09/13/2017 WHAT TO DO WITH THE MESSAGE
Matthew 13:3-9 Then HE told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”
[New International translation]
Summary
JESUS spoke and taught in parables. HE used simple stories to illustrate a spiritual or moral lesson.
The “parable of the sower” is one of the parables of JESUS that illustrate a number of points. JESUS explains this parable in the later verses of Matthew 13. The various scatterings of seed represent various scenarios that can occur when a person hears the Gospel. For example:
- The hard path where some of the seeds fell represents the heart of a person who
hears the Gospel and doesn’t understand it, treasure it or values it; then Satan (i.e., the evil one) comes and snatches away the seeds from his heart. (Verses18-19) - The shallow, rock soil represents the heart of a man who hears the message and receives it joyfully. But the man doesn’t have much depth or substance (he’s rather shallow), and the message seeds are planted hastily and without the man delving deep into the Gospel. As a result, when trouble comes, or persecution begins, the man’s has no roots to fortify him, so his joy and enthusiasm fade and he let’s go of the message and drops out. (Verses 20-22)
- The ground covered with thistles represents a man who hears the message, but the cares of this life and his longing for money (i.e., the deceitfulness of wealth) chokes out GOD’s message so that over time the man does less and less for GOD. This man wants a crown without a cross; the pleasure of life without eternal life. (Verses 22)
- The good ground presents the heart of a man who listens to the message and understands it, feels the urgency of the message and the desire to serve, spreads the Gospel, bringing others into GOD’s fold. (Verse 23)
Each one of these illustrations is worth studying in detail. Each one is worth praying about. Each one is worth asking, as the disciples asked at the Passover meal, “LORD is it I.” (Matthew 26:22) Am I that one? “Is that one me?” “Is that what I am becoming?”
Some of us may even ask ourselves if the place where I worship is the kind of “soil” that makes it easy for someone to “hear” the Gospel. Are we a “hard” soil church? Are we a “thistle” church, “tripping others up with protocol or “pointy comments” that hurt others’ hearts? Are we good, nurturing soil place of worship, ready to provide the nutrients for those “thirsty” for a relationship, a supportive nurturing environment and GOD’s WORD?”
Obviously, there are a number of ways to receive a message, to hear or listen to a message, to be a message or to lay the “ground work” for the message and THE MESSENGER.