Which Soil Are YOU?

Pray

Introduction

The parable of the sower, you’d THINK, was an easy parable to preach on. There are 4 soils representing 4 different people…People who hear the word of God but respond in different ways.

I mean, how hard is that to understand?

And yet, I’ve wrestled with this text for most of the week. And every time I come back to it, I hear the words of Jesus in verse 13...

Mark 4:13 ESV

And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

And I’m thinking to myself - I DID understand it, until I started to look into it - now I’ve no idea what it means.

And some of the commentaries ignore some of the issues - others have been helpful.

And one of the more helpful commentators reminded me of this…

Parables were meant to be heard, not studied

So, what we should really do, is listen to the parable and try to understand it in the same way as those people on the shore would understand it.

Cos we’ve got to remember, that this parable was meant for the people on the shore. The disciples and a few others ask Jesus what it means and he explains it to them, but the parable wasn’t meant for them ALONE - it was meant for those on the shore - and THEY didn’t get an explanation of it.

And if THEY didn’t get an explanation of it but were meant to GET IT, then we need to be careful not to get too bogged down with Jesus’ explanation…which is handy, cos when Jesus explains it, I’m lost.

So that’s what we’re going to do today.

Pause

Now, before we get into the parable, I really feel that we should look at verses 11 and 12 first...

Mark 4:11–12 ESV

And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”

Now when I read this earlier, some of you may have thought to yourself, ‘this doesn’t make sense’.

And to me, it didn’t make sense either - and commentators have sweat blood, it appears, over these verses. And we’re not going to go into this in any detail, cos I want to talk about the parable, but in case you were wondering… It looks like Jesus is saying this...

‘OK, disciples, you’ve been given the secrets of heaven, so the difficult stuff is easy for you to understand. But for everyone else, I have to speak in stories and plain English SO THAT THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND ME.’

But that doesn’t make sense. A parable is when Jesus uses every-day language and every-day scenarios in order to HELP us to relate to what he’s saying, to make it EASIER for us to understand.

So, the long and short of it, as I understand it, is this…Jesus is quoting from Isaiah, and he’s talking about a time when people are so SPIRITUALLY DUMB that they hear but they can’t ‘get it’, or they see, but it goes over their heads…AN BECAUSE OF THAT…Jesus is saying… because of that, I have to break it down into simple terms so that they can get what I’m saying.

Pause

Now, this middle bit is essential here - cos Jesus’ parable about the sower, is about how different people respond to his parables.

Bring that forward to today, and it is a snapshot of how people, today, respond to Jesus’ word, as preached from the pulpit, or read from scripture.

And here’s the critical thing -

Jesus is telling it LIKE IT IS.

In this whole parable, at NO POINT does the soil become central - there is NO summons to be ‘good soil’ and there is no warning about being like the path, or in the weeds and so on.

Jesus is simply saying, ‘When I speak, and when I teach, there are some people who are like this…there are some people like this....and there are some people like this....” He’s telling it like it is - there’s no call here to DO anything.

Or is there?

Pause

Let’s look at the different types of soil quickly for a second…and of course, I’m going to be asking the question, ‘which one are you?’, so ask yourself that as we go through them.

So a farmer sows seed. The seed is the word of God. Now, ask yourself - why would a farmer sow seed? The answer, of course, is to produce a harvest. And THAT should be in your head the whole time - which scenario produces the most fruit?

Firstly there is the seed sown on the path.

Mark 4:15 ESV

And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

In Jesus explanation, He says that Satan immediately snatches them away. Simply put, these are people who have no real interest in God. They don’t believe in God, they are indifferent to the gospel or even hostile to it - they’ve NO interest in Jesus or his message.

So when they hear the word of God, maybe when walking down Bow Street, they ignore it - Satan is at work in them and doesn’t let them ponder it.

Am I saying that all non-Christians are Satanic? NO, but if you’re not for Jesus you’re against him, and if you’re against Jesus then you are, by default, on the side of Satan - which is why the word of God is not fruitful - cos Satan snatches away the word.

I’m pretty sure you won’t get many of these people in church today, but they are here.

Pause

Secondly, there are those who are on rocky ground.

Mark 4:16–17 ESV

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

This doesn’t mean stoney ground…more likely there was a layer of soil over a load of limestone. So the layer of soil was only a couple of inches deep - not deep enough for any plant to take root.

These people, Jesus says hear the word, receive it with joy. So they make some sort of commitment in their life to Jesus. They maybe pray the ‘sinners prayer’, or they come to church and pay in perhaps in some way - there is some sort of lip-service to the Lord - but the minute a crisis arrives then they denounce their faith... ‘Where was God when I needed him?’ Or if someone slags them off for being a Christian, they decide it’s not for them.

Notice again, with these people - there is no fruit…there is NO harvest. There’s something sprouted - it LOOKS genuine faith, but it’s not. The minute things get though they’re outta here.

Sadly, I think our churches are full of these people. They hear the word week in, week out, they look like they have a faith of sorts, but there is no fruit.

Pause

Thirdly, we have the thorns…

Mark 4:18–19 ESV

And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

These are a bit like the previous ones - maybe somewhere in between. They are like those people who sit in church and hear the word week in week out, like the rocky ground, but they are too focused on other things, like career, or looking good, or keeping up with the Joneses or whatever - they are too interested in what’s OUT THERE and being like the rest of the world that they look no different from them…and they aren’t shining their light in the darkness - and they aren’t bearing fruit.

Pause

The last scenario is the good soil...

Mark 4:20 ESV

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

The ones who hear the word, receive it and bear fruit. In other words, people who are transformed by the word and apply it to their lives.

These are the ones who come to church expecting to be changed. These come to worship WANTING to be challenged about their sin cos they want to bear fruit. These are the ones who will gladly accept someone pointing out that they aren’t living right - that they harbour un-forgiveness, or bitterness. These are the ones who are glad if I point out that their gossip is damaging.

See, these aren’t perfect, sinless people. That’s NOT what good soil is…But they people who value what it is to be a Christian, and so everything they hear from the pulpit and everything they read is applied to their lives. They come to the word of God, either preached or read and say, ‘Lord, speak to me and change me so that I can be more like Jesus.’

These people bear fruit - but not just a bit of fruit. 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold are bumper harvests. 10-fold would be excellent back then. What Jesus is talking about is incredible harvest.

Pause

Now, once again, there is no call by Jesus to be ‘good soil’ - you are whatever soil you are. Which soil are you?

Hard question to ask - easy to check…are you bearing fruit?

OK, so what does that mean?

Among other things, it means this…that your life has been impacted by the word of God that you seek to impact others. This harvest - 30,60,100-fold - was much greater than the seed sown.

The harvest was much greater than the seed sown

And so, you can assess if you’re bearing fruit by how you’re living your life. How are you serving God? How does YOUR life impact others for the sake of Jesus Christ and the promotion of the gospel?

How are you talking about Jesus to those people you meet in work or neighbours or on the golf course? OR ARE you even talking about Jesus?

How are you talking about Jesus to your children at home? Are you praying before dinner, having times of worship at home? Are you reading the bible and praying with your children or grandchildren?

That’s bearing fruit, cos you’re passing on the seed…it’s multiplying.

And...

You are good soil if, when Paul or I speak on forgiveness, you ask yourself, ‘is there anyone I need to forgive?’ and you ask the Spirit to help you go and forgive that person regardless of whether or not they are sorry.

You are good soil if, when Paul or I speak on love, you ask yourself, ‘is there anyone I find hard to love?’ and you ask the Spirit to help you love that person, or those people.

You are good soil if, when Paul or I speak on giving, you ask yourself, ‘do I give God what’s due to him?’ and you ask the Spirit to help you to prioritise giving to GOD before spending on yourself.

That’s being good soil.

But as you let the word of God impact your life, your life, your goals, your attitudes will change and affect others around you for Jesus…and thats when the harvest is reaped.

Pause

If you’re NOT doing that, then which of the other soils are you? And, more importantly, can you change what soil you are?

Like I said at the start - Jesus is simply stating it like it is…this is how people receive my word. There’s no summons to be ‘good soil’ - this is just the way people are.

But if you’ve recognised that you’re not bearing fruit then what can you do?

And, like I said earlier, I think that in many churches the majority of people are on the shallow rocky soil. They LOOK like they have a faith but they aren’t doing anything with it and they aren’t bearing fruit.

Remember, this parable was to be heard, not studied…and the take-home message is this - am I bearing fruit? Am I producing a harvest?

So, can we change our soil?

Pause

Short answer - no we can’t.

Now here’s some encouragement.

Cos I’ve heard testimonies of people who were so hard hearted and had no interest in Christ, and yet the word of God impacted them and they gave their lives to Jesus and their change was incredible. At some point in their lives their soil changed.

But think about it…who changes the soil? The one who sows the seed - the farmer. That’s who.

The farmer straps a plough to the oxen and makes the soil good to receive the seed…so it’s God who prepares our hearts to receive the word. And it’s God who germinates the seed and produces a harvest.

We can’t change our soil, but God can!

God is the one who changed the heart of the paramilitary man who is now a presbyterian minister.

So if you’re not bearing fruit for Jesus and you recognise that you’re not - ask Jesus to prepare your life so that you every time you hear the word of God preached, or when you read it yourself, you are constantly asking God to change you. Ask God to show you the weeds that are in your life that you need to pull out and burn - because they will choke the word.

Ask him to give you a deep root in Jesus Christ to weather the storms of life and persecutions should they come your way.

The strange thing is that, by doing that, you’ve heard the word of God, you’ve received it, and you’ve applied it to your life. Only time will tell if you’re good soil or shallow soil. Cos, don’t forget, the shallow, rocky soil, also heard the word and received with joy…but they didn’t bear fruit. The measure of your soil is in the fruit you bear.

Pause

And a word of encouragement to those who are serving God...

Be faithful in sowing the seed…be true to the word of God and don’t deviate from it. Because it’s the word of God that is living and active - nothing else. Only the word of God bears fruit. But if you’re true to the word of God and you sow it, there WILL be some seed that falls in good soil. You might never realise it, but in every scattering of the word of God there will be someone who takes the seed and bares fruit.

There will always be someone who has good soil

Jesus is telling it like it is. So this happens EVERY TIME you sow the word of God. Some will not take an interest, some might pay lip service, others might get distracted…but there will ALWAYS be SOME who hear the word of God, receive it, and it bears fruit in their lives.

So I hope that this morning, for some of you, God’s word will change your life.

I hope, for some of you, that you’ll approach the bible or Sunday worship, or Wednesday midweek asking God to speak to you and to change you as a result of hearing the word.

And I hope that you let that impact others for the sake of the gospel.

Pause

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

Let’s pray.