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Much Ado About Sowing
We
are continuing our series on the parables of Jesus. In these parables, Jesus
told stories of everyday life in 1st century Judea, but used them to
teach his followers, and, as we saw last week, sometimes his enemies. We are
examining some of these stories to see what lessons they hold for us in the 21st
century. Let’s look at this week’s parable.
Matthew 13:3-9;
18-23
New Living
Translation (NLT)
13 3 He told many stories in the form of parables, such as
this one:
“Listen! A farmer
went out to plant some seeds. 4 As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell
on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5 Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock.
The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and
since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked
out the tender plants.8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they
produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had
been planted! 9 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and
understand.”
18 “Now listen to the explanation of the parable about
the farmer planting seeds: 19 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those
who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil
one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. 20 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear
the message and immediately receive it with joy.21 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last
long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for
believing God’s word. 22 The seed that fell among the thorns represents those
who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the
worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. 23 The seed that fell on good soil represents those who
truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or
even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
How
familiar are you with Starbucks? You know the coffee place? I’ll give you some background.
Starbucks was founded in 1971 in Seattle, WA. They began with a single store
that sold only coffee beans. They opened their first locations outside of
Seattle in 1987. In 1994, Starbucks had 300 stores in the US. Today there are over
13,000 locations in the US and more than 20,000 worldwide (in 61 countries). They
employ over 149,000 people worldwide. In 2012, their total sales were over $13
billion. They are currently the largest coffeehouse chain in the world.
To
say Starbucks is popular would be an understatement. There has been a rumor in
Florence for a few years now that Starbucks wants to open a store here. When
you talk to certain people about it you can almost see them drool as they
ponder the possibility. In many cities, realtors have begun putting ‘close to
Starbucks’ in their ads alongside ‘hard-wood floors’ and ‘good schools’. I found one website with 2 ads mentioning proximity to Starbucks. People
will actually pay extra for a home within walking distance of a Starbucks
store.
There
are several factors behind the company’s success. One is the ‘cool’ factor,
because everybody knows that Starbucks is the ‘cool’ place to buy coffee. That,
of course goes straight to their marketing successes. Another secret to their
success is, to put it in real estate terms, ‘Location, location, location.’
Starbucks spends lots of money and lots of resources on picking the best
locations for their stores. They do exhaustive research before making a
selection.
Arthur
Rubenfeld is a former Executive Vice President for Real Estate at Starbucks; he
gives several examples of the research they do. They send consultants to stand
at a location with a clicker during peak times to count traffic. Oil stains in
the parking lot tells him that an area gets lots of traffic. More suits and
jackets at a local dry cleaner tells him that it is a higher income area than
if there were a majority of shirts. There are other things they look for as
well, but all of these things go into picking the best locations, the locations
that show the best potential.
They
study and research relentlessly to find the best locations, and because of this
rigorous process, they choose locations that are much more likely to be
successful. They put tons of time and resources into finding good soil.
Contrast
that with the sower in today’s scripture. This parable is likely familiar to
you. You’ve probably heard it preached before. Maybe you’ve heard it taught, as
I have heard and taught that the focus of the parable is on the soils. The four
types of soil represent types of people and we, of course, want to be good
soil. This story is sometimes called the Parable of the four soils or the
Parable of the Miraculous Yield. Jesus, though, calls it ‘The Parable of the
Sower’ or ‘The Parable of the Farmer’. That tells us that this parable is first
and foremost about the sower. If the sower is the subject, then we need to look
at what the story tells us about the sower.
That
depends on your interpretation of the parable. Let’s look at it on these terms:
The sower is God. The seed is Jesus or the Word made flesh. The different soils
are different life conditions.
In
that context, there is an important idea I want to examine. God scatters the
seed, Jesus, on the world. But this is not a strategic, row-by-row planting. Our
scripture says that the farmer “scatters the seed.” It seems almost wasteful. A
frugal farmer would want to ensure as successful a planting as possible. A
frugal farmer would plant only in good soil. She would do everything possible
to make sure the soil was good. (like research extensively). She would go to
great lengths to make sure that the seed land in that good soil.
The
planting described in the parable is known as broadcasting. You’ve probably
seen a broadcaster, especially if you’ve ever spread grass seed. You walk along and turn the crank and seed are cast out in every direction. In 1st
century Judea, they didn’t have broadcasters. Instead, the farmer would walk
along and throw handfuls of seed out into his field. Now some of those seed
would probably land out of the field; on the path, on rocky soil, among weeds.
It would likely be very few seeds, though. In Jesus’ story, it almost seems as
if the seed are divided in fourths. As if equal amounts fall on the different
soils. But despite the seed falling in areas where it may not thrive, the sower
continues to spread the seed. God continues to spread the Word. God continues
to sow generously, even in the unpromising places.
Has
anyone taken Disciple Bible Study. Each lesson typically asks 3 questions about
the scripture readings for that week. “What does this say about God?” “What
does it say about us humans?” and “What does this say about the relationship
between God and humans?” So, let’s examine this story in terms of those
questions.
To
make it a little more concrete, let’s look at Jesus’ ministry, specifically his
time with the Disciples, as it relates to the parable. This will give us an
idea of, not only what the parable says about God, but also what it says about
us.
The
first seed mentioned falls along the path. Jesus says this represents those who
do not understand the Word. That’s the best description of the disciples I’ve
heard. Half of our scripture this morning is Jesus explaining this parable to
the disciples. They spent much of their time with Jesus asking him to clarify
his teachings or just plain misunderstanding him.
The
second group of seed falls on rocky ground. The hearer receives it with joy,
but it only endures for a while. When persecution and trouble come along, they
fall away. Again, it’s a pretty accurate description of the Disciples. Upon
Jesus’ arrest, they scattered. They spent the next few days hiding in fear.
Some of them went back to their jobs as fishermen.
The
third group of seed fell among the weeds. In these people the Word is received,
but is choked out by the cares of the world. Maybe we see Judas in this group. Or
the whole group of disciples as they argue over who is the greatest. Or James
and John when their mom goes to ask Jesus if they can be his right hand men
when he comes to power.
You
know what? If we are honest, I think we can see each of these soil types or
each of these life conditions in our own lives. Probably not all at once, maybe
not now, but I know I can identify times in my own life when any one of these
was true.
What
does this parable say about us? It says we are going to slip. We’re going to
misunderstand Jesus. We’re going to find ourselves running from Jesus
sometimes. We’re going to let life push us away from Jesus.
What
does this parable tell us about God? It tells us that despite all of that, God
does not give up on us. Despite the disciples’ failings, Jesus still sent them
out to preach the gospel. Despite the bad soil they showed time and again, he
saw the potential for good soil – the potential for a miraculous harvest. Despite
our failings, God asks the same of us. Go, make disciples, baptize, teach, and
remember. God continues, through the Holy Spirit working in our lives and
through us, to spread the word on all 4 of these soil types.
This
parable tells us that God is not like Starbucks – spending time and resources
trying to find the best soil. God simply casts the seed of Jesus on the world. Jesus
invested his ministry in the Disciples, which if you didn’t know the end of the
story could be a little discouraging. He spent much of his time with sinners
and tax-collectors; lepers and other outcasts. But in this parable, Jesus still
looks forward to an abundant harvest. And hind-sight being 20/20, I’d say he
was right. What started with about 120 followers just after the resurrection
has grown to more than 2 billion Christians today. That is a miraculous yield.
There
is something else this passage tells us about us. Maybe there’s another way to
look at this parable. What if we look at it in terms of our own evangelism? Evangelism
comes from the Greek work euaggelion, which means good news. Evangelism is, at
its simplest, telling people about Jesus. Whether that is inviting people to
church or simply telling people about your church. Telling people who Jesus is
to you and what Jesus has done for you. That’s evangelism. Telling the good
news.
Most
of the time our approach to evangelism looks like Starbucks’ approach to new
stores. We want to make sure it will be successful before we start. Sometimes
that means we don’t talk about Jesus because of where we are and who we’re
with. We, like Starbucks, want to find the good soil and throw seed on it. But
that’s not what this parable teaches. This parable doesn’t teach us to be
selective with the gospel. Our sower, God, sows the Word on everyone. The 4
types of soil represent all walks of life. God spreads the word to them all.
That’s risky. Sowing where you know growth is unlikely is a risk. But we are
called to do likewise. We are called to carry the gospel with us where ever we go,
even, or maybe especially, in those areas where we think growth is unlikely.
What
does the parable say about our relationship with God? Firstly, it tells us that
God will pursue us even in the rocky places or among the thorns or along the
well-worn path. And second, because of our relationship with God, we are called
to take the word to just those places, wherever they may be.
So,
what is the “take home” from this parable? We are called to share the gospel
just as the farmer scatters seed – extravagantly and indiscriminately, not
judging which places and people are worthy of the good news and which are not.
In other words, take the gospel with you everywhere you go. In word and in
deed, always
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