“The Parable of the Sower” (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

“The Parable of the Sower” (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

Many of you have gardens. And all of us--whether we’re gardeners with a green thumb, or just simply couch potatoes whose thumb never gets off the remote control--all of us probably know something about planting seeds. We know that not all the seeds which are planted into the ground end up as full-grown plants. Some of the seeds which are planted don’t make it along the way, for a variety of reasons. But even so, we know that the seeds we plant will, in many cases, produce plants and yield a crop of fruit or vegetables. The seeds sown will achieve the purpose for which we plant them, in spite of the many other failures that may occur.

That, in brief, is the message of our story for today. It is the story of the seed sown into the soil, and the different results that happen. It is better known as “The Parable of the Sower,” the Holy Gospel for today from Matthew 13. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus is talking about the word of God that is preached, and how that same word will, in some cases, be taken away or die, and in other cases, take root and grow and produce an abundant crop.

This text is one of two very important stories Jesus tells in the Gospel of Matthew having to do with how we hear God’s word, how we listen to it. The first story is the one about the two house builders, the wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And we preached on that text a few weeks ago. The other great story about how we listen to the word is this Parable of the Sower. Both texts make the point about how very important it is that when we hear the word of God being preached to us, that we take great care how we listen, that we take it to heart and not let it go in one ear and out the other. It’s not just that we are exposed to God’s word--remember, the foolish builder “heard” the words of Jesus, but he didn’t build his life on them. Likewise, in today’s parable, several different kinds of soil have the word sown onto them, but not all end up with living plants. In other words, many people have the word preached to them. But not everybody receives it in faith. So take care how you listen.

The Parable of the Sower starts out with . . . the Sower. “Duuh,” we say. “That’s obvious.” Yeah, but we don’t want to breeze right by that point. It all starts with the Sower. And the Sower, in the first place, is Jesus. He comes sowing his seed, the life-giving word he comes to bring. The Sower Jesus has a gospel he wants to sow in people’s hearts. It all starts with him. It is his initiative that the sowing is done, and, furthermore, that there is a good seed to sow.

The Sower comes with a life-giving seed. Jesus came into the world to put that life into the seed. Without Jesus, there is no seed, no gospel to plant. The good news is that Jesus comes into the world to be our Savior, your Savior. He lived the perfect life you do not lead. He earned God’s approval and righteousness, something we lack, each and every one of us. The Son of God come in the flesh lived the holy life of love that God intended for his human creatures, and which we all blow on a daily basis. That’s good in itself, but there’s more. What could be done about the justice God demanded, that those who sin shall die? We sinned, so we deserved death, death separated from God and under his judgment. The penalty had to be paid, but the good news is that Jesus paid it for us. He suffered and died on the cross, under God’s judgment, the Son of God dying for sinners the likes of you and me. A sacrifice for sin, a substitute for sinners. That’s Jesus, the Savior on the cross.

The good news doesn’t stop there. Because Jesus did it all, God said, “Yes!” Sin has been atoned for, death has been defeated and deflated. Jesus rose on Easter morning to tell us that good news. In him we have the forgiveness of sins. In him we have the victory of life. He is our way-preparer, to lead us into the kingdom of heaven. Following him, we enter. Without him, we are lost. Jesus is our everything.

So that’s the good news. And it’s life-giving. Because it puts us into contact with the author and source of life, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. By faith in him, trusting in him, we receive what he has to give--gifts of life and fruitfulness and never-ending life.

How important it is, then, that we hear this good news, this gospel, and receive it in faith. There is no other way to receive the life of Jesus. And so Jesus comes again, bringing the gospel of his life for us. He comes as the Sower, sowing the seed of his word into our hearts. Again, Jesus takes the initiative. He does it all. It’s his seed; he packed it full of life. And now he sows the seed, so that we would hear the word and believe in him and receive the gifts he has to give.

At first Jesus did this through his own mouth, as he went about preaching and teaching like we hear him in the gospels. And then he did it through his apostles. It was still Jesus preaching; he just used those guys’s mouths to get the word out. Same thing today. Jesus is still preaching today. Only he does it through the preachers he sends. Their mouth; his word. “He who hears you, hears me,” Jesus tells his preachers. And the flip side is true, too: “He who rejects you, rejects me.” It’s important that you listen to the preacher, the sower, that Jesus sends out in his name, because how you receive that preacher is really how you are receiving Jesus.

So the Sower comes sowing the seed, preaching the word. The word is preached; the seed is sown. Where it lands, though, and what happens to it then, that is where the story takes some twists and turns.

Some seed lands along the path, the hardened-down path, where the seed just lays on the surface, making it easy pickings for the birds. The seed doesn’t last long there; the birds gobble it up. And so we need to realize that there is an enemy at work in the field, doing whatever he can to take the word away from us. That old bird is the devil, the enemy of our souls. And so he is the enemy of the church. He will try to stir up trouble in the church, to get our eyes off Jesus, to get us distracted with other things, so the word will not sink in--it will just lay there on the surface, never sinking in, down in our hearts, and that old buzzard will swipe it away from us. Realize that the devil is at work in this garden, just as he was at work in the first garden, trying to take our focus off of God’s word, just like he did back then, trying to divide us, like he got Adam and Eve to blame one another. Be wise to his tricks. The devil will steal away God’s word from you, if you’re not careful. See that your heart is not so hardened that the word just lays on the surface. Repent of anger and bitterness and unforgiveness.

Then there’s the seed that falls on the rocky soil. This must have been in Missouri, because the soil here is indeed thin and rocky. But this is really talking about the reception of the word. Here the word is planted, and because the soil is thin and rocky, paradoxically, it springs up faster. You see, the rock just beneath the surface causes the thin soil to heat up quicker and thus the plant grows faster--at first. But it doesn’t last. Because that rock is still there, the roots can’t get established, and before too long, the plant dies out.

How often that is seen in the church! When a lot of people are brought in too quickly, with no grounding in the word, they may be enthusiastic for a little while--they may be active and eager for a little while, at first--but because they have no root, within a few years, you don’t see those people anymore. They’re gone. No staying power. Church for them was just a fad, a thing to do for a while, or they were coming for the wrong reasons. The rock just below the surface was never dealt with. They never got rooted and well grounded in the word.

Are you in this for the long haul, this listening-to-God’s-word business? Or is this something that can come and go, depending on how you like . . . whatever--the preacher, the choir anthems, the color of the carpet, or whether somebody said “Hi” to you in the narthex. Those are pretty flimsy reasons to come or not come to church. That soil is too thin and rocky, and the word will not take root. In that case, it’s no wonder that when something doesn’t go your way, you leave the church and thus leave the word of God. That’s what happens when the seed is sown in rocky soil. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, Jesus says, that rocky-soiled person quickly falls away. These are the people who come to church when everything is smooth and hunky-dory, but when the church has to deal with some issues about truth and error, doctrine and practice--and there’s some unpleasantness that goes along with that--then those folks are just as likely to fall away and stay away. That’s when the seed is planted in thin and rocky soil.

In the next soil, the word is sown and a plant comes up. But that’s not the only thing that comes up. Thorns grow up around the plant and choke out its life. The thorns are the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. Some people lose the word because they put a higher priority on other things. The time they should be setting aside to hear God’s word being preached--they feel they can’t spare that time, because they have to be making more money, or spending that time on other things--recreation, pleasure, family outings--anything but the preaching of God’s word. And so the word gets squeezed out. “No time in the schedule for it. I’ve got more important things to do.” But the truth is, man does not live by bread alone--or by money alone, or recreation, or pleasure. Rather, man lives--truly lives--only by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. God’s word is the only priority that will make any difference for eternity. There is nothing more important. Therefore, do not let anything--anything--choke the word out of your life.

Now, after three failures, we finally come to the success story. But notice it wasn’t the seed, it wasn’t the word, that failed. No, the same word is sown in all these places. The same word that one person ignores--that three persons may ignore or refuse to hear--that same word will take root in another person and produce a great harvest. And that is what God will do for you, my friends. His will is that you will hear this word of God being preached, and that it will sink down in you, take root, spring up and grow, and produce fruit, good fruit. The good news of Christ will do that for you. It’s nothing in you; the life is all in the seed.

But take care how you hear that word. See that nothing will take away or kill off or squeeze out that word in your life. Don’t give up, in spite of the obstacles. God will clear those impediments away. Jesus has defeated the devil, that old buzzard who would swipe away the word. God will clear away the rock just below the surface of your heart; he’ll remove that rockiness--and sometimes he has to blast it away--through the preaching of the law to lead you to repentance. And don’t get caught up in the worries of this life. God is your heavenly Father. He will take care of you, just as he cares for the flowers of the field. Trust in him and not in yourself.

God will do everything that is needed for the word to grow in your life, so that you will be a healthy plant, bearing the fruits of faith. He sends his sower to keep on preaching the word to you. Jesus feeds you with all the nutrients you need, with the rich food of his heavenly feast. He waters the plant, to refresh it and give it life, with the ever-flowing waters of Holy Baptism. God takes care of his garden. He will cause you to grow. Listen to his word even now. This is it, happening right now, today. The Sower is busy sowing his seed, the good news of new life in Christ. He who has ears to hear--and that’s you--let him hear.