The Sower and The Soils

Introduction

What is your favorite parable? I know you have one. What’s your favorite parable? If I had to guess, I would venture that to many of us it would be maybe the story of the prodigal son or of the Good Samaritan. Those are parables that strike at real emotions that we have in our relationship to God and our relationship to our fellow man. This morning I’d like to talk to you about a parable, one of my favorite, if not my favorite parable, and it’s a parable that coincidentally relates to our theme this year: Rooted and Built Up. And so if we reverse the question, and you were asking me what is my favorite parable, and I told you that it related to our theme, you’d probably be at an advantage of being able to guess what my favorite parable is.

What if I gave you one more hint, and that is that it was found in Matthew chapter thirteen? And I invite you to turn in your New Testament to Matthew chapter thirteen this morning, where we want to talk about the parable of the sower. We’ve slightly altered the title of this parable for our purposes this morning, and we want to call this parable, as you know, three components. There is the sower, there is the seed, and there’s the soil. We could spend a whole lesson just talking about the seed, couldn’t we? The seed that Jesus will identify in his explanation as the word of God. It would be impossible for us to overemphasize the importance of the word, the gospel, that’s the power of God to salvation.

But this morning I’d like for us to focus on those two other components that are more in our control. And that is the sower and the soils. And we’ll do that in reverse order. But before we do that, let’s reacquaint ourselves with this very familiar parable by reading the first 23 verses of Matthew chapter 13. Will you read with me? On the same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered together to him, so that he got into a boat and sat. And the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside. And the birds came and devoured them.

Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth. And they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. And he who has ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came to him and said, Why do you speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has to him more will be given, and he will have abundance.

But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive.

For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Therefore, hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who receives seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received the seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

But he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understand it, and he who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

1. The Seed That Fell Along the Path

Because Jesus not only tells the parable, he not only explains the meaning of the parable, but he tells us the purpose for parables. And so it helps us to understand the meaning of this parable, the purpose of parables, and therefore every other parable, really, that Jesus would tell, needs to be understood from the context of why he told parables. And so let’s talk about the sower and the soils this morning. Let’s first talk about the soils. The seed fell upon four different types of soil. Now we might point out at the very beginning here in the discussion of these different types of soil that two things did not change in all four of those scenarios. The one thing that did not change was the seed. The seed was the same everywhere that it was sown.

The second thing that did not change was the sower. It was the same sower who sowed the same seed. The only thing that differed in the reaction to the seed being sown was the soil. The only thing that differs in the reaction to the word of God being preached is the heart of the individual listening. And so some of these seeds fell along the path.

And so it just laid right there on that almost concrete like surface. Just asking for the bird to come and take it away. This illustrates the heart. It illustrates the mind, the closed mind of an individual, the one who refuses to hear and to understand. We have an expression, don’t we, that kind of relates to this parable. We might talk of someone, and you’re trying to convince someone of something, and someone else might say, don’t bother yourself. It’s like talking to a brick wall. Nothing’s getting through. That’s the idea of this well-worn path of this hardened heart. And this could be the result of maybe mental laziness. It’s someone who doesn’t have that desire to know more, who doesn’t have that desire to know why we are here, where are we going?

Who is God and is there a God? It could be the result of really mental arrogance. This idea that I have it all figured out. Don’t confuse me with the facts. The idea of not wanting to be curious and to know more and to learn more. It might also be the idea of mental fear. Because if I hear this and understand it, it’s by its very nature, this word is making demands of me. And I’m not willing to accept those demands, and so I’ll avoid those demands by simply just not listening. This stubbornness is seen in other areas of life, isn’t it? You may have a history of cancer in your family, and you began to show some kind of symptoms, and you refuse to go to the doctor because somehow we think if the doctor doesn’t say I have it, then maybe I don’t have it.

2. Some Fell Upon Rocky Ground

That type of fear can be applied spiritually. I don’t want to change my lifestyle. I don’t want to accept the demands that God and the gospel is going to place upon me. So I will not listen. That’s the wayside soil or the path that the seed fell upon. And remember what happened to that is Satan came and snatched it away. Then some fell upon rocky ground. Now we may think of rocky ground as ground that has some rocks in it. That kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? But really, that’s not the type of soil that Jesus is describing here. He’s describing kind of a layer, a shelf layer of limestone or of rock with just a little bit of dirt on top of it. So that the seed can penetrate that little bit of soil on the top surface is soft enough that the seed can penetrate, but the roots can’t penetrate.

And so it can grow, but it can’t bear the sun. This illustrates the one who has a shallow faith. That there’s no depth there. One who would quickly say, Yes, I want to go to heaven. Yes, I want to get my life right with God. And so let’s do this. Without ever doing what Jesus demands of his followers, and that is to stop and count the cost. Yes, you want to go to heaven. Yes, you want to get your life right with God, but are you really wanting to make the commitment and the demands that the gospel makes of you? Someone has said it’s not easy to be a Christian, but it’s easy to start. That’s true, isn’t it? It’s easy to respond to the gospel in some emotional moment by some stirring lesson or sermon or by some shaky event in your life that just startles you, and you just want to come forward and you’re willing to do that.

3. The Seed That Fell Among the Thorns

That’s easy to start that. But what’s far more difficult is to find the root system that establishes that faith for the long term. I can think of no greater contrast than that type of shallow faith than of the deep rooted faith of the apostles, who faced hardship and sacrifice and persecution and demands that we can’t even think of. But they were not shaken. The same sun that withered and burned up the plant with shallow or no roots was the same sun that strengthened and enhanced the plants that had that deep root system. Then there’s the third type of soil, the soil, the seed that fell among the thorns. We’re getting maybe, if we were arguing degrees here, we’re getting increasingly better, aren’t we? We might think.

But let’s never fail to recognize that three out of these four all really ended in the same place. With no productive plant being grown. And so this is a seed that is sown in soil that’s infested with the seeds of thorns. And so the seed is there, it penetrates, but it’s not the only seed that’s there. It has competition. And this really illustrates the idea of the crowded life. And I think, as we said, that this soil gets increasingly better, we might think, but I think the soil increasingly gets closer to hitting the home to most of us. We have a hard time relating to that wayside soil, don’t we?

We might can relate to that shallow soil. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we can certainly relate to this crowded soil. That the seed is there. The faith is there. But so are so many other things. And those things are crowding and choking our faith. A plant grows, but it doesn’t produce. And one thing we understand from this part of the story is that the devil doesn’t give up. He doesn’t walk away in defeat because the seed has penetrated the soil. He doesn’t throw his hands up in disgust and give up because roots take their place and the plant begins to grow up. He just changes his tactic. He can no longer be that bird who just comes along and snatches the seed away, but he’s got other weapons at his disposal.

He can sow something else. He can sow sin or doubt, or he can just sow distractions into our lives. So that we’re never really that productive plant. And never forget this, the whole point. This is a lesson not just from ornamental growing of plants. This is a lesson from agriculture. And in agriculture, the seed is only sown for the intent not to grow a plant. The plant is just the vehicle to produce the fruit. And so just because a plant grows, success hasn’t been achieved. Success is only achieved when it bears fruit. And the whole idea of bearing fruit in the Christian life is just the idea of being productive for God, doing something, being active, sharing, giving, caring, loving, all of those things that really are the produce, the product of a Christian life.

The whole point of the seed being sown. And if we think of it in this context, that I think is the intended context, then this seed sown, has produced the same amount of fruit as the seed that landed on the path, and Satan immediately took it away. Oh, this seed looks better. But it’s just as unproductive as the other.

4. Be the Good Soil

This was the soil, this was the heart that was receptive enough to take the seed in. It had the depth, unlike the rocky soil, to allow the roots to grow deep. And it was clean from the distractions and the crowdedness of this life that gave that seed a chance to grow and to be productive. It is this soil, it is this heart that allows the seed to be own in, down, and up, to borrow the words of our theme this year, it was rooted and built up. That was the point of the seed. A good listener is one who understands that message, who receives it into their heart, and holds firm to the word of God. I think about James in James chapter 1. Turn over there with me.

James talks about the reception of the word of God. In James chapter 1, he says, beginning in verse 19. We looked at this text before, but let’s look at it again. James 1, verse 19, so then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. Let’s pause there. So many times we look at that verse, James 1, verse 19, is this kind of a proverb. A proverb that means you need to do less talking and more listening. That’s not really what James is saying. James is not saying in your conversations or your interactions with your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors, you need to listen more and talk less. Now that’s probably good advice. Advice I wish I had followed so many times.

But in this context, what is James saying we need to listen to? My neighbors? My family members. No, it’s the word of God. Back up to verse 18, he says, of his, speaking of God, the Father of lights, of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures, so then, my beloved brethren, let everyone be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Because God has given us the word of truth, so then be swift to hear God’s word. Verse 20, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. You can get mad at the word of God, but that will never produce the righteousness of God.

The only thing that will produce the righteousness of God is for us to be quiet and listen to what God says. But he continues, verse 21, therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness. Like we say that this is the weeds that can crowd out the word of God. Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. You see, James is talking about the word in our reception of the word. James is saying, be the good soil, who will listen, unlike the wayside pathway, who will lay aside everything that might crowd it out, unlike that thorny soil, who will have that word implanted within them, unlike that rocky soil. Be the good soil, James says.

5. The Sower Who Went Forth to Sow

And only this good, and only this honest heart can take that word of God, the seed, mix it with their faith, and then produce something. To be that productive fruit-bearing Christian that will bring glory to God. That’s the soils on which the seed is planted. But let’s look at another aspect of this parable very quickly. This is the parable of the sower, not just the soils, but of the sower. And so let’s talk about the sower who went forth to sow. I think there’s lessons from that aspect as well. Let’s think about this sower who scattered seed. He scattered seed on unproductive soil as well as productive soil. I think one lesson we can learn from this parable, from this aspect of the parable, is that the sower’s job was to sow the seed.

Now that kind of self-explanatory, isn’t it? But that’s our job.

That they may see our good works and glorify the Father.

And we are to liberally sow that seed.

Whenever I read the parable of the sower, I can’t help but contrast it to my limited knowledge of growing plants and vegetables. When I was growing up, we always had a garden. We always planted. Mom always froze and canned vegetables throughout the summer that we would eat throughout the winter and share with others. And I can remember helping Dad to till the ground. And I can remember putting the seed in the ground. But one thing I never remember dad doing or teaching me to do was just scattering seed. That was wasting seed. You placed seed carefully. Dad would even space it out so that they didn’t grow too close together because they grow too close together, you’ve got to pull one up and throw it away.

You don’t waste seed. You carefully place it. And you don’t put seed over there. That’s not productive ground. You don’t put seed over here, it’s not going to produce anything. But that’s not the picture of this parable, is it? This sower is just sowing seed everywhere. Why did he cast seed on a piece of pathway that’s never going to receive and grow anything? The point of this parable is not to teach us to be efficient gardeners. The point of the parable is to teach how the word of God, when liberally sown, will do its job. And if I’m honest, I feel like maybe I fail at this. I sow seed the way Dad taught me to rather than the way that the Lord taught me to.

I’m careful with it. I sow seed like. Now, this illustration may go over the head of some of our younger members. But I sow seed kind of like I used to take pictures. You remember taking pictures with an old-timey camera with film? Now that we have our phones that have megabytes of memory in them, we take pictures and we are indiscriminate with our pictures. Take ten pictures when one will do. That’s not the way we used to do it, is it? When you got that roll of film and it had a limited number, and that camera would count down, constantly reminding you that you’re about to run out. And so you would hold that camera up and you go, nah. I’ve only got three left. No, no.

And we would just wait for just the right perfect picture. Because we didn’t want to waste them. Am I that way with the gospel? Do I feel like the gospel is some kind of limited resource, like seed or film in a camera? That it’s not to be wasted on unworthy people, that I am the decider and the arbiter who is worthy and who’s the good and honest soil. No. My job is to be as liberal with it. And really as indiscriminate with it. Because as Paul would say in Romans chapter 2, verse 11, God is no respecter of person. What gives me the right to be one as well? We need to also understand that the gospel has a dual purpose. This is uncomfortable to hear.

But the gospel has a dual purpose. Look at a couple passages with me very quickly. You remember our study in the book of Ezekiel? Turn over to Ezekiel chapter 2. Prophets, great prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, were told to go to the people, preach to the people. But they won’t listen. To which Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and some of the other prophets might have turned to God and said, Well, then why go? What’s the point? If they’re not going to listen, then why not just go ahead and condemn them? Save me the time and the trouble. But notice what Ezekiel was told. In Ezekiel chapter 2, verse 3 beginning. This is really the call of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 2, beginning in verse 3, he, that’s the Lord, said to me, Son of man, I’m sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me.

They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. For they are impudent and stubborn children.

As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious house, yet they will know that a prophet has been among them. Sometimes the gospel needs to be preached, even though it’s going to be rejected, so that the gospel will have been preached. Again, we don’t like thinking of it in those terms. We want that seed to produce fruit every time it’s sown. But that’s not the way it works. Sometimes the purpose of scattering the seed was just so it could be scattered. Just so a prophet of God might be among them. One other passage of scripture, look over in the book in the New Testament, the book of 2 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul powerfully illustrates the dual purposes of the gospel.

2 Corinthians chapter 2, look at verse 14. Paul talks about his preaching of the gospel and his sowing of the seed and the way it’s received. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 14. Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one, we’re an aroma of death leading to death, and to the other, the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? Some scholars think that Paul may have had, talking about leading us in triumph and an aroma. Some scholars think Paul may have in mind kind of the victory parade that soldiers and armies would come back home.

They’d gone away in battle against some neighboring village or country, and they’re coming back victorious, and then, as well as now, a victory parade is being thrown from them. And these soldiers would walk down these streets that many times would have been lined with flowers and the burning of incense. And to those soldiers, that strong aroma would have smelled like victory. That’s what it smells like to come back home having vanquished our enemy. But at the back of that parade would have been the captives, the ones who lost, who saw their comrades die on the battlefield, who saw their homes destroyed, who are now being brought back in chains to be slaves in this foreign land. And to them, that aroma would have been a stench of defeat.

The same smell, but two different responses. And Paul says, that’s the gospel. That through us he diffuses the aroma of Christ. To some, it’s the smell of death, but to others, it’s the smell of life. You see, the gospel has dual purposes. Our purpose is just to sow the seed. And it is God, as Paul would say also in the book of 2 Corinthians, that it’s God who gives the increase. Don’t diminish the power of God, the power of the gospel to save, and the power of the gospel to condemn. By being greedy when it comes to scattering the seed.

Conclusion

Which soil are you? What’s the condition of your heart this morning? Is that good and honest heart, that heart that will listen to the word of God, receive it with meekness, as James said, and allow it to be implanted in your heart and let it grow up. Produce some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty. Will you be that good soil this morning? Would you receive the gospel of Jesus Christ? Can we help you in that obedience so that you might have life and have it more abundantly? Would you come right now, as together we stand and as we sing? Would you be free from the burden of sin?