Matthew 13:1-9
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. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Matthew 13:18-23
“Listen to what the parable of the sower means: When someone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
A couple of weeks ago, after preaching the first part of our sermon series on the Parable of the Sower called “Good Dirt: Growing deeper in the gospel”, a farmer in our church invited me to consider joining him as he began the fall harvest of corn. So I drove out to his farm one morning and got to ride in the combine as he harvested 215 acres of corn.
It was great fun! For him it was just another day of work as he expects to spend almost 2 months harvesting acre after acre of corn and beans. But for me it was like getting to go on a ride at Disney World!
First of all, the machines are huge! The tractor that pulled the giant bin where the combine dumped the corn had a 340 horsepower engine and the combine was powerful enough to move through the densely packed corn stalks at over 4 miles per hour. The “header” - the part of the machine that actually deals with the corn - sucked up the ears of corn and threshed them at a speed that would have been unimaginable only 50 years ago.
Second, I learned a lot about corn. I learned that, ideally, each corn stalk bears only one ear of corn! It takes the whole stalk to produce a full and robust ear of corn. If a stalk produces multiple ears they are often inferior in quality. And I learned that it takes just 1/3 of a bushel of seed to produce 200 bushels of corn. That’s an increase of 600 times!
Third, I learned a few things about farming. I learned that farmers know a a lot about dirt! My friend showed me how the yield of corn varied throughout a single field, depending on the quality of the soil. He could point to areas of his field where the yields were lower, even though to my eye the corn all looked the same. I learned that modern farming involves a great deal of science as well as a good bit of math. In fact, there were three computer screens in the tractor cabin that allowed the farmer to monitor all kinds of technical data. Finally, I learned that farmers work hard to bring a maximum harvest to the marketplace! My friend will run his tractor and combine 8 to 10 hours a day for at least 7 weeks to finish the harvest!
And I have to say that just an hour at a modern farm helped bring Jesus’ “Parable of the Sower” to life in a fresh way!
Over the last few weeks we have seen that Jesus is telling us that God is like a farmer. God not only knows a lot about dirt, he also loves dirt! God loves to see things grow and is willing to get his hands dirty in the process.
We have seen that Jesus is telling us that the seed is the word of God, the gospel of the Kingdom; and that it is the nature of the seed to grow.
Finally, Jesus tells us that we are the dirt. Our hearts are the soil where the gospel is intended to take root and grow. But our hearts can be hardened like the path, shallow and immature like the rocky shallow soil, cluttered like the thorny soil, or soft and receptive like the good soil.
Now we come to the harvest! Jesus wraps up his explanation of the parable with these words:
But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Jesus is saying that, like a seed of corn, it’s the very nature of the gospel to grow. And when the soil is good; when conditions are right; the growth will be exponential and the harvest will be plentiful.
He’s saying that when the our hearts are receptive to the gospel message the result will be growth; first in us as we receive new life in Christ through the forgiveness of sins; and second, that growth will then spill out of us and into the world around us as God calls us to love and serve others in his name.
So, as we begin this final week of our study of the “Parable of the Sower,” let me ask you to consider several questions.
Has the seed of the gospel taken root in your heart? Have you received the grace of God offered to you in Jesus Christ? Are you growing in your relationship with Christ?
How goes the harvest? Does the gospel “leak” out of your life into the world around you? Is the gospel making an impact on your family, your friends, or your community?
Ask the good farmer to use your life to generate a great harvest!
Pastor Brian Coffey
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