Sermon 07-10-2011
Isaiah 55:10-13 Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23
“Growing In God’s Word”
This text has been used many times by many preachers when they want to talk about evangelism and spreading the word of God to others. I want this morning for us to look at this passage anew by looking at ourselves as the recipients of the word. I believe we frequently need to do an inventory of our spiritual lives in relation to God… What is our response to the gospel?
“Does God choose for some to be open and receptive and others to be deaf? Or are we humans totally responsible for our own “hearing”? How do we hear?
What type of soil are we? Does our hearing lead to understanding? ...
Rather than judging the reaction of others, the disciples are forced to examine their own responsiveness to the gospel and whether or not they have exhibited the staying power that results in a fruitful harvest.” (B. Year A, pg. 403-404)
PRAYER
“Do you know what a parable is?
Parables are often defined as earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.
Parables where meant to be interpreted by the listeners.
Why did Jesus choose this method of teaching?
First off, it made the people listen more closely. Let us remember that Jesus talked
to the crowds in the open air where they were quite free to both walk around or
away at any time. In order to keep their interest Jesus told them stories where he
started from the here and now in order to get to the then and there.
In Jesus using the parabolic method, he used what was familiar and
understandable to his listeners.
Thirdly, Jesus knew that it was useless to expect people to grasp abstract
ideas. Most people think in pictures… so he put the abstract ideas into
concrete stories; he showed them in action; he made them personal, so that
they were able to understand.
Fourthly, the great virtue of the parable is that it compels a person to think
for him or herself. A parable doesn’t think for the person but encourages
people to make their own interpretations and to discover the truth for
themselves, making the message really theirs.”
(The Gospel of Mark, William Barclay, pg.84-87).
In the painting here of Vincent Van Gogh’s sower; we see a man spreading seeds
from his sack. He knows that, “some seeds may fall by the wayside and be
snatched away by the birds; some seed may fall and grow in the shallow ground
and never come to maturity; some seed may fall among the thorns and be choked
to death; but in spite of all that the harvest does come. No farmer expects every
single seed he sows to germinate and bring forth fruit. He knows quite well that
some will be blown away by the wind, and some will fall in places where it cannot
grow; but that does not stop him from sowing, nor does it make him give up hope
for the harvest. The farmer sows in the confidence that, even if some of the seed
is wasted, none the less the harvest will certainly come.”
(The Gospel of Matthew, William Barclay, pg. 62).
So, how do we grow in the word of God?
“This parable is aimed at us, the hearers of the word.
Some of us hear the word of God every Sunday, and as soon as Monday morning
comes, the wind of a new week takes away with it the message of the word. And
the birds come and eat the seeds that have been spread by the wind on the hard
ground.
Others of us hear the word of God every Sunday, and we take the message of the
word with us, and we say to ourselves I will meditate and pray. Sudden
enthusiasm often quickly comes and goes. Soon after the schedule gets busy
and the demands of our responsibilities take over, we realize that time flies and
we are stuck between a rock and a hard place; like the seeds among the thorns
we suffocate to the point of death… and Sunday comes again.
Some of us hear the word of God every Sunday and we take the message of the
word with us, and we try to commit and meditate on the word and pray. We are
involved in committees and in good works and in charitable services, all these
things are good, but we find ourselves so tired that we become too busy to pray
or study the word, we often think of them and intend to make time for them, but
somehow (the week ends and) we never get around to it.
Some of us hear the word of God every Sunday and we are “like the good
ground… like the good ground our minds are open. We are willing to learn. We
are ready to hear. We are never too proud or too busy to listen.
We bring our heartbreaks to God in prayer and we find God’s answers by reading
the word. We understand, we need to sort things out and know what they mean
for us, as we prepare our spirits to accept them. We are able to translate our
reading and hearing of the word into action. We end up producing the fruit of
our faith as a good seed. The real hearer is the person who listens, who
understands, and who obeys.” (Idem, pg. 59-61).
After Jesus had been with the crowd, he meets privately with his disciples to
evaluate the people’s response and the disciples understanding of the
parable. How did you understand the parable? Jesus asked them.
What the sower is sowing is the word of God. The soil is the receiver of the
word. But when we are already Christians the question of the parable is,
How is the soil in our hearts continuing to receive the word of God every
day? What are we doing to grow the word of God in us?
The parable mentions four kinds of ground. Which one are we?
The hard ground at the side of the road, the rocky ground, the ground that was
full of thorns or the fertile ground.
I wonder what makes the soil of our hearts hard like a road where the
seed is unable to penetrate? What is falling out of our spiritual bag?
I wonder what the birds represent? Are they perhaps distractions, that are re-
arranging life’s priorities and God’s gifts?
What is eating away the seeds of our spiritual life?
I wonder how we survive in a rocky world, without much capability for spiritual
germination?
How do we nourish and moisten our spiritual lives? What’s burning you out?
I wonder what the thorns represent for us today?
What is choking our spiritual life, that doesn’t allow us to breathe the breath
of God? Are we looking for our Miracle Grow in all the wrong places?
I wonder, what makes our ground fertile?
Of all that God offers, what gives us real spiritual growth?
