Parable of the Sower

Pastor George Gipson

Crossroads Church/Wesley Campus      

Consider This Series from the Gospel of Luke

Each week Pastor Paul has been asking the question “How many of you have read the Gospel of Luke?”  So in keeping with that all of you who have read the Gospel of Luke please stand up…… 

Tonight we are going to be walking again with the Master….  I believe that Christ laid the ground work for using whatever was around him and in the culture as a backdrop for his teachings….  Teachings of the fig tree, the vineyard, I can see him sitting along the seashore calling them to be fishers of men…. Or holding a loaf of bread talking about leaven….  Tonight we join him on a path along a field, as he has been out preaching across the countryside that in my mind ’s eye has just been sown with seed.

It is an illustration point that brings me back to my childhood….  I was raised on a farm in Missouri.  My grandfather a farmer, and a very reputable horse trader was determined to pass down the back breaking history of farming.

Yes, we had tractors but what he wanted to hand down was not how to use a tractor but how to work a field and train horses. And I think to train a little boy to appreciate where we are now as farmers.  So other than Amish (And they are even using motors now) I was one of the few farm boys my age that was taught how to harness a team of horses….  The “North Pasture” became my training ground… 

I was taught how to swing a two handed sickle scythe and pitch hay into mounds…., use a seed horn bag to sow seed by hand, and harrow the plowed field after… to get contact between the seed and the soil.  So I think I get some of the nuances that he was teaching….

So join me on the path:  Let’s pray

Crosspoint: We are called to be cultivators of the soil

A young Israelite boy has been taken to the field by his Grandfather with an oxen and a plow…..

All day he plows the field with the oxen to loosen the soil and prepare it for seed….  But it is not quite ready….

The next day the Grandfather and the boy return to remove the rocks from the field it’s a small field (let’s see the North Pasture was only a few acres)  The Grandfather tells the boy, start in the middle and work your way to the edges….. you’ll know why by the end of the day.   So he starts in the middle picking up rocks and taking them to the edges of the field piling them on piles that have been there for years.  Thinking how can so many rocks come from such a small field?  By the end of the day he is grateful that he is not in the middle carrying them to the edge but is glad when the last few rocks along the field are only a few short feet from the edge….

The next day they take the path along the edge of the field with the cart of seed to the far end of the field….” you’ll know why by the end of the day”.  He loads his sowing bag with seed and begins to criss-cross the field from the path to the other side and back over and over sowing by hand…. Glad that at the end of the day it was a short walk from the end of the field home.

The next day they return to the far edge of the field with the oxen and a harrow that has some spikes tied to branches and begin to harrow the field back and forth ensuring that the seed has contact with the soil….. at the end of the day tired but fulfilled that he had accomplished the planting….. he sees a group people walking along the path of the field and they sit down on a pile of rocks….. he goes and joins them sitting down at a teachers feet for another life lesson…..

As he begins to say:

Luke 8:5-8:

 5 "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.

7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

When I follow Christ as he is teaching I try to place myself at his feet….  Who are those around me.  What is the point of what he is teaching…..  Most of the time I see deeper meanings and things in the scripture than just a read through….  What is the point of the lesson to the hearers of the lesson?  I enjoy the Gospels probably more than any of the other segments of the scriptures….  The law, prophets, epistles, etc…. 

Here we see a fairly intimate teaching setting but notice it points out that the 12 Apostles and the women that are supporting them….  He tells a parable….  I see Christ setting on a pile of rocks along the path by the field.  Because he is with his support group he also gives them an illustration of the answer to the Parable:

Luke 8:9-15

9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, " 'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'

11 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

So we have the listeners, the setting, and the master teaching and sowing the Word of God….  Let’s look at the four hearts of soil and cultivate the ground.  I believe that the first heart are those that are not moved by the word and remain unbelievers……  But the other three hearts represent those that receive the Word but have some heart conditions….

1)   Pathway Hearts

This is a rock hard heart it has been on the pathway of the world…. Walked on.  Perhaps hardened by sin, unforgiveness, pain, perhaps even ticked off at God for a loss, or a misplaced anger for circumstances etc….

Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

Satan Comes and Plucks the seeds

I see Christ pick up a seed from the path…. The boy knows that the birds swoop down and pick up the seeds on the path… he knows that unless that seed is covered and in contact with soil the birds could clean out all of the seed….   The boy knows that with a lot of labor and love even the path could be cultivated… but how.

These hearts are cultivated by the Holy Spirit…..  Until these hearts are sick and tired of being sick and tired and begin to crack… n cultivating of love can truly get in…. but the Master Continues to sow.  

How do we cultivate this soil?

Prayer

Prayer is the tool that activates the power of the Holy Spirit on these hearts…. God through the Holy Spirit is the only one that can even break hard hearts of enemies and turn them into Brothers and Sisters!

Continue sowing seeds of love

Praying and continuing to live out our faith in real examples and sowing seeds of love and Gods Word.  Even the boy knows that only a few seeds made it on the path because he knew that the soil needed to be prepared before it could grow.

2)  Rocky Hearts

Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

These are believers that hear the word but it his rocky hearts….  Hearts that are harboring sin, unforgiveness, etc…  The word hits a rock but they refuse to move the rock so that the seed can get to soil. 

The boy sees the seed sitting between a couple of rocks with just enough dirt and shade from the rock for it to sprout.  But without the rocks underneath being moved he knows the roots have no place to go….  They cant get to deep moisture of the ground. 

How do we cultivate this soil?

We are Responsible for Moving the Rocks

When we hear the word and it calls us to action and we rejoice with the hearing… a testing is going to come.  Every lesson comes with a testing.  Are we going to do what our lips confess?  If not we can stay as a rock pile…. Sprout up but when the sun comes out we wilt because we have not taken the actions needed to cultivate the soil.

3)  Thorn Hearts

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

The boy sees the edge of the field next to the rocks…. This is where transition to the field truly begins….  This is where the weeds and thorns grow up next to the rocks…  The harrow turns in this area so that it does not hit the rocks…  Even the hand scythe that he will use to harvest every year does not get to close so that he does not hit the blade against a rock…  He also knows that if he were to cultivate this soil he could get the seed to grow… after all it is the same soil it just needs to get rid of the weeds.

These are the hearts that hear the word have gotten rid of sin and rocks but are not putting it into practice…. It never matures past there, “what can God do for me” attitude and reach maturity in the faith where It is no longer about them but about others.  Perhaps it is the prosperity Gospel or legalism?  In the circles that I run it could be the “dry drunk”  no longer drinking, maybe even knows the big book and the program, but is unwilling to do the work to change his character defects and can never live out the promises.

They continue to think they have to control their situations and are not dependent on God as their provider …. After all God Helps those who help themselves….  And you need to put wheels on your prayers really resonate with them.  (Not scriptural)

So how do we cultivate this soil?

Pull The Weeds

Take on each one of the worries in your life one at a time… exercise your faith.  Look and see what God’s word says about it…  Put both hands of faith around it and pull it up by watching God remove it and see his faithfulness. 

4)  Fertile Hearts

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

The boy turns and looks at the field and he knows the labor that it took to for this to be a field and not just a pasture.  He has touched every rock and moved to the edge…. He will pull the thorns and the weeds because he has the desire to see the seeds produce a harvest.  He desires to hear his grandfather say “good job son”.

How do we cultivate this soil?

Desire

We have to want it.  We have to do the work.  We spend time with the Master.  In His Word, in prayer, in meditation, and walking listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit,  And putting it into action so that we do not look into the mirror of the word of God and then walk away forgetting what was exposed…. But desiring the change and seeking the fruit to give to the Master.

(Example of Desire)

Bring up an assistant for the demonstration:

Pull out your handkerchief, blow your nose (at least pretend to) drop it on the ground and tell the assistant they can have it if they want to pick it up.

Pull out a twenty dollar bill and tell them they can have it if they want to pick it up. 

What we desire is what we will reach for….  If we desire him… if we value him… if we truly want the Kingdom of God it takes work…. We are called to overcome…. We are called to cultivate the soil….

Then I hear the Grandfather’s wisdom as he turns to the boy and says it is not done…. 

You must come back tomorrow and pull the weeds….  Every year we turn the soil and we pick up more rocks…. And every year we have the food that we need and an abundance to bless others….  But if we stop cultivating  this field will go back to where it came a field of weeds and thorns…..

He says with a wink…. You’ll know why by the end…..

One last story of a Heart that I think that went through all of these stages yet did not continue to pull the weeds….  One of the most beautiful hymns that I love to sing…..  The story behind “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing:

Robert Robinson was born of lowly parents in Swaffham, Norfolk, England, on September 27,1735. His father died when Robert was eight and at the age of fourteen he was sent by his mother to London to learn the barbering trade. Here for the next he was associated with a notorious gang of hoodlums and lived a debauched life. At the age of seventeen he attended a meeting where George Whitefield was preaching. Robinson and his friends went for the purpose of “scoffing at the deluded Methodists. However, Whitefield’s strong evangelistic preaching so impressed young Robinson that he was converted to Christ. Several years later he felt called to preach and entered the ministry of the Methodist Church. Subsequently, he left the Methodist Church when he moved to Cambridge and became aBaptist pastor. Here he became known as an able theologian through his writings of many theological works as well as several hymns.

The hymn, text, written when Robinson was only twenty-three years of age, contains an interesting expression in the second stanza, “Here I raise mine Ebenezer-Hither by Thy help I’m come.” This language is taken from 1 Samuel 7:12, where the Ebenezer is a symbol of God’s faithfulness. An expression in the third verse, “Prone to wander-Lord, Ifeel it-Prone to leave the God I Love,” seems to have been prophetic of Robinson’s later years, as once again his life became characterized by sin, unstableness, and an involvement with the doctrines of Unitarianism.

The story is told that Robinson was on day riding a stage-coach with a lady, an entire stranger, who in the course of conversation spoke of Robinson’s hymn and the blessing it had brought to her soul. The author vainly attempted to turn the conversation into other channels, but when the lady persisted in referring to his hymn, he became agitated beyond control, and exclaimed, ”Madam, I am the poor, unhappy man who composed that hymn many years ago; and I would give a thousand worlds,, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Amen