Body

Year A Trinity 7/Proper 10 : Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

There are two, different sermons on this page

13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 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. 9He who has ears, let him hear."

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 his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

The gospel of Jesus had small, insignificant beginnings like a seed; a religious leader put to death on a cross. His eleven dejected and frightened followers, huddled in a room fearful of the authorities. But six weeks later 3,000 people were added to the disciples. For nearly two thousand years the church has spread throughout the world by people growing and bearing fruit in the power of God's Spirit. There is still more to come. There is further growth, with many more people destined to turn to Jesus. There will also be the tremendous harvest when millions of Christians throughout the ages will be united to be with God in glory when Jesus returns.

If we were to plant seeds today we would probably put them in potting compost, perhaps in a tray in a bright window to give them the best opportunity to grow. We know that the combination of good soil, the right amount of light and water will mean that a seed will grow and mature, fulfilling it's potential.

Two thousand years ago in Israel seeds were not planted in prepared soil. The seed was scattered and then the ploughing took place. So the sower was not being irresponsible by sowing on trampled ground where people walked across the field, or amongst young thorn bushes, or where there was hidden, rocky sub-soil.

This is one of many agricultural parables told by Jesus. It is usually called the parable of the sower, but, because it focuses on the different soils that the seed lands in, and the corresponding degree of growth, perhaps it should be called the parable of the soils. The parable is followed by an explanation to Jesus' disciples.

This parable was given when there was a crowd of people gathering around Jesus. It is not an accident that this was the context in which Jesus tells this parable, which shows the differing reactions to the word of God that you might expect from a large, diverse group of people. However, it can also apply to people who we might find in church today. In Jesus' story, the Word of God is the seed, and we are the soil.

Some of the seed fell on the path where the ground was very hard. The seeds just lay on top of the ground and the birds came and ate the seeds. We may be hard to the Word of God. We may hear it but not listen to it. In truth we may know what God wants from us but not be prepared to pay the price of following Him. This can be caused by pride or laziness. Or we may not bother to concentrate or expect God to speak to us when we come to church. If we are hard it will have no impact on our lives and we go away unchanged. The word will do us no good and we will not grow.

Some of the seed fell on rocky ground. The seeds sprang up quickly, but when the sun came, the plants dried up because they didn't have good roots. There are people who hear the Word and get excited about it, but then this excitement fades and they drift away. The immediate response is short-lived. There is no lasting growth. I suppose we can all look back on times in our Christian life when we have felt more vibrant and more active in our faith, but are we still growing? Or have we withered and are dying?

God expects each one of us to continually grow throughout our lives. When we just remain stationery and fail to grow we increasingly fall short of God's plan for us. I can illustrate this with a train and a station. Something most people here will be able to relate to.

I am at Knebworth station. Stationery. I have just missed my train which is a slow one, going North, travelling at an average of 40 miles an hour. Every minute and a half I stay on the platform I am another mile away from where I should be. On that train, steadily travelling North to Peterborough and beyond.

God wants each and every one of us to be on his train. Steadily growing, moving forward.

Some of the seeds fell among weeds and plants grew for a little while, but the thorns took over and choked them out.

We can hear the word of God, understand it, even start to put it into practice but then it becomes too difficult to live by. The thorns can represent so many different things. Busyness. We can be busy with legitimate things. Jobs, families, responsibilities in the local community, even church work. But if this affects our relationship with God and we are failing to pray, come to church and grow then we have to reassess our priorities.

Relationships. It is great when a couple, and even their children, share the Christian faith and attend church and groups together, share the same values, and pray together. However, this is not always the case and I know that some people here may have difficulties at home because of your faith. God wants the best for your marriage and your family, but he also wants what is best for you. Try to ensure that your faith is not choked by your situation. Perhaps get people who you can share with an who will pray for you and for your spouse and family. In many cases this situation arises when one spouse comes to faith once they are married. Because the Christian faith should affect all of our life and because marriage involves sharing all of ourselves with someone else, Paul warned the Corinthian Christians not to be joined to unbelievers ( 2 Corinthians 6:14 ). This teaching is considered by some believers to be controversial but I would want to warn Christians who are contemplating marriage to an unbeliever to consider their position very carefully in the light of God's word, and the depth of relationship demanded by our Lord and by marriage.

I have come across a number widows who have come back to church after their faith has been dormant for years, inhibited by their husband.

Financial worries my be another thing that may stop people from growing in their faith. This may be linked to greed and can lead to working too much or acting in a way that Is contrary to God's will. Perhaps lying about something, taking the credit for something we did not do, or blaming someone else for something we did do.

God is our loving, heavenly Father and He will provide us with everything that we need, and more.

Some of the seed fell on good soil and the plants took root, grew strong and healthy and produced a good crop. This represents people who humbly listen to and understand the word of God then put it into practice.

The reason why I spend time in my sermons explaining the original meaning of the passage is so we can understand what it meant then so we can see how it relates to our lives now.

This is the type of soil Jesus wants us to be planted in. It is soil that involves letting God speak to us through His word by His Spirit. It involves us coming to God humbly, aware time and time again of our need to amend our ways and turn back to God.

Let us pray that we may grow vigorously through the work of God's Spirit.

Let us pray that other people will grow heartily through God's power.

What kind of soil are you?

Dear Jesus, we want to be like the good soil. Help us to listen to God's Word and put it into practice in our daily life. Amen.

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My wife, Melanie, likes sweet pea flowers and, each year grows them under our kitchen window, and on a wigwam type frame of bamboo canes in a tub. Last year she planted some seeds in compost on a tray and put them on a bright window sill.

We read in verses 13-25 that this parable can only be understood by those who have received the free, undeserved revelation of God. For those who have not, it further alienates them from God, hardening their hearts even more.

I would like to introduce you to some people that we came across at a previous church that are typical of the different types of soils ( the names have been changed to avoid any embarrassment ). These people came to the Enquirers' Groups that we ran for people wanting to find out more about the Christian faith.

I came into contact with Joe after conducting the funeral of his mother. He was in his early fifties, had a good job, and lived in a nice home. He was interested in spiritual things and ready to discuss matters and to put forward his point of view. There were times when I could see that the Holy Spirit was opening his eyes to understand the truths of the Christian faith. However, almost as quickly I could see him push this to one side. I suspect that what inhibited him was the cost of following Jesus, that is to say, the need to pass from Christianity being an interesting thing to talk about to become a radical new way of life. A way of life that involves submission to God. Relying upon God and not ourselves. His interest in the group waned relatively quickly and he stopped coming after a while.

Joe was like the seed in verse 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. The devil stops the word from becoming established in some people's heart.

Rachel came to our church prior to her wedding. Her relationship with her fiancée was not very stable. She prayed a prayer of commitment with Melanie and myself in our lounge one Saturday afternoon. We tried to dissuade her from taking this step because we felt that she was not ready. But, she insisted and came to church and the group for a while. We felt that she thought that becoming a Christian would solve all her problems. It didn't, in fact attendance of church and the group caused problems with her husband. She stopped coming to the church and the group. Her marriage did not last long either. Rachel was like the seed in verse

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. The faith of some is shallow, and will not survive.

Ann started attending our Enquirer's Group enthusiastically after her daughter had been attending our Sunday School. She prayed a prayer of commitment and had a file in which she diligently kept her Bible Study Papers. She had a problem attending church because the iron bars that strengthened and decorated the church doors brought unpleasant memories of her first husband's imprisonment. We prayed for God to deliver her from this fear, which He did, and she started attending church regularly.

Her second husband was very possessive and this, combined with other home and family pressures resulted in her falling away. Ann was like the seed in verse 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.

Ruth and her husband, Andy, came to church following the Baptism of Zoe. Zoe was born prematurely and had been in the special baby unit for weeks before she could come home. Ruth started attending church regularly and joined the Enquirers' Group. She came to faith and God transformed her so she became lively and outward going. Eager and quick to learn about the Christian faith she was a committed member of the Enquirers' Group that went on to become a House Group which the Vicar took on when we left. Ruth wrote articles for the Church Magazine and was involved in the setting up and running of a Mums and Toddler Group that has proved to be very successful.

Andy came to faith nearly two years after Ruth had committed her life to Jesus. They have recently felt that God was calling them to lead one of the Sunday School Groups and they told the Vicar of this unaware that the leader of the group had handed in her notice. I went to Derby to see Andy confirmed a few years ago, and Andy and Ruth are now leading one of the children's church groups. They are like the seed in verse 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

One 'Postscript', if I may...

We should beware of not giving God enough time to work in people's lives. Just as a seed grows slowly and almost imperceptibly, so people's growth can be slow and gradual, almost secret. Helen came to our first Enquirers Group and gave her life to Christ. She became pregnant with her seventh child. Her sixteen year old daughter became pregnant by her boyfriend, and her husband lost his job and was unemployed for a while. Despite being given pastoral support from myself and others Helen stopped attending the group and church. I feared she had been choked by the thorns of life.

Over a year after moving here we had a letter from Helen. She shared how she had come back to the church and to the Christian faith, and how grateful she was for the foundations that had been laid in the Enquirers' Group.

I mentioned earlier that I had gone to Derby to see Andy confirmed. In that same service two of Helen's children were also confirmed !

This parable tells us that we can expect different responses to the word of God. Some people will be hard to the gospel. Some will be shallow. Some preoccupied. Others open and receptive to God. We should not take it personally when someone fails to blossom, although that does not mean that we will not feel disappointed.

This parable also reminds us that we need to sow the word. To liberally throw it out ! It involves risk. It is only after you sow that you discover if a plant is going to grow well, even if the ground appears to be good. No farmer ever got rich by failing to sow his seeds because of the risk that some of them may not grow well.

How do we sow ?

By living for Jesus. By sharing with people what he has done and is doing for us. By praying for people, that God the Holy Spirit will make them grow vigorously.

PRAY