Luke 8:4-15: The Parable of the Seed and the Soils

INTRODUCTION

Before we came to Village Place, I was an enthusiastic gardener. We had a yard full of flowers. My favorites among the vegetables were asparagus, beans, tomatoes, and rhubarb.

I started almost everything from seeds. The exciting thing about gardening is that a little seed that looks so dead and dried up, can—if carefully placed in good soil—send down a root and send up tiny leaves and finally grow into a sturdy plant bursting with life.

Some of the seeds were so tiny it seemed a miracle they could grow.

A petunia seed in smaller than a grain of salt.

Lobelia seeds are the smallest of all the seeds I planted. They look like specks of dust. You could put hundreds of them on your fingernail.

Jesus talked about seeds too in one of his most famous parables.

The parable is called, “The Parable of the Sower.” But the sower is unimportant on the story. It should be called the Parable of the Seed and the Soils.

I will read you Luke’s version of the story (Luke 4:4-15):

An when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it.

And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it.

And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said this he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”…

I like that saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Some people hear only what they want to hear.

Some people hear but don’t care.

Some people hear and say, “Well, isn’t that interesting,” but it doesn’t make any difference to them.

But some people listen intently and think about what they hear. They are the people teachers love. They think about what difference their new knowledge makes to them.

They ask questions; they want to know more.

Some of Jesus’s hearers were like that. They hung on every word—as if their life depended on it—because it did.

Jesus’s words were words that nourished their souls…words that opened the door to eternal life…words that pointed to the way to live…words that connected them to God.

So this parable is a parable about how we hear the Word of God—the good seed in the parable.

Continuing in Luke, here is Jesus’s interpretation of the parable:

Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved.

And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.

And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

And as for that in the good soil, they are those who hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

This was a time when Jesus was really popular.

People were flocking to him. Matthew and Mark tell us that there were so many people that Jesus got into a boat and spoke these words while seated in the boat on the Lake.

When Jesus told this parable he was warning his disciples, not to get too excited by his popularity. Many would experience the thrill of his message of salvation, but not all would believe, and of those who responded, some would lose interest and fall away. Perhaps only a minority would follow through with their decision to follow Jesus.

I. Jesus tells his disciples four ways that people will “hear” to his message.

A. The first kind of hearer is like the path.

In those days the farmer would take the seed in a bag slung over his shoulder and scatter the seed as carefully as he could over the ground.

But no matter how careful he was, some seed would fall on the path.

The path was hard and the seed’s tiny root couldn’t penetrate the hard earth of the path.

The seed would sit there on the hard path; people would tramp on it. And worse yet, it would be exposed to the hungry birds that would swoop down and eat it. Jesus compares the birds to the Devil.

Sometimes my heart is like that hard path.

Sometimes I close my Bible and forget what I’ve just read.

Sometimes at church, when the preacher’s through I hardly know what he said.

Jesus warns us that whenever we hear the word, the devil is there, waiting like a hungry bird to snatch the Word away before it can do its work in my life.

B. The second kind of hearer is like rock (or rocky soil).

Some soil looks good, but it’s only a thin layer of earth over rock.

Such soil, if it is moist and warm, will cause seed to germinate quickly, but the roots cannot go deep and the plant will wither and die.

Jesus says that some hearers receive the Word of God with joy, but soon their enthusiasm cools, and they lose interest.

I’ve known new Christians who were so enthusiastic about their new-found faith that they just bubbled over with excitement.

I envied them their love for Jesus.

But as weeks went by, their enthusiasm cooled. Their interest in God and Jesus and the Bible and Church and being with other Christians was gone. Now they had found something else to be enthusiastic about.

Jesus says, “These have no root, and in time of temptation fall away.”

Sometimes preachers preach the gospel as if it was the answer to all life’s problems.

People love the idea that if they only come to Jesus they’ll have nothing but happiness forever.

In the Sunday schools of my youth we used to sing songs about how happy it was to have Jesus.

One of the songs was

“Joy, joy, my heart is full of joy.

Joy, joy, my heart is full of joy.

My Savior dear is ever near.

That’s the reason that my heart is full of joy.”

Another song went like this:

“I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

down in my heart, down in my heart.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart,

down in my heart to stay.”

Here’s another:

“I’m inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.

I’m inright outright, uprigtht, downright happy all the time.

Since Jesus Christ came in and took away my sin,

I’m inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.

But, you know, that those songs are false.

Jesus never promised that if we come to him it would be the end of all our problems and we’d be happy all the time.

For many of Jesus’s hearers, when they decided for God, that’s when their problems began. That’s why Jesus warned his followers: “Count the cost of following me.”

Jesus came, not to deliver us from all of life’s troubles but to go with us in all of our troubles.

So when we’re in trouble we remember two big things: Jesus is with you, and in the end he will welcome you into glory.

C. The third kind of soil was that infested with “thorns.”

The Holy Land has a dry climate. Most of the weeds, I understand, have thorns or prickles to protect themselves from being eaten by animals.

My father loved the idea of gardening.

We had a big back yard, and every spring Dad would dig up the garden and plant it.

He was very thorough. He would stretch strings between stakes so that the rows would be straight and neat.

And he would plant the peas and onions and carrots and tomatoes and beans.

And they would sprout in pretty green lines.

And then Dad would get interested in something else. My father had lots of interests.

And the weeds would come—ragweed, wild lettuce, lambs quarters, velvet weed, foxtail grass, thistles. And the weeds would grow much faster than the crops. Soon the garden would look like a jungle.

I remember my mother going out and looking through the weeds to find tomatoes, down there hidden from sight.

That garden is like my life is sometimes.

Sometimes my life is so full of distractions that it is like a garden full of weeds.

Jesus names three kinds of “weeds” that compete with God in the lives of people—and probably in our lives too.

They are cares, riches and pleasures.

Cares, or worries, can crowd God out of my life.

There is no shortage of things to worry about:

Will my money run out?

Can the doctor find an answer to my pain?

Am I going to die soon?

Will my grandson ever find a job?

Cares destroy our usefulness for God.

Jesus says, “Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.”

Be thankful for the good things, take life one day at a time, and trust God for the future. Turn your worries into prayers.

Next, Jesus names riches as something that crowds out the tender shoots and prevents a harvest.

I’m not going to spend much time on riches.

Not many of you are preoccupied with your stock portfolios. Not many of you have tons of money in the bank.

People who are rich probably don’t live here. They’re over at one of the classier places.

And last, Jesus names pleasures as something that chokes out the word.

Pleasures are good if we can subordinate them to God in our lives—and if we can thank God for them.

The pleasure of food is good, if I enjoy it in moderation and thank God for it.

Good books can be can be blessed by God if they help me to relax and nourish my souls. Did you ever say a prayer when you finished a good book: “Thank you, Lord, for the pleasure of this good book”?

Did you ever say, when you enjoyed a good TV show: “Thank you, Lord, for the pleasure of this good television program”?

Socializing is good because it affords us opportunities to encourage others—to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Bingo and cards and dominoes may give us opportunities to be with others and encourage them—and maybe even point them to Jesus.

Our pleasures may draw us away from God, or, if we keep God in mind and give thanks, they can bind us closer to him.

The Bible says, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

And, “Whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

That’s the key. Can I do all things for the glory of God?

Am I enjoying my pleasures in moderation, and not letting them crowd God out of my life?

Am I avoiding any book or television show or conversation that makes Jesus less real and eternity less important?

Am I spending more money on my pleasures than I am giving to God?

CONCLUSION

Jesus says that if we hear the Word and hold it fast in an honest and good heart, it is like the seed in the good soil that brings forth even a hundredfold increase.

“Fruit” is the harvest of righteousness in a life—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control (Galatians 5).

“Fruit” is the result of God in a life—humble service, generosity, forgiving, loving your enemy, going out of your way to be helpful to others.

Jesus uses the example of the seed that falls into the good soil yielding even a hundredfold increase.

Some scholars question whether such a yield would ever be possible.

How could a farmer hope to get back 100 pounds of wheat of barley for 1 pound of seed sown? Such a yield is incredible, they say.

I will tell you what I think.

When the good seed of the Word of God takes root in your life and produces a crop, that’s not the end of it, because your life blesses other lives and those lives bless still others—and the blessing goes on to the end of time and into eternity.

Read your Bible. Listen to God. Let the Word take root in your life. Let God change your life. Hear, believe, and obey.

Questions to Ask in Times of Trouble

2 Corinthians 1:2-5

INTRODUCTION

All of us have trouble in our lives.

Some of us more than others.

I have known people who have relatively tranquil lives and others who have had so much trouble that I wonder how they can keep on.

One of our residents told me of the deaths of three of her grandchildren. She said, “That’s more than my share.”

Some have more sorrow than others, but none of us is exempt.

In the book of Job, one of Job’s friends, a man named Eliphaz, exclaims, “Human beings are born to trouble just as sparks fly upward!” (5:7).

- Troubles from broken health, despondency, broken relationships, financial worries, deaths of loved ones, difficulties of children and grandchildren and loved ones…

When we are faced with crises in health…or finances…or relationships, we cry out: “Why? Why? Why?” and sometimes, “Why me?”

That cry of “Why!” isn’t sin. It is normal. We want answers.

If we could just know “why?” it would be easier to bear our troubles.

A friend in a nursing home once said to me, "I don't say, 'Why me?' I say, 'Why not me?' Everyone has troubles. Why should I be exempt?"

The people who wrote the Psalms in our Bible constantly asked God “Why?” in their prayers:

Psalm 10:1: “Why do you hide yourself in time of trouble?”

42:9: “I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?”

44:24: “Why do you sleep, O Lord?”…Why do you hide your face?”

88:14: “Oh Lord, why do you cast me off?”

Even our Lord Jesus asked “Why?” when cried out in his distress: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

There is a family in our church who lost their little daughter to cancer when she was only a small child. They watched her suffer terribly and then die, and they have never stopped asking why? They cling to God with faith…but they still ask “Why?”

That question is the question that we may not find the answer to on this earth.

This is a question we will have to live with.

We will never know why all these things happen.

But there are a questions that we can ask God, and, I think, find answers—answers that come from God’s Word…from people of wisdom…from our own experience.

I. Here are three questions we can ask of God and maybe find answers to:

“How can I keep hold of my faith while I’m in this dark valley?”

“How can I honor God in my time of trouble?”

“How can my suffering connect me with the suffering of the world?”

A. The first question: “How can I keep my hold on God in my trouble?”

Paul writes to Timothy: “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called…” (1 Timothy 6:12).

In other words don’t give up. Keep living for God. Keep serving others as you are able.

Live like a person of faith, even if you have doubts.

Keep reading your Bible. Keep going to church. Keep giving generously. Keep praying as you are able.

Live the life of a disciple; live as though you had no doubts.

I remember a time when I was in such a dark valley that I couldn’t pray, so I just kept saying The Lord’s Prayer over and over. That helped keep me connected to God.

Jesus told us that the path that leads to eternal life would be hard.

Paul wrote, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14.22).

Sometimes it seems that the way is so hard that we must give up, but Jesus promises to be with us to the end of the road. He will give us strength for each hour…for each day.

Never give up.

Remember there are people more sorely tried than you are.

Right now there is a woman in a prison in Sudan, in Africa.

Her name is Meriam Yehya Ibrahim.

Meriam is in prison with her little daughter of six and a newborn daughter born in her prison cell last month.

She is a Christian woman in a Muslim country.

She has been condemned to death for her faith in Jesus Christ.

Her judge has told her that if she will renounce her faith in Christ, she will be freed. If she doesn’t renounce her faith she will die.

Sometimes it helps to know we are not alone in our suffering—and to know that others have remained faithful.

Cling to God in your sorrow. You can survive. Don’t give up on God.

B. The second question you may ask in times of sorrow is “How can I honor God in my trouble?”

St. Peter wrote a letter to people who were suffering greatly for their faith.

He told them to think of their troubles as tests, to prove the genuineness of their faith (1 Peter 1:6-7).

He tells them that their faith is more precious than gold, which is proved genuine by being tested by fire.

If we hold on to God by faith when we suffer, we prove the reality of our faith and the reality of the God in whom we trust.

We who love the Lord Jesus want to bear witness to our faith. The strongest witness we can give to the reality of God in our life is our faith when under pressure.

C. The third question we may ask ourselves in times of sorrow is “How can my suffering connect me with the suffering of the world?”

Shusaku Endo was a well-known Japanese author.

Only about 1% of Japanese are Christians, but Endo was a Christian and became the most noted novelist in Japan.

In one of his novels he tells the story of a young girl named Mitsu.

Mitsu is so tender-hearted that she can’t bear to see others suffer without trying to do something to help them.

Although she is not a Christian, someone gives her a cheap little metal cross to wear on a chain around her neck. On it is the figure of the Christ.

One day, she is faced with the possibility of doing a generous—but very costly—deed for a destitute mother and child in great need.

She tries desperately to turn away, but then she hears a voice that seems to be borne on the wind.

The voice comes from the Christ of the cross. The Christ of the cross tells her, “The important thing in this life is to link your sadness to the sadness of others. That is the significance of my cross” (The Girl I Left Behind, p70).

I have read that the difference between a depressed person and a broken-hearted person is that the depressed person sees only her own sorrow. The broken-hearted person sees everyone’s sorrow and shares it.

CONCLUSION

In a time of great trouble in his life, St. Paul wrote the most personal letter of his that we have in the Bible.

In his letter he tells of how he was so utterly, unbearably crushed that he despaired of life itself.

He tells of many sorrows and struggles. He tells of being afflicted in every way, but not crushed; of being perplexed, but not driven to despair; of being persecuted, but not forsaken; of being struck down, but not destroyed. He tells of his thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan that afflicted him and was not taken away, even though he prayed earnestly for God to remove it (2 Corinthians 4:8-10 and 12:7-11).

And in that same letter he writes this to his friends in Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:3-4):

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our affliction,

so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction,

with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

There it is. To have known great sorrow and the comfort that only God can give, can give you a great ministry.

When people are in trouble they don’t go to people who have never known sorrow; they turn to people who have known trouble and can understand.

Last week we were in the Twin Cities for our youngest granddaughter’s graduation party.

We met a family from our son’s church—a wife named Rinna and her husband, Chris, and their teen-age son. The woman was wearing dark glasses, which was odd because we were in the house.

She told us that she was from the Philippines. Her husband had met her when he was in the Philippines on business and they had fallen in love and been married.

As we conversed, Rinna told us of having experienced many serious operations on her brain, and the result was that she had lost an eye. She said she had so much metal in her brain that they couldn’t fly in airplanes any more because of the metal detectors at the airports.

But Rinna was bubbling over with happiness and praise to God for all he had done for them. In her many stays in the hospital she had made many friends with the other patients, the nurses, and the doctors. I understood that the reason for Rinna’s happiness wasn’t because she was miraculously still alive but because of the many opportunities she had had to share her faith with others and help them bear the burdens of their troubles.

She told that one of her nurses had lost her job and come immediately to Rinna’s house to tell her of her trouble and find sympathy.

A woman wrote to the Bible translator J. B. Phillips, who was also an Anglican priest.

She told of how she had suffered greatly:

a lonely and unhappy childhood,

a husband who became psychotic and deserted her leaving her with three small children to bring up by herself,

polio which left her handicapped,

poverty,

a daughter who had a mental breakdown and who had repeatedly attempted suicide.

This woman wrote of God’s faithfulness through this time. She wrote this at the end of her letter:

      “By no other thing than suffering do we learn to come into union with Jesus more fully or more speedily. And to me the greatest value of any form of deprivation (quite apart and beyond one’s spiritual life) is the wonderful way in which it can be used by God….People will not listen truly to a fit person who tells them to offer pain to God and try to rejoice in being able to share his sufferings and the burden of the world! But if they see [one who] is crippled and knows what pain is all the time, then they listen and will think about it.”

(Vera Phillips and Edwin Robinson, J. B. Phillips: the Wounded Healer, p95)

I think that for many, the saddest thing about growing old is the feeling of uselessness.

But if we love Jesus, we don’t become useless.

If we can still love people and if we can accept the love of others, we are not useless.

If we can still pray for people, we are not useless.

If we can still express our faith in God to others, we are not useless.

We can look forward to the greeting Jesus promises to those who are faithful: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the Joy of your Lord.”