The First Congregational Church of Plainfield July 10, 2011 Sermon Title: Everybody s Got One Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 The Parable of the Sower That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen! The Parable of the Sower Explained 18 Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. Most of you have heard this parable before and maybe you have heard a sermon or two on the subject. Hopefully, today, you have been touched by its reading in a new and deeper way. Whether through the written word, the touch of God s creation, or the Spirit that resides within, God reveals different meanings at different times to fit the needs of His children.
As I thought through what and how to expound upon these words from Matthew, I was moved to focus on the soil in the parable in a different way than I have thought of before. Choice came into my mind and I suspect that God wanted me to go with that. I do not know where your heart and mind are at this moment but my hope is that I am listening to what God knows I need to say and what you need to hear as different as that may be for each one. God will bring it all together. In that I trust. I have mentioned before that the word "parable" comes from the Greek παραβολή (parabolē); "bole," which means "to throw or cast," and "para," which means "alongside." Parable might be understood then as a meaning that is thrown alongside another meaning. Parables are allegories; stories that are communicated through symbolic language. Parables allow for a broader interpretation; Jesus parables create a setting that allows people to interact and become part of the story. Jesus parables offer the hearer an opportunity to interpret and participate in the deeper meaning as it presents itself uniquely to each heart and mind. If you look at the structure of Matthew s gospel, you will find that this parable and several other parables fall in between stories of Jesus being challenged. In chapter 12, Matthew tells us about how the religious leaders questioned what Jesus allowed his disciples to do on the Sabbath and immediately following the parables is the story of how the people in his own hometown of Nazareth felt about the wisdom of His teachings; at first they were amazed and then they took offense to him. So, it seems logical that the sequence of these stories is an important tactic that Matthew uses. The parables are meant to teach that some will respond and grow to Christ s teaching, to the scattering of the seed; it depends on the soil. All have been given a seed everybody gets one. So as the story goes, there are four types of soil. The first type of soil the sower scattered seed that fell on a path. A path is called a path because the vegetation that might have grown on it has been trampled on, beaten down, worn away and the ground is bare and packed down. Seed that might fall on this kind of soil would be exposed; it would not sink into the soil because of the soils hardness. And, as we are told in the parable, the exposed seed gets eaten up by the birds and, I suppose, if not eaten up by birds, it would be vulnerable to the stomping of feet and hooves as the path is used. The explanation Jesus gives is that the birds are symbolic of the the evil one who
comes and snatches up the seed. The Greek word that is translated evil one can also mean hardships, pain and trouble which actually flows much better with the explanation of the seed that falls next on the rocky ground. The seeds of this parable are symbolic for seeds of faith; faith in the One True God, the Word of the Kingdom, the Realm of God. Seeds of faith can be nurtured in many ways but the source of faith comes only from God the sower. Unlike a prudent farmer, God gives, God scatters seeds of faith to everybody regardless of the condition of the soil or should I say soul. And some seed falls on the paths. What would that soul be like - the soul of the symbolic seed that fell on the path? It is a soul that has been worn down, trampled on, and left bare and exposed. It is the person who has been left vulnerable for whatever reason. Maybe it s because they have tried many avenues to find purpose in life and all the searching has left them worn down. Maybe they have tried many faith teachings and their pursuit has left them hardened and confused. Maybe they have been hurt by life and people and circumstances and have consciously or subconsciously decided to disallow anyone or anything to get to the soft layer under the beaten surface. The second type of soil - the sower scattered seed that fell on rocky ground. Rocky ground is even harder than a path, most of the surface is impervious to seed, and there is very little soil available to the seed. Rocky ground is rugged and usually not too often traveled because it is difficult and even threatening to navigate. Only a very hardy and well placed seed would be able to sprout, never mind thrive. In the parable, the seed starts to grow but soon is scorched by the sun. It has no root, nothing to keep it alive, its life is not stable. What would that soul be like - the soul of the symbolic seed that fell on rocky ground? It is a soul that resists anything that falls on it. It does not know how to receive or embrace good news. It doesn t allow anyone or anything in and it may not even know why. But every now and then a crack is open and amazingly, joy springs up, happiness pops its head through but only for a short time. Then the elements that have hardened it in the past once again crush the spirit of joy. The soul of rocky ground doesn t want or know what to do with support and love that is offered, so it allows the negative to burn away the positive. The third type of soil the sower scattered seed that fell on among thorns. I can relate to seeds among weeds. I can t seem to pluck them out fast enough. Once
they are there, they seem to multiply and crowd the good plants out faster than I can get to them. But if I am able to overcome the weeds, it is interesting that the good plants grow and the weeds get crowded out. The plan works in reverse. Seeds that fall among already established thorns, briars, or weeds are vulnerable to being choked out. The thorns cover them over and hold them down as they attempt to grow. The seedling finds itself in a hostile environment and succumbs to the growth of the thorns. And if the seed is able to grow entangled with the weeds and thorns then it is usually unable to yield good fruit and undesirable to those that harvest. What would that soul be like - the soul of the symbolic seed that fell among thorns? It is a soul that can t seem to see beyond the immediate pressures and pleasures that have grown up around it. This soul tries to grow and respond to God s seed of faith but the calling of the short term gratifications pull it back. It sees only the immediate and although it feels the call to the permanent and spiritual, it can t seem to reach past the encroaching enticements of the worldly and shallow. This soul yearns for the Real One but it can t see the forest for the trees. The fourth type of soil the sower scattered seed that fell on good soil. The seed that is scattered here finds itself in the natural world that it was meant to be in. A place that it can thrive, put down roots, grow to great heights and produce 30, 60 or 100 times what is expected. Although there may be weeds that try to intrude the seed has what it needs to overcome and flourish. The good soil embraces the tender seed and it encourages growth and good fruit. What would that soul be like - the soul of the symbolic seed that fell on good soil? It is a soul that finds goodness and joy where it finds itself placed by God. It may be a mature soul or it may be a child - regardless, it receives life as a child and trusts the Source of All with everything. It has its season of hurts and joys but this soil, this soul looks deep beyond the surface for the lesson in it all. This soul accepts God s pruning because it always trust, always perseveres. This soul allows God to put deep roots into the heart of its being and it learns more and more how to rely on the depth of its roots to hold it firm even when it feels flooded with trial and smothered by thorns. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes this:
Can anything ever separate us from Christ s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from God s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. i Identify what type of soil, what type of soul you are and then choose to become the type of soil you want to be. Do you want to be the good soil? Then don t let anything stop you. God gives the seed of the Realm of God, the seed of faith to everyone. Everybody has one. Will you let yours be eaten by the birds, burned up in the sun, choked by weeds or will you choose to be the kind of soul that will allow your seed to flourish? This is a lovely story, sort of a modern day parable. Potatoes, Eggs, and Coffee Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. "Daughter, what do you see?" "Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied. "Look closer", he said, "and touch the potatoes." She did and noted that they were soft. He then
asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face. "Father, what does this mean?" she asked. He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity - the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new. "Which are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?" In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us. Contributed by: Mike Leiter Let s think about that. Amen. i Romans 8:35-39 NLT