Sermon: Parable of the Sower
Text: Luke 8:4-15, II Cor 11:19-31
Occasion: Sexagesima
Who: Mark Woolsey
When: Sunday, Jan 27, 2007
Where: Providence Reformed Episcopal Church
Luke 8:4-15, NKJV: "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold". When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?" And He said, "To you has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
’Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."
II Cor 11:19-31: For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise! For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if ones takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold - I speak foolishly - I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? - I speak as a fool - I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths, often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness - besides the other things, what comes upon me daily; my deep concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, amd I do not burn with indignation? If I must boast, I will boast in things which concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I. Intro
Today I would like to preach to you a useless sermon. Your first response is, I suppose, "At least he’s being honest this time". And I probably am, because this sermon is about dirt. Common, everyday dirt. The stuff we work so diligently to keep out of our house, our car, and our clothes. It’s so undesirable to our everyday lives that we pay to get rid of it, not to get it. Of course, indirectly it’s crucial to our lives since most of us like to eat, and we couldn’t do that without dirt and the farmers who work the fields. But who among us is a farmer? Who knows his trade, his life? And yet, by the end of this sermon, I hope to convince you that this irritating invader to our everyday lives is a life or death matter. This common commodity is central to today’s Gospel text. As we progress thru the text I would like for you to consider these questions:
1. Why is this story so important to me today?
2. Wouldn’t a sermon on how to be a better father or mother, or how to master the expert level of the video game "Guitar Hero" be more interesting and practical?
3. Why is it called the parable of the Sower and not the parable of the soils? There’s much more of the parable taken up with the soils rather than the sower.
4. The Epistle text today mentions false believers. Which of the soils in the Gospel text represents true ones?
5. What is a true believer?
6. Why is the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive necessary in understanding this parable?
7. What is the relationship of the Word to the soils?
8. Who is the Sower?
9. What soil best represents your heart?
II. Temperaments
Have any of you heard of the book by Tim LaHaye, "Transformed Temperaments"? It presents a very interesting personality study based upon the Greek divisions of man into four temperaments: Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic, and Melancholy. I recommend the book as a way to help understand how different people view things, and what makes them tick. It’s not necessarily Biblical, but I don’t think it’s unbiblical, either. It’s neutral. I don’t have time to go into them except to give the briefest description. A choleric is a leader, a decisive person. He also has the tendency to run over those who get in his way. A Biblical example would be King David. A sanguine is the friendly, fun person, but someone who can be rather shallow. Salesmen fall into this category. Abraham fits somewhat into this type. The third temperament is melancholy, the genius but moody one. King Solomon, I think, represents this. Finally there’s the phlegmatic. This includes those who are even-keeled, not emotional, very dependable, but also can be cynical and hard to motivate, letting things happen rather than taking charge. Adam, who just stood by while his wife "burned the dinner", could fit in here. Being phlegmatic myself, I would also comment that although the book doesn’t mention it, this is obviously the "good sense of humor" category, too. The reason I bring up temperaments is not because I’m going to preach on them, but because they form an interesting contrast with the soils today. The Greek view is analytical and intellectual. No one temperament is any better or worse than any other. It’s just what is. The Hebrew view is much more down-to-earth. The Hebrew view presented in today’s parable is rooted in everyday life, and presents a hierarchy of distinctions. It is very definitely the case that one of these soils is much to be preferred over any of the others. The consequences of this parable are eternal and relevant. I urge all who can hear me to pay attention because your very souls are at stake.
III. Overview
One of the main connections I want you to make is to realize that each soil represents a type of heart. The type of heart you have determines how the Word will affect you. The four soils: crusty, craggy, crowded, and cultivated represent four hearts: frigid, fickle, fruitless, and fecund.
IV. Crusty/Frigid
"some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. ... Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." Luke 8:5,12
This is the crusty soil, which represents the frigid heart. I think we can all picture this, even tho we may have never farmed or even stepped into a garden in our lives. The sower throws out his seed, and some of it lands on the path that is hard trampled down by much traffic. In our day we would say it fell on the sidewalk or the street. A cars runs over it, or something else crushes it, or perhaps a bird finds it and takes it away. Metaphorically, we all know people like this. In fact, I would maintain that this is the majority report when it comes to responses to the Word. We live in a christian country - little "c" - in which many people have heard snatches of the Word of God, and their reaction is, "Oh, that’s nice. Now, what’s for dinner?". How many of you have been to a party where someone introduced himself to you, you talked with him for five minutes, and at the end of the conversation you were saying to yourself, "Now, what was his name"? That happens to me all the time. Everybody’s heard of the Ten Commandments, yet who in this society lifts a finger to keep them? Who could even tell you what they are? They are hung on walls, but not in hearts. Of course, that’s what the world thinks of the Word. But if this is the world’s response, is ours any different? Who can tell me the topic of last week’s sermon? It was God’s word to us, and what did we do with it? Did anyone talk about it afterward in their family? How many pages of the Bible did you read last week - or were you too busy? What importance do even we attach to the Word of God?
As bad as this hardness of heart is, the second part of this section is even worse. We tend to read it and then skip over to the next section, but it is scary:
the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. v12
Everyone of you are here because you believe to some degree or another that there is a God. And you are correct. But He is first of all holy, righteous, stern, and demanding - not at all the indulgent father of today’s common portraits of Him. Consider Adam. For one little peccadillo - an indiscretion, a petty misdeed as Webster defines it - every war, every misery, every pain, every criminal act in this world was its result. THAT is how picky He is. And He requires that same exactitude in us. He’s even made provision for us when we don’t meet His standards, but the birds come and simply gobble up the seed. It does them no good because it is seed meant for the heart, not the stomach. This pecking of the seed is such a natural process that we may not even think of it - of course birds come down and eat seeds; that’s what they do. But this bird, the devil, has taken away the very thing that can save you. The word warns you that your house is on fire, and how you can escape, but you are too busy to even listen. And if you don’t listen, there’s someone around who will be sure to snatch the word away before you have a chance to come back to it and take a second glance. How many times has he snuck in unawares and stolen the word right out of your ear, your heart? We don’t even notice it, yet the consequences are enormous. One day you will die. You will face judgment. Your good deeds won’t be weighed against your bad; no, all your deeds will be weighed against the will of God. Which way will the balance tip? Listen, all who can hear my voice. This passage is relevant. It is important. It is life and death. At least put up a fight when that old raven the devil hops by and tries to peck the seed before it even has a chance to sprout.
V. Craggy/Fickle
"Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. ... But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away." vv 6,13
Here we have the craggy soil representing the fickle heart. It is somewhat ironic in that while this response is the diametric opposite of the first, the end result is the same. First we had those who couldn’t care less what was said to them while here we have the most enthusiastic response of the four. The seed in the soil, the word in the heart, sprouts quickly and grows impressively. Yet when the storm comes - as it must - there’s nothing left when it’s over. The wind blows and the plant is gone. The word is preached, it’s received with joy, but the next day that sultress Temptation, in her slinky black dress, turns our head. While we are looking at her she reaches behind us and plucks up the fledgling plant. Then, like a shade in the night, she disappears. Or perhaps instead of a sultress, we see a bouncer who intimidates us and demands that plant for our life. Perhaps we look askance at those who cannot take a little tempting? Instead of "trial" as St Luke puts it here, St Matthew, in his parallel story, uses "temptation or persecution" (Mat 13:21). Listen to John Foxe who published in 1563 a book that became known to us as, "Foxes Book of Martyrs". He relates a story that happened in the early days of the church in Antioch:
"Pitiless Galerius with his grand prefect Asclepiades invaded the city of Antioch, intending by force of arms to drive out all Christians to renounce utterly their pure religion. The Christians were at that time congregated together, to whom one Romanus hastily ran, declaring that the wolves were at hand which would devour the Christian flock; ’But fear not,’ said he, ’neither let this imminent peril disturb you, my brethren.’ Brought was it to pass, by the great grace of God working in Romanus, that old men and matrons, fathers and mothers, young men and maidens, were all one will and mind, most ready to shed their blood in defense of their Christian profession.
Word was brought unto the prefect, that the band of armed soldiers was not able to west the staff of faith out of the hand of the armed congregation, and all by reason that Romanus so mightily did encourage them, that they struck not to offer their naked throats, wishing gloriously to die for the name of their Christ. ’Seek out that rebel’, quoth the prefect, ’and bring him to me, that he may answer for the whole sect.’ Apprehended he was, and, bound as a sheep appointed to the slaughterhouse, was presented to the emperor, who, with wrathful countenance beholding him, said: ’What! are thou the author of this sedition? Art thou the cause why so many shall lose their lives? By the gods I swear thou shalt smart for it, and first in thy flesh shalt thou suffer the pains whereunto thou hast encouraged the hearts of thy fellows.
Romanus answered, ’Thy sentence, O prefect, I joyfully embrace; I refuse not to be sacrificed for my brethren, and that by as cruel means as thou mayest invent: and whereas thy soldiers were repelled from the Christian congregation, that so happened, because it lay not in idolaters and worshippers of devils, to enter into the hold house of God, and to pollute the place of true prayer.’
Then Asclepiades, wholly inflamed with this stout answer, commanded him to be trussed up, and his bowels drawn out. The executioners themselves more pitiful at heart then the prefect, said, ’Not so, sir, this man is of noble parentage; unlawful it is to put a nobleman to so unnoble a death.’ ’Scourge him then with whips,’ quoth the prefect, ’with knaps of lead at the ends.’ Instead of tears, signs, and groans, Romanus sang psalms all the time of his whipping, requiring them not to favour him for nobility’s sake. ’Not the blood of my progenitors,’ said he, ’but Christian profession maketh me noble.’ The wholesome words of the martyr were as oil to the fire of the prefect’s fury. The more the martyr spake, the madder was he, insomuch that he commanded the martyr’s sides to be lanced with knives until the bones appeared white again.
The second time Romanus preached the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ His well-beloved Son, and eternal life through faith in His blood, Asclepiades commanded the tormentors to strike Romanus on the mouth, that his teeth being striken out, his pronunciation at leastwise might be impaired. The commandment was obeyed, his face buffeted, his eyelids torn with their nails, his cheeks scotched with knives; the skin of his beard was plucked by little and little from the flesh; finally, his seemly face was wholly defaced. The meek martyr said, ’I thank three, O prefect, that thou hast opened unto me many mouths, whereby I may preach my Lord and Saviour Christ. Look, how many wounds I have, so many mouths I have lauding and praising God.’
...
Thus was Romanus brought forth again to new stripes, the punishments to be renewed and received again upon his old sores. ... On the other side a mighty fire was made, whereinto Romanus was cast, whereupon a great storm arose and quenched the fire. The prefect at length being confounded with the fortitude and courage of the martyr, straitly commanded him to be brought back into prison, and there to be strangled." pp 33-38.
That, my friends, is the fortitude that our Lord demands of us. Are ye able?
VI. Crowded/Fruitless
"And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. ... Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity." vv 7,14
This, of course, is the crowded soil and fruitless heart, a most American malady. How many of us does this describe? We may not think of ourselves as rich and "choked" with pleasures of life, but what is your focus? Every day, when you get up, what is your first thought? Even if you have not set goals for your life, what would an outside observer say your apparent goals were? Your actions speak far louder than your words; what are they saying? What’s most important to you? When you work hard, when you stay up late, does that include wrestling with a passage of Scripture, or is your time spent only on how to pay for another toy? He who dies with the most toys wins, right? Maybe you’ve made it across the paved road, and maybe you have stepped thru the rocky soil. Did you stop in the thorns? What is that prickly plant that’s growing in the soil of your heart? My heart? When someone comes to pick your fruit, will they reach in to the plants only to jerk out their hand full of scratches and stickers?
There was a teaching I grew up with called the "carnal Christian". The basic premise was that all Christians come to Christ by faith, receiving Him as Saviour. But then we are called up further, to receive Him as Lord. Unfortunately, only some of the Christians make this choice to submit to His lordship and are stuck in this inferior mode. They are real Christians, saved and going to heaven, but are "carnal" while here on earth. This teaching’s effect is to soften the blow struck by the description and effect of this soil. But what does our Lord say about unfruitful plants?
And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown unto the fire. Matt 3:10
What does the author of Hebrews say?
For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. Heb 6:7-8
So much for the "carnal Christian".
VII. Cultivated/Fecund
"But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold. ... But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."
This is the cultivated ground, the fecund (that is, fruitful) heart. This is the ground that bears fruit, the heart that keeps the word, obeying it. Of all the soils mentioned, this is the only one that has any permanent growth. Of all the hearts, this is the only one that perseveres to the end. And what does Christ Himself say of perseverance?
But he who endures to the end shall be saved. Matt 10:22
VIII. True Christian
Earlier in the parable Jesus mentions a group of people He calls the "saved". As we progressed thru the parable, I think it becomes clear what kind of heart the saved are required to have. And furthermore, guess who is required to insure their hearts are "noble and good", whose soil is good? Here is what Jeremiah said,
Break up your fallow ground,
and do not sow among thorns Jer 4:3
God tells us to prepare our own soil. Have you done that? Is your heart frigid, fickle, fruitless, or fecund? Is the soil crusty, craggy, crowded, or cultivated? There is only one soil that fits this description. What soil best describes your heart? Perhaps you are still unsure. Listen to the requirement laid out in Psalm 24:
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully. Ps 24:3-4
That is the fruit of a good and noble heart. That’s what grows from good soil. Does this describe your life? Are your hands clean? Is your heart pure?
IX. Purpose
Before I go any further, I’d like to ask another question:
What is the purpose of this parable?
Well, that’s obvious now. I need to plow my heart until it’s good and noble so that the word will grow and produce fruit. May I suggest that if that’s your understanding, then you have misunderstood? You need to understand the difference between descriptive and prescriptive. Descriptive means that which describes. It tells you what things are like. It’s a mirror. Prescriptive tells you what to do. When you go to a doctor with an ailment, he gives you a prescription that works in your body to cure it. Now, is this parable descriptive, or prescriptive? Does it describe or command? I maintain that it describes. But if it simply describes, then what use is it? Because it is the parable of the Sower, not the soils. What does the sower do before he sows? He plows. He digs up weeds. He ruthlessly prepares the ground so that his seed is not wasted. It is He who starts and begins this good work. What, is Christ the Omega only? The one who finishes what we start? No, as Revelation says, He is:
"the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last." Rev 1:11
Hebrews says that
Jesus [is] the author and finisher of our faith Heb 12:2
Yes, God is the Sower, but He is also the Plower who works in our lives, and the lives of all the elect, to insure the Word is not planted in vain. Jesus the Son of God sows and the Holy Spirit of God plows and works the ground so that the Word of God the Father grows to fruition.
There is only one heart that was by nature good and noble, and it was not yours. But that good and noble heart was knit to yours by a covenant so strong, so forceful, so complete, that when God sows in your heart, that seed grows and produces fruit a hundredfold.
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation II Cor 5:19
Is your heart frigid, fickle, or fruitless? But yet do you have faith in Christ? If so, then God Himself insures that your heart is fertilized. He is faithful to His promise to deliver all His people and to bring forth fruit.
Listen to the great St Augustine:
We were wolves. "We too were by nature children of wrath just like the rest." But the sheep dies and us into sheep. "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin," not of this person or that, but "of the world." So then, my brothers, let us claim no credit for anything we are, provided it is by faith in him we are whatever we are - let us claim no credit for ourselves, or we may lose what we have received. But for whatever we have received let us give him the flory, him the honor, and may he water the seeds he has sown. What would our land have if he had not sown anything? He too sends the rain. He does not abandon what he has sown. "The Lord will give the sweetness, and our land will yield its fruit" Ancient Christian Commentary, Old Testament Vol VIII, p155.
X. Lent
We are about to enter the season of Lent. In this season God again plows our heart that His word may grow. I think Lindemann captures this well when he says that in Lent the sacrifice of self must be offered to God and not to self. (The Sermons and the Propers, Vol II)
X. Seed/Bread
Yes, Christ sows the seed that we might live. He is the sower, and He is the Seed. He is the plower. Not only was His seed planted in our hearts, but it was planted deep in a grave 2000 years ago. It sprouted and rose to be a mighty plant that to this day gives us the bread of life. Come, eat that bread and drink this wine, receive a noble and good heart, bear fruit, and live.
This is the word of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Soli Deo Gloria!
