Good Morning Friends,
In the Bible tucked between stories of rejection and opposition, on the Sea of Galilee with a storm brewing, Jesus tells a story. If you are listening, you might hear him tell you that if you truly want to live a spiritually productive life then plow the soil of your desires to break them open and so prepare your heart to receive God’s word. If you are listening, you might hear him tell you to put down roots of faith and persevere through the trials of life. If you are listening, you might hear him tell you to pull the weeds of worldly wealth and pursue spiritual riches. I could tell you to do these things too, believing you will have good soil, and the seed of God’s word will produce a bountiful harvest in your life. But honestly my telling you is not enough and maybe it is not so complex, but it is not that simple either. One has to be really perceptive of one’s surroundings to get the full message. Now maybe you are wondering why Jesus told a parable about a farmer from a boat. I have been reading a book by Dann Spader entitled, “4 Chair Discipling,” that dovetails with today’s scripture for it seems to be an effective way to model Jesus’ way of making disciples and carrying out the command that produce much fruit as servant leaders for the Kingdom of God. I recommend it to you. But maybe there is something more going on here for reducing spiritual productivity to a list of things to do, especially in a Tempest will not work. Maybe the parable is really about teaching disciples to become fishers of people and not limit what God wants to do through us as we are transformed. So today we take a closer look at what Jesus said about how this plays out as he throws alongside the boat a teaching about the Kingdom of God. But having read it multiple times the question still remains, Are We Really Listening To Jesus’ Message In The Parables of the Sower and the Storm?
Scripture: When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore. But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete. Since the ship was caught and could not be turned head-on into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven. By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control. After hoisting it up they took measures to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven. We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard, and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
Acts 27:13-20 (NRSV)
At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.“Are you listening to this? Really listening?”
Matthew 13:1-9 (MSG)
“Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.“The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.“The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.“The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.”
Matthew 13:18-23 The Message (MSG)
And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Hebrews 10:11-18 (NRSV)
Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that “they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.” ’ And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The Sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’
Mark 4:1-20 (NRSV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 (NRSV)
The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
Amos 8:11 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s question confronts us with a challenge we all face: And we wonder why is it that, even when we are doing what we take to be God’s will for us, we oftentimes still have such great difficulty in accomplishing it. As we look around the church in North America these days, we quickly discover that few professing Christians are really living productive spiritual lives. Everywhere we look we find people who have been exposed to the Bible and its teachings, but their lives have not been changed by it. Many have begun well in the Christian life but for one reason or another they have failed to mature in the faith as their growth was stunted. There is a lesson to be learned here related to why Jesus tells a story about a farmer in a boat and not in a wheat field. Really, Jesus was great at taking from his surroundings and weaving them into a story. The thing you plant on a boat is an anchor. The thing a fisherman might scatter is chum. The seed we see in Southwest Florida on the Beach is the Mangrove seed and then occasionally a coconut scattered by nature. So maybe Jesus tells a story about a farmer planting seeds when the context is on a beach because he wants to confuse those who did not deserve to hear him. For the real story was not about farmers or sailors but about the Seed of Jesus himself and his nature. The story is about the coming storm. Friends, everything God wanted to say to the whole world is in the form of a person planted by God here on earth. Maybe the dirt represents us for the Sower exposes the many sinful ways we respond to Jesus. Maybe the story is set on water because of our need for honest repentance and good cleaning. Maybe the story is told because Jesus anticipated that Paul would be shipwrecked on a grain ship that would become a place where Durum wheat is grown today. Friends, the only way we can ever hope to be fruit-bearing good soil is by Jesus’ grace and power. Hear and be anchored with deep roots in the Word. Be fishers of men. Sail a straight course. Have the right bearing in life’s storms. We never know what shipwrecks await. But first we have to take the Word we receive and apply it to our homes, neighborhoods, towns, states, country and then out to the world for God’s glory. God’s word is like a seed – it’s meant to be planted, to take root, to grow and to bring forth new life in abundance everywhere which is the journey of life more than a destination.
And So, we have to pay attention to the details of the task before us. He who has ears to hear, let him hear, is what the scripture says, and we find these phrases several times in the pages of God’s word. It is kind of an odd phrase, but I think and feel it is meant as an admonition to not just hear the words themselves but to listen to them and to take them to heart. And sometimes we struggle to move the message from our heads to our hearts and hands. We do not pay attention to the details. Here is a case in point: At one time, Sir William Osler was a professor of medicine at Oxford University. He was a bit of a prankster and had his share of controversial views, but he did establish and implement the idea of medical residencies which is standard practice to this day. He insisted that students learn from seeing and talking to patients. One day he had a class full of male students seated before him, and, wanting to emphasize the importance of observing details, he reached down to his desk and picked up a bottle labelled, “urine.” Holding it high, he announced, “This bottle contains a sample for analysis. It’s often possible by tasting it to determine the disease from which the patient suffers.” Suiting actions to words, he dipped a finger, first, into the fluid, and then into his mouth. Then he continued to speak, saying, “Now, I am going to pass the bottle around. Each of you do exactly as I did. Perhaps we can learn the importance of this technique and diagnose the case”. The bottle made its way from row to row, each student gingerly poking his finger in, and sampling the contents with a frown. When everyone was finished, Dr. Osler retrieved the bottle and then startled his students with these words: “Gentlemen, now you will understand what I mean when I speak about details. Had you been observant you would have seen that I put my index finger into the bottle, but my middle finger into my mouth!” Each of those students – every last one of them saw what Dr. Osler did – and yet they missed the point completely! I wonder how many of us do exactly the same when it comes to the things of God. We can be like those described in our passage this morning, Ever seeing but never perceiving, ever hearing but never understanding. There are times we see, but do not perceive, times we hear but have not heard. And so, it might be that some sit in church each Sunday morning, listening to sermons about God, but never hearing the voice of God. At home some will open their Bibles, which fill a few minutes of time but do not fill the need in the heart. People may wonder what is missing, and why their faith seems so empty, why God seems so far away. Maybe most people are seeing, yet not perceiving, hearing, but never understanding. There is famine throughout the world that you will not hear about on the evening news. It is not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of God. Because of the hardness of people’s hearts in their time of plenty, because of their continual rejection of God’s word day by day as they knowingly made choices out of sync with God’s will, in their time of need they would not hear the words of the Lord that they suddenly longed for. That is the challenge before us if we are to be disciple makers and fishers of people.
Pray we sail with Jesus to new shores having the faith of Abraham. Pray we feed the right Spirit in us casting bread wherever we go. Pray that we understand the harvest story and are generous in our sowing of grace. Pray we realize that the real parable of God is Jesus. Pray we spread the seed extravagantly, recognizing that every place and everyone is potentially good soil. Pray we learn how to deal with opposition and temptations. Pray that we do not worry too much about the results but trust God to bring the harvest when we obey what we have been commissioned to do. Pray that we realize that some will prepare the soil, some plant the seeds, some will weed, some will water, and others will harvest. Pray we realize that everybody can help but that God gives growth. Pray we realize that we are called to give thanks to God for the bountiful harvests of our lives. Pray that we consider carefully how we listen and act so that our boat will not be swamped. Pray we are kind no matter what. Pray that we pay attention to the details. Pray we love one another and do good works because we have been forgiven by Christ and loved into life. Just as Jesus has forgiven us and washed away our sins. Pray we reach out to those around us with that same kind of love Jesus gives to us. Pray we have a passion for helping others be transformed in the mind of Christ.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 