s farmer is throwing the seed everywhere, without regard to the condition of the soil. He seems to trust the seed to do what the seed is suppose to do regardless of where it ends up. “And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
In addition to throwing seeds on good well prepared soil, Jesus’s farmer throws seed on the road that runs along the side of his field. He throws seed on the rocks next to his field. He throws seed on unprepared soil that is still covered by thorns. Jesus’s farmer doesn’t seem to have very accurate aim or he just doesn’t care where his seed lands.
As with most of Jesus’s parables, most people, Christians included don’t know how to interpret the parables. They think they do, but most don’t. They think that Jesus is teaching some kind of moral lesson about being good, or having a good nature, or doing something good that will please God.
But the parable is intended to be a description of what the church and Christians are suppose to do with God’s Word, His Gospel, and what happens when the church and individuals Christians speak God’s Word to people inside and outside of the visible church.
The first thing to note is that the sower, the preacher and individual Christians are to be “reckless” in their preaching and speaking of the Gospel. Regardless of what the soils looks like, the Sower sends His Word out. He tosses it in every direction.
The seed is Word of the God – the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation given in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus uses the different and common types of soil as a way to illustrate what happens once His Word, Seed, is sent into the world.
Never be confused folks about the purpose of all the activity going on here at Immanuel. The fairs, the event at the Festival of Lights parade, the attempts at community service and outreach, the play and the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, and all the rest is to be about creating and using opportunities to be reckless with Christ’s Seed, His Word. If some of those events raise some much needed money, good as long as we all keep clear in our minds that whatever we are doing and whatever our individual part in it is for the sake of the church, our neighbors, and for the purpose of throwing the Gospel here and there. If you’re more worried about what you’re getting out of it, than whether or not people have come into contact with the Gospel and this congregation, then repent of such a disposition.
So Jesus’s “sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on the rocky places, . . . and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.”
Both Jesus’s parable and the explanation of it began with those who simply ignore and reject the Word–the seed that fell on the road. 19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.”
These are people Jesus says, don’t even understand it. The Gospel has been spoken to them, yet nothing happens, birds, that is the evil one takes it away and these people become even more blind to that which God has said and done for them. This happened a lot when Jesus preached.
The next bit is a bit more hopeful, at least it starts that way, before it ends badly. 20 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.”
In this second patch of ground, the seed produces faith but it is not a deep faith. The roots remain in shallow ground with a shallow understanding. Such a person starts off going to church, might even become rather active but then, life happens. Perhaps, a marriage falls apart, or the person has fallen into some sin and is embarrassed about it, or some hardship arises and soon the person falls away.
This too happened when Jesus preached. Many of His followers went away when Jesus began talking about His future suffering, death, and resurrection or when He reached about people eating His flesh and drinking His blood in John 6.
This is where the church America, across all denominational lines and synods, have fallen into great sin. We have catered to this kind of soil and faith. Many church goers labor under a complete misunderstanding of what it means to be Christian and what it means to worship and service God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
These people do not have a deep rooted and abiding understanding of the Christian Faith because church practitioners don’t preach and teach God’s Word rightly or thoroughly. They don’t teach that God creates and sustains faith through the Word and sacrament ministry of the church and refines that faith in the fire of hardship and struggle. Too many congregations, synods, and church bodies have focused on fun and entertainment at the expenses of the truth of the Word of God and to the harm of many a souls. Thus, when life does becomes something different than the success and glory people fall away.
The third type of ground ends in a similar tragedy as the rocky soil. 22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
Once again, the seed sprouts and faith is born. But this time the cares of this world are more important than the Word of God. The Christians get too busy doing too many things out there in the world to come to church to hear the Word and receive the remission of their sins. Church becomes too inconvenient. Other things become more and more important and being in the present of God in Christ in the church becomes less and less important. Soon years and decades pass and the next time the pastor is contact with the family is when he is asked to do the funeral of one who forsook the church.
Just as despair is about to set, 0 for 3, Jesus’s preaches, 23 “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” Again notice the other three do not understand. They do not dwell on the mysteries of the Faith. But in this fourth group, the minority, their roots of understanding and faith run deep. In the faithful few the Seed thrives and produces a great harvest.
All this began because of a reckless Seed Sower threw His Seed everywhere. He spread His Word over all the earth to all peoples in all times and in all places. He withholds His Word from no one. He does not aim it at any one people, or any one place, or any one time. All deepens on the Word and it being sown everywhere and at every opportunity.
Now all parables have their limits. In parables Jesus uses earthly imagines to describe heavenly mysteries, but He does not intend for us to take every natural law and principle that applies to the temporal world and the topic at hand and push it into every aspect of the parable. Normal seeds cannot and do not change the soil. But the Seed of God’s Word, changes things. It changes the soil. It breaks up the rock and kills the thorns and soften the hard road. The Seed creates a new nature, a new heart, and a new mind. It makes children and heirs where there were none before. It makes slaves to sin free. Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
God does not sow His Word once, then just walks away. He is present wherever two or three are gathered in His name. He sows His Word generously season after season. He sows His seed with a loving, reckless generosity and tends to His field and flock, providing everything we need so that when life happens, the thorns come up, the sun beats down, the birds circle above, God’s Word and our faith in it runs deep. This is the kind of faith the true church of Jesus Christ plants, waters, feeds, and treasures so that “if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
AMEN
May the Peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
used from Cat.