Sermon -Sexagesima 2022 - Luke 8:4-15

The Parable of the Sower from The Garden of Delights, by Herrad of Landsberg, 1180 

Does God care about what you spend your time doing? Does He care about your hobbies and habits? We probably don’t want God to care about those things because we’re nervous about what He would say about our habits, but the simple answer is yes, God does care. That’s what this parable is showing us: God cares about how we spend our time because it’s a matter of the salvation of our eternal souls. Here in this parable God warns us of the dangers to our faith in order to direct us to Him.

Before we go much further though, we do need to establish this basic fact: “God desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Jesus illustrates this with regards to the sower in the parable. ““A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, 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 up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.”

What is the seed? “The Seed is the Word of God.” Thus God giving His Word is likened unto a farmer broadcasting his seed into the field. Now, there are precise methods of planting seeds, which is what most farmers use today with their tractors, and there are imprecise methods of planting seeds, such as sowing seed by broadcasting, tossing it out into the field. When you sow by broadcasting, like when you plant grass seed, some seed is bound to fall in the wrong places. Some will hit the rocks or land on the sidewalk, some will be eaten by birds right away. You’re gonna lose some.

This is similar to how God spreads His Word. He knows that not all will believe, some will reject it outright and others will fall away over time. Nevertheless, He indiscriminately speaks His Word unto all the earth out of His love which desires all to be saved. He doesn’t care where it falls, only that it is sowed into the hearts of man. Many abuse His Word, many ignore it or don’t take it to heart or get tired of it, but He still scatters His Word abroad in hopes of many being saved. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.”

So we see that the many who aren’t saved and go to perdition is not the work of God, because He desires all to be saved. The problem is not with God’s Word, because His Word is good seed with a perfect germination rate. He scatters it broadly and generously in hopes of all being saved. Christ died for all people, because He desires all to be saved. The only problem therefore lies in the soil, the problem is in the heart of man.

Now, one of the challenges with this text is that many will try to determine which type of soil they are. Obviously, we all want to be the good soil, but what if I’m one of the bad soils? Then what? Is there any hope for me or am I lost forever because I’m rocky soil?

Well that’s not really the point. The parables aren’t one to one comparisons with life. The parables aren’t illustrations and stories that make scripture clearer. Like Jesus said, He gave the parables in order to hide the secrets of God from the unbelieving world. Thus, these different types of soil aren’t different types of people, so much as they’re different types of problems we face in regards to hearing God’s Word in this life. 

To see this, consider the good soil which yields a hundredfold. “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” This doesn’t mean that the good soil never had any problems, on the contrary, the good soil had problems and only bore fruit with patience. Not just patience like you had to wait for the waitress, but more along the lines of endurance, or steadfastness, while undergoing the challenges in life. Thus the good soil bore fruit, not because it didn’t have problems, but because it endured through the problems.

It’s kind of like what James says: “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.” The patience a farmer has isn’t about just waiting, it’s about enduring. Between planting and harvesting, the farmer has to endure any number of problems and challenges: late frosts, droughts, floods, too hot, too cold, wind, hail, tornadoes, insects, diseases, fungus, any number of things! He’s not just waiting, he’s enduring.

That’s what God calls us to do in our lives. “You have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” Before we can enjoy the promised fruits, we must endure. So God warns us of three imminent dangers to hearing His Word: the Devil, worldly trials, and worldly pleasures. All three of these things distract us from hearing God’s Word and holding fast to it. 

Now another of the great challenges here is that it can be very difficult to recognize when we’re facing these problems throughout life. It’s easy to recognize things like murder, adultery, or stealing, but these soil problems (these soul problems) are much more innocuous and hard to identify. When you develop a bad habit, it typically takes place gradually over time, it creeps in unnoticed, and maybe doesn’t even look that bad. That’s how these distractions from faithfulness creep in.

For example, you may be reading your Bible and going to church, but not listening to it. It’s kind of like when you’re reading something and your mind wanders and pretty soon you don’t remember what you just read. You don’t even realize you’re doing it, it just happened. The Word was there, but the devil plucked it away from you before you even knew it.

To endure this problem, a few simple things are to slow down, remove distractions, and dedicate time to the Word of God. We live in a fast-paced society, with many cares, riches, and pleasures, with many entertainment options around us. God’s Word is constantly competing against a host of distractions. Don’t let the devil snatch away the Word from you with these distractions! Don’t let the thorns choke out your faith! Turn off the screens, go away to a quiet place by yourself, even if it’s the bathroom, and spend some time in God’s Word. Dedicate certain times of the day to God, even if it requires some sacrifice; it’s worth it when you consider the eternal implications.

Other issues regard hearing God’s Word but not taking it to heart, having a shallow faith. God’s Word applies to our daily lives, but when our understanding of God’s Word is shallow, we don’t make those applications. For example, deadly viruses and tyrants are both things the Bible has something to say about, but when our understanding of the Bible is shallow, those things can shake our faith because we don’t know what God says about them.

The remedy here is to give God’s Word ample opportunity to penetrate our hearts, and this takes time. The Bible needs to be read and memorized regularly. Moreover, it needs to be read deeply and pondered. In this deep reading the Holy Spirit will deepen our understanding and strengthen our faith. The Word is like seeds, and the more seeds planted the thicker the plants come up. The Word is like rain, and the longer and steadier it rains, the deeper the rain penetrates the soil.

It’s plain to see that we’re constantly assaulted by many challenges to remain Christians. Being the good soil is not easy work, it requires a great deal of endurance. All of us struggle with this, your pastor included. It’s hard to make any other conclusion than that we’re poor soil contending against a plethora of challenges. But God declares, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” By the grace of God, He will plow the soil of our hearts so that we may at the last be good soil, hearing the Word and holding it fast in an honest and good heart, finally bearing fruit with much endurance.