#403 SUBSTANCE FROM THE SOIL OF CIRCUMSTANCE
Scripture Matthew 13:3-23, NIV
Luke 8:5-18, NIV
Orig. Date 7/2/1967
Rewr. Dates 12/17/1981
Passage:
Matthew 13:3-23 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” 11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Luke 8:5-18 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
“‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’[a]
11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
A Lamp on a Stand
16 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”
Purpose: To continue to speak to my people from the parables of Jesus, here asking them to consider what we expect as in contrast with our preparation to receive our expectations.
Introduction
Some time ago, an item from a daily newspaper caught my attention. It seems that a package containing radium needles, and therefore highly radioactive, had been lost somewhere on the streets of a large eastern city. I have no idea how it happened, or how long it had been before they were missed, only that a dangerous substance had been deposited in a careless manner. These needles were only three-fourths of an inch long, and no bigger than a pencil lead. In spite of this small size, they were powerful enough to administer severe burns, and even death if contact was sustained for a long period of time.
Can you imagine such a booby prize for a curious child? There they were, though not in a conspicuous place. It was just a question of time until someone happened to spot such a package and began to examine its contents. It would surely be someone who had no idea of their significance or their danger.
This passer-by, by coincidence happens by, sees an unopened package, examines its contents, is intuitively curious about these strange-looking needles, fondles them, perhaps even treasures them because of their strangeness, puts them on his person and forgets about them. It doesn’t matter that they are valuable, what matters is that they are dangerous. His life, even though he does not know it, hangs by a very slender thread for as long as he possesses such a substance.
He has no way of knowing that this tiny item, this substance taken from beneath his feet, is not a blessing but a threat. He is innately free, free to pass this spot, free to discover this lost article, free even to treasure it, not realizing what it might mean to him.
The same thing substantially happens innumerable times every day. We are free to discover substances in the soil of our circumstances. We are free to hold on to things that are dangerous to us. We are free to throw away other things that are of great value.
Unquestionably, we want the best that life has to offer for ourselves. Too often, however, we place little value on the things of life that have the greatest worth. Our assessment of bad and good often causes us to over-look what is best.
I. The Circumstance Here Pictures a People Who Are Free to Choose to Hear. V18 (Mt), Hear then ye the parable of the sower.
Recall with me the occasion of this parable. Jesus was teaching somewhere along the Lake of Galilee. Many people had come out to hear. Something about Jesus had compelled them. In fact, so many had come that Jesus had commandeered a boat so that he would have more space to see more of these seekers (Mark 4). As he taught, his eyes beheld a scene on the low hills that border the lake. A sower was sowing his seed. Even from this distance Jesus could see that not all of the seed was falling on fertile land. He could also see the scores of birds flying around and behind him. Those seeds not falling into the broken earth would be quickly taken. He thought instinctively of his own setting with these people. Here, in this place, he was sowing the seed of the word. They would not all allow the seed to penetrate through to the fertility of their souls.
The first picture to form, then, is that of the sower. Some say that the parable is misnamed. The distinctions are not those of different sowers, or even different kinds of sowing. The distinctions in the parables relate to different kinds of soil. We can content ourselves, however, in that Jesus called it “The Parable of the Sower.”
But the sower is not incidental to this parable. Beyond the fact that he sowed the seed, nothing is known of the sower. Yet, Jesus used a very strong word (Mark), “Hear ye, behold,” to arrest their attention. Let us be aware of scriptural uses of “sower.”
· God is likened to a sower—Jeremiah 31:27. “Behold, the days will come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.” Ezekiel 28:25, “I gathered Israel from the people among whom they are scattered. . . .” Amos 9:15, “I will plant them upon their land and they shall no more be pulled up.”
· Jesus also—Matthew 13:37, “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man.”
· Likewise the Holy Spirit—Galatians 5:22, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace;” Romans 5:5, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.”
· Consider then the role of believers. Psalms 126:6, “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious see, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” In Luke 10:2 Jesus admonished the disciples to remember that the harvest need required faithful laborers.
II. We Must Pause for a Moment to Consider the Seed.
As far as the parable is concerned, no distinction is made at all in the variance of the seed. All the seed that was sown came from a common source. As best we can tell there was little difference in quality. If I were a farmer, I would want to know about differences in seed yields.
But in Jesus’s interpretation of the parable, the seed stood in the place of “the Word of the Kingdom.” V19, “When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one and snatcheth away that which had been sown in his heart.” What a dimension Peter adds. I Peter 1:23f, “Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, . . . For all flesh is as grass, . . . The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; But the word of the Lord endureth forever.”
III. The Major Substance of the Parable Relates to the Soil.
First is the soil that cannot be penetrated by the seed. This is the wayside hearer. The one who has his mind on other things. He may be where the word is dispensed, but its meaning eludes him. The trafficking of this world has driven the soil tightly together. Satan is able to keep the seed from reaching a point where it will germinate. How true of too many of us today: the seed is ON [us, not IN us].
Then as the sower sowed, some of the seed fell in rocky ground. Clearly it was poor soil so the rocks had been left in place. The seeds were scattered and at least the rocks hid the seed from the birds, thus it had time to germinate, but soon, without roots to reach down to the moisture, it dies, The seed is now IN as well as ON, but it is not enough. Is it enough for us to be where the seed is broadcast, to take it into mind and heart, but without faith, to leave the holy place mindless of meaning.
Next, our attention is called to the seed landing among the brush and thorns. We can assume that the seed and the soil are both worthy. Clearly, the presence of alien influences dispels the seeds’ chance to reproduce. The seed is ON and IN the soil, but not singularly OF the soil. This is the preoccupied hearer. The farmer who has his mind on his harvest. The housewife who is thinking of the unexpected responsibility, the youth who is thinking of boy- or girlfriend, or of a night before a date. Mark clarifies some of our antagonists: the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the lusts of other things.
And finally, there are those seeds that fall on the good ground. Here is the seed that falls ON, and penetrates IN, and becomes part OF, and in this nourished posture rises OVER the soil. It has taken full hold. Its application is to the hearer who is open to the word, allowing to penetrate even into his prejudices, and from this vaunted position, begins to take root in faith, and when that happens, thusly nourished, the hearer grows and begins to bear fruit.
Make no mistake, there are lessons abounding here that we need to learn. Every farmer plants more than he expects to harvest. II Corinthians 9:6, “He that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully.” What a privilege it is to sow the seed, to receive the sown seed. What a responsibility it is to be clear in our efforts to improve the receptivity of the seed. Clearly, judgment awaits those who hear, but who refuse to profit by what they hear. I Corinthians 2:14, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him.” And conversely, Galatians 6:8, “He that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.”
Closing
George Bernard Shaw1, noted for moralist plays depicting man’s humanist potential, and his atheistic outlook on life. At life’s end he wrote “Too True to Be Good,” a pathetic confession. “The science I pinned my faith to is bankrupt. . . Its spread of enlightenment has been a spread of cancer: its counsels that were to have established the millennium have led straight to European suicide. And I--I who believed in it . . . . For its sake I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshippers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now look at me and behold the supreme tragedy of the atheist who has lost his faith.”
LINKS/REFERENCES
1Shaw, GB. 1931. Too Good to Be True. Project Gutenberg Australia. https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0300591h.html.