“The Sower... the Seed & the Soil”

(Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

Reverend Paula Behrens-Lopez 

There is a story about an old man who always had witty and wise answers for people who asked him anything.  Once, a disrespectful man came to him with his hands covering something he was holding.

He told the wise man that he had a small, newly hatched bird in his hands.  He challenged the old man to tell him whether the bird was alive or dead.

He, of course, planned to prove the old man wrong, because if he said the bird was dead, he would simply open his hands to expose a perfectly healthy baby bird.  But if he said the bird was alive, then he would crush the bird before opening his hands.

But… the old man proved wiser than the disrespectful man thought, because he said: ‘The bird is whatever you choose him to be.’ (Rev. Brett Blair, July 2005)

Like the bird in a persons’ hand… what the Kingdom of God will be in a person’s heart… (alive or dead) is dependent upon whatever that person chooses it to be.

In our scripture reading today, we hear Jesus speak about a sower who sows seed on various kinds of soil. 

The seed that fell along the path could not penetrate the hard earth and so it was picked up by birds and eaten. 

Our hearts can become hard like that pathway… where the seed has no chance at all of penetrating the dirt.  And so Satan, like a bird, swoops down and easily takes it away. 

Other seed falls on rocky soil, (Jesus says) meaning that the soil is thin and beneath it is a layer of limestone which prevents the seed from sinking down deep roots.  Therefore the seed that springs up… soon dies for lack of roots. 

If we’re not careful… a layer of limestone can buildup just below the surface of our lives…  That can happen if we choose to listen to a something other than God… that can weaken our faith in Him. 

Or if the layer of limestone doesn’t get us… then there are the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches that threaten to choke out the word… like the seed that fell among thorns, and thus yielded very little fruit. 

But the good, deep soil the soil free of thorns produces a bountiful harvest.  Jesus likens the good soil to a person who “hears the Word and understands it” (or takes it to heart).  

Now… “understanding” in this passage refers not to an intellectual awareness but to a moral commitment involving one’s inmost being (that’s what taking God’s Word to heart means). 

The writer of Matthew conveys to us that there is a difference between simply “hearing” and hearing with “understanding.” 

The person who hears and understands has allowed God’s word to sink deep into the depths of their soul, like the seed that fell upon the good soil.

But… sometimes appearances can be deceitful.  While studying in the Holy Lands, a seminary professor once met a man who claimed to have memorized the Old Testament… in Hebrew. 

Needless to say, the astonished professor asked for a demonstration:

‘Where shall we begin’ asked the man?  ‘Psalm 1,’ replied the professor.  So, beginning with Psalm 1:1, the man began to recite from memory, while the professor followed along in his own Hebrew Bible. 

For two hours the man continued word for word without a mistake as the professor sat in stunned silence.  When the demonstration was over, the professor discovered something even more astonishing about the man… he was an atheist. (Jack Kuhatschek)

Sometimes appearances can be misleading.  In this case… this man’s heart had become hardened and closed to the very word he could recite by memory.  There is a difference between merely hearing the word and hearing with understanding. 

You know… God does not determine who will hear and be receptive to His word and who will not.  We are all given a choice.  Jesus says, “Let anyone with ears listen.”  We all have been given, spiritual ears to hear God’s word. 

The question is: “Are we listening?”  Or better yet… Do we strive to listen with understanding.  Do we strive to take God’s Word to heart, all the time?  Not just when it is convenient, but all the time?  Do we do that?

Remember the Old Testament prophet Elijah and how he is so zealous for the Lord?  He had boldly confronted Ahab regarding a coming drought…  And he was faithful to God during a long, lonely time of waiting in a ravine.  He had laid his own reputation on the line when he prayed for a widow’s son to be restored to life.  And he had obeyed God’s charge to meet Ahab and the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. 

Elijah was a great prophet of God.  Yet, we hear that he fled into the desert.  Why… well, because he felt his life was in danger because of a woman named Jezebel.   

After all that God had done for him… after God had used his life so powerfully, he fled into the desert.  And he even went so far as to plead that God would take his life.  He was in a sad state, indeed, because at that point he had stopped listening to God. 

But what did God do?  Well… He sought him out by way of His messenger (not to scold him.  Not to punish him) but to supply the rest and the nourishment he would need in that wilderness. 

And when Elijah was ready to listen again… God helped him to obtain the spiritual understanding he needed.  God instructed him to come out of the cave and to “stand on the mountain” in His presence. 

God’s first step was to unleash the fury of a “great and powerful wind.”  It was so strong it literally ripped the landscape apart.  Remember that?  Hugh rocks cascaded down the mountain as if they were pebbles.  At the same time, the Lord made it very clear to Elijah that He “was not in the wind.”

The Lord followed the storm with an earthquake.  But again the Lord made it clear to Elijah that He “was not in the earthquake.”

The Lord followed the wind and the earthquake with a great fire… (possibly to remind Elijah of what He had just done on Mount Carmel in response to Elijah’s prayer).  But again the Lord made it clear that “He was not in the fire.”

But if God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, where was He? 

Well… we are told that God’s personal presence appeared as “a gentle whisper” or a quiet rustling. 

Finally, Elijah was able to listen again with understanding.  And at that point God assured him that he was not alone and promptly sent him on his way to continue His work. 

Jesus says to us today: “Are you listening?”  That’s something I have to ask myself daily.  And, really… it’s not a bad thing to ask.  In fact it’s a good thing to ask.  Are you listening?   

And not only that, but it is good to ask for godly wisdom, (for understanding), as you listen.

The first disciples knew the importance of listening with understanding when they asked: “Why do You speak to [these people] in parables?”  

And basically Jesus replied: These are the ones that the prophet Isaiah spoke of.  These are the ones who have hardened their hearts and thus are unreceptive to God’s Word.  These are the ones who have consciously chosen to reject Me, (Jesus said).  They have chosen to reject God’s message of good news for them. 

But as for you, right now… your eyes are blessed because they see and your ears are blessed because they are open and receptive and eager to hear and to learn.

And because of that, the seed that was sown there among you has found “good soil” and will yield a great harvest for God… some even a hundred-fold. 

The amazing thing is that… Jesus doesn’t say two-fold, six-fold, or eight-fold, but one hundred-fold.  That is how God blesses those whose hearts are prepared for a spiritual harvest.

So, with this glorious prospect in mind, (that the Word of God can yield one hundred-fold in our lives), let us do all that we can to be open to God’s promptings every day… all the time. 

You see… it is not good enough to just have been open: At the time of your confirmation, or at the time when you used to teach Sunday school, or the time when you attended church as a child. We need to be continuously open like a cultivated garden…

For, where there is “real openness” (“real listening with understanding”)… there will be fruits of faith and a great harvest for the Divine Reaper… when He comes to gather in the last days.

Think about this…  In the parable there are three things: The Sower (God who is Good), the Seed (God’s Word which is Good) and the Soil (the condition of our hearts, which can vary). 

It is only the third one (the condition of our hearts) that we have any control over.   

The apostle Paul wrote: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom 10:17).

Now… there will probably be times when you question your faith like the great prophet Elijah did.  But always remember this: God can rekindle your faith.

By listening to God’s Word and also striving to hear with understanding, God’s Kingdom will have the opportunity to take root and spring up… and bring with it an even greater faith in God… and His purpose for your life.

BUT… we each have a choice.  Our hearts can be a sterile pathway… a stony plateau… a thorn-covered thicket… or a well-cultivated garden (filled with rich fertile soil). 

We have a choice about whether the kingdom of God will live or die in our lives: We can choose to open up our hearts and let it flourish… or we can crush it, like the man with the little fledgling bird.

You know… God has great plans for our lives.  And so I hope we will always be open to the growth of God’s Kingdom.

If you’ve already done that (opened your heart to God’s Kingdom work)… and if you choose to continue doing that… then Jesus would say that your heart is like the “good soil”… which will bear “fruit,” up to a hundred-fold in this life… and even into eternity.  Amen.

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