Sermon Tone Analysis

Once Upon A Time - 1

Introduction

I am a pretty veracious reader.

I love a good turn of phrase, or even a rich metaphor that can bring so much meaning and imagery to only a few words.

Recently I came across this list of not-so-rich metaphors and similes.

- “He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.”

- “John and Mary had never met.

They were like two hummingbirds that had also never met.”

- “The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil.

But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.”

- “He was as lame as a duck.

Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a landmine or something.”

- “Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.”

We are familiar with the power of metaphors.

They help us paint a mental picture and they tell a story.

We use these figures of speech to help us grasp something that can be hard to understand.

Today we begin a new series called “Once Upon A Time.” Throughout Luke’s gospel, Jesus taught using various metaphors.

Some of Jesus’ most well known stories are parables found in Luke: The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, The Rich Man & Lazarus.

These are not just quaint stories with moral lessons.

They are descriptions of life in God’s Kingdom.

They tell us who God is, what he is like, and what he expects of us.

Occasionally, we even catch a glimpse of how he sees us.

Jared Wilson - The parables are postcards from heaven.

“Wish you were here,” they say.

Supernaturally, however, they can transport us exactly to the place they depict, the place where God’s kingdom is coming and his will is being done on earth as it is in heaven…Once upon a time, a king came to earth to tell stories, and the stories contained the mystery of eternal life.

TS - today let’s look at the first parable Jesus ever told.

- 4 One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him: 5 “A farmer went out to plant his seed.

As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it.

6 Other seed fell among rocks.

It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture.

7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants.

8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil.

This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

This parable centers on a very agrarian image, something very familiar to everyone in his audience.

In that day, farmers would go out into their fields and throw seed out in long-arching throws.

It could look chaotic, but there was a method there.

This was the best way to ensure good coverage of the entire field.

They threw seed everywhere because they were hoping for a great harvest, which is the entire point of farming.

Inevitably, though, in throwing out seed this way, some seed would fall into places it wouldn’t do any good.

Some would fall on the road.

Their fields didn’t have fences as borders, they had well-worn walking paths.

Beaten down and rock hard from years of people walking on them.

And in that arid climate, they would have been as hard as concrete.

No seed is getting in.

Other seed would fall in the rocky soil.

This isn’t really referring to soil that had some rocks in it because any good farmer would have removed those rocks himself.

A geographical anomaly in Palestine is that much of the ground is a limestone shelf covered over by no more than a foot of dirt.

Plants would take root in the shallow soil and would grow for awhile.

They looked great at first, but couldn’t get into that limestone.

So with no roots, they would wither and die.

Still other seed would fall among weeds and thorns.

You could plow up some weeds, make the ground look nice.

Some farmers even burned their fields to where it looked weed-free.

But if the roots remained, they will definitely grow back and grow more quickly than anything else.

You can throw seed in there, and it will grow…but it’s not the only thing growing in there.

Plants may get a start but will get choked out eventually.

And of course, there is always the seed that falls on good soil.

Soil that has been prepared, cultivated, ready for seed.

Jesus is very clearly emphasizing the difference in the soils.

The difference isn’t the farmer.

It’s the same farmer scattering the seed.

The difference isn’t the seed.

It’s the same seed going out.

The difference is the condition of the soil.

The differentiating factor between an abundant harvest and a dead field is the condition of the soil.

Jesus’ followers hear this story and they immediately perceive that it’s not about farming.

Jesus didn’t come to the earth to give advice about crops.

They want to know what’s going on.

Jesus will give them the truth that some people have no interest in God and, though they may hear, they won’t understand.

TS - Jesus will then go on to confirm what the disciples thought…this story isn’t about farming.

It’s about people.

- 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word.

12 The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved.

13 The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy.

But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.

14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life.

And so they never grow into maturity.

15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

As you will see over the next few weeks in this series, this parable is unique in that Jesus gives a detailed explanation, a point-by-point breakdown.

The seed is God’s Word, the truth of the Bible spread out into the world.

As Christians, we recognize how this seed has spread.

Whether it is while we sing songs of faith, reading the Bible on our own, hearing a good sermon, during our LifeGroup…God’s Word is scattered through it all.

But have you ever wondered by people respond so differently to God’s Word?

Some embrace it, others reject it.

Some weep for joy, while others cry out in repentance.

As someone who preaches every week, it astounds me that two people can hear the same sermon but respond in vastly different, even opposite ways.

Which tells me this…it is not about the farmer scattering seed, and it’s not about the seed.

There is something else at work here.

Jesus says the secret to those different responses is found in the heart.

It is the status of the heart that determines what the seed will do.

We don’t make the seed grow.

That power and potential is already in the seed.

All I can do is make the conditions right for the seed to do its thing.

But while we can’t make grass grow, we can keep it from growing.

I could spray industrial Roundup on it.

I could pour gas on it.

I could neglect it.

And it will die.

Same is true spiritually…we can cultivate the soil of our hearts, but we cannot create the harvest.