Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 (NRSV) SERMON

The Parable of the Sower

¹³That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. ²Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. ⁶But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.⁹Let anyone with ears listen!’

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸ ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. ²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. ²²As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’

My text this morning is written in Matthew 13:23:

²³But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’

There are different ways of accepting the Word of God and the fate of any spoken words depends on the hearer. This is evident in the work of comedians: if the spirit of the gathering is receptive – if people want to laugh – even those jokes that in a different context will fall flat, get a laugh. I have found this to be true when watching comedians on television with others. Those of us at home have less laughs than those in the audience.

The image of stony ground represents those whose minds are shut – people like Richard Dawkins – who refuse to listen or hear anything to do with God. Prejudice can make a person deaf to everything. An unteachable spirit is a barrier that cannot easily be broken down. This sort of attitude can be the result of the following:

-          Pride that thinks that it does not need to know anything;

-          Pride that thinks it has already found all the answers. (This is often true of some in the Church who feel that they know it all and their theological approach is the only way);

-          Fear of new truth;

-          Refusal to adventure and to discover new ways of thinking;

-          An immoral character and way of life;

-          The truth often condemns the things people love, and so they reject it.

The old saying holds true “... there are none so blind as those who deliberately will not see ...” These are the people who are like stony ground.

Secondly, hearers who are like the shallow ground: These are the people who fail to think things through. As a result they are at the mercy of every new craze; they take things up quickly and then just as easily drop them. They feel the need to always be in fashion. They begin things with enthusiasm, but when things become difficult, they just abandon them. They are swept off their feet by emotional preaching or some experience, but the truth of the matter is that no person can live only on emotion. Barclay adds: “People have minds and it is a moral obligation to have an intelligent faith ... Christianity has its demands, and these demands must be faced before it can be accepted.”

Thirdly, there are the hearers who have so many interests, that the most important things get crowded out. Our modern lives are so busy, that we often do not have the time to read and to pray – in fact – a recent statistic revealed that even the majority of Christians do not find the time to study the Scriptures other than on Sundays. Meier writes: “faith is strangled by the silken chord of deceitful wealth or suffocated by a pile of anxieties over worldly success.” There is also a danger that even doing ‘good’ things can get in the way and can be done for the wrong reasons and at the wrong time. So it is not the things that are obviously wrong that are always the danger – as Barclay states: “... second best is always the worst enemy of the best ...”

Lastly, there is the reference to the good ground. Here the person’s mind is open and fresh and cleansed. There is a willingness to learn. Understanding comes when a person thinks things through and discerns what it means to them personally. But this is not all, there is the final, most important part, allowing the word to transform action, producing good fruit from the good seed. Barclay concludes: “The real hearer is the person who listens, who understands and who obeys.” Meier states that the good ground represents true disciples – those who understand and do what it commands.

This parable not only has an important impact on those who hear it; it also has an impact on those who are already members of the Church; not only did it have something to say to the crowds; it also had something to say to the disciples.

At times the disciples would have been discouraged. Humanly speaking, at the time, Jesus would have enjoyed little success: he was being excluded from the synagogues, the most important religious leaders of the day were against him, and few lives had changed significantly. It is true that many came to hear, and to receive the blessings of healing and deliverance, but most went away unchanged when they had got what they had come for. The disciples can be excused for being disappointed and discouraged from time to time. And for disciples, today, read the members of the Church. We too can easily become discouraged, because we seem to be such a small minority, and our numbers seem to be declining rather than growing.

The good news is that the harvest is sure. Our job is to be faithful and to plant the seed: some will fall by the wayside, some might appear to grow and develop only to die out, but we also know that there will be some that will deliver good, rich fruit.

But we need to pause here, and ask an important question: Are we sowing good seed?  Are we sowing seed at all? J C Ryle warns: “He must sow the pure word of God, and not the traditions of the Church, or the doctrines of men. Without this labour will be vain.”

What is our message? Are we wrestling with the Scriptures? Are we searching the Scriptures? Are we, as the author to the letters to Timothy reminds us, ‘... rightly explaining the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)’.

It is all too easy to slip into the confidence of fundamentalism, claiming that we just take everything in the Bible as literal truth. But we know that it is never as simple as that. God wants us to wrestle with it so that we can hear Him speak to us, as a Church and as individuals.

When a sower sows seeds, they do not look for quick results - it takes a long time before an acorn becomes an oak. It may take a long time before a seed of truth planted into a person’s heart, takes root and grows and flourishes into something beautiful, as one’s life is filled with God’s love. We live in an age that looks for quick results, simple answers, and easy certainties. None of these are part of a life of faith. Craig Keener comments:

... in the long run drawing crowds is less significant for the kingdom than training those who will multiply the work by training others in turn. Perhaps many of us prefer numbers in the short term over spiritual depth because we lack the faith to believe that such depth is essential; ... but 50 disciples with spiritual depth will produce greater numbers in the end than a million raised hands without commitment ever could.

There is only one evidence of hearing the Word rightly – it is bearing of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Without this, our religion is worthless, no matter how committed we might seem to be – it is like the sound of a gong or the tinkling of a symbol. Jesus has made it clear to us, as recorded in John 15:16 where he stated: “... I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the father will give you whatever you ask him in my name ...” and ending with verse 17: “I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”

J C Ryle adds: “We must never be content with barren orthodoxy, and a cold maintenance of correct theological views; we must not be satisfied with clear knowledge, warm feelings and a decent profession; we must see to it that the Gospel we profess to love produces positive ‘fruit’ in our hearts and our lives. This is real Christianity.”

The letter to James reminds us in chapter 1 and verse 22:  “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatians adds: “... for you reap whatever you sow ... So, let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap and harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for the family of faith.” (Galatians 6: 7b, 9-10)

Jesus put it this way:

²³But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’

Amen