Pentecost 7 (3YL)

The Text

Matthew 13:1–9 “On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.

Jesus message is doing what the prophets predicted, it is gathering the people of Israel to hear God’s word. So many in fact he has to get creative with the logistics in the moment.

Then he told them many things in parables, saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow.

If you can put some tools in your tool belt around parables they become much easier to interact with.

Parable is a story, its used to make a single point. There are two instincts that if you do not want to go overboard with. You dont want to give the parable too much meaning. To try and say the birds are demonic agents and therefore like the birds they have wings and beaks.

On the other hand if you narrow your focus too much you loose some of the richness of the parable and the context that the people of the time would have gotten.

A good place to start is just to focus on the characters as presented. Today we begin with a sower, or a farmer, who is out doing his planting. Note about planting then vs. now.

As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

We dont need to go searching for meaning here, Jesus explains the meaning for us. When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.

We might have experienced this where we shared God’s word with someone, we believe we do so with clarity, and yet they seem to lack understanding of its meaning. You think…what do I need to do to make this more clear. Sometimes its not the messenger or the message, is the evil one snatching away meaning, keeping it hidden.

Last week we talked about how Jesus does a work of revealing, this week we see that the evil one keeps away revelation.

Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Jesus is now warning against a faith that has no fortitude. Weather you have faith or not there will be distress in life. Faith is meant to answer some of those questions. but if we do not allow faith to go deep into us the overwhelming things will in fact overwhelm. And this is before we consider that faith itself might add to the cost. We might find our Christian faith brings persecution. For us here that unusual. but around the world it is less so.

Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it.

Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Here is the warning from Jesus about trying to fit faith into your basket of things. Oh here Ill have my faith, then Ill have my portfolio. Here Ill keep my hobbies and then my family. None of those are bad things. But they can consume you if the word of God and the faith it produces does not take a pride of place in you life. The weeds of these worres will choke you into not caring about God.

Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. Let anyone who has ears listen.””

But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.””

A 30 fold crop was a really good year, and from time to time the ancients recorded a 60 fold crop, 100 fold was unheard of. What Jesus is really focused on is the growth of the kingdom. There place where the reign of God has taken hold among God’s people.

Application

First: This brings us naturally to some applications: The question should not only focus on “are we seeing the kingdom of God advance to unreached people.” Is the kingdom of God advancing in you? Is Jesus bigger, is the scripture dear to you. Do you gather with the body. Are you experiencing the fruit of the spirit? Do you love your neighbor as yourself?

Second if the kingdom is not growing and bearing fruit within you, could this be the kind of reception you give the word of God and of faith.

Is faith failing to get into the deepest places in you core? Is it falling among the path. There is a reason religion is called the queen of the sciences, it answers the questions “why.” You do not set faith aside to then go to work or to care for family or to keep the house. But our faith is the reason we do these things. It underpins our daily life.

Is faith choked by the concerns of this world? Like I asked earlier are the things of our careers, families, hobbies just too loud for our faith to take a front seat. What kind of Reception is faith getting with you, in your heart.

Final application, this one is not like the others. Learn to read the parables. They are the way Jesus describes the arrival of the kingdom. They are the word pictures of what it means to have God reigning.

Conclusion

It is not God’s desire to remain hidden. He is sowing the seeds of his rule, and there are places where it does not take root and places where it does. Let us make sure that it rules here in this space and in us. Let this be an outpost of God’s ongoing work.