Seeds in the Good Soil
(Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)
4th in a Series on: Parable of the Soils
Introduction:
“Four-year-old Jason was visiting his grandparents. Grandpa was in his study intently reading. Jason walked in carrying a peach, said something Grandpa didn’t catch, and handed the peach to him.
“Thinking his wife had sent him a snack, Grandpa took it and ate it. Just as he swallowed the last bite, Jason, with lip quivering, said, ‘But, Pap, I didn’t want you to eat it. I just wanted you to get the worm out’” (Edward K. Rowell & Leadership Journal, 1001 Quotes, Illustrations & Humorous Stories for Preachers, Teachers & Writers (Baker Books: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1996, 1997), 435).
Does this sound like you? If you’re like me, many times you may have your ears open in a conversation with someone, but your mind is somewhere else. Has this ever happened to you? I mean, you can carry on a conversation with someone, walk away, and completely forget what you just talked about? This is where the fine art of listening comes into play.
When we really take the time to listen, it’s then that we can truly learn and understand. It’s not just enough to hear someone, we must also understand, or the conversation is fruitless. It’s like talking to someone in English who doesn’t know how to speak the language. Though they can hear you, there is a total disconnect.
Jesus tells us that hearing is the first step to having good soil, but we can’t stop there. Not only must we hear the word – the message of God – we must understand it. There’s also one other step: obedience. It really does us no good to hear and understand God’s message if we don’t do anything with it.
Read with me one last time,
Matthew 13:1-9 (NIV)
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He how has ears, let him hear.”
Matthew 13:18-23 (NIV)
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealthy choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
I like what Gordon MacDonald has to say in his book Ordering Your Private World in regards to what he calls the “inner garden” of a person’s soul:
"The inner garden is a delicate place, and if not properly maintained will be quickly overrun by intrusive undergrowth. God does not often walk in disordered gardens. And that is why inner gardens that are ignored are said to be empty…
"Bringing order to the spiritual dimension of our private worlds is [what he calls] spiritual gardening. It is the careful cultivation of spiritual ground. The gardener turns up soil, pulls out unwanted growth, plans the use of the ground, plants seeds, waters and nourishes, and enjoys the harvests that results” (Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World (Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), 141).
In order to grow a bountiful harvest the garden of our inner life must be cultivated, tended, nourished, and watered regularly. When we become lax in our responsibility to hear the word and understand it, we become lax in cultivating good soil in our inner life for our faith in God to grow.
Look at it this way: If the good soil in this parable represents the hearts of those who hear the word, who understand it, and who produce, we should be cultivating an inner life of hearing, understanding, and producing as well. But how do we do this? Let’s take a look.
People with good soil, who accept God’s message, are those who…
1. Truly listen.
James 1:19 (NLT)
My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
There are people that have eyes to see, but are blind. There are those who have great intellect, but very little understanding. And there are those who hear just fine, but don’t really listen.
William Barclay says in response to the person who is like the good soil that, “Like the good ground… [they are] prepared to hear. [They] are never either too proud or too busy to listen. Many a [person] would have been saved all kinds of heartbreak, if [they] had simply stopped to listen to the voice of a wise friend, or to the voice of God” (William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 2 (Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky, 1975), 61).
In order to truly hear and comprehend we must listen. The problem that most of us have, however, is the inability to do so. With our minds constantly abuzz with activity, moving from one thought to the next, most of us can’t wait until the other person is done talking so we can begin again; and in so doing, we neglect the fine art of really listening.
There are several instances of this behavior in the Bible: from the Israelites hearing the word of God in the wilderness, but not really listening to and living with the promises of God about the Promised Land. Or, what about Elijah, hearing the storm, seeing the fire, or feeling the mighty rushing wind all around him, but finally straining to hear that still small voice? And the disciples; who can forget them. Living with the “Word made flesh.” Day in and day out they heard the claims of Jesus, but many times failed to really listen and understand what he was saying.
I fear that many of us are just like this. How many of you right now are just sitting out there, and though you’re hearing me, you’re not really listening. Your mind has thoughts of what you’ll do after church, where you’ll go to eat, who you’ll eat with. Maybe you’re thinking about TV or sports. Maybe your mind is consumed with reports, presentations, and budgets. And all you’re really hearing from me is some weird rendition of Charlie Brown’s mother’s voice (wah, wah, wah, wah).
Why do you suppose James instructed his readers to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry? I believe it’s because he knew how often we jump to conclusions when we just have a small piece of the story. Instead of making educated decisions about things, James knew how quick we are to choose sides. The problem with this is: when we’re quick to choose sides we often times look very foolish because we haven’t really heard the whole story, or because we have only heard what we wanted to hear.
The person with good soil is the person who really listens. Listening is the first step to understanding. And if we can’t really listen, we can never really understand. Which leads me to my next point: people with good soil, who accept God’s message, are those who…
2. Truly understand.
Proverbs 8:9 (NLT)
My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those who want to learn.
Learning is a part of life; it’s a part of everyday experience. Though it may not be something I’m always inclined to do, my brain is always taking in everything that I see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. So, I’m learning whether I like it or not.
However, this way of learning is very different from learning with intentionality. Barclay writes, the person who hears the word is the person whose “mind is open. [They] are at all times willing to learn… [They] understand. [They have] thought a thing out and know what it means for [them] and are prepared to accept it” (Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 2, 61).
When we learn intentionally, we learn with a purpose. This isn’t some haphazard acquiring of knowledge. This is a process of totally dissecting a thing to come to complete understanding about it; knowing how it works, knowing it’s effects on us, knowing in order to make an educated decision.
There are many of us who have been presented with things that we didn’t fully understand, and if you’re like me, you were embarrassed to admit that you didn’t fully understand it. And it’s at this point that we’re brought to a crossroads: Either we act like we know and continue on in our ignorance or we confess our ignorance in order to better understand.
This is the type of understanding that Jesus was talking about. It’s understanding that comes from determination. It’s understanding that comes by being in the trenches of faith.
The person who hears the word and understands it is the person who has taken the time to truly dig in like an archaeologist to peal away layer after layer to expose the truth. And this can really be a painstaking process.
How many of you have studied something for a long time but never really understood it, and then, all of a sudden, one day the floodgates of understanding open and you’re hit like a ton of bricks with the truth?
The truth of the matter is: the person who hears the word and understands it is not afraid to take the time to learn; to fully comprehend.
But this still isn’t enough to procure good soil. There’s one more thing that we must do…
3. Completely obey.
James 1:21-24 (NLT)
So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls.
[22] And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself. [23] For if you just listen and don't obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. [24] You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.
Jesus says that the person who hears the word and understands it also produces. What do they produce? They produce thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times more than what was sown in their hearts.
This fine art of production is obedience to hearing and understanding the word, or the message of God. And obedience is a tough thing because most of us are strong-willed people. Most of us don’t like being told what to do, where to go, or how to do something. We pride ourselves on being independent; pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We convince ourselves that we can do everything without anyone else’s help. Plain and simple, this is just the nature of sin working on us to push our selfish desires to the forefront.
What good is it to hear and understand if we do nothing with the truth that we acquire?
Like the parable of the talents, the young man who heard and understood what his master had entrusted to him just hid it because he knew that his master was a ruthless man. And in hiding what was entrusted to him rather than using it to do something great, his punishment was also great. His punishment was great because of his lack to do anything with what he was given.
When we hear and understand, we are held to account for what we hear and understand.
Luke 12:48 (NLT)
"But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.
Conclusion:
So, what is the word that we must hear and understand? The apostle John put it very succinctly:
John 1:1-5 (NLT)
In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. [4] Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. [5] The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:14 (NLT)
So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
Finally, Phillip Keller writes:
“At Calvary He who was God, very God died for us physically to atone for sins done in the flesh; He died morally, being made sin for us who knew no sin, in order that we might be made right with his righteousness morally; He died spiritually in total separation from His Father, which was to taste the awfulness of hell itself, to atone for our spiritual wrongdoing and heal our separation from a loving God” (W. Phillip Keller, A Gardener Looks at the Fruits of the Spirit (Word Books: Waco Texas, 1979), 73).
This is the Word.
What are you doing with the word that has been planted in you? Have you heard and understood, and are you producing? The person with good soil will be doing these things: hearing, understanding, and producing. This is a good test to see whether or not you have good soil in your life.
If you’re not hearing and understanding, ask yourself why? You may just find that something is blocking God’s message from fully planting in your heart. If you’re not producing, ask yourself why? Have you hidden what God has entrusted to you, or are you multiplying it?
