Video to come.
Morning Message Text: Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.
2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.
3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Morning Message:
There is so much that we can learn from the parables of Jesus. I am amazed that each time I come back to these illustrations I come away with a better understanding than before. I want us to look at this in a different way this morning. I have preached this text in the past as kind of a one-time occurrence. The farmer, the Sower, God, goes out one time and scatters the Word for all eternity, and the results are based on the condition of the soil, our hearts, at the time. As I prepared this message for today something new struck me. It is not really a deep thought, but I never looked at it this way. The Sower and the seed never change, but the soil does, or at least it can.
One of the readings from my devotional pointed to Exodus 16:3, “And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” I find it interesting that God rained down bread from heaven that looked like
seed. Let me read the devotion to you. “Visitors to America from underdeveloped nations are often amazed at the variety on the shelves of the typical grocery store, thankfully we have not yet gone to socialist, government run stores like some have suggested. But what if you went to the grocery store everyday for forty years and found only one product available: a whitish wafer with a semisweet taste?”
That was the experience of the Israelites as they traveled in the wilderness for forty years prior to entering the land of Canaan. Their daily diet consisted of manna which appeared on the ground like dew every morning. It was a food they had never seen before. Indeed, manna got its name from the Hebrew expression, “What is it?” Jesus used manna as an illustration of his own role as the true bread of life that came down from heaven. Just as the Israelites were to be nourished daily by the manna God provided, so are we to be nourished daily as we feed on Jesus Christ, the bread of life. Make sure you are setting aside time each day to be nourished by feeding on God’s living and written Word. I have another quote here from anonymous. I don’t know who this guy named anonymous is, but he has some good quotes. “The Bible is meant to be bread for our daily use, not just cake for special occasions.” So we have the seed, the never changing Word of God that we can partake of every single day.
Psalm 68:19 says this: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits.” God, the Sower, daily providing. Listen to this story. Karolina Sandell-Berg was a Swedish hymn writer who suffered a terrible tragedy when she was 26 years old. While on a boat trip her father fell overboard, and he disappeared beneath the water as she watched helplessly. Later she wrote a hymn that said, “Day by day, and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here.” God often does things in our lives step by step, little by little, and day by day. That’s how he gives us strength, for Deuteronomy 33: 25 says, “As your days, so shall your strength be.” Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread, and we’d be wise to also pray for the Lord to provide our daily work, our daily joy, and grace sufficient for each day. When the Israelites were in the wilderness, God didn’t provide them food for a week or a month or a year. He provided what they needed day by day. In this way, He wanted them to learn to rely on Him.
So in our scripture today, we have God the Sower spreading the seed, his Word, constantly over and over again. In the past I may have looked at this too narrowly. There are four categories of soil, or hearers. God never changes and God’s Word never changes, but the soil, the condition of our hearts, does. If we look at this as a one-time occurrence the results seem unfair and overwhelmingly harsh. We know from experience that our God is a God of second chances, indeed He is a God of unlimited chances. As long as you are still alive, you have the opportunity to receive God’s Word with a heart of good soil. As long as you have breath in your lungs, you can claim salvation through Jesus Christ. Listen! You may have heard the Gospel in the past and you paid little attention and did not fully understand it and Satan came along and snatched it away from you. Maybe you heard the Word another time and started down the path of salvation but got sidetracked and didn’t follow through. Or maybe, after you understood that the troubles of this world would not allow you to live the life you should. The good news is God is giving you another opportunity if your heart is ready.
There is something here for those who are already saved. God is calling all of us to live a daily walk with him. He wants us to stop planning years ahead like we know what the future holds. God is calling His people to pray for our daily bread. He scatters His Word before us just as He rained down manna from heaven for the Israelites, and He wants us to take from His Word what we need for each day. Feed on His Word, learn His ways, discover His truth. His “Sower, Seed, Soil” holy seed never changes but it can change us every single day if we will let it. The great Sower wants to sow His seed into your heart, is the soil of your heart ready?
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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