Sermon Tone Analysis

Our Scripture this morning comes from Mark 4.

These are the words of our Lord,

Thanks be to God.

Ex-seedingly Great Love

Have you ever bubbled over with excitement?

Sure you have, we all have.

Whether it was that new toy as a child, a new relationship as a smitten teen, a new car, a sought after job, a dream vacation, or the love of your life - sometime in our lives we have bubbled over wanting the world to know about what the new “love” of our life was.

In polite society, it’s frowned upon to be such a pollyanna, but in that moment we just couldn’t help it.

If you were within the circle of friends you were going to hear about it; and sometimes whether you wanted to or not.

Our Scripture this morning is a lot like that.

We read:

The action of sowing and the role of sowing is to scatter the seed over tilled ground typically.

A note in a commentary revealed that the word, “sower” here is difficult to translate because of the way in which the subject is sowing.

Seed is valuable as it leads to the next crop.

That crop then provides the next seasons food.

Yet the sower in this parable is not careful at all with the seed.

As we read this sower seems to throw the seed indiscriminately.

Seed falls on the path, vs. 4, on the rocky ground, vs. 5, among the thorns, vs. 7, and finally some makes it to the fertile soil, vs. 8.

Such carelessness is seen as waste.

In an agrarian culture everyone would seemingly know what would happen if you scattered seen along the path, or the rocky ground, or among the thorns.

They already knew why you were supposed to sow the seed onto the fertile and prepared soil.

Once again, Jesus is countercultural.

He goes against the grain.

So why would he be telling the people that gathered around him on this particular day this story?

The disciples would ask the same thing.

And they ask Jesus why He speaks in parables.

And he goes on to explain the parable:

There’s a challenge here for us isn’t there.

When we are sharing the Word of God, we don’t know who God has prepared to receive it.

So the challenge is to share the Word.

And yet, that is where we get uncomfortable isn’t it.

If I were to challenge each of you to share Jesus with someone intentionally this week many of you would be squirming in your seats.

What would I say?

Who would I share it with?

Is there a tried and true process I should follow?

How am I supposed to do this?

When we hear the word evangelism, or the call for each of us to be an evangelist, we conger up imagers of tel-evantleists, or people shouting on street corners.

And perhaps that is one way for evangelism to take place.

Yet as we read this parable it’s more mundane than that.

Note how it begins, again.

A sower went out to sow.

Of course a sower sows, it’s inherent to who the sower is! Yet the sower of Jesus’ parable is not confined to the fertile fields one would typically think of a sower sowing.

No.

This sower seems to scatter seed wherever they go: On the path, over the rocky soil, among the thorns, and in the fertile soil.

It draws me back to the Shema from the Old Testament.

In other words, you shall talk about them everywhere.

That’s evangelism.

It is a part of who we are.

The word evangelism comes from the Greek word for Good News.

We are the embodiment of the good news.

Ex-seedingly Great Love

This past week in preparation for this sermon, I’ve been thinking a lot about evangelism and how it relates to our current culture.

We imagine that the message is already out there, but our culture has missed a significant part of it.

Culturally, we celebrate Christmas.

Despite all the non-religious displays, I doubt that many out there would not be able to point to the fact that it is a day we celebrate Jesus birth.

Culturally, we also celebrate Easter.

Looking in the stores I see the Easter baskets, the egg dying kits, the eggs, etc. Again, despite all the non-religious displays, I’m sure you could find a majority who realize that Easter is celebrating the resurrection.

So what’s missing?

Life to eternal life - there’s something missing.

It’s death.

Now you’re saying, “Well, Pastor John, that’s a happy topic!” Hear me out.

Our culture holds to the promise of life after death, of heaven and eternal life.

But our culture skips over death itself.

There has to be death before there can be resurrection.

And as we saw way back in the garden of Eden, death was an act of mercy from God so that we would not have to live eternally in our sin and separation from God.

When we come to the cross with all our guilt, all our sin, all the evil in our hearts, God lifts our heads to gaze upon the crucified Christ.

There is our sin.

There is our guilt.

There is our evil.

It’s all on the cross.

The ball and chain of our sinfulness has been unshackled, and we can sing that chorus we sing:

My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.

My God my Savior, has ransomed me.

And like a flood, His mercy reigns,

Unending love, Amazing grace.

And we can see past the cross to the glorious rising of the Son in the resurrection.

Free.

Free from sin.

Free from pain.

Freedom in Christ.

In Christ, you are no longer who you were.

That is freedom.

That is life.

That is what God calls us to be.

And who would not want to share that freedom?

That is ex-seedinly great love.

Thanks be to God.