Matthew 13:1-9

David A. Shirey

Broadway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 

            This is back-to-school Sunday and we disciples of Jesus Christ are going back to school ourselves. Over the next six weeks, we’re going to listen to our Teacher, Rabbi Jesus, tell us stories – parables, to be specific. Jesus taught in parables.      

            What is a parable? My favorite definition comes from the late British Bible scholar C.H. Dodd who said, “The parable is a metaphor… drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its… application to tease it into active thought.”  I like that last phrase: Jesus told parables “to tease our minds into active thought” Parable as brain tickler. A cerebral koochie-koo. For what purpose? Something to make us think. 

         Of course, before we can think, we first need to listen. And if we’re honest, we’ll admit that when it comes to listening, we’re all hard of hearing. Or maybe I should say we’re all hard of listening. Hearing is a physical process that has to do with sound waves striking ear drums, but listening is a matter of the heart that has to do with one soul’s desire to be receptive to another. We don’t always listen to each other. I confess my guilt. I think of all the times my wife Jennie is talking. I’m vaguely aware words are coming out of her mouth and striking my ear drum, but I’m not listening until I hear, "Earth to David. Come in." If we don’t listen well to those we love and who love us, how are we going to listen to everybody else? God created us with two ears and one mouth to be used in that proportion-- Do we listen twice as much as we talk?

         To underscore the importance of listening, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower before all his other parables, beginning by saying, “Listen! A sower went out to sow” (Matthew 13:3) and ending with, “If you have ears, hear!” (Mt 13:9). Jesus’ first parable   invites us to listen and teaches us the obstacles to doing so.

            Our Lord begins, “Behold a sower went out to sow” and then proceeds to tell of seed sown on a path, rocky soil, among weeds, and on good soil. Note that the Sower sowed his Word everywhere – path, rocks, weeds – everywhere.  Likewise, Jesus sowed gospel seed everywhere. He sowed his teaching indiscriminately. Jesus didn’t withhold gospel seed from any race or class or pedigree of person. He never said, “I’ll not waste my time with her. She’ll never understand.” He never thought to himself, “He’ll never change. I’ll save my breath.” Never once did Jesus write somebody off as incapable of learning a lesson. Let this be a lesson: we can’t tell by just looking at someone – their appearance, their circumstances, their history – whether their ears are open and their heart is receptive to God’s Word or not. We’re to follow Jesus’ example who cast Good Word among everybody knowing that some will prove to be receptive soil…

            …And some won’t. Gospel seed won’t take in some folks. For instance, “As he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up (Matthew 13:4). Meaning what? Several verses later, Jesus explains. " When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart” (Matthew 13:19).  What a shame gospel seed goes to waste because of lack of understanding because the antidote to lack of understanding is seeking understanding. Learning. I tip my cap to the many of you who in the 9 o’clock Discipleship Hour and/or in a small group during the week gather to learn and better understand the implications of the Christian faith for the living of your lives. Too many Christians complete their Christian Education when they graduate from Vacation Bible School. Which leads to lack of understanding. Gospel seed bounces off eardrums hardened by lack of understanding.

              But whereas lack of understanding is one thing, understanding and then disregarding what is said is another thing altogether. I remember reading one Bible scholar a few years ago who said the phrase translated “does not understand” does not mean “does not comprehend.” It means “disregards” as in “hears it but does not seek to apply it.” As Missourian Mark Twain said, "It ain't the parts of the Bible I can't understand that bother me, it’s the parts I do understand." I dare say each of us have passages of Scripture we disregard not because we don’t understand them, but because we do. “Love your enemies.” (We’ve been studying that one this summer). “Tame the tongue.” (I wish James hadn’t said that!) “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you” (Lev.19: 34). No wonder we don’t read Leviticus! The passages that call for confession. Somebody said the five hardest words to pronounce in the English language are, “I’m sorry. I was wrong.” I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, If you love Jesus, tithe. Any fool can honk. My sense is that the hearing of many Christians these days, David A. Shirey included, is impaired by what is called “confirmation bias”: we only listen to what confirms our preexisting beliefs. The resulting effect is life lived in an echo chamber where we hear only what we want to hear, conflicting opinions or facts to the contrary notwithstanding. Confirmation bias affects my house, your house, the State House and the White House. And Jesus warned against it saying, “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it (or disregards it), good seed becomes bird seed and is lost.

            Then again, some of the Sower’s seed “fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly… But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. (Matthew 13:5, 6). Jesus paints the picture of a Christian life that has a promising start but a premature ending. Jesus says the problem has to do with having “no depth of soil.” Meaning that though the gospel may be received initially with enthusiasm and the best of intentions--“Danny and Debbie Disciple reporting for duty, sir!”–  in time sheer emotion wears off, the best of intentions run up against the reality of difficult circumstances, and without deep roots, discipleship will wither and die. There’s an important word here for all of us. Namely, the importance of establishing a deep root system for our faith by digging deeply and fortifying the soil our faith is planted in. What happens on Sunday morning here at Broadway is an inestimable joy to be a part of. But if this is the only hour of the week we set aside for our faith formation, ours will be a shallow faith with no root system that won’t be able to withstand the dry seasons of the soul. We need other times throughout the week – small groups, conversation partners, one-on-ones with God and God’s Word – to deepen our roots. Seed sown in shallow soil withers.

            Then again, Jesus says “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them” (Matthew 13:7) This seed gets growing, but its growth is choked out by all the weeds competing with it for sun, soil, water, and nutrients.  Meaning what?  Meaning all the activities that constitute our lives occupy the same square inch of soil on our calendars as anything we might want to do with and for the Lord. If we’re going to make room for Gospel seed to take root and grow, we first have to weed out our calendars. John Ortberg tells of a spiritual director he consulted once. He described to the man his weekly schedule and the general pace of his life and asked, “What do I need to do to be spiritually healthy?”

            The man said, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

            Ortberg responded, “Okay, I’ve written that one down. That’s a good one. What else is there?”

            “There is nothing else. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”   

At a workshop I attended at General Assembly titled Good News for Exhausted Churches, two of my friends said, “Christians and Churches don’t need a “To do list” as much as we need a “Stop do list.” (So I wrote down, “Create ‘Stop do list’ on my To Do list.”)      

            Last but not least, and best-- Jesus says, “Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (Matthew 13:7,8).”

There’s going to be a harvest!  Jesus knew the power of gospel seed to be fruitful despite the odds of where it may land. That’s good news for so many people. 

            Parents, for one. I know you want to pull your hair out sometimes. “Seems whatever I say to my children goes in one ear and out the other.” Trust Jesus. Sow the seed. Mark Twain again: “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

            Teachers, sow the seed. I know the view you have some days looking out over a less-than-receptive-looking field of students. Teach your heart out. You have no idea the seeds that will take and the harvest that will come.  

            Singers and musicians. You plan and practice, set words to music and sow them sanctuary-wide Sunday in and Sunday out, and you wonder, “Is it worth it?” It’s worth it!  You don’t know whose week will be soothed, even saved, by the remembrance of a melody or verse you sang today. Sing the seed!

            Next time you’re sitting in a meeting and you find yourself wondering Are there meetings in heaven? and Is this really worth it? – ask yourself if maybe, just maybe, something was discussed and decided that will take root and bear fruit thirty, sixty, hundredfold.

            Believe in the power of gospel seed faithfully sown to bring forth a harvest you may never know about!    

            Let me tell you something. You are living proof that gospel seed manages to take root and bear fruit in some of the darndest places. Yes, you. You’re not here by accident. A seed at some point somewhere thanks to somebody found its way into your ear canal and made its made way all the way in. The Sower’s seed was sown in you. And it took! And I know and you know there are people who if I told them, “Do you know So-and-so is a disciple of Jesus Christ?” the response would be laughter. “So-and-so, a Christian? Preacher, you don’t so-and-so the way I do.” To which I’d say, “I beg your pardon. You don’t now So-and-so the way the Living God does who loves her/him believes in her/him, stands by her/him, and knows a harvest is gonna come. You are an example of seed that found receptive soil. 

            That’s no joke. That’s the gospel truth.  “Let all who have ears, let them hear.”

            Let all God’s people say, AMEN.