What Kind of Sermon Listener Are You?
Notes
Transcript
The title of the sermon today is What Kind Of Sermon Listener Are You?
Today is Homecoming Sunday 2023. At homecoming there are often at least some people present who we don’t see all that often either because you go to another church or you’ve just gotten busy and out of the habit. But regardless, you’ve come home today, and we are very happy to see you.
Homecoming usually draws a crowd. The story we’re looking at today in the book of Matthew is a story about an event that also drew a crowd. So many people crowded around Jesus on this beach where He was that He had to get in a boat and push off the shore just to be seen and heard.
And these crowds, they had a choice to make. Just like you and I have a choice to make. Is Jesus going to be just a good person, a wise teacher, a revolutionary? Is He just an entertainer, just a good speaker, someone who does miracles? Or Is He Lord, and God, and Savior? It He is, we must make a response to Him.
And that was Jesus’ message to these crowds. When you hear the word preached, how will you respond? Will you turn away in boredom? Will you make a hasty, impulsive decision that you son’t be able to follow through with? Will you make a commitment but then cave under the pressures of life? Or will you, instead, hear His word preached, really hear, hold on to it, and bring your life into alignment with it? That was Jesus’ challenge to this crowd. And it is His challenge to this crowd gathered here today.
May the Lord bless the preaching of His word.
[SLIDE: THE BORED LISTENER]
#1: Are you the bored listener?
#1: Are you the bored listener?
Jesus opens up the parable this way in verse 3. “A sower went out to sow.” Continued in verse 4: “And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.”
[SLIDE: WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?]
What does it all mean?
“seed” = message of salvation
“sower” = person sharing the message
“soil” = the person hearing the message
Different types of soil are different ways people respond when hearing
Now, in our parable, again, just so you’re tracking with me: the “seed” is the gospel, the message of salvation. The sower is the one speaking or sharing the message of salvation — anyone, whether a pastor or a missionary or an evangelist or any ordinary Christian faithfully speaking or sharing that message. And the soil is the person hearing the message of salvation. The different kinds of soil represents the different ways people respond when they hear the message of salvation.
So to transfer this to Buffalo Baptist Church on June 6, 2023, I am the sower, my sermon is the seed, and you are the soil. This parable is about four different kinds of soil. Four different kinds of sermon listeners. Which kind of sermon listener are you?
Why do I say this is the bored listener? Verse 4: “And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.” As the farmer goes about his work of casting seed onto the soil that’s been tilled and prepared, some of the seed inevitably falls outside of the field and on the edge of the road where people walk.
The road where people walk — it’s hard ground, dry ground. This ground is not tilled, not prepared, not ready to receive seed. The seed the falls here never stood a chance of growing and developing into grain.And so when the seed falls on this soil, on the pathway, there’s nothing for the seed to do but sit there and be trampled on by people walking or in this case eaten by birds.
[SLIDE: Matthew 13:18-19]
“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
Now Jesus’ disciples later are asking him what this all means. And Jesus explains it. And this is how we know this is the bored listener. Why does the bored listener not respond to the gospel? Because they don’t understand what they hear. “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path” (Matt. 13:19 ESV).
What’s the key reason why they don’t understand? It’s not because they’re not smart enough. The message is simple enough for children to understand it. And anyone who wants to understand is a willing listener. God is not going to deny you understanding of His word if you want it.
So the main reason people don’t understand the message of salvation simply this: they’re not really paying attention. And why are they not paying attention? It does not interest them.
And listen, it’s harder today to appreciate preaching than probably at any other time in the history of the church. We have Bibles on our shelves and in our hand. We have our Bible apps open on our phone. In those apps we have instantaneous access to dozens of translations of the Bible. We have at our fingertips what countless previous generations of believers would have loved to have had.
And yet we have less interest in the Bible than any other previous generation of believers. Why? Because we are more distracted that at any other time in the history of the church.
Technology has changed and developed that is a good thing. But what has not changed is the fact that God still uses the preaching of His word to save sinners. He still uses the preaching of His word to sanctify the saved. That has not changed.
And so we may be less interested in preaching than previous generations were. And we may be more distracted than previous generations have been. And we may find it harder to focus on the preaching of the word than previous generations, and yet we are still to hear the preaching of the word, to listen, to seek to understand it, and to apply it to our lives.
And some of you may say, “Well, Pastor Dustin, if preaching were more interesting, then I would be more willing to put the effort into hearing it and understanding it.”
You know what, that’s a great point. We preachers must do all we can to not be boring. We preachers must do all we can to keep working at being interesting, at communicating the word of God in a persuasive and compelling way.
But may I tell you something in love? At the end of the day, the Lord holds you accountable for the preaching you heard, not the preaching you wanted but didn’t get. I don’t get to disobey the speed limit just because the speed limit sign isn’t in my favorite color. Do you get what I’m saying?
[SLIDE: MATTHEW 13:19]
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
This is serious business. Someone else is active in the preaching event. Did you catch that? It’s not just me preaching and you listening. Jesus says “the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart” (Matt. 13:19 ESV).
Verse 19 implies that Satan is actively attending to the preaching event. He might be paying closer attention to what I’m saying than you are.
Actually, I believe the devil is paying attention to two things when the Word is preached. He’s paying attention carefully to what is preached. He’s paying equally careful attention to you, to distract you, so, he can take it away. Just as the birds snatched away the seed because it had nowhere else to go, Satan is watching you to see if the word you’re hearing preached falls flat in your ears because of a lack of interest. And if it does, he snatches it away from you.
Don’t snooze. Be alert. Write it down. Preaching is a serious event where eternal destinies are at stake.
[SLIDE: HEBREWS 2:1-3]
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
[SLIDE: THE IMPULSIVE LISTENER]
You may be the impulsive listener.
#2: Are you the impulsive listener?
#2: Are you the impulsive listener?
We see the impulsive listener in verses 5-6. Jesus says, “Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rise they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away” (Matt. 13:5-6 ESV).
The bored listener doesn’t want to understand and so the bored listener does not try to understand, and the devil exploits that opportunity to take it away.
The impulsive listener does understand. But the impulsive listener goes further. Jesus says the seed on the rocky ground “immediately sprang up.” This means the impulsive listener understands and delights in what he hears. It means something to the impulsive listener. It inspires the impulsive listener.The impulsive listener wants to take it and make changes in his life. The impulsive listener is eager to do something, eager to make commitments and resolutions for Christ.
But all is not well with the impulsive listener. New believers need roots to get them through hard times. In Israel, there’s a layer of limestone rock just underneath the soil. This means sometimes that seed can’t put down roots bexause there’s not enough soil between the grass and the rock to support a root system. There’s nowhere for the plant to go but up. But no roots means no nourishment, no moisture. So when the scorching Palestinian sun rises, the plant can’t survive the heat. It withers away.
And in the same way, the impulsive listener is not rooted. The impulsive listener does not have staying power. The impulsive listener underestimates how hard commitment will be. And when things get hard, they fall away. Hear what Jesus says about this later on:
[SLIDE: MATTHEW 13:20-21]
As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
The storms in Cherryville two weeks ago seem to concentrate their worst winds right through the neighborhood we live in. I saw some storm reports that estimated winds were between 65 and 85 miles per hour based on the damage. Just down the street from us, a huge branch fell into the living room of a house on the left.
Our house and the three or four houses surrounding us didn’t have much damage from trees because our trees are smaller. They aren’t 40-50 feet high like some of the trees down the street. There wasn’t as much surface for those trees to catch the wind and be uprooted.
But the ones that did fall — it’s not like these trees were in poor health. These were old, healthy trees, some of them with trunks that were several feet in circumference. Across the street, one tree that was uprooted pulled so much dirt and roots up with it that it you stand in front of the base of it, now sitting sideways above the ground, it’s taller than I am.
My point is that if those big, healthy trees were uprooted, unhealthy trees with dying root systems didn’t stand a chance.
The world is getting harder for believers. Persecution is increasing around the world. It’s becoming increasingly challenging even for American believers to live faithfully as Christians without being pushed to the edges of society. What do we do about that? We can try to elect Christians and change laws. But that’s temporary. What we need to get stronger ourselves. We need to be ready for persecution when it comes. How do we do that? We put down roots. There is only one way we do that. We get into the Bible and live there.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Are you the impulsive listener?
[SLIDE: ARE YOU THE DISTRACTED LISTENER]
#3: Are you the distracted listener?
#3: Are you the distracted listener?
Tell me if this ever happens to you. You’re listening to someone giving a talk or preaching a sermon. You find that you’re constantly checking out. You’re trying to listen, but you keep finding yourself thinking about completely unrelated things. How you hope you can mow the grass tomorrow before it rains or you need to make sure you don’t forget to return someone’s text message before too late at night. You find yourself checking out like that.
Then you notice what’s happening, and so you stop yourself, maybe you feel a little bit of frustration or some guilt, and then you try to focus again, and for a while you can, until you find yourself checked out again, and you repeat the process.
Would you like to know why that happens? When you’re listening to someone speak, most speakers are talking at the rate of about 120 words per minute or about two words per second. But the human brain process information that you hear at the rate of about 500 words per minute.
That means that when we listen to someone talking, we usually wind up racing ahead in our own minds. We know what they’re going to say before they say it, or at least we think we do.
You say, “Pastor Dustin, listening to a sermon is hard work.” It is hard work. Even when I listen to someone preaching, I’m fighting the same kind of distraction. That kind of distraction is normal. There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just a result of the difference between how fast people speak and how quickly we process what they speak. [Chuck Swindoll, pp460-61]
So when I talk about a distracted sermon listener, that’s not the kind of distraction I’m talking about. That’s not the kind of distraction Jesus is talking about. What kind is he talking about?
[SLIDE: MATTHEW 13:7]
Look with me at verse 7 at the third kind of soil.
Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
The seed falls on the soil but this soil is surrounded by thorns. The thorns choke out the life in the seed so that if it does spring up, it won’t survive.
[SLIDE: MATTHEW 13:22]
As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
This where the hardships of life make being a Christian hard. Let me give you an idea of how this happens.
In October 2020, Shannon and I both wound up being sick with COVID. We didn’t get terribly sick but we got sick enough to not feel like doing anything. Before we got COVID, we were doing really well with family devotions. Every morning before I went to work, we would read the Bible, the four of us, and pray together. We had really gotten the habit firmly in place.
But when we both had COVID, we stopped. We didn’t have energy. It was hard to get back on track after that.
This is the kind of distraction that Jesus is talking about. But it’s not just hardship on Monday that distracts us from the word we heard preached on Sunday. It’s just the normal stresses of life. Jesus calls them “the cares of the world”. He’s talking about schedules and meal plans. He’s talking about broken appliances or having your car in the shop. These are just the normal, minor disruptions of life.
But there’s something else he says distracts us. Not just hardship or normal stressors of life, but the deceitfulness of riches. The pursuit of wealth. Working overtime to have more in the bank not because you need it to pay bills or save but to live at the lifestyle you’re accustomed to. Missing church eight out of 12 Sundays in the summer to go to the RV or the beach house. The deceitfulness of riches.
The normal disruptions of life. The pursuit of wealth. Jesus calls these things the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. And the point is that these things competing with us for our allegiance. The Bible says “no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Substitute anything else. You cannot serve God and sex. You cannot serve God and power. You cannot serve God and selfish ambition. You have to make your choice.
“Choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh 24:15 KJV).
The crowds that Jesus preached to on this day, they had to make their choice. Notice back with me in verse 2 — who was Jesus’ audience this day? The disciples? No, the crowds. Who were the crowds? The crowds were the masses of people who had an interest in Jesus. They had heard exciting things about him. He was a very, very good speaker. He worked miracles. Some of the crowds would become disciples, but mainly the crowds were there for the show.
This meant that they were fickle. Easily swayed. Today they’re admiring Jesus. In a short time the same crowds would be standing before Pilate, yelling, “crucify Him”! They were happy to follow Him around as long as He made them happy and entertained them; as soon as it became hard to follow Him, or as soon as they were offended by something He said, they would be gone. They had to make their choice. And most of them would choose something else, someone else.
You notice, right, that there are four kinds of soil? Only the fourth kind — one-fourth — only a minority would respond with faith to what He had to say.
We all have to make our choice. You, church, have to make your choice.
Homecoming usually draws a larger crowd. Sometimes for homecoming there are people present who are like the crowds. You’re here for the show. “Enter by the narrow gate,” Jesus said. “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life — and notice this — “and those who find it are few” (Matt. 7:13-14 ESV).
It would be good for all of us know what a true, saving response to the gospel looks like. The fourth kind of soil shows us that.
[SLIDE: MATTHEW 13:8-9]
Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Notice that here the soil is good. No thorns. No hard ground. No rocky places. The soil is good, so the seed falls, takes goes down into the ground to take root, and then comes up out of the ground to bear fruit. That’s the key part. It bears fruit.
As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
[SLIDE: LUKE 8:15]
As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Call for response
Call for response
[SLIDE: TITLE SLIDE]
Are you the bored listener? Are you the impulsive listener? Are you the distracted listener? Or are you, as I hope,
Each of us must make our choice. Jesus says “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:23 ESV). Some of you haven’t committed your lives to JEsus, and you think all is well with you anyway. You think, “I’m not against him. I think highly of him. I just haven’t gone all the way in my commitment with Him.” But my friend, that is a commitment against Him. There is no neutral ground. You must make your choice.
My friend, make your choice for Jesus today. Come to Him in sincerity today. Tell Him, “I’ve been straddling the fence. But I want to belong to you. I believe in you. I believe you are the crucified and risen Son of God. Forgive my sins. And help me to live henceforth for you.” You won’t be perfect, but when you do fall He’ll reach out His hand to you, lift you up, and he’ll say, “are you ready to try again?” Keep on doing that, until He returns or you die and see Him face to face.
If you make a commitment to Him today, tell me or tell pastor Shawn or one of our deacons. So we can care for you and walk alongside you in your new life of faith with Jesus.
You and I are great sinners. He is a greater Savior. Committing to Jesus is a no-brainer.