"getting Good Reception:" The Parable Of The Sower

Parables to Live By

“Getting Good Reception”

Luke 8:14-15

Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goQl8V_3liQ

We’re beginning a new series entitled, “Parables to Live By.” For this series we’ll be looking at the parables Jesus taught as brought out in the Gospel of Luke.

Today, we’ll be looking at one of the best known of all the Parables, “The Parable of the Sower,” which I am entitling, “Getting Good Reception.”

Back in 2002, Verizon began a marketing campaign they entitled, “Test Man.” It showed a guy having a cell phone to his ear in all these various locations saying, “Can you hear me now?” And it became the catchphrase, not only for Verizon, but it took off like wildfire across America.

It was a phrase that all cell phone users, not only back then, but today as well, can relate to as we desperately try to find a place that will transmit our conversation.

But I think that the phrase, “Can You Hear Me Now?” also relays what the Lord is trying to get across as He tries to get through to all of us. Jesus said it like this, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8) And then to several of the churches of Revelation He said, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 2:17, 29; 3:22)

This then got me thinking about how well we hear. My daughter, Danielle, when she was young always had problems hearing, but we didn’t know it at the time. We just through it was cute how she would say a word and it would have a sort of odd sound to it, like balloon was “a boo.”

When we took her to the doctors, he found a blockage in her ears, and he inserted some tubing to keep the opening from closing and fusing together. When we asked the doctor how she was able to hear, he said she was hearing as if she were under water. And I wondered, “Is this the way we hear God,” that is, since we are under sin, do we hear a distorted message?

Now, as Danielle was growing up, I realize that her hearing was fine, even though whenever I said some things, she would just ignore me, as if she didn’t hear. But she could hear just fine. The problem wasn’t with her physical hearing, but what we call today as “selective hearing.” She selected to tune me out because she didn’t like what I was saying.

When it comes to God and His word, we are either hearing a distorted message because we are under sin and Satan is distorting God’s message, or we are having selective hearing, that is, we don’t like what we’re hearing so we tune God out.

But this is not all, there is also when we get so busy that we kind of space out during our time with God thinking about something else. That is, we’re too busy with our own thoughts and plans for our lives that we don’t have time or take time to listen to God.

Now, to address this issue, Jesus used parables, that is short simple stories that the people could easily relate to and learn valuable lessons from, which is what we’ll be looking at today known as the parable of the Sower, as it addresses this very problem, and how people respond to the truth of God’s word.

Now, the parable or story isn’t really focused on the Sower, which is Jesus, nor on the seed, which is God’s word. Rather it emphasizes the types of soils that the seed falls upon. And so, I think a better title for this parable is “The Parable of the Soils.” And the soils represent a person’s heart.

This parable communicates a simple but very critical truth, and that is, “How we receive God’s word will determine how productive it will be in our lives.” This parable describes the level of effectiveness God’s word has upon our lives based upon the condition of our hearts.

So, let’s take a look at this story as written by Luke, starting in Luke chapter eight verse five.

“‘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 it. 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!’” (Luke 8:5-8 NKJV)