Every couple of weeks the Elders meet at Denny’s at 6am for breakfast. It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it. We do it to hold each other accountable but of course it’s nice to have a cooked breakfast at the start of the day. The topics for discussion are often very challenging. At the moment, we are using the book “The Man in the Mirror” to prompt discussion. Last time we discussed Chapter 3 “Biblical Christian or Cultural Christian”. We all moved in our seats a few times because we are living in a society where it is very easy to be just like the culture. We all aspire to be Biblical Christians but sometimes when we check, the reality doesn’t match up. The chapter is based on the Parable of the Sower found in Mark 4:1-20One striking feature of this parable is that the scattering of the seed seems a bit haphazard. You are left with the impression that as much seed fell on the path as fell in the rocks, amongst the weeds as on the good soil. Surely this could not be the case! Any decent farmer would ensure that almost all the seed fell on properly prepared soil. Before you even start, there would be plenty of work completed. There is no mention that the farmer went through the process of deciding what to grow, purchasing the grain seed, preparing the soil by ploughing it, sowing in the right season, trying to prevent the birds coming with a scarecrow or something similar, watering the seed, watching for the new shoots, tending to the weeds, patiently waiting for harvest or going at once to harvest the crop when it was fully ripe. Is Jesus saying that the sower should just go about and preach the Word and no further action is required. If this is the case, we can neglect all preparation and follow up. No, I don’t think that’s His point. Perhaps sowing the Gospel is such dangerous work that the farmer runs in and out of the field as fast as possible scattering the seed in all directions so he can get out of there with his life still intact. No, I don’t think that’s it either.
I think Jesus is illustrating a principle of the Kingdom of God that the sower doesn’t know where the good soil is. The sower cannot see inside a person’s heart and know if it is ready support growth or not, so he casts his seed everywhere in the hope that it will find good soil. The response might be poor but he has to trust that the seed will grow. But that does not mean that preparation is not required and we don’t need to follow up with new believers!
A second striking thing about this passage is Jesus’ reason for speaking in parables. Isn’t it unfair of Jesus to use coded messages so that people outside God’s Kingdom will not understand, turn to God and be forgiven? The passage Jesus quotes is from Isaiah 6. This was a deliberate act on God’s part, as judgement on Israel because they had rebelled over a long period and were living in such sin, despite having God’s presence, the law and continual warnings from the prophets. Israel had no excuse to be ignorant. It had been trained from very young to know better. But it is a fact that doing wrong continually will dull your conscience. Eventually, you can’t see what’s wrong with what you’re doing and you cannot actually hear what God is saying anymore. This is what had happened to Israel. At that point God just confirmed in judgement what had been going on for some time. It is actually merciful for Him to do this, like any nightmare it is supposed to scare you and wake you up! That is why God says “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart…”
Do you know this week I read that the main reason Christians don’t read their Bible is because they don’t understand it. Now I had always thought this was because they were not giving it the right priority. But we ought to consider whether the lack of understanding is due to poor priorities, a lack of good teaching or is an indication that something is seriously wrong. With so much scriptural knowledge freely and otherwise available, there is no good excuse for a lack of understanding. So is it possible that the modern church has become like Israel, in danger of God’s judgement, having more security in the world than in Christ. That is a sobering thought.
But the Good News is that those in God’s Kingdom can understand it. Jesus called this parable a simple message. Even if parts of this parable scare you, that’s good. It means you’ve woken up! You are blessed. Blessed, if you understand the message. And if you have trouble understanding, don’t give up! Jesus said. “Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you”. Note that people who understand and put the message into practice, are given more and more understanding.
The parable begins with a decision by the farmer to sow some seed and out he went. Jesus explained that anyone who tries to bring God’s message to others is like the farmer in this parable. And the only way to sow good seed is to use the Word of God. All other things we do are to prepare the ground to sow the Word of God. Friendship evangelism, social events, Perk Up, Kiwi Games, Soccer Academy, the Community dinner are the means to prepare the ground. But in doing them, we mustn’t forget to sow the Word of God! Anyone can speak the Word of God not just the theologian, the preacher, those in full time ministry, the missionary, Christian writer or musician. The parent, the Kids Church teacher, the Bible in Schools teacher, the person working or at school …yes even you. So many times God comes to sow good seed through the ordinary person simply speaking from the Bible, especially the Gospel. Heaven will back you 100% to bring the Word but you’re going to need full backup. Have you ever noticed that speaking the Word is what takes the most courage and hard work. You really enter the battlefield when you do that – the devil does not want one word spoken of the Gospel. Because he knows Gods promise that it never returns void. That’s what he’s most afraid of. Think of all the people that have spoken God’s Word into life and thank God for them!
Are you like the farmer today?
I am not a biologist but I’m going to explain the Germination Process to you. The modern farmer doesn’t have to push a plough. In this day and age you have many tools at your disposal, and one of those is the internet and Wikipedia! The point of explaining the germination process to you is to give you the faith in the seed that you sow. The seed contains everything needed for growth and under the right conditions it will grow. That is the way God has designed it and that is the way his Word is also. The Lord declares, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55.10-11
Gods word to you is do not neglect to sow the seed!
The Gospel seed is very small but it can grow in virtually any conditions. In the parable, the only time it didn’t grow was when the birds came immediately and ate it. The message is so simple – “Jesus died on the Cross for your sins. Believe and receive eternal life”. You can tell someone the Gospel in less than 5 seconds. Time for that quick getaway again! Within the seed is all the DNA needed to grow a great crop. Each person receives the same power to be transformed. If the plant grows to fruition, it multiplies many times over the number of seeds from itself. The Gospel message is enough that if believed, will make a person born again and totally transform the person’s character so they are no longer recognizable as the person they were before. Once they grow to fruition, they are able to bring many others into God’s Kingdom. You can think of many people who have become Christians who are evidence of this truth.
Jesus teaches that the results are due to the difference in the soil type. The condition of a person’s heart.
• The first seed falls on the path which represents someone with a hard heart. This type of person is enjoying their life without God and sees no need to change. They see the message as judgmental and they brush it off very quickly. The seed just sits on the surface of the path and doesn’t penetrate below the surface, so the birds waiting in the trees or on the telephone lines come immediately to take the seed. You cannot receive the message if you do not want to change. A lot of people in New Zealand are like this. They need a scarecrow! They need a bulldozer to break up the path! We need to hire a contractor to get to these guys. We need God’s help to get below the surface.
• The second seed fell on rocky soil. This person is too shallow. They receive the message with joy but when trouble comes, they give up too easily. The roots only go so far. As soon as they encounter rocks they give up and go back. They have not gone deep enough in their relationship with God. They remember the good times from their life before and they turn around and go back. Sadly a lot of people in New Zealand would be like this if they did come to Christ because we are so used to our comfortable lifestyles. We are not used to being uncomfortable! How can the Church prepare for these people should they come in? There is a lot of hard work to be done to remove the rocks and replace with good soil.
• The third seed fell in the weed patch. This person’s heart has divided loyalties. New Zealand culture is full of weeds and it’s the weeds that prevent the seed from bearing fruit for God’s Kingdom. The weed is a plant but it doesn’t bear any fruit. There are many things we enjoy about our culture but they don’t bear any good fruit. The finer things in life often make us too comfortable and trap us into putting our efforts into pursuing more. We work hard and we get promoted and earn more money. We take on more debt and buy a bigger house, or invest. We want to ensure our kids get the best of everything. We work longer hours to support our lifestyle but we’re stressed. Soon we just want to relax and watch TV, listen to music, play games and do something else other than go to Church on Sunday or serve God during the week.
• The fourth seed fell on good soil, thank God. This is the only person who Jesus says understands and accepts the message. They put their faith into action. The difference here is this person brings others into the Kingdom of God. In Mark this isn’t specified clearly, just that the person bears a crop that is 30, 60 or even a 100 times greater than what was sown. But seed always produces after it’s own kind. In Matthew the same parable specifically states that the person brings others into the Kingdom. And we should always produce more than what has been sown into us. To whom much is given, much is expected. This part of the message has troubled me the most because only the person who brings others into God’s Kingdom is classed in this category. Of course we do not necessarily know the impact our lives may be having on others. We should not give up because we see little fruit. As with the man in Sydney we heard about a few weeks ago. We can still be like the farmer sowing seeds.
What is the soil in New Zealand most like? The people here are living carefree and easy. Compare New Zealand with Africa or China where many people are coming to Christ. There the soil is good but why? Well if we went back 100 years or more, the results there weren’t very good either. But the missionaries persisted in sowing the seed. A lot of hard work was done by them. But then God also allowed very hard times to come to those places in the form of wars, famine, disease, politics and persecution that softened people’s hearts to receive the Gospel. And in the past the message has had a good response in New Zealand after World War 2 for example. Sometimes God allows hard times to come into a person’s life so that they will wake up and be more receptive to God. We don’t like this thought but it is because God loves us that that He allows such things to happen. And notice that hard times can come to a nation or an individual to turn them around. We do not always know how God is working in someone’s life. Perhaps the people we know are more receptive than we think. There is certainly a lot of pain and heartache in New Zealand through divorce, broken relationships, alcohol, drugs, empty philosophies and shallow lives.
Different seasons in people’s lives can change the soil. Even good soil will turn to weeds if left alone. The Gospel seed can lay dormant in someone’s life for a very long time. What is taught in Kids Church today may not come to fruition until the person is much older. But when cracks appear in a person’s life, when a crisis comes and shakes them up, it turns the ground over and makes them realise they need to change. They get rid of certain bad things in their life – alcohol, drugs, bad relationships. They spring to life. Or if they’ve never really heard the Gospel before, suddenly they become ready to receive the seed.
The parable of the sower is not difficult to understand but it is very challenging. It troubles us over which ground we are like. It reminds us that we are accountable, that we need to bear fruit. But it also encourages us that we can accomplish much with small things. We can all be like that Farmer. Scattering seed is not difficult to do but let’s not forget to do it!
How does God’s message find your heart today – is it hard, is it shallow, is it full of weeds or is it receptive?
Today is always the right day to respond to the Gospel.
If God is speaking to your heart today, what are you going to do about it?
