Storms - Luke 8:22-25 - February 26, 2023

 Luke 8:22-25 Storms

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 8 and verses 22-25. That’s on page 865 in the pew Bibles.

We have come again to particular passage of Scripture that I admit I do not want to preach on, mostly, because I do not want to have to apply the truth contained in these verses. I have had to do it before, I have friends doing it now, and it hurts my heart to think of any of you here having to do it. I think that thought will make itself clear as we move along.

Let’s read the text together.

22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Let’s pray.

This scene is one that appears in both of the other synoptic Gospels, meaning Matthew and Mark. They both deal with it a little differently and both include and exclude different details. You can look them up and study them on your own, they are found in Matthew 8:23 and Mark 4:35. I’m not going to reference those two Gospel accounts as each can stand on its own and can be examined and understood on its own. But you can read them later and compare them if you like.

You all know how much I love one point sermons. Can you remember the one point of the last few sermons? It’s been pretty much the same point: Hear the Word of God and do it.

Well now, In Luke’s account we get to see if the Disciples were paying attention.

On one particular day Jesus got into a boat says to His Disciples, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” In this particular example, this is the Word of God. “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.”

In the original language, Greek in this case, the word for “let us go across,” is all one word. And that one word is in the active aorist tense. The aorist tense is Greek’s past tense. Bear with me here. Jesus didn’t simply suggest that they go out in the boat, He didn’t suggest, “Maybe we should try to go to the other side of the lake in the boat,” Jesus said literally, “we are going across the lake.”

This is extremely to have in mind at the outset because it is the Word of God, “We are going across the lake.” 

So if the Disciples had heard and understood the one point of the sermon about the wise and foolish builders, the one point of the parable of the soils, the one point of lighting the lamp, the one point of who was Jesus’ mother and brothers and sisters, they would have set sail from the shore of the lake to the other side confident that because Jesus said plainly, “We are going across the lake,” no matter what happened in between the would trust that they would reach the other side.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? Simple, yes. Easy, no.

The trip would be about five miles by boat from west to east from Galilee to Genesserett where they arrive in verse 26. So after a long day of teaching and performing miracles Jesus takes a nap in the stern of the boat.

The Sea of Galilee sits about 650 feet below sea level. It is surrounded by rocky hills and gorges which allow sudden and violent storms to develop and hard winds to blow across the lake. And that’s exactly what happens.

In truth, two storms blow in, the one on the outside with its wind and waves, and one on the inside of the hearts of the Disciples. 

22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.

Now don’t let’s forget who we are dealing with, the Disciples were sea faring souls. Four of them were professional fishermen on this lake and all the rest of them grew up on its shores. They knew what storms on the Sea of Galilee could be like, they mostly had lost friends and neighbors or had heard stories of people claimed by the Sea. These were men of experience and they were terrified.

Now let’s pause and consider a question. The winds were buffeting, the waves were breaking over the sides and the boat was filling with water miles from shore. 

I don’t like this question, don’t answer it: did they have reason to fear? 

I say don’t answer because we are too far removed from the situation and can easily slip into theological snobbery and simply say, “They had Jesus with them in the boat of course they had no reason to fear.”

Regardless of our opinion they were afraid, they were terrified. You can hear the utter faintness of heart when they cry out, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”

I wish we could hear them. I wish we could hear the sound of their cries to Jesus for help.

Why did they wake Him, for help, or so that He would know they were dying as He died with them?

I want to think that they were honestly crying out for His help but it was probably a bit of both.

If they were calling out to Him for help it was because they knew He had a solution, what they didn’t believe was that He had a plan.

And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

JJ vanOsterzee wrote, “Now as ever their faith manifests itself in this, that in their distress they flee to none but Jesus.”

But Jesus asks them this penetrating question: Where is your faith?

This is a tough one because this question could have two meanings. Where is your faith? As if to say you had faith once, where is it now? Or, where is your faith, as in, where are you placing your faith?

It seems to me that it’s mostly likely a bit of both. Jesus had told them that they were going to cross the lake. If they trusted Him completely they would know that no storm could stop them from reaching the other side. 

It also seems that they had a good deal of trust in themselves to navigate until the storm got out of hand. This is where I live most of the time. If you’re honest you’re probably right there with me.

But the Disciples did go to Jesus when things got out of hand, they got that much right, kind of. But it’s well been said that, “Faith is not believing in spite of circumstances; it’s obeying in spite of feelings and consequences.”

When Jesus calms the storm and challenges them in their faith they respond with worship.

And they were afraid [a reverent fear or awe], and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

They asked a question that they already knew the answer to, He is the Son of God, God made flesh, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The Disciples in a situation that made them fear for their lives, they thought all hope was lost, this was a really hard time for them, let’s not minimize that. If Jesus wasn’t in the boat them may indeed have all perished.

But I’ve read some great scholars and heard some great preachers give the devil credit for the storm, saying that he was attempting to thwart the great plan of God through nature.

And we may scoff at that idea, but how often do we give credit to the devil for making people sick, or causing accidents, or creating the storms that we experience in our lives to terrify or discourage or destroy us?

What if the storms of this life, the difficulties we face are designed by God to deepen our faith? What if cancer was a gift, what if losing a job, or losing our home was the best thing that ever happened to us?

Think about the gifts that were given to the Disciples that night, if they could only see it.

They were given the gift of the knowledge of their complete powerlessness. In the face of nature, in the face of illness, in the face of trauma, we are reminded that we don’t have power over anything.

And therein lies the second gift, the reminder of Jesus’ almightiness. It’s only when we realize that we are powerless that we learn to depend on His almightiness, and this is a great gift. The Disciples fled to none but Jesus and so should we.

And that’s the third gift, they got to pray for His help. A prayer that the Father will always say “yes” to is: Glorify yourself in my difficulty. 1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

They were given the gift of praise to His Name, recognizing that even the winds and the waves obey the Lord of all creation.

So here’s the single point of this sermon: Hear the Word of God and do it. 

What if it’s hard or scary? Hear the Word of God and do it.

What if it looks impossible? Hear the Word of God and do it.

What if I don’t feel like it or it doesn’t make me feel good? Hear the Word of God and do it.

What if I’m uncomfortable with the consequences? Hear the Word of God and do it.

There are going to be storms… they are gifts. 

“Faith is not believing in spite of circumstances, it  is obeying in spite of feelings and consequences.”

Amen.

Family First - Luke 8:18-21 - February 19. 2023

 Luke 8:19-21 Family First

Good morning and welcome! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 8 and verses 19-21, that’s on page 865 in the pew Bibles.

There is an expression that we use a lot around here and we use it as a kind of measuring stick for what we do as a church family. Whatever activity fits within the parameters of the expression will be considered and anything that doesn’t fit doesn’t work and we don’t consider it.

The statement is simply, “Making and maturing disciples together as a family.”

It’s not coincidental then that folks that have been around here for a while don’t simply refer to this group as our church, but more specifically as our church family.

In our text this morning we get a glimpse from the mouth of Jesus just how important the church family truly is and how to be part of it. So let’s look at it together.

19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

Let’s pray.

So just to give some background, by this time in Jesus’ life and ministry, Joseph, the husband of Mary was most likely dead already. He isn’t mentioned after the time that Jesus got left behind in Jerusalem when His parents found Him in the Temple talking with the teachers in Luke chapter two.

Jesus was part of a large family. He was the oldest of five brothers and some sisters, meaning that after Jesus was born of Mary, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, Mary and Joseph had a bunch more kids that were Jesus’ half-brothers and half-sisters. Mary did not remain a virgin and neither was she sinless as we’ll see as we move along.

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry his half-siblings did not believe in Him. You can read more about that in John chapter 7, where they actually mocked Jesus and His ministry.

We do know from Acts chapter one, verse fourteen, that at least two of His brothers and possibly His sisters came to believe in Him as well as Mary.

Two of Jesus’ half-brothers went on to write books of the New Testament, James and Jude.

But before that, they thought He was crazy. In Mark 3 after appointing the Twelve Apostles…

20 …he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Attempting to thwart the plan and purpose of God for and through the Son of God classifies as sin. Jesus’ family, including His mother Mary, was not perfect, they were not without sin.

But even though at the time Jesus said these words His family did not believe in Him, He never disrespected nor disowned them. But He also didn’t venerate them, so that people would hold them up to be worshipped.

John Calvin wrote, “By disparaging the relationship of flesh and blood, our Lord teaches us a very useful doctrine; for He admits all His disciples and all believers to the same honorable rank, as if they were His nearest relatives, or rather He places them in the room of His mother and brothers.”

“My mother and my brothers and sisters are those who hear the Word of God and do it.”

Those who hear the Word of God and do it…

Those who hear the Word of God and do it are like wise builders who build their houses on the rock.

Those who hear the Word of God and do it are like good soil that receives the seed and grows producing fruit.

Those who hear the Word of God and do it are like lamps on a stand giving light to the whole house.

Those who hear the Word of God and do it are my mother and my brothers and sisters.

Are you starting to get the point?

Jesus half-brother James did eventually when he wrote in the first chapter of his letter in verses 22-25.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

When I first read this text this week, I thought that it was about putting Jesus before family, to not make our families an idol. An though those are good ideas and Jesus does have things to say about them, that’s not what He is saying here.

Jesus is telling His disciples that day, and reminding us this morning, about His design for His church, that it’s a family.

By hearing His Word and doing it, that’s what faith is, by hearing His Word and doing it we become family, His family, a family united by faith in Jesus.

Those who hear the Word of God and do it… Time for an object lesson.

I need two volunteers who have never interacted with this chair. You’ve never sat on it, maybe even never seen it.

Volunteer number one, I built this chair. It is sturdy, it is strong, and it will bear your weight if you stand on it. Do you believe me? Yes. Good, thank you.

Volunteer number two, I built this chair. It is sturdy, it is strong, and it will bear your weight if you stand on it. Do you believe me? Yes. Good, prove it. Thank you.

Who had faith, who truly believed that the chair would hold them? Hearing the Word of God and doing it is just like that.

We cannot simply stop at hearing the Word of God, even saying that we believe the Word of God if we refuse to obey the Word of God. Warren Wiesbe said, “…it is easy to think we are ‘spiritual’ because we listen to one preacher after another, take notes, mark our Bibles, but never really practice what we learn. We are only fooling ourselves.”

When we hear the Word of God but refuse to do the Word of God we become auditors of the Word of God.

Listening, hearing, trusting, obeying the Word of God, that’s what faith looks like. And by doing that we become wise builders, fruitful soil, a lamp on a stand shining it’s light, and family with Jesus.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:14-21:

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Amen.

Lamps on a Stand - Luke 8:16-18 - February 12, 2023

 Luke 8:16-18 Lamps on a Stand

Good morning! Turn with me to Luke 8:16-18, page 865 in the pew Bibles.

Last week, you may remember that we looked at Jesus’ first parable, the parable of the Sower, or of the Soils. In Jesus’ explanation of the parable to His disciples He said:

“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

It’s important for us to have that context because Jesus follows up that commentary with our text for this morning in verse 16.

16“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

Let’s pray.

On its face this text, this principle from Jesus seems pretty simple. But after long hours of study and prayer, and contemplation, and reading the scholars, I have come to the conclusion… that it is still pretty simple.

At the end of Jesus’ public proclamation of the parable of the Sower He makes the statement, in verse 8, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

This is an important statement because that is exactly what Jesus is concerned about in our text this morning: hearing, or listening.

Jesus gives us the simple picture of an oil lamp and reminds His disciples that when you light a lamp you don’t hide it under a jar or stuff it under your bed. These were obvious points that anybody would have understood. But Jesus makes a profound statement in verse 18, “Take care then how you hear…”

Since we are just coming out of the parable of the sower we can understand from the context that Jesus has already explained the “what” of what they were hearing, and that is the word of God, the gospel.

It’s equally important to consider that they were hearing at all. But the reality of it is that not everyone who hears has ears to hear.

I can attest personally that I have sat through a lot of sermons, heard a lot of gospel proclamations that were like water off a duck's back to me. Perhaps you are having the same experience even right at this very moment! Not everybody has ears to hear. But those that had ears to hear the gospel and responded to it in faith and believe in Jesus bear the responsibility to bear fruit, to go from seed to sower and that is what Jesus is addressing here in verses 16-18.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “It is a serious thing to hear and understand the Word of God, because this puts on us the obligation to share the Word with others. Everyone who receives the seed then becomes a sower, a light bearer, and a transmitter of God’s truth. If we keep it to ourselves we will lose it; but if we share it we will receive more.”

Remember the lesson of the wise and foolish builders in chapter six?

46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

When Jesus warns the disciples in our text, “Take care then how you hear…” this is what He’s talking about, hearing, understanding, and doing what He tells us.

Those who have ears to hear are those that hear, trust, and obey, and it is those that become the lighted lamps whose purpose is to be put on a stand so that all might benefit from the light.

So that’s the simple super secret and deep message from Jesus: those who have heard the gospel and have put their trust in Jesus are lamps and the light, the flame, is the gospel itself. We have not been given the light just to keep it to ourselves, instead, our lives should literally reflect the truth of what we have heard and understand and trust.

Verse 17 says, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” What does Jesus mean, what’s the secret wisdom here?

Let me ask you this, what does light reveal? Light reveals what exists in the dark. Spiritually speaking, the light of the gospel reveals our sin. This is why people hate the gospel and reject Jesus.

Perhaps you’re familiar with John 3:16? Jesus explains this concept perfectly in the verses that follow.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

The light of the gospel reveals the reality that we are sinners and that is why we sin. But when we hear the truth of the gospel, that God loves us in spite of our sin, that He has forgiven us for all of it because of Jesus’ death on the cross, and He wants us to walk with Him in the light, we become bearers of that light in the world. 

And that is the light that we are not to hide under a jar or stuff under our beds.

18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

What does Jesus mean here, what is it that more will be given to the one who has, but will be taken from the one who doesn’t have but thinks he has? Is this just another riddle?

It may seem a little riddle-like but Jesus simply means: the truth.

When we hear the gospel and respond in faith, when we hear the truth about our sinfulness and God’s solution, we begin to learn more truth, we learn that the Bible is God’s Word and can be trusted, and from it we learn about the church and our place in God’s family and His kingdom. We can spend the rest of our lives plumbing the depths of the truth of God’s Word.

But to the one who doesn’t have the truth, who has rejected the truth of God’s saving grace in Jesus and their need for salvation and forgiveness, even the truth they think they have will be taken from them.

Even those that choose to reject Jesus will know the truth on the Day of Judgment but it will be too late for them.

In this text, Jesus gives us a wonderful picture of a lamp giving off light, and the simple truth is that lamps are supposed to be used to give off light and so, as Christians, we are to shine the light of the gospel and not to hide it.

But, I have to admit, as I have heard this text read and preached and taught in Sunday School, the picture I always saw in my mind when we sang, “This Little Light of Mine,” was the picture of a candle.

But Jesus didn’t say candle, He said, “lamp,” and how lamps are designed and how they function lends to the strength of this teaching. A lamp is a simple vessel made of clay and sometimes metal that is filled with oil and has a wick that gets lit. In truth, any nonflammable vessel can be used as a lamp if it is filled with oil and can hold a wick.

We are all just simple clay vessels and by faith in Jesus we are filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit and entrusted with the wick of the Word of God that is lit by Jesus. So we are not the light, we are simply vessels that hold the light. The light belongs to God, we just need to be willing to get out from under the bucket or bed and be set on a stand so that the light gets to shine and trust God with the rest. Amen.

Gardening Tips From Jesus - Luke 8:4-15 - February 5, 2023

 Luke 8:4-15 Gardening Tips From Jesus

Good morning! Let’s turn together to Luke chapter eight. This morning we are going to look at verses four through fifteen and that’s on page 865 in the pew Bibles.

This is Luke’s first record of Jesus teaching in parables. A parable is a profound and effective teaching tool that takes a figure from everyday life but applies to it great spiritual truth.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “A parable starts out as a picture that is familiar to the listeners. But as you carefully consider the picture, it becomes a mirror in which you see yourself, and many people don’t like to see themselves.”

I would also add that the picture that becomes a mirror when carefully considered also becomes a window through which we can see the grace of God.

So let’s look at our text and jump in.

4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Let’s pray.

It definitely makes life easier for an expository preacher when the Lord Jesus exposits the text Himself. Last week I told you that I wanted an easy text but didn’t get one, this week the Lord has done all the work already!

I’m sure for many of you this parable is familiar though it may not be to others. To the disciples it certainly wasn’t and in fact, on the surface it seems like a completely ineffective marketing approach.

Think of it this way, if your purpose is to reach as many people as possible with your message, would you consider deliberately making your message confusing or easily misunderstood?

Luke is very polite when he records the disciples’ response to this first parable in verse nine. He simply said that they asked Him what it meant. I think it might have sounded a little more like this: What was that!? We’ve got a great big crowd out here to see and hear about the kingdom and that is what you give them? What does that even mean?!

Jesus explains to them not only the meaning of the parable but the purpose of the parables.

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9,10 when He explains why He was using parables. It isn’t that He was speaking in riddles or deliberately trying to trick anyone, but when He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” He simply means that not everybody is going to get this but those who, by the grace of God, have hearts prepared for this message, will understand.

And by the grace of God we have the explanation to the parable right here but I’m afraid still not everyone will understand what Jesus was saying.

The headings call this the Parable of the Sower but it just as easily be called the parable of the Seed and the Soils.

So what do we know? Who is the Sower? Jesus

What is the seed? The Word of God, the Gospel

What are the four different types of soils? The hearts of those who hear the Gospel

So the soils represent the hearts of those who hear the message of the gospel. I’m sure that in the crowd that Jesus was speaking to all four types of hearts were represented and perhaps here today all four types are represented as well.

As I said before, parables are a picture that when carefully considered become a mirror. So let’s carefully consider it and see what we can see.

The first soil is the path.

12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

These folks are the indifferent. They hear the message but aren’t really listening. This word from Jesus was nothing more than gardening tips, be careful where you sow your seeds…

It’s also important to note that alongside the indifference of the hearts of these folks is the work of the devil who snatches away the word before it can take root. Make no mistake, our enemy, the devil, doesn’t want the gospel to take root in the hearts of any of his captives and will stop at nothing to snatch that word away to keep people from believing in Jesus and being saved.

The second soil is the rocky soil.

13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

For gospel preachers these folks are exciting, at least at first. Their response to the gospel is impulsive and emotional but when life gets real, when following Jesus gets hard, or inconvenient, they give up on Jesus because they have no root.

Having worked at camps for years the Thursday night campfire conversions are rarely long lasting. The emotions run high, everybody is exhausted from the week, and their defenses are shot. But that rarely represents the reality of belonging to Jesus. When the emotional high is gone the faith withers. 

These folks will tell you, “I tried Christianity, it just didn’t work for me,” or, “I just didn’t feel anything, I didn’t feel different.” I’ve heard this, it’s heart breaking.

The third soil is the thorny soil.

14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

These folks are distracted, they may well be believers, but they are so preoccupied with the cares and concerns of this life that they are unfruitful.

CS Lewis wrote, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” 

There is a seemingly infinite stream of voices calling out for our attention. Whether it’s worry over this life’s affairs, or money, or the constant need for entertainment, whatever it is that is distracting people from the Word and the work of the Lord, it is causing them to be ineffective and unfruitful.

Someone once said, “All living things grow.” But that’s only partially true, living things bear fruit.

And that leads us to the fourth soil, the good soil.

15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

So obviously this is the soil that wins the prize. Gold star for the good soil. These are the hearts that hear the gospel, respond to Jesus in faith, surrender their lives to Him and go on to tell others about Him.

We say a lot around here that our intention is to make and mature disciples of Jesus together as a family and it is. Our intention is to make and mature disciples that will make and mature more disciples. That’s what bearing fruit looks like.

And in that way we go from being soil to being sowers. The kingdom of God is still a secret that we are all called to reveal by indiscriminately casting the seed of the gospel.

So be good soil. Is that it, is that the only lesson? I don’t think it is.

So this parable starts as a picture, and now that we’ve considered it carefully maybe you have seen yourself reflected in is as one of these types of soils, but if we continue to look into it we can see a window into the grace of God.

Here’s what I mean. 

Have any of you ever had a garden? 

Did you just throw down seed on your lawn and hope for the best? 

I bet you didn’t. Good soil doesn’t happen by accident, good soil is cultivated and maintained. 

And who cultivates and maintains the soil? The farmer, the sower.

The parable of the sower is the declaration of the free grace of God as well as His unconditional election of those who will believe. 

Matthew Henry wrote, “Happy are we, and forever indebted to free grace, if the same thing that is a parable to others, with which they are only amused, is a plain truth to us, by which we are enlightened and governed, and into the mold of which we are delivered.”

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. 

1 Peter 1:13-25

Amen.