SERMON: Seedy Christians Matt 13: 1-9, 18-23 July 14, 2002
I. Introduction
A. People love to define themselves
1. look at magazines
a) Teen magazines
(1) Survey: Are you boy crazy?
(2) Answer these 50 simple questions and you will know whether it is true love or not?
b) Other
(1) Test your marriage
(2) What is kind of worker are you?
c) What is your personality type?
(1) recently I got one - what is your personality according to Sesame Street Characters
(a) proclaimed it is used by human resources in job hiring
(b) included questions like: Describe your perfect date
(c) What is your favorite music? What is your favorite type of movie? Which would you rather do if you had a free hour? Which of the following food would you like to eat right not?
(2) Based on your answers you fell into one of five personality types: the wild and crazy Oscar, the friendly and popular Ernie, the cute and loveable Elmo, the romantic Zoe, or The Smart and intelligent Bert
(3) I was an Elmo. Which one are you?
(4) If you really want to know See me after church.
B. But the truth is We are a people of egos. We want to know how we measure up. If we make the mark. We want to know if we made, achieved it, realized it. We want the black and white of expectations so that we know who we are
1. we are no different today than people were thousands of years ago They wanted to know how they measured up, where they fit in, if they were in the right. And Jesus was more than happy to tell them.
II. Look at it with me if you will at today’s text. Matthew 13:1-9
A. Read Text
B. “That same day”
1. That same day that Jesus had addressed the controversy of plucking grain on the Sabbath
2. That same day that Jesus caused a controversy by healing on the Sabbath
3. That same day that Jesus that Jesus had to rebuked the Pharisees refusing to give them a sign
4. That same day when Jesus mother and brothers showed up wanting to take him home because they were beginning to think he was crazy
5. That same day when He was accused of being aligned with Satan
6. On that same day Jesus leaves the house and goes out to sit by the lake
C. Down by the Seashore -
1. No wonder --- it had been an exhausting day, a challenging day – perhaps Jesus was hoping to get a little peace, at little quite - to just sit listen to the gentle waves lapping at the pebbly shore - to reflect and think
2. Only the masses wouldn’t let him. That day had caused quite a stir – Jesus had caused quite a stir. The masses were curious. He different than any other teacher they had heard of . He spoke to them in such a way that they could understand. He spoke to them about life, he healed the sick, loved the children and feed the hungry And so they followed him. Followed him down the hill to the peaceful shore.
3. So many followed him that he had to climb into a boat to see them all Climbing into the boat may have seemed like the desperate act of a man trying to get away from the demands of people – but it was actually a deliberate and concise action my Jesus to get in touch the masses.
a) The boat on the smooth calm water created “something of an natural amplifier system” His voice was magnified by the flat surface of the water so much so that the people on the hill could hear him as if he was sitting right next to them.
4. “He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood”
a) He sat and the people stood - why is when I teach and preach I have to stand up while you sit down. Perhaps we should be more Biblical in our preaching and teaching and I should sit down and you should stand up - uhhhh - then again by the looks on your faces perhaps we won’t
b) Anyway….
5. Jesus gets into the boat sits down and begins to the people a story, a parable - a simple tale illustrating a moral or religious lesson. He told them
D. The Parable of the Sower
1. The title comes from verse 18: Listen then to what the parable of the sower means..”
2. But it isn’t really a story about the sower at all, it is a story about the yield of seeds sown.
3. In the first century, seeds were sown by scattering them by hand as the sower walked through the fields. An over abundance of seeds was used generously broadcast freely over the land.
4. The fields were small by today’s standards and the sowing imprecise. It was natural that some seed would land in unproductive areas. Pathways interlaced the fields and were packed bard by many feet. Much of the untilled land was merely a shallow layer of soil over a stone base. The rock would absorb the heat during the day, releasing it at night causing the seed to spring up quickly And then wither away. Borders of fields would be invested with thorns, and weeds.
5. The sower knows all this but sows the seed extravagantly, as widely as he can, oblivious to the risks, much as God lavishes mercy and his word upon humanity. (Richard Donovan - Sermon Writer)
E. So what exactly does all this mean - Jesus doesn’t leave the masses or us hanging he explains exactly what the story means starting in verse 18 (READ THE TEXT) Take the hand out if you will that we might look at this story in a succinct and understandable manner.
F. First and foremost we need to understand the Sower and the Seed
1. The sower is God the Father and the seed sown is the Word of God, Jesus himself.
2. The seed has been scattered through out the land. God has given the word abundantly and without discrimination to all people, everywhere. The word has been scattered through time and space through the scripture, word of mouth, sermons, bible study, witnessing, sharing, example of christian hospitality and service.
3. The word even today in this place in this world is abundant and given by God without reserve
G. Vs 4 - Vs 18 (READ from handout)
1. “anyone hears the message about the kingdom…what was sown in the heart” is tantamount to saying anyone who has heard my message and believes. Jesus was not speaking about the unsaved, the unbeliever. He was talking about people who had already received the message and believed it but didn’t “hear it.” He was talking about christians not pagan. People who profess Jesus Christ as the messiah, people who are in our churches today. People with hardened hearts.
a) They are incapable of hearing the message of God not because God wills it but because they are unwilling. Because they aren’t really listening
(1) President Franklin d. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and saying the usual things at all those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find out whether anybody was paying attention to what he was saying. As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that big smile and said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning” People would automatically respond with comments such as “how lovely!” or Keep up the good work. Nobody listened to what he was saying, except for one foreign diplomat. When the president said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning, the diplomat responded softly “I’m sure she had it coming to her.” They hear but they don’t understand they message. They believe you get what you deserve, what coming to you.
b) (Teen Challenge gives a good description of these kind of people)
(1) A hard hearted person cares little about anybody else. They lack a concern for others.
(2) They are overly sensitive and touchy.
(3) they tend to avoid meeting new people and refuse to include others into the fold.
(4) they show little or not gratitude to God or anyone else for that fact
(5) They speak words of empty flattery and harsh criticism.
(6) They hold grudges against people for a long time. They find it extremely difficult to forgive. And they make sure you know all about it.
(7) They have a stubborn and sulking disposition.
(8) They don’t need church - it is full of nothing but hypocritcs. Besides you can worship God anywhere
(9) Perhaps you recognize someone or even yourself in these characteristics.
2. Out of their own willfulness, their own free will, their own choice - The word of God is unable to penetrate their hardened hearts and satan comes and snatches it away from them - takes what was good and pure in the hearts and leaves a hole, an emptiness, a vacum of nothingness instead.
H. VS 5 - Vs 20 READ TEXT from handout!
1. The Rocky heart hears the message alright and quickly response with enthusiastic and visble joy. He or she attends church while and when it feels right, when feels good. He thinks he has found the answer he were looking for and everything will be alright now! And then the struggles come and she is left questioning and wondering why?
a) I am a good person. I have faith. I believe so why are bad things happening to me. I thought everything was going to be fine now. I thought God promised he would take care of me.
b) Hard times, troubles, trials and tribulations, financial worries, illness, deceit, pain and suffering. Satan throws them his best shot and they are knocked right off their little pedestals of impulsive excitable self joy. The word of God is dislodged from their hearts by the rocks of life and
c) they leave Christianity to become Buddhist, the leave Buddhism to become followers of Zen, the leave Zen to become Hindu they leave hinduism to become catholic - They are always searching for, wanting that personal satisfaction of prosperity and happiness on their terms and they are always left looking and seeking that which has already been promised them.
d) Such is the life of The Rocky heart
I. The Thorny Heart - VS 7 - Vs 22 READ TEXT from handout!
1. Like the Rocky heart they have heard the message but unlike the Rocky heart they understand the implications of the message. They know and believe in God and his promises. They attend church - maybe even regularly. They sit in the pews all self righteous and upright. They look and feel like the real thing but their not willing to give up the things of the world for the promises of God.
2. The thorny heart produces no fruit. They are lured away by wealth and worldly anxieties. The world creeps in and kills the impact of God word. The person is more concerned about wealth and the world than the work of God. (Note that it is the thorns that create the crown that is thrust upon the brow of Christ at his cruxificion.)
3. They thorny hearted christian attends church for the “look” not for the change, not for maturity in Christ, not to become more Christ like but attends to become more marketable, more prosperous, to be noticed They have no real intention of being changed by this religious stuff. They just want to live life and get all that they can out of it.
a) Sometime ago a newspaper in Tacoma, Washington carried the story of Tattoo, the basset hound. Tattoo didn’t intend to go for an evening run, he had planned to go for a ride but when his owner shut his leash in the car door and took off with Tattoo still outside the vehicle, he had no choice. A motorcycle officer Terry Filbert noticed a passing vehicle with something that appeared to be dragging behind it. As he passed the vehicle, he saw the object was a basset hound on a leash. “(Tattoo) was picking up (his feet) and putting them down as fast as he could, said Filbert. He chased the car to a stop and Tattoo was rescued but not before the poor dog had reached speeds of twenty to twenty five miles per hour and rolled over several times. (But don’t fret the dog was fine but refused to go out for a ride in the car anymore.)
b) The thorny heart is like Tattoo is so busy picking them up and putting them down as fast as they can that they have missed the promised of peace, rest and abundant life in Christ. Keeping up with the Jones (and Tattoo) is what drives them down life’s highway.
J. But the Good Heart hears, understands and produces the fruitfulness of life in Christ. VS 8 - 23 READ TEXT from Handout.
1. The Good heart responses to God’s message with commitment, dedication and life changing maturing faith.
a) The Good Heart develops fruits of the spirit in their daily walk - the fruit of joy peace long suffering kindness, goodness faithfulness, meekness, virtue, knowledge, endurance, piety and brotherly love.
b) The Good Heart increases in knowledge about God by regularly attending church, reading the bible and praying everyday. When the Good heart isn’t in church they experience feeling of emptiness and longing. They seek to be with God, to bring glory to God every day, all day long.
c) They witness to others, inviting them to church.
(1) Roy Oswald of Alban Institute reports on the following results of a new church members survey. When people were asked: “What brought you to church? This is what they said
(a) 2 percent said that they had seen a church advertisement
(b) 6 percent said that they had responded to an organized program
(c) 6 percent said that the pastor had invited them.
(d) 86 percent said that a friend or neighbor invited them.
(e) The Good heart seeks to share the good news, share the joy of faith by inviting others to come to church, by inviting others to know God.
d) The Good heart confesses Jesus Christ as LORD of their life.
(1) they give him and his will control of their live and they live it out to the fullest.
III. Closing
A. There was a news report about an Army veteran named John Crabtree. He had been wounded in Vietnam and was now receiving disability benefits from the government. One day, out of the blue, he received an official notification from the government that he was deceased. Needless to say this was quite a shock to him.
Mr. Crabtree wrote the government a letter stating that he was indeed very much alive and would like to continue receiving his benefits. The letter did no good. He then tried calling the government. (Have you ever tried to call the government? This requires the patience of Job and persistence of Noah!) The phone call didn’t change the situation either. Finally as a last resort the veteran contacted a local television station which ran a human interest story about his plight.
During the interview the reporter asked him, “What do you feel about this whole ordeal? The veteran chuckled and said, Well I feel a little frustrated by it. After all, have you ever tried to prove that you’re alive?
A pretty good question, Don’t you think!
Could you prove that you are alive? Could you prove that the word of God has taken root in your live? Could you prove the fruits of the Spirit in your life? Or would the results of your life prove out that yours was a hardened, shallow, thorny heart?
LET US PRAY
God of seed, time and harvest, you have generously sown the good seed in
our hearts. May what you have planted, not only take root, but flourish, producing abundantfruits of faith and love. In the name above all other names we pray, Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
