A Christmas Harvest: It's for the birds

Introduction/Scripture

Matthew 13:1–8 NIV

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Matthew 13:19 NIV

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

Pray.

Christmas Curmudgeon

Background of text/Advent outline

During our advent series we turn to a parable taught by Jesus on the sower of seeds in the different soils. This is our framework in the coming weeks as we prepare yet again for the incarnation of God in the child king. This in many ways is an odd lens to consider the coming Jesus but one that I believe to be timely. So we will become very acquainted with this text.

From Wesley Allen:

A parable is metaphor, drawn from nature or common life, which arrests the hearer by its vividness or strangeness and leaves the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise interpretation or application to tease it into active thought even to the point of altering one’s world-view.

This parable is in a unique place in the gospel of Matthew. In the height of Jesus’ teaching and public ministry which includes miracles like healing sick, demonic, calming a storm, a man born paralyzed.

Jesus has been showing them what the kingdom of heaven looks like and consists of. Now he will teach them about the kingdom with a series of parables.

This parable is the first one that he tells standing from a boat speaking to multitudes. It is positioned first because it describes the people that are able to grasp what is going on and those that cannot.

To do that he describes a farmer that indiscriminately casts our seed. Common for this time, the practice would be in some cases to put the seed on the back of a donkey and cut open the bag

(grab seed bag?)

Seed would fall everywhere. Yes there were areas of turned up soil but some places would receive seed and it would not be the right soil.

He describes 4 types of soil:

the seed that falls on hard ground for the birds

the seed that falls to rocky places but still found only shallow soil

the seed that fell among thorns, and were choked from life

And the seed that fell to the good soil and produce an immaculate harvest

The image is easy to grasp, especially for agrarian audience. But it is to us as well. However we resonate with the disciples when we ask...

Jesus, (whisper) what does it mean?

And so Jesus does some teaching to the disciples and he does a rare thing and gives commentary to the parable:

hard ground are those that lose the message quickly because of the enemy

the rocky places, are those that receive with joy but it just does not take root enough before trouble or persecution

The thorns are the worries of this world or pursuit of materialism

But the good soil is the one who understands it.

This is the framework for advent for us. Notice the farmer does not stop to place the seed. The kingdom of God goes out, the word goes out, Jesus comes to us whether we are aware or prepared or not.

But for those that understand a HUGE harvest is possible.

One more piece of context is important

How could anyone miss it?

In the midst of Jesus preforming miracles and teaching with authority, the question might be…how can anyone miss it? Much less reject him! I have always been fascinated with Pharisees that see Jesus heal a man on the sabbath and then go hey dude, you broke the law!

This is in their day! This is where Jesus enters this teaching. He even quotes Isaiah:

Matthew 13:14–15 NIV

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

There are some that will not see it. They will not hear it. There will be some that do not understand it.

There are many here today that will experience this on different levels.

And each soil tells the story of why.

I am a Christmas Curmudgeon

I dont want us to be us to be a Jesus curmudgeon...

For the Birds

The Jesus curmudgeon loses the seed to the birds.

Have you every heard the saying, it’s for the birds?

It seems to have originated in WW1 making it to print for the first time in 1940s but evidence that it was around during the war is out there. From what I can tell this saying had a certain 4 letter word in front of it and it referred to the fact that manure, cattle droppings in the street or in a pasture was a place you would find birds pecking out things to eat. Gross visual. It means the only ones that find this important are the birds.

It means useless, meaningless.

The fact is the kingdom of God is for the birds. The coming of Christ, at least the true meaning and the true implications are for the birds. and lest we think we are all getting a pass here cause, you know, we are in church, I think we would be productive to lean in a little.

The adversary

When Jesus explains the parable, he actually assigns meaning to the birds:

Matthew 13:19 NIV

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

The evil one is the translation here. One those most assign to the satan or adversary or accuser.... that Jesus faces in the wilderness and refers to on several occasions. Sometimes scripture calls him the tempter, destroyer, deceiver… and Jesus calls him the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).

Now we do not have the space this morning to do a full exposition of Satan here. That will be for another time. but to see Jesus throw out there the evil one is the responsible party for what happens to the first seed…It is not a throw away line. The best context we can look to is John 8 for this.

An interesting back and forth with Pharisees that are getting salty with Jesus. Let me set the scene. Things are already testy with those that are angry with Jesus “blasphemous teaching” and he gives this famous teaching:

John 8:31–32 NIV

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Insinuating slavery for those that do not believe in him. This begins the boiling of the pharisees. They respond:

John 8:33 NIV

They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

(We have never been slaves, which is ironic, because they have)

So then Jesus gives them a gracious response: this is not the slavery you think of, this is about spiritual slavery.

Jesus accuses them of doing the work of their father (he is implying the evil one) and it sets them off. After they accuse him of having illegitimate parents, Jesus lets them have it bluntly:

John 8:42–47 NIV

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

A couple of things I want you to see here:

For Jesus, Satan is very real. If you roll your eyes on this one…I do not have time to argue with you today. See me later. But notice your inclination right now to dismiss anything else that comes and hold that there. Just hear me out. If you shut this off then you are in the same place of Jesus’ audience, those that do not have ears to hear.

Satan is the father of lies. In the wilderness Satan offered Jesus a bunch of half truths. It is the story of the serpent and the garden all over again

The bible tells us that there is evil at work in this world and we are usually unknowingly party to this work.

CS Lewis puts it this way:

“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” -C.S. Lewis

Let’s look at a few examples:

Macro level:

Human slavery, human trafficking. There are between 20 and 30 million slaves worldwide. 90% of victims were abused in their childhood. In the US, nearly 1 in 3 are children. Texas is the second worse state.

Racial injustice. Even when we see a clear act of injustice, there are people that try to co-op a message and distort it on both sides. There are lies that take place on every level to turn it into bipartisan arguing and nothing really gets done. The father of lies convinces us on every level that the most important thing, more than human life, is to be right.

Micro level:

“The heart wants what the heart wants.” Have you heard this phrase? Have you ever used it? You know where it originated or at least became popular? 2001 Time magazine interview with Hollywood director Woody Allen when it was found out that he was having an intimate relationship with his partners adopted daughter. She was maybe 18 and 35 years younger. And her mom was Woody’s spouse. He was challenged by Times reporter repeatedly about whether he thought something was wrong....

“The heart wants what the heart wants.”

We cringe at this. But we also live it in so many ways.

Divorce, porn, addiction, consumerism, you name it.

The soil is in no shape to receive anything. The seed falls on a footpath. It receives the activity of people. It is a place of activity and busyness but not one ready or in position to receive anything like a seed.

Let’s bring all this together:

Understand the Word

“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches it away”

“Understanding” is a theme in Matthew’s gospel. Mark and Luke do not use this phrase. Understanding is not just an intellectual assent. But it is about standing under the meaning. It is about making the message one’s own. Standing under his teaching in obedience and walking in it.

Some might say that this week’s soil is more for people outside the church. But I dont think so, I look around this room, myself included, and I see folks fighting through recovery, or need to. I know there are marriages that are believing lies, I know there are individuals fighting to know what it means that God has entered the world, their pain, their struggle. And if you are in this room wrapped in lies, maybe this is your chance to fight through it. To even say my heart is hardened here.

And for all of us in the coming weeks. The seed goes out. what is the state of your soil?