"Broadcasting the Seeds"
Matthew 13:1-9
July 13, 2008
For the last three weeks Nick and Sam Love’s mission trip has been in my thoughts and prayers. Last week I told you that this week’s sermon would be Romans chapter 8
The Romans text has a rich message, but my thoughts kept turning to Nick and Sam Love and their up coming mission trip.
Therefore: Sermon title is "broadcasting the seed"
Matthew 13:1-9
July 13, 2008
Now the question is why; have Nick and Sam been in my thoughts so much during the pass weeks.
Could it be because I once felt the call to be a missionary and didn’t or
Could it be because I was disappointed church’s response to their letter asking for pray and if possible financial aid?
Could it be because the letter was read just after I had given a sermon about missionaries and Charles Welch not being able to be a missionary because of his wife’s health? But our Lord was still able to use him to sponsor missions.
Could it be because, I called the Love’ and got to know them a little and about their hopes and desires for the trip? Could the answer be all of the above? Yep, all of the above.
And yes, I know this church is generous in its support of missions through the area office, the regional office and finally to United Christian Missionary Society. The United Christian Missionary Society is now a holding company, responsible for the investing and managing of assets for the benefit of the Division of Homeland Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Division of Overseas Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
And I also know several members have given individually to Nick and Sam.
I also know that we all want to be good stewards of God’s Money. A good steward of all God has given us. Decision, Decision Wouldn’t it be nice if life was easy and we didn’t have to face stuff like this? Like what? Stewardship! I look up a definition of Stewardship. "Stewardship is the proper management of one’s resources for the glory of God." Ok, what else?
QUOTE: Tom Gardner, of Motley Fool fame, writes, “A steward is someone who has been entrusted with the resources of another… A steward stands in stark contrast to the consumer or user… The basis of stewardship is the recognition that God owns everything and we own nothing.”
Jesus was a great story-teller. He told them to imagine a fellow planting a crop. He had a sack of seed and he was broadcasting it around him as he walked up and down his field. That is a pretty imprecise method of planting crops, so some of the seed fell on the path, some fell among the rocks, and some came to rest among the weeds and thorns. Luckily, there was some of the seed that fell on the good, fertile soil where it grew and produced an abundant crop.
This parable is a short lesson drawn from ordinary times and ordinary circumstances. In that agricultural and pastoral setting, people would have naturally understood and identified with the farmer and his methods. The perils of farming were obvious. One planted seed with one eye to the weather and another to the hope that is the natural inclination of any farmer. There is a natural, easy rhythm to the growing cycles, nothing extraordinary about it at all.
But from the ordinary comes a picture of the extraordinary grace and overflowing abundance of God. It is true that some seed fell on the path, some amid the rocks, and some among the thorns. The amazing part of the story is the incredible surplus of harvest from those seeds that fell in the good soil.
My understanding is that an average first–century farmer could expect a good yield to be about 10 bushels of wheat for every one bushel planted. But Jesus is talking about yields of 300, 600, or 1000%.
I’m convinced that God doesn’t disappoint those whose seed is cast out in hope. Too often we believe that our seed has been sown in hard, rocky, or weed infested ground. We blame nature for not giving us the proper mix of talent and luck. We blame circumstances in life that beat us down.
The seeds in the parable fell on the hard path, among the weeds and thorns, and amid the rocks and stones. The lucky seeds fell in the good soil where they grew into abundance. You know, we have a tendency to try to place blame and escape responsibility for our circumstances. We say that we are victims of bad luck or bad timing. We blame others for plotting against us. We explain away our faults and failures by appealing to the flaws in human nature. We identify with the seed in unproductive soil and believe that it is only the very fortunate who are planted in fertile ground.
Do you remember the movie “The African Queen” which starred Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn? Probably few people under fifty have ever even heard of it let alone seen it. But there is a terrific scene in it.
Bogart, as Charlie the sailor/hero tries to explain his drunken evening to Hepburn’s character, Rosie the missionary. He tells her that he was only human and so couldn’t be expected to be good all the time. Rosie looks up over her Bible and says, “We were put on earth to rise above nature.”
The sower in the parable knows that he needs to sow enough seed so that, in the end, he will be assured of an abundant harvest. Not all of our seeds…not all of our efforts…not all of our hopes and dreams will fall on fertile soil, but if we sow enough, we can be assured of an abundant harvest.
God will bring about incredible yields when we sow our lives in faith and trust and hope. Trusting God enough to put all of our eggs in his basket, promises blessings beyond imagination. I am firmly convinced that God rewards faith and hope. My prayers are that we might all sow our seeds of faith wherever we are and wherever we go, in order to give God even more opportunity to increase his grace among us.
Notice the Four Soils mention in this parable.
People are like the soil the farmer faces.
A. Path
"some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them...When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path.
The "Just Don’t Get It Group"
You can explain it till your blue in the face and they still just wouldn’t get it.
People who "see, but to not see; hear, but do not hear"
In these folks the word is left exposed; does not penetrate
Paul says of them, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4
for those who do not understand the Devil takes away what little they have.
B. Rocky Ground
Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away...As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
"Anyone with wisdom knows what makes good sense, but fools can never make up their minds." Proverb 17:24
"A man of understanding sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth." (RSV)
C. Thorns
Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them...As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
The word has to compete with the world.
Perhaps they were sincere at first, but later it proved an inconvenience. Understands the word, but too many things pulling
"No one can serve two masters, Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 6:24 (NIV)
D. Good Soil
Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty...As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
Now let’s look at the Sower – the risk taker.
This is where it gets interesting; it is not the soils, but the Sower. He knows what he is getting into. He knows his success/ failure rate. He knows that he must take risks.
He knows the types of soil/people he will run into
1. Hard headed
2. Immature
3. Two-faced
4. Thief
But still the Good steward the Sower casts fore God’s seed, or God’s money. Knowing that some will fall on path and be eaten by birds, some will fall on the rocky ground, some will fall among the thorns and some in the good soil to grow and be increased 100 fold. Notice one seed out of 4 produces,
But the Sower knows the success that one seed will have in the lives it touches. He knows how much and plants his seeds for God.
We are God’s sower. We know that we can’t just store or hide the seed. We know that it must be broadcast and planted to do God’s work.
Let use pray!
Heavenly Father you have never given up on us. Help us never give up doing your will on earth. Help to be good steward, but to boldly cast fore your seeds to all the nations
I would like to thank Scott Carmer”s Plant in Faith, Harvest in Joy and John Knight’s The Sower for both text and inspiration.
