Farmers, Seeds, and Soil

Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23 (ESV)

³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ 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, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸ “Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹ 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.²² 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. ²³ 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.”

Even though I have heard this parable since I was a child, I often forgot who symbolizes who.  Allow me to provide a quick refresher: 

• Jesus is the sower, a.k.a. the farmer.  He lavishly scatters the seed on all types of ground.  He would grab fistfuls of seeds from his knapsack and chuck them all over the place and in every direction.  (This was the method back then. They would scatter first, then plow.) Jesus is not frugal in his seed throwing.  He is prodigal.
• The seeds are the Gospel.  The seeds are the Word of God.  Now it makes sense why Jesus is extravagant in throwing them everywhere.    
• We are some kind of soil.  Every person falls into one category of the four types of soil. The first three soils end up with no surviving seeds.  No fruit. Dead, shriveled up, stolen, un-rooted, wasted seeds.   The last soil is good soil.  Good soil equals fruit, a person with the Word of God rooted in his or her heart.  A person who kept their seeds growing even when crows tried to steal it, and thorns tried to suffocate it, or when the land felt dry.  

Church, we are a small church that is so small, everyone is pretty much a volunteer in some capacity.  I know many of us are struggling with our own circumstances in different ways, but I would call all of us regularly attending The Well good soil.  Maybe our seeds are little sprouts or maybe they are huge avocado trees, but we have living seeds.  

I am not asking all of us to pat ourselves on the back and sit on the sidelines. My prayer for us today is that we look at our own testimony and thank our good God for our growing seeds.  We have the gift of the gospel and the joy of salvation.  We have the blessed assurance that Jesus is ours.  

My first hope for today is that I can encourage you to celebrate your walk with God.  Reflect on it. Thank him for it.  It is by his grace and mercy that we can call ourselves “good soil.”  Strengthen your faith and grow, grow, grow! Don’t forget, we still need to plow! 

My second hope is that I can amp you up to roll up your sleeves ...because the other soils need us.  Yes, the other soils.  The soils that have heard the gospel but have not bore fruit.  These soils need more seeds and Jesus calls us to step in as his farmers.  Will you throw some their way?  Will you be like Jesus for them and prodigally love them with the Good News?  Even if they have hurt you in the past or have made it difficult, will you still do his good work for the kingdom?  

I know it is not easy.  As Jerry reminded us, weeds exist!  But as Bridget reminded us, eternity is at stake. For example, I have spent the past 15 years failing but trying to share the gospel with my mom. It has been such an emotional frustrating journey. (I seriously wish I physically had a fistful of seeds that I could fast pitch to her face and then bam! salvation! But alas, it is not that easy. God loves us too much to make it easy… and yeah, I definitely need prayer for my heart over this whole matter ;)

So Good Soils, let us pray for one another, encourage one another, continue to reap, plow, and lavishly love those God has put in our lives.  May God work mightily through his servants. 

I’m humbled and thankful for the opportunity to encourage our church.  I most sincerely and ridiculously love you all. 

In Him,

Grace

P.S. After reading this, if God is clearly telling you that you are one of the other three soils, sit in his Truth, accept it, maybe sob a little, and do something about it.  Friend, God is not done with you yet and it is never too late.  Call a trusted Good Soil of a friend today. Have coffee with him, her, or them. I once had an entire year in my early twenties where I struggled with depression, anger and was a dry hard path of road.  For 365 days!  I could not pray.  I was a mess.  But I now realize that silence and separation from God and others only prolong the hurt and self-created distance.  Church community can help restore and heal.  

2 Chronicles 7:14 says, If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.