The Invitation of Parables Sermon
Matthew 4:1-11
Prior to our Scripture passage today, Jesus had begun his ministry teaching to small crowds. But when he began to heal people, the crowds began to swell and follow him from all over the land including “Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon.” The crowds grew so numerous and those who needed healing were so aggressive in trying to touch Jesus to be healed that he had to get in a boat and push off from the shore on more than one occasion to teach them. One healing included the forgiveness of a man’s sins, which the Jews believed only God could do. Another occurred on the Sabbath violating the Sabbath law. As a result, during dinner one evening, Jesus’ family came and accused him of being insane and the teachers of the law accused him of being possessed by a demon.
Then Jesus began to teach them in a way he never had before, using parables. The parables of Jesus are some of the most beloved and cherished teachings of the Scriptures. Jesus taught 46 parables, more than a third of His teachings. Thus, they were a significant tool in his teaching. But what is a parable? A parable is, literally, something confusing “cast alongside” another which is not, to compare them so that you can understand the confusing thing. In his parables, Jesus used things common in every day life, like mustard seeds, planting a garden, tending sheep and baking bread. So he drew upon the culture in which the people lived and the attitudes they held, re-purposing them to teach the truths of God. Fred Craddock tells the story of a family reunion, and being seated on the patio on a very cold seat. All the other seats were wooden, except this one, and it was cold. Someone said, "Don't you recognize that?" I looked at it and said, "No, should I?" I was told that was the bottom step at the old home where we were born. Then I remembered the old rotten wooden steps, was replaced with a piece of marble. And the person said, "Turn it over." We turned it over and on the other side were burial inscriptions for someone named George Washington Duncan who had died in 1792. A piece of marble became a gravestone, then a step, and now a patio seat. And then he writes, “That's the way a parable is, using and re-using the basic stuff of life in new ways to teach about God and His kingdom.” The assumption among scholars has been that the use of parables was commonplace among the rabbi’s of Jesus’ day. But interestingly, we have found no written parables in the Old Testament or from the time of Jesus. In fact, we do not find any parables in Jewish literature until the 3rd century. While we need to be careful about arguing from silence, Jesus may very well have created teaching through parables. This may be supported by the disciple’s question to Jesus, “Why do you teach through parables?”
Parables can be divided into three classes. The first is true parables that take something from daily life like a sheep separated from the flock (Matt. 18:12-14; Luke 15:4-7), or a coin lost in a home (Luke 15:8-10). Second is story parables refer to an event that took place in the past and centers on one person: the shrewd manager who redeemed himself (Luke 16:1-9), and the judge who eventually administered justice in response to the repeated plea of a widow (Luke 18:2-8). Third are example parables that project an example that is to be imitated like the Parable of the Good Samaritan that ends with the admonition, "Go and do likewise."
Our Scripture today, the Parable of the Sower, is linked in this section with two other stories with seeds. There is the seed growing secretly, which is followed immediately by the story of the mustard seed that grew into a great plant. In the Parable of the Soils, Jesus describes different kinds of soils upon which seed is scattered and each has dramatically different affects. The soils are descriptions of different kinds of people’s hearts and the seed is the Word of God. Some seeds are sown on a path which is hardened soil. The path would have been around the edge of the field and as the sower casts seeds some overshoot the field onto a path which is hardened soil and thus cannot take root. These are hardened hearts. Some fell on rocky soil meaning there was a thin layer of dirt but bedrock underneath. Since it was shallow soil it could not take root deeply and thus while it grows initially, it then dies. A third type of soil has thorns and weeds which ended up growing faster than the seed and thus choke it out. Jesus said there are 3 types of weeds in our lives. First is worry which can dominate our thinking and as well as influence our attitudes and faith. The second is fear which can control our lives, and influence our decisions, our words and our actions to choose our interests rather than God’s, paralyzing us and can holding us captive. Third is wealth which we can believe is the key to happiness and so you end up focusing so much time and effort on those things that you miss out on the life God intends for you. The fourth soil is good soil where the seed came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying 30, some 60, some a 100 times, all good harvests but not incredible in Jesus’ day. So the focus should be the difference between the soils not the different yield of good soil.
Jesus saw the different types of responses of the people he was preaching and teaching. Many were coming just to see the show, the healings of Jesus. But there were also people who were sick and in desperate need of Jesus’ healing touch. As Jesus taught, he saw that many people came to hear him and never came back. There were others Jesus noticed who came back several times but then they seemed to get bored after a little while. It was as if they wanted to know what’s in it for them. But when Jesus preached that it wasn’t about you but about God and serving other people, they weren’t interested anymore. He noticed that there were some who had gotten on the discipleship path and were really yearning for God but they were torn between the pursuit of the kingdom of God and the desires of the world for riches, affirmation and power. They couldn’t decide which they wanted more and eventually the world won. And then in some, the seed was planted and began to take root. They were sold out for Jesus and began to touch and transform the world and people around them. The parable of the Sower invites its hearers to ask, “Which soil am I right now?” the key word being “now” because we will represent the different types of soil at different times in our life. One blogger wrote: “As I look at these types of soils, I can relate to all of them. I realize I am tempted to close my ears to God’s Word as did the wayside soil, fail to let it sink deeply in my life as did the stony soil, or let God’s Word be choked out of my life because I get to wrapped up with the cares of this world.” And there are times when God’s Word takes root in our lives and produces great fruit and a wonderful harvest. So “Which soil are you right now?”
So why did Jesus teach in parables? Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question is one of the most confounding in all the Gospels. “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” verses 11-12 Scholars have debated what this means because Jesus seems to be saying that he teaches in parables so that people will not understand and thus could not turn to God. But that contradicts Jesus’ basic message and mission to call people to repent and return to God for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Parables can seem to be confusing at first but they are like riddles. They are meant to be pondered and that means you need to spend time with them until you encounter the unexpected. Yes, parables conceal the truth but they don’t hide them. Jesus taught in parables because he wants us to work at our faith. You have to work at understanding them. But the thing about parables is that even the simplest person, if they think about them long enough, can come to understand them. Parables were meant for everyone to hear as the call of Jesus. But to understand them, you have to ponder it, take the time and invest the energy and the effort. I like the way Biblical scholar Kenneth E. Bailey, who spent 40 years teaching in the Middle East, compares a parable to “a house in which the reader/listener is invited to take up residence.” As you spend time there, you become familiar with the nooks and crannies of the home that you would only notice by that investment of time and energy.
Many people came to Jesus wanting to be told the truth and what to believe. And they were not alone in that, we like it when our SS teacher or pastor tells us what Scriptures mean and what we should believe. But Jesus’ response to the disciples says the faith journey is not meant to be that way. You have to think about what you believe and why you believe it. And that’s how the Christian faith is. On the one hand, all you have to do is accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and then live according to his wisdom, guidance and power. On the other hand, Jesus wants you to think through your faith and wrestle with what you believe and why you believe it. And if you are unwilling to do that then it’s likely your faith will never be your own and it may crumble at the first sign of trials and tribulations. And so parables are really a challenge for us to engage not only the Kingdom of God but the truths of God and to really work at what we believe and how we live it out.
All good soil must be prepared for the planting of the seed by breaking up the soil, working it, adding nutrients and making sure it will be irrigated. So how can you prepare to receive the seed or the Word of God in your life? First is taking personal responsibility for your spiritual growth. That means you have to become intentional about developing an intimate relationship with God and that begins with your commitment to grow outside of Sunday morning. We do that by spending time with God through daily prayer and Scripture reading. Ultimately, I’m not responsible for your spiritual growth and neither is Wade or Tiffany or any of the church staff. It starts with you and what happens between Sundays. That prepares you to hear God’s Word on Sunday. Second, start with prayer. Ask God to open your heart and mind to hear His word and message for your life. Third, listen intentionally and intently. The specific clause “hear the Word of the Lord” occurs 32 times in the Bible. God has much to say to us and because He is the all-wise and all knowing, we need to listen to what God has to say. Listening to God also means something else. It is really hearing what God is seeking to say and that demands spiritual preparation and active participation on the part of the listener. Fourth, remove the barriers. James 1:19b-21 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” What barriers need to be removed from your life? Fifth, continue to develop your skills in both reading and understanding scripture. You need to understand different ways to study the Bible and utilize them. Grow to understand the culture, history and context of the Scriptures that often are assumed to be understood by the Gospel and New Testament writers. In fact, I will go so far as to say that you cannot understand God’s Word without first knowing its context and the original meaning of the Scripture to its first hearers. I have been preaching and teaching God’s Word for almost three decades now and I’m still developing and honing my skills in reading and understanding the Bible.
Bob Goff tells the story of passing an art gallery every day and the same painting catching his eye. It was called the Puppeteer and was a painting of a father with his children and family gathered around him and he entertaining them by pulling on the strings of a puppet. He liked that painting because that’s the way he saw himself as a puppeteer with his children and grandchildren gather around. Each time Bob passed the gallery, he pressed his nose against the window and said, “Yes, you will be mine.” He had to save for a year. When he saved almost enough, for the final amount, he was ready to put the dog on eBay but he got overruled by the family.
But here was another reason he liked that painting. It reminded him of how Jesus invites us to gather around him as he tells captivating stories about a better life, a bigger life and a greater love. He then goes on to tell the story of how during his first year of marriage, his wife thought he had hearing problem so she made an appointment for him. After the doctor put on the headphones, she went to the other room and began the test. He was disappointed that the doctor wasn’t playing Van Halen but instead a series of sounds and he heard every one. After the test, she sat down with Bob and his wife to go over the results. She confirmed that he could hear perfectly but then she said he suffered from selective hearing and tuned out the things he didn’t want to hear. When his wife Maria heard that she started to tap her foot and give him the dirty eye. And then he writes, “I realize that what was so frustrating for Maria was a similar issue I have with God…I only hear the things from God I want to hear and it makes me wonder if He doesn't think I’m going a little deaf.” Jesus’ teaching in his parables are difficult lessons, hard lessons and challenging lessons. Sometimes when we come to God’s Word, we only want to hear the nice things, the loving things and the easy things. But Jesus’ parables challenge us to work and to work hard to hear the voice of God and the truths of the Kingdom and about ourselves. The only question is if we are going to put in the time and effort or if instead, are we’re going to have selective hearing. Amen and Amen.
