Sexagesima 2007
The Parable of the
Sower
In the Name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen
The gospel this morning, the “Parable of the Sower” as it is
called, is an illustration that Jesus gives about how his Gospel is sent
out, how it is received, and who receives it.
Jesus’ Parable
sets out to give us examples of four different types of people, or hearers of
the Gospel. God is the Sower, the
Gospel, or the Word of God is the seed, and the different types of soils are
the different types of people that make up the hearers of God’s Word.
Sometimes,
Christ is referred to as the Word of God.
Other times, the Scriptures are the Word of God. Either way both are different forms of the
same thing.
The Scriptures
testify about God and His Son, and His saving work.
Both are a form of revelation from God. So whether it is the written Word of God we
have in the Scriptures, or the Word of God in the person of Jesus, either way, they
are for the most part interchangeable, and apply to the parable.
The parable
shows a progression from those who don't receive The Word at all, to those who
receive it fully.
This parable
teaches us the sober truth that when the Gospel is scattered abroad throughout
the world, it does not necessarily become fruitful each time. This is true because it does not always land
on fertile ground.
However, when it
does land on fertile ground it is promised to bring forth fruit, thirty, sixty
and even an hundredfold.
Now, Jesus tells
us that there are four types of recipients of the Word of God.
The first people
are those who don't receive it at all, which means they hear it, but they don't
pay any attention to it. The second are
those who appear to receive it, do receive it, but it never takes root. The third are those who hear it, but what
they do hear is choked out, and the fourth are those who receive it in its
fullest, and respond with fruit.
We need to think
very seriously as we go through this parable, which of the four types of soils
presented… we are.
The first recipients
of God’s Word are those who are described as “by the way side.”
“The seed was scattered and some fell by
the way side.”
These are those
people, who hear the Word, but they neither understand it, nor do they grasp
it. The Word goes in one ear and out the
other.
The hearer of God’s
word in this case is described by Jesus as one who hears the word, but the
Devil takes it away from them so that they are not able to receive it. Their hearts are like uncultivated ground, wherein
the seed is not able to survive.
This ground is
very hard, and there has been much traffic.
This ground is so compacted that the seed just lay on the surface….never
penetrating the ground.
The evidence of
us being here in church this morning most likely testifies that we are not
described here. We come to church to
hear the Word of God, so we at least are not “by the wayside” type of people. We,
unfortunately find many of these people today in the world though. We all know people who are not
churchgoers. They show no interest in
going to Church or in God at all for that matter. They are only concerned with themselves.
This group is
the most to be pitied. They are the ones
who seem to care about nothing spiritual.
They do not have the Word of God in them. And where the Word of God does not dwell,
neither does eternal life.
The next set of
people is those who are described as “Stony Ground.”
“The seed is cast on stony ground…these
have no root.”
These are the
people who receive the Word of God…..and even receive it with joy, but in times
of trial, they lose sight of it. When
the true life of a Christian comes upon them…..a life of tumult…a life of
difficulty and persecution…they fall away.
The Christian must be aware that his life is not going to be one of full
time happiness. Many times, we will
suffer loss, or persecution…just as non-believers do.
These people
never take on the full responsibility of being a Christian. When the going gets tough, they run the other
way. This is not our calling as
Christians.
We are told by
Paul to put on the full armour of God.
Why would we be told to get ready for battle if there was not going to
be a battle.
The Christian is
under some kind of attack every day. We
are bombarded with images of sin all the time.
On television….in the work place.
How do we deal with them?
By now, Jesus’
explanation of the parable is most likely making some in His audience a little
uncomfortable. It should make us uncomfortable
as well. We must ask ourselves at this point, “is this what we
do?”
When tough times
come upon us, do we fall away or do we turn to God for strength?
Do we embrace
the world, or do we embrace Christ?
The third type
of recipient is the “thorny ground”.
They hear, but as they go on their way,
they are choked.
The seed here is
planted, but is choked by worldly pleasures….and their fruit does not mature.
These are the
type of people that receive the Word of God, yet the pleasures of the world
dominate and take over their lives. The
seed takes root, but bears no fruit.
Now, what are
these so called thorns that choke the
seed?
Well, Jesus
compares the thorns to the pleasures of the world. He calls them the “cares and the riches and
the pleasures of life.”
These thorns can
perhaps better be understood as…wicked desires, covetousness, and other lusts
of the flesh.
The thorns grow
up with the seed. The thorns choke out
the seed as it tries to grow. It crowds
the plant and cuts off its ability to grow properly.
Now, we are
never told …not to enjoy life….we are just warned not to be absorbed by it.
Jesus does
say, “Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life”….but
here, He does not intend us to hate the blessing of life its self.
No, but we must
keep in mind that we are to treat life as pilgrims, and be ready to shake off
anything that holds us back from a life of true happiness which is in Christ…to
the point of being ready to lay it down if necessary in order to follow Him.
We too
experience this in our lives many times.
We are all affected in some way and to some degree by the allures of
this life. Many times, in our lives of complex
prioritizing, we put our spiritual life on an equal plane with other worldly
interests. Other times, we put the cares
of the world above our spiritual lives.
We know our duty
to God and to our fellow man, but how often do we really follow through? We know that we possess many thorns in our hearts
and lives, but how often do we make an effort to pull them out by their roots?
Finally, there
are those described as “good soil.”
“As for that in the good soil, they are
those who hearing the Word hold it fast and bear fruit with patience.”
The “Good Soil” people
are those who receive God’s Word and bring forth good fruit. These seeds can plant their roots deep in the
good soil and pull their nourishment from it.
God’s Word
brings forth the best results in good soil.
Here, the
hearers of the parable get some relief.
Because Jesus describes those who are considered good soil as ones that
yield thirty, sixty and even a hundred fold.
This is
comforting news for us, because not all who bear fruit bear it equally. None of us is perfect, so we must strive to
bring forth good fruit no matter how much and no matter what types of thorns
threaten us.
We are not
called to compare ourselves to our neighbors to see how we are doing….we are
called to be good soil.
If we receive
the Word of God by faith, we will bring forth fruit. If we receive the Word of God by
faith, we are considered “Good Soil.”
We must continue
daily, in prayer and supplication, and by the mortification of the flesh, to
cultivate a place for the seed to grow.
And all of this
is accomplished by trusting in Christ and not our own power. Listen to the Collect for today again… O LORD God, who seest that we put not our
trust in anything that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
It is the power
of God that defends us. It is the power
of God that creates in us fertile ground.
We must ask for this by prayer, and receive it by faith. This is where the seed will grow.
God’s Word will
accomplish what it was sent to accomplish.
It is for our benefit that we receive His Word as good soil.
We will always
bear thorns. But we are to daily labor to pull those thorns out by their roots. We may have times when we feel more like
rocky ground. We fall away at times, not
looking to God, but looking inward at our own progress.
Daily, we need
to examine our lives as Christians, in order to make sure that the word of God
is deeply rooted in us.
Being good soil
is not being perfect…but the Word of God is perfect.
The Seed...The
Word of God…..will bear fruit if we keep obstacles out of its way. The Word will achieve its goal.
Do we keep God’s
Word? Do we meditate on it day and
night? Do we examine our lives often and
cultivate lives worthy to be called Christians in order that we may enjoy its
benefits?
In closing, I
would like to quote an Episcopal Priest who commented on this parable. He says… “What [Jesus] is saying in this
parable seems to me, to be of a piece with all His other loving, if often sad,
commentaries on our condition. He is not
threatening some kind of retaliation by the Word against people who fail
to make the best response; rather, he is almost wistfully portraying what
me miss…when we fall short and fail to bear fruit.” 1
In the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
1. Capon, Robert F. The Parables of The
Kingdom. Page 83. 1985. Zondervan
Publishing House.