2023.05.21 Parable of the Soils

Parable of the Soils

Psalm 107:1-15 • Mark 4:3-9

Mark 4:3–9 NASB 2020

3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Annette and I decided to plant a garden this year, so this parable is very pertinent to me in this moment.

There used to be a tree nearby our garden plot, so we knew tilling would be an adventure this first year. We weren’t surprised when we encountered a cornucopia of roots. But we also discovered rocks … BIG rocks; pieces of bricks - and then we unearthed a full cinder block! Wrapped around the block was an electrical wire. So we stopped while we waited for someone more qualified to verify the wire wasn’t connected to anything. When we resumed tilling, we uncovered another cinder block … and another … and another … a total of four complete cinder blocks under the ground. I found a steal support plate that was so deep I couldn’t remove it. So i dug a big hole to bend it down and bury it … and I discovered the walls of a former shed: about 2 feet of one wall and 4 or 5 feet of another. All we wanted was to till the ground to plant a garden. When we looked, we found all sorts of threats to good growth and safety.

That might be a good context to look at today’s Jesus Story.

You just heard the parable … I’d like to look at what follows this parable. If you have your Bible open to today’s passage, you may notice verse 10 begins with people asking Jesus about this parable and the parables right before it. We think of Jesus explaining parables to his disciples afterward, but notice the audience of this explanation in verse 10. The verse begins with “As soon as He was alone...” so this is indeed AFTER the event of his teaching. Jesus has pulled away, and who approaches him? Your translation may word this differently, but they all indicate that the 12 disciples were among the people who approach him … but this explanation is not just given to the disciples. You see that? NASB says, “His followers, along with the twelve disciples began asking Him. about the parables.” So perhaps one thing we can learn about Jesus is that anyone can approach him with questions. If his explanation is given to “His followers” … are you one of His followers?

Have you ever been told, “Don’t question God?” or maybe they said it something like, “Don’t question, just believe.” That’s not how Jesus operates. Our God can handle our questions, and look at the beginning of Jesus’ response in verse 11 - [NLT] “YOU ARE PERMITTED TO UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD!”

Not only are you permitted to ask questions … you are permitted to understand the mystery of God’s Kingdom! WOW!

We have around 30 parables from Jesus’ teaching in the gospels. This is one of only 3 parables that are found in all three synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. Only three! So this one left an impression on the early Christians apparently.

So… What does it tell us about GOD?

What do you learn about GOD from this story?

The seed of the Gospel’s good news can be choked out, and disregarded, and taken away. What does that say about our God?

Let’s look at Jesus’s explanation of this parable to find out.

Mark 4:14-20

Mark 4:14 NLT

14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others.

So, what is the sower scattering? God’s Word!

Mark 4:15 NLT

15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.

Have you ever known someone who has heard God’s Word countless times and just doesn’t get it?

Mark 4:16–17 NLT

16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.

These folks receive the Word, and flash with excitement about God’s grace and mercy. But they don’t continue. As soon as it gets difficult, they fall away … why?

Because they didn’t dig deep enough to let God’s Word take root in them. So they don’t last long.

Mark 4:18–19 NLT

18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.

“The worries of this life” some translations: “The worries of the world”: literally “the concerns of the times”

They heard the Word, but the ‘concerns of the times’ … ‘the worries of the world’ overwhelmed God’s Word in their lives.

Their problems looked bigger than their God, so they never produced any fruit.

Mark 4:20 NLT

20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

Of course, the good soil produces a harvest in multiples of what was planted.

So… What does this tell us about GOD?

What do you learn about GOD from this story?

Do you think God has the power to silence people who lie about Him?

Does God have the ability to only sow His seed on the fertile soil?

Does God have the ability to wipe out the rocky soil and the thorns?

Yet, He restrains himself. Why? [let them answer]

This may not be right on the surface, but if we scratch below the surface of this story, we’ll learn that God values Free Will. Is there any other reason for him to withhold silencing Satan, or force every heart to be fertile soil?

This is exactly the reason my favorite verse is my favorite verse.

Revelation 3:20

Revelation 3:20 NASB 2020

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Will God invade your heart?

Will God force you to let him in?

Will God push your door open?

NO!

Today’s parable, and Revelation 3:20 both demonstrate that God loves us so much, he won’t take away our Free Will … even when we use our Free Will to reject Him; twist His words; or choke out the truth of his word!

This story shows that our God loves us, and does not remove our Free Will.

What do you learn about HUMANS?

What do you learn about HUMANS?

Brad Meltzer is an author and a little bit crazy in some of his theories about some historical events. But I would file one thing he said under a blind hog stumbling over an acorn:

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. —Brad Meltzer

We have no idea what other people are dealing with. We don’t know their life situation. We don’t know their inner struggles. Even if we know the person very well … we simply do not know the depth of their hardships.

[soils graphic]

Some humans are situated near the road. So it’s very difficult to grow in God’s Word because passing traffic keeps blowing the seed away as soon as it’s sown. God’s Word isn’t taking root because it’s continuously ripped away as soon as it’s shared.

Some humans are situated around a bunch of rocks. There isn’t much dirt, so growing deep is extremely challenging because of the struggles they’re facing. On the surface, they look good. The plant grows leaves and looks like a healthy plant. But gaining depth is so hard. It’s just easier to fall away than to keep fighting to grow deep.

Some humans are situated among weeds and thorns and other plants trying to rob resources for their own survival. They sprout up, but the concerns of this life crowd in. “Life happens” and the resources they need to survive have been stolen by bills and health concerns and family turmoil and job worries.

Some humans are fertile soil for God’s Word. They hear the word and respond. They grow up and down at the same time. They grow up and stretch toward the heavens as they continue to scatter seed, and produce fruit for God’s Kingdom. They’re able to grow tall and strong because their root system is also growing. They’re not just opening God’s Word when the pastor talks about it. They’re digging into the Word and searching for deeper meanings and new insights. They know God’s Word is the Power of God for our salvation, and they want it all!

Here’s where I would ordinarily ask What Do You Learn About Yourself, but I want to leave this graphic on the screen.

Of course, we all fashion ourselves as the good soil. It’s always the other people who are in trouble, right?

But if we’re honest with ourselves,

we all have times when the Word seems distant and too hard for us to understand, right?

we all struggle sometimes with “life stuff” that keeps us from growing deeper in our relationship with God, right?

we all let the worries of the world choke out God’s rightful place in our lives at times, right?

As you think about these various soils...

Where are you today?

Have you been in this soil before? If so, what opened up the soil for you to grow deeper? If not, what might be able to break up the hard ground and make a way for your roots to grow deeper? Are there thorns or weeds that might need to be moved further away in order for your faith to grow fruit?

What is the battle you’ve been fighting that nobody knows about? How can we, as fellow Christians, help you with that fight?

That battle is keeping you from growing as deep as God wants you to. And God wants the rest of us to grow deeper as we help you fight.

What needs to CHANGE as a result of today’s Jesus Story?

What needs to change as a result of what you’ve learned?

Let’s pray...