Matthew 13.18

Matthew 13:18-23

Dear Friends in Christ,

A few years ago, I purchased some seed packets. I planted the seed and waited for what I had planted to come up, but all that came up was grass. The seed packet was either mislabeled or somehow grass seed had been mixed in. And I wasn’t the only one. I mentioned this to a friend, and they said that the same thing had happened to them. I’ve also had packets labeled “bush” beans that turned out to be poll beans instead.

These experiences helped me recognize something about the Parable of the Sower. Jesus tells us that the seed in the parable represents God’s word. The seed the Sower sows is good seed. It is always100% pure. No matter where it is sown, no matter how often it is sown, it is always the same. It is always good. God’s word never changes. From Adam and Eve until today the message is the same. It is the good news that salvation is the free gift of God received through faith in God’s promise of a savior. It is the power of God for salvation.

As we heard in our reading from Isaiah, the seed of God’s word is powerful and effective. Wherever it is sown, there will be results. It will not return empty. Wherever and whenever the seed of the word is sown it will point out sin, it will call for repentance, and it will point people to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. When the word is constantly ignored and rejected, it is powerful and effective in bringing judgment. When it is received and studied it is powerful and effective in creating and strengthening faith. God’s word may not seem like much. It may seem as insignificant as a mustard seed. But it is always good seed, always powerful and effective.

God’s word is good seed. Jesus encourages us to receive it gladly and to sow it freely.

When God’s word is sown, whether it is through preaching, or teaching in Bible class, catechism, Sunday School, high school, or college, or through personal reading and study of the Scriptures, Jesus says that word will fall on various kinds of ground. He lists four, hard, rocky, weedy, and good.

Most often when we hear this parable we think of the different kinds of ground representing different kinds of people, but it is also true that these different types of ground may also describe our own hearts on different occasions of hearing the word.

When God’s word is preached, taught, or shared, sometimes it falls like seed on a rock-hard path. Satan is right there whispering in the person’s ear, saying things like—“Who does this person think they are telling you that you have sinned? They are no better than you are. Why listen to them?” Or, “What is this nonsense about the Trinity, or Baptism saving infants, or being saved because someone died on a cross 2000 years ago. How stupid do they think you are?” Or, “Salvation by grace? For Free? Nothing is free, there must be some catch.”

Let me give you an example of how Satan snatches the word away through such arguments. There was a man who Emailed me one day wanting to discuss salvation by grace alone, based on the Scriptures alone. I presented what the Bible said and he kept answering, “But common sense says that there must be something you contribute, good works must count for something!” I continued to send him Scriptures about salvation by grace alone and he finally responded, “you see, that’s what you come to if you stick to Scripture alone.” At that point we broke off our discussion. Then, a few months later, I heard from him again. He had come across the joint statement on justification produced by Rome and the liberal Lutherans. He said, “see, we were in agreement all along!” He reminded me of what Jesus was talking about in these words, 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.

Sometimes when the word is sown it is like seed that falls on rocky places. Jesus says that this is like a person who gets all excited about the message of forgiveness in Jesus and the power of God but never gets any farther. Their knowledge of the Bible is very shallow. This is what often happened in our country’s “tent revivals.” A preacher would put up a tent, preach his 3 or 4 best sermons, get very emotional, and 100’s would “get saved.” But, as soon as the tent was gone, so was the religion of these people. A year or so later the tent would go up again and the same people would “get saved” again.

A similar thing is happening in many churches today, the ones that stress entertainment more than preaching the word. Many of these “feel good” churches also have prosperity preachers. You have probably seen them on TV or heard them on the radio. There is a lot of singing and praising God and waving of hands. The preacher talks about the blessing of being a Christian. He says, “If you really believe, if you really serve God, then God will bless you, he will heal your sicknesses, shower you with money, give you a great marriage and obedient kids, etc.” People get caught up in this shallow, feel-good message, but, as Jesus says, When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

The Bible says that life won’t always be rosy, even if we are faithful Christians. Look at the example of Job. Think about the Apostles. John was the only one of the apostles not executed for preaching the gospel and he was exiled to an island. Trouble and persecution will come, even to the most faithful Christian, because we are sinful people who live in a sinful world. Jesus wants us to be ready so that when trouble and persecution do come we don’t fall away.

When the Word of God is sown some of the seed falls among weeds. The word has the effect of creating faith, but it is unfruitful. Like weeds in the field, something is keeping it from reaching its full potential and producing its highest yield. What is making it unfruitful, Jesus says, are the cares and worries of life.

It is interesting that Jesus uses the same word here that Peter does when he encourages us to Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. How easy it is to drift off during a sermon, or a Bible class, or even reading a Bible devotion. It’s so easy to let your mind wander, to think about paying the bills, or how long the corn can last without rain, or what to eat for lunch. It’s so easy to justify skipping devotion time, or church, because we convince ourselves that we have more important things to do. After all, we have to care for our families, and the chores don’t do themselves. How easily the cares of this life choke out the message of God’s word.

Jesus says that what chokes the word and makes it unfruitful might also be the deceitfulness of wealth. How many excuses that have to do with money don’t people give for not being in church or for not reading the Bible or having devotions! “I have to work.” “When I have X in the bank, then I’ll have time for the word.” But Solomon says, whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.

Yes, we may be able to look around and find people we think fit the examples Jesus has given us in this parable. But we must also realize that the finger points at us as well. There have been times when we heard the word and we let reason argue with the clear word of God, so that Satan came and snatched the word away with his clever arguments.

There have been times when we were undergoing some trial in our lives and didn’t want to hear the person who brought us the word and reminded us that God works in everything for our good. There have been times when we have wondered if it’s worth being a Christian because when people found out about our faith, they ended their friendship with us or openly mocked us.

There have been times when we have allowed the busyness of life to take over, when we were so busy with work, or with the kid’s sports, or making sure we watched our favorite show, and kept up on all the new posts on social media that we didn’t think we had time for God’s word.

These examples don’t just describe other people; they describe us at different times in our lives when the word of God has come to us. As we recognize this, may God grant us strength to resist temptation, the humility to repent and better organize our busyness so that we receive the word of God gladly every time we hear, read, and study it.

When the word of God is sown some falls like seed on good soil which then produces a bountiful harvest, 30, 60, 100 times what was sown. Only by the grace of God and by the power of God present in the seed of his word does this last example fit us. Our hearts, by nature, are just as hard as anyone else’s. But God used his law to break up the hard soil of our hearts. He softened our hard hearts with the gentle showers of his love. He brought us to faith in Jesus, planting the good seed in the good soil he created. As we continue to hear, read, and study the word, the seed planted in our hearts gets watered and fertilized. It grows into plants that produce fruit, all the things we do each day out of love for him and to bring him glory.

Jesus’ Parable reminds us of a very important truth. All we can do is sow the seed. As we do, we don’t waste time trying to figure out if the person we are sharing the word with has a heart that’s hard like a well-trodden path, or one that has rocks beneath the soil, or if there are lots of weeds nearby. We can’t determine what kind of soil a person’s heart may be. We don’t have that ability and it’s not our job. Our job is to sow the seed of God’s word. Sow it freely. It’s good seed and there’s an unlimited supply. Share the good seed of the word with everyone you can, whenever you have the opportunity. Share the good seed of the word over and over again with the same people. You don’t know what the condition of the soil of their hearts might be at that moment. We sow. We share the word freely and often. Someone else may water what we have sown, but only God can give the increase.

Sow freely, and watch for God to produce a crop, 30, 60, 100-fold. Sow freely. You may never know in this life how God used the seed you sowed, but what a joy it will be to have people come up to us in heaven and tell us what God did for them through the seed we sowed.

God’s word is good seed. Receive it gladly whenever you hear, read, or study it. Sow it freely and watch with joy as God provides the increase.