July 10, 2011
GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23 [Parable of the sower.]And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."
"Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
Today, let's talk about soil. You have to have good soil if you want to grow good plants: beautiful flowers and delicious fruit. In the same way, the Word of God also needs to have good soil if it is to have a bountiful crop. In the Parable, Jesus talked about different sorts of soil as being like the different sorts of hearts of people who hear the Word of God. In the Parable, the Sower spread his seed all over, in the hope and confidence that it would grow. Likewise, those who sow the seed of the Word today spread the Word of God in various places because we never know whose heart is really ready to hear the word and believe it.
This is the Great Commission, to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
In most big church denominations, there is a mission board to start new congregations. The mission board wants to start a new church where the soil is good. And so in the 1950's and 60's, a lot of new congregations were built in the newly developing suburbs. Many of these planted churches have been successful and some are even mega-churches today doing great ministry and spreading the Word of God.
On the other hand, some churches have been stared along the hard-packed path. The mission boards have sent missionaries to places where mission has been very difficult. In some places controlled by communist governments or radical Islamic governments, preaching Christianity is forbidden. Like the birds eating the seed, people do not even get a chance to hear the Word before the government destroys the message. Or in some places, even there is freedom of religion, as in Japan, the culture is so rigid and the people so afraid of change that the Word seems to have little chance. This mission is done in the hope that there will be a patch of good soil somewhere that will hear and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Then there are the people who take up the challenge to spread the Gospel among the weeds and thorns: the inner city, the college campus, the prisons, the drug addicts, etc. This mission, too, is done in the hope that there will be a patch of good soil somewhere that will hear and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so today we are given the challenge by Jesus to spread the seeds of the Gospel Message. It might be a four-point Gospel presentation; it might be a simple act of kindness. Or we might be holding the watering can for someone else who sows the seed. We are all working together in the field of God.
We have been talking about the condition of the hearts of other people. But since this speech is a sermon, we have to look at the condition of our own hearts. For most of us here this morning, the seed has found good soil and we have grown in our faith and in our love and in our service to God. We have born fruit.
But sometimes, it seems that our hearts are like the hard-packed path. Because of our sin and stubbornness, we do not want to hear the Word of God. It is those times when we want to do something that we know it is sinful, and the Ten Commandments drop on us like sown seed. We ignore it. We know we have sinned.
Or we are like the rocky soil. Some of the teachings of Jesus have not taken deep root in our hearts and minds yet. We know about love, but those teachings about loving the neighbor and the enemy are sometimes hard to bring to fruition. Some of the doctrines of the Bible are hard to understand and are hard to take root in our modern culture. What the Bible teaches about sex and marriage and justice and equality are not always what our modern culture says. And we live in that culture and are molded by that culture. But the culture can be like rocks that make us stumble or prevent deep growth.
Or maybe we are among the weeds and the thorns. I assume that we do not want to be in the weed patch, but that is where we find ourselves. It could be at school or work or with a gang or bullies or bad friends. There can be evil and sin all around us: bad influences. Weeds are often stronger than the good plants. They choke, they strangle, they kill. Our faith can be damaged or killed by bad influences. Just like strong weeds that take all the water and make the good plant wither, our faith can become dry and wither.
What can we do at such a time? Where can we find strength? We have a secret source of water. We have water that will keep us strong in times of spiritual dryness, which will carry us through. It is Baptism. Baptism is the eternal promise of Jesus Christ. It is the forgiveness of sin. It is the seal of Godfs love. Thorns and weeds and rocks and bullies and hate and prejudice and sin and even death, cannot take away baptism from us. Baptism brings to us all the grace of Christfs death and resurrection. That is why Baptism is part of the Great Commission. Mt. 28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church