#5 Farmer, Seeds And Soil Series

This sermon was written and given by the leader of Mendingnets.org ministries on Sunday July 28, 2021 at The Center.

Let me start off by saying I’m the type of person who tells it like it is, so

parables drive me crazy!! Just speak in a straight line, Jesus. Cut to the

chase and get to the point! Ugh.

Needless to say, parables are not my favorite part of the bible. (So, this

should be an interesting teaching LOL) They make me think too hard and I

don’t want to deal with it. But what I have learned in my walk with God is:

First, the Bible is not about what I like or don’t like. Second, what makes

you “think too hard and not want to deal” is a red, hot, flaming sign that one

is to lean into the discomfort and dig a little deeper. Mathew 13 is about

a farmer sowing seed in his field. It’s a story that illustrates profound truths

about the condition of our hearts and our responsibility to share the gospel.

So, get your shovels out and let's get digging.

Why Does Jesus Talk In Parables?

I can image some of the disciples like Luke who are deep in thought but

short on words asking Jesus why He speaks in parables:

"He replied, 'Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of

heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given

more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even

what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in

parables:

"'Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand'" (Matthew 13:11–13

NIV)

Parables make the conceptual a little more

concretehttps://www.jesusfilm.org/blog-and-stories/parable-of-sower.html

Jesus’s ministry brought him to rural areas with mostly uneducated people

sharing truths about God’s kingdom. He wasn’t speaking to people who had

any interest in sitting around a coffee shop all day discussing doctoral

concepts—let alone the luxury of doing so.

By teaching with parables, Jesus was able to explain abstract ideas in a

way that people throughout Judea could relate to. Not only did this help

them make a connection between their everyday lives and spiritual truth,

but it also gave these truths sticking power. You know that they thought

about the parable of the sower during every planting season.

What does everything represent?

I sat down with a mentor to talk about the passage. I said, “I can’t relate to

this passage because once I heard the word I was full steam ahead for

Team Jesus with a double dose of the Holy Ghost!!!!

But as I began to do research on this parable and look into different

commentaries, I wasn’t cultivating seeds but eating humble pie. In Christ

Jesus making me new I forgot about my time BC. Before Christ was first in

my life. Forgot about my days wandering around the desert without fertile

land in sight.

When we're interpreting Jesus’ parables, it's easy to attach too much

meaning to every component of the story. The story itself is a metaphor, so

everything within it must be a symbol for something, right? That’s a surefire

recipe for getting off track and ending up getting off base. We want to make

sure that we’re getting Jesus’ point and not overdoing it.

Thankfully, Jesus interprets the parable of the sower for us. Some elements

He explains explicitly, and others are implied. Let's look at them:

What is the seed?

For a farmer, life is found in a little kernel of seed. Each seed contained the

raw materials for a transformational miracle. From a tiny seed, a life

sustaining plant, fruit bearing bush, or a giant tree can grow.

But as we see in this parable (and as every farmer understood), many

environmental factors determine how well a seed will thrive. If a seed is

unable to make its way into the healthy soil, it cannot flourish.

In this parable, the seed is the "message of the kingdom." And like all seed,

it cannot do its transformational work in the wrong environment. If the

gospel seed falls on the bad soil (or is snatched up before it can find

purchase), it just won’t sprout.

What is the soil?

Jesus makes it clear that the receptiveness of a human heart is

represented by the parable's various soils. The effectiveness of the

gospel's seed depends entirely on the soil where it lands, and the parable

of the sower is ultimately about how various people respond to the gospel.

1. The bird-pecked soil

When we think about planting seeds, we envision a farmer plowing up the

soil and then using a tool to insert the seed deep into the earth. While

plowing did happen in the first century, it wasn't the standard. Typically a