Mark 4:1-20
Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
I just have to tell you something about the New Year’s Eve Party. And actually, it does relate to today’s message too. In one part of the meeting they did something they call the red ball activity. One person has a red ball, shares a little something about himself or herself and then tosses the ball to someone else in the room. Then they have the floor and it is their turn to share. Now they don’t have to say anything. They could just say their name, and say, “pass” and toss the ball to someone else. Out of twelve to eighteen people, everyone told a story of their struggle or their triumph over struggle. It was all very beautiful, touching, and even a few tears were shed out of sympathetic joy or sorrow.
Here’s the part you need to know. Three separate people that I never met before, each specifically gave thanks to you, the people of First Covenant Church for hosting the Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous groups and the drop-in-center. This means we have very little idea how much good is being done in people’s lives by Wayne Hotchkiss being able to use this building. But now that I have old you, we have a little better idea. So let’s keep up the good work, and even expand it and get ourselves more involved too.
People talked about the love and acceptance and the support they get that strengthens them to keep going forward in recovery. They spoke openly about how valuable and important it is to be part of the program and that if they hadn’t found the help they needed, they’d probably be dead. And they mean that quite literally. A couple of them mentioned how they couldn’t get that kind of support in the church they used to attend because they felt judged by the “healthy” people. They would say the church is full of hypocrites.
Several of them shared about the self-centered ego protection that kept them blinded to their problems until the bottom fell out and they had to acknowledge that they needed help. Before they knew they needed help they worked hard at pretending they were really ok. The power of denial kept them rock hard against anyone who tried tell them they were living irresponsibly. But that’s hypocrisy, pretending to be something you’re not.
But then it hit me. The people in the church that are like hard packed soil are also pretending to be something they are not. Addicts and church members could have a lot in common! Both groups want to go on living the life they choose and they want everyone to believe they are living responsibly. Users try to hide their drinking or drug use. Church people try to hide their hard heartedness. In order to do that, people in neither group are free to be very open and honest about how they spend their time, what they think about or what they struggle with. They are trying to go it alone so one finds out the shameful truth.
I am starting a new sermon series, a short one, just 5 weeks, during which we will look closely at all four soil types Jesus identified in his parable. I’m sure you all got Jesus’ point that he wants the Word of God to take root in our lives and make us bear much fruit. Now I am sure that all of us want to be thought of as the good, rich, fruitful soil. But what we need is a way to understand what makes a person be like rich good soil as opposed to hard packed soil. I’m sure I want all of you to be blessed with a greater awareness of your own spiritual condition, so that you can rejoice and give thanks in God’s promises to provide for us so that we can all be fruitful together. You have heard the whole parable already, so today I am just going to repeat the parts about the seed on the path because that’s what we are going to focus on today.
“As the sower was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.” “The farmer sows the word of God. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” In other words, even though they have heard the Word of God, it has had no effect upon them. They go on living just as before, unchanged and unfruitful. Cold hard stone can look as beautiful as a finely carved statue, or a richly ornate Cathedral. But it is dead. The only living church is the people, but we must pray to stay alive.
In the parable of the sower the seed is the constant and the soil is the variable. Jesus described four different types of soil and their effect on the seed. It is clear that the condition of the soil determines the outcome of the seed.
The "soil," not the "seed," is the determining factor in producing an abundant harvest. While the seed represents the Gospel, the soil represents the condition or capacity of the human heart to receive the message and follow through on the changes that accompany a life surrendered to Christ.
And we should also speak for a moment from the view point that the whole congregation, all of us together can be seen as the soil the seed is being sown into. A whole church can also be hard packed soil. In some cases, the soil must be broken up with a plow. It is painful for the soil when the plow comes through. But for those churches that are willing to be broken, an abundant harvest is near. There is a belief that the seed is the answer, when in reality, it is the condition of the soil that determines the outcome of the seed. In the long run, it is better to first deal with the soil and then plant the seed.
The point is that preparation for change must take place at the deepest level to have lasting impact. The starting point is not tweaking programs but going down to the subterranean level, the level that is oblivious to most but is affecting everyone. Remember, the seed is planted behind the plow not in front of it. Vitality is the capacity to live, grow and develop. It is the characteristic that distinguishes living things from non-living things. Cultivating the soil is simply creating the necessary conditions for vital ministry to take place. [i]
Have you ever heard that saying that goes something like, "Just because you're standing in a garage doesn't make you a car!" That is often used as a way of describing a person who may go to church, but isn't really a Christian. Well, take a look at a man who walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, ate with Him, probably slept near Him as one of the “in-crowd” and even was responsible to handle Jesus' money, yet, for all of that, and it went on for more than three years, all that closeness didn't make him, a disciple of Jesus. In the eyes of man, he was one of the top twelve closest friends of Jesus. But in the end, Judas betrayed Jesus and proved that he didn’t really love or believe in the Lord the way the others did!
How could this happen? How could someone be that close to Jesus and miss it? How could someone have been touched by Jesus and not been affected by His presence? The answer; hard packed soil. Hard packed soil can endure a lot. You can hit it, drive over it, or walk on it. It can handle the abuse. It protects its condition by not being absorbent or affected by its surroundings. Take this pot of soil here, for example, here it sits, in church, (it was actually on the pulpit) all by itself, but it isn't automatically fertile. If there were enough of it, it would be okay for supporting something, but it isn't good for seed.
In Jesus’ illustration about the four soils, He referred to the heart of the first person in His story as being like this first soil. God's Word is the seed. Oh, the seed was scattered, but it didn't get anywhere because it was hard packed, like this soil, like Judas, like anyone who hears the Word of God and remains unaffected. Judas heard Jesus preaching every day. Judas helped to distribute the bread and fish. Judas witnessed many miracles. He probably even cast out a few demons.
Judas heard Jesus constantly at odds with those Pharisees who were of the religious hard packed soil themselves. He had been rescued in the boat that was tossed about by the storm. He knew that Jesus was a man of compassion, and despite all that, Judas stands before us today, as a warning that it is possible to be about the things of God and do His work and know his teaching and yet remain dead in your trespasses and sin because your heart is hard packed soil, unaffected by the change that is needed for a seed to grow in it.
If this soil could talk right now to us, it could brag about how tough it is, how it doesn't take it from anybody! It could boast of how strong it is. But, soil was not created to be tough. It was designed to be rich in nutrients, a soft and welcoming environment for seeds to grow. The truth is that, in this soil, it is probably pretty nutrient poor. It's dry and crumbly and not really worth much on its own. It will take much time, attention and patience to make it useful again, if it was ever useful in the first place.
This was Judas' heart, but it could also be the heart of some here who come every Sunday, yet remain unaffected by the seed of God's Word in their lives. Are you becoming more like Christ? Are you tender toward the things of God and receptive to the work that He must do to make you more useful for Him, more nutritious for the seeds that he wants to plant in you? Or, do you resist and fight against His work wanting to hold on to the comfort zone of your pot so that he has to dig in and break it up with force. (I dug into the pot on my pulpit with a fork as an illustration.) Will you fight it to the end so that you end up being dumped out? (I dumped the pot into a garbage can beside the pulpit.)
Unlike this soil, you have a choice. Also, unlike this soil, your loving creator cares a lot more about you than this pot of soil. He is committed to continue working with you until you either submit or resist Him completely. The choice is yours. Just remember, this whole Advent and Christmas season that we just went through was an attempt to remind us of just how much He loves each one of us and wants to see us become fruitful for Him. He came down and lived with us, He died for us and paid a price with His own blood for us to be able to change and not remain dead in our trespasses and sins as Judas chose to.
I also want you to notice that the hard packed soil is not about people who do not go to church, because most people who do not go to church never even hear the word. These days the sower is the preacher, or the evangelist, and the word is sown mostly from the pulpit. So Jesus’ parable means that all four soil types are probably sitting in every congregation. Some of you may actually be hard packed soil, or hard hearted, but the challenge to me is, you may not even know it.
Just as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were sure they were the most religious people around and better off than anyone else, modern hard packed soil people usually think they are actually doing pretty good! They are blind to the hardness of their hearts and their spiritual need of the gospel of grace and forgiveness. That’s the connection to the addicts in the streets and hypocrites in the pews. Both are trying to pretend that they are okay and they spend most of their time convincing themselves of it because to face the truth is just too painful, or so they think.
I have a clue for you though, if what I am saying right now makes you uncomfortable, you are probably not the hard packed soil. The hard packed soil is as impervious as stone. You are not bothered by anything I say from up here. You are barely even listening. The devil is keeping you distracted and snatching away the truth as quickly as he possibly can. It is his aim to keep you comfortable just the way you are.
But, on the other hand, if the power of God is in this place and the Holy Spirit is at work, you might just be beginning to crack, even if you have been hard packed soil for years. The sharp point of God’s two-edged sword is working like a plow to break up the fallow ground and it can hurt you. But remember, he wants to remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, so that you really come alive!
Sometimes, all the hard packed soil really needs is a good soaking to soften it up. Today we receive communion, let’s reflect on the shed blood of Christ as the life giving liquid that can soak deeply into our souls and loosen us up. In his grace and mercy, we can face the truth about ourselves. Because we know he doesn’t condemn us but is ready to forgive, we do not have to fear his judgment, but can give thanks for his mercy, and in that safe place we ought to be able to be more open and honest with each other too about our struggles and our hurts.
When the whole soil of the church is softened up by the blood of Christ, we forgive as we have been forgiven, and therefore we can face each other without hypocritical posturing for self-defense. The church becomes a safe place, a community of recovery, where acceptance and support give us power for positive growth and change. Then we could all be enabled to speak openly about how valuable and important it is to be part of the Church and that if we hadn’t found the help we needed through faith in Jesus, we’d probably be dead, at least spiritually, if not literally. But now, through faith in Jesus Christ we live, we live because he is risen!
I just have to tell you something about the New Year’s Eve Party. And actually, it does relate to today’s message too. In one part of the meeting they did something they call the red ball activity. One person has a red ball, shares a little something about himself or herself and then tosses the ball to someone else in the room. Then they have the floor and it is their turn to share. Now they don’t have to say anything. They could just say their name, and say, “pass” and toss the ball to someone else. Out of twelve to eighteen people, everyone told a story of their struggle or their triumph over struggle. It was all very beautiful, touching, and even a few tears were shed out of sympathetic joy or sorrow.
Here’s the part you need to know. Three separate people that I never met before, each specifically gave thanks to you, the people of First Covenant Church for hosting the Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous groups and the drop-in-center. This means we have very little idea how much good is being done in people’s lives by Wayne Hotchkiss being able to use this building. But now that I have old you, we have a little better idea. So let’s keep up the good work, and even expand it and get ourselves more involved too.
People talked about the love and acceptance and the support they get that strengthens them to keep going forward in recovery. They spoke openly about how valuable and important it is to be part of the program and that if they hadn’t found the help they needed, they’d probably be dead. And they mean that quite literally. A couple of them mentioned how they couldn’t get that kind of support in the church they used to attend because they felt judged by the “healthy” people. They would say the church is full of hypocrites.
Several of them shared about the self-centered ego protection that kept them blinded to their problems until the bottom fell out and they had to acknowledge that they needed help. Before they knew they needed help they worked hard at pretending they were really ok. The power of denial kept them rock hard against anyone who tried tell them they were living irresponsibly. But that’s hypocrisy, pretending to be something you’re not.
But then it hit me. The people in the church that are like hard packed soil are also pretending to be something they are not. Addicts and church members could have a lot in common! Both groups want to go on living the life they choose and they want everyone to believe they are living responsibly. Users try to hide their drinking or drug use. Church people try to hide their hard heartedness. In order to do that, people in neither group are free to be very open and honest about how they spend their time, what they think about or what they struggle with. They are trying to go it alone so one finds out the shameful truth.
I am starting a new sermon series, a short one, just 5 weeks, during which we will look closely at all four soil types Jesus identified in his parable. I’m sure you all got Jesus’ point that he wants the Word of God to take root in our lives and make us bear much fruit. Now I am sure that all of us want to be thought of as the good, rich, fruitful soil. But what we need is a way to understand what makes a person be like rich good soil as opposed to hard packed soil. I’m sure I want all of you to be blessed with a greater awareness of your own spiritual condition, so that you can rejoice and give thanks in God’s promises to provide for us so that we can all be fruitful together. You have heard the whole parable already, so today I am just going to repeat the parts about the seed on the path because that’s what we are going to focus on today.
“As the sower was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.” “The farmer sows the word of God. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” In other words, even though they have heard the Word of God, it has had no effect upon them. They go on living just as before, unchanged and unfruitful. Cold hard stone can look as beautiful as a finely carved statue, or a richly ornate Cathedral. But it is dead. The only living church is the people, but we must pray to stay alive.
In the parable of the sower the seed is the constant and the soil is the variable. Jesus described four different types of soil and their effect on the seed. It is clear that the condition of the soil determines the outcome of the seed.
The "soil," not the "seed," is the determining factor in producing an abundant harvest. While the seed represents the Gospel, the soil represents the condition or capacity of the human heart to receive the message and follow through on the changes that accompany a life surrendered to Christ.
And we should also speak for a moment from the view point that the whole congregation, all of us together can be seen as the soil the seed is being sown into. A whole church can also be hard packed soil. In some cases, the soil must be broken up with a plow. It is painful for the soil when the plow comes through. But for those churches that are willing to be broken, an abundant harvest is near. There is a belief that the seed is the answer, when in reality, it is the condition of the soil that determines the outcome of the seed. In the long run, it is better to first deal with the soil and then plant the seed.
The point is that preparation for change must take place at the deepest level to have lasting impact. The starting point is not tweaking programs but going down to the subterranean level, the level that is oblivious to most but is affecting everyone. Remember, the seed is planted behind the plow not in front of it. Vitality is the capacity to live, grow and develop. It is the characteristic that distinguishes living things from non-living things. Cultivating the soil is simply creating the necessary conditions for vital ministry to take place. [i]
Have you ever heard that saying that goes something like, "Just because you're standing in a garage doesn't make you a car!" That is often used as a way of describing a person who may go to church, but isn't really a Christian. Well, take a look at a man who walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, ate with Him, probably slept near Him as one of the “in-crowd” and even was responsible to handle Jesus' money, yet, for all of that, and it went on for more than three years, all that closeness didn't make him, a disciple of Jesus. In the eyes of man, he was one of the top twelve closest friends of Jesus. But in the end, Judas betrayed Jesus and proved that he didn’t really love or believe in the Lord the way the others did!
How could this happen? How could someone be that close to Jesus and miss it? How could someone have been touched by Jesus and not been affected by His presence? The answer; hard packed soil. Hard packed soil can endure a lot. You can hit it, drive over it, or walk on it. It can handle the abuse. It protects its condition by not being absorbent or affected by its surroundings. Take this pot of soil here, for example, here it sits, in church, (it was actually on the pulpit) all by itself, but it isn't automatically fertile. If there were enough of it, it would be okay for supporting something, but it isn't good for seed.
In Jesus’ illustration about the four soils, He referred to the heart of the first person in His story as being like this first soil. God's Word is the seed. Oh, the seed was scattered, but it didn't get anywhere because it was hard packed, like this soil, like Judas, like anyone who hears the Word of God and remains unaffected. Judas heard Jesus preaching every day. Judas helped to distribute the bread and fish. Judas witnessed many miracles. He probably even cast out a few demons.
Judas heard Jesus constantly at odds with those Pharisees who were of the religious hard packed soil themselves. He had been rescued in the boat that was tossed about by the storm. He knew that Jesus was a man of compassion, and despite all that, Judas stands before us today, as a warning that it is possible to be about the things of God and do His work and know his teaching and yet remain dead in your trespasses and sin because your heart is hard packed soil, unaffected by the change that is needed for a seed to grow in it.
If this soil could talk right now to us, it could brag about how tough it is, how it doesn't take it from anybody! It could boast of how strong it is. But, soil was not created to be tough. It was designed to be rich in nutrients, a soft and welcoming environment for seeds to grow. The truth is that, in this soil, it is probably pretty nutrient poor. It's dry and crumbly and not really worth much on its own. It will take much time, attention and patience to make it useful again, if it was ever useful in the first place.
This was Judas' heart, but it could also be the heart of some here who come every Sunday, yet remain unaffected by the seed of God's Word in their lives. Are you becoming more like Christ? Are you tender toward the things of God and receptive to the work that He must do to make you more useful for Him, more nutritious for the seeds that he wants to plant in you? Or, do you resist and fight against His work wanting to hold on to the comfort zone of your pot so that he has to dig in and break it up with force. (I dug into the pot on my pulpit with a fork as an illustration.) Will you fight it to the end so that you end up being dumped out? (I dumped the pot into a garbage can beside the pulpit.)
Unlike this soil, you have a choice. Also, unlike this soil, your loving creator cares a lot more about you than this pot of soil. He is committed to continue working with you until you either submit or resist Him completely. The choice is yours. Just remember, this whole Advent and Christmas season that we just went through was an attempt to remind us of just how much He loves each one of us and wants to see us become fruitful for Him. He came down and lived with us, He died for us and paid a price with His own blood for us to be able to change and not remain dead in our trespasses and sins as Judas chose to.
I also want you to notice that the hard packed soil is not about people who do not go to church, because most people who do not go to church never even hear the word. These days the sower is the preacher, or the evangelist, and the word is sown mostly from the pulpit. So Jesus’ parable means that all four soil types are probably sitting in every congregation. Some of you may actually be hard packed soil, or hard hearted, but the challenge to me is, you may not even know it.
Just as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were sure they were the most religious people around and better off than anyone else, modern hard packed soil people usually think they are actually doing pretty good! They are blind to the hardness of their hearts and their spiritual need of the gospel of grace and forgiveness. That’s the connection to the addicts in the streets and hypocrites in the pews. Both are trying to pretend that they are okay and they spend most of their time convincing themselves of it because to face the truth is just too painful, or so they think.
I have a clue for you though, if what I am saying right now makes you uncomfortable, you are probably not the hard packed soil. The hard packed soil is as impervious as stone. You are not bothered by anything I say from up here. You are barely even listening. The devil is keeping you distracted and snatching away the truth as quickly as he possibly can. It is his aim to keep you comfortable just the way you are.
But, on the other hand, if the power of God is in this place and the Holy Spirit is at work, you might just be beginning to crack, even if you have been hard packed soil for years. The sharp point of God’s two-edged sword is working like a plow to break up the fallow ground and it can hurt you. But remember, he wants to remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, so that you really come alive!
Sometimes, all the hard packed soil really needs is a good soaking to soften it up. Today we receive communion, let’s reflect on the shed blood of Christ as the life giving liquid that can soak deeply into our souls and loosen us up. In his grace and mercy, we can face the truth about ourselves. Because we know he doesn’t condemn us but is ready to forgive, we do not have to fear his judgment, but can give thanks for his mercy, and in that safe place we ought to be able to be more open and honest with each other too about our struggles and our hurts.
When the whole soil of the church is softened up by the blood of Christ, we forgive as we have been forgiven, and therefore we can face each other without hypocritical posturing for self-defense. The church becomes a safe place, a community of recovery, where acceptance and support give us power for positive growth and change. Then we could all be enabled to speak openly about how valuable and important it is to be part of the Church and that if we hadn’t found the help we needed through faith in Jesus, we’d probably be dead, at least spiritually, if not literally. But now, through faith in Jesus Christ we live, we live because he is risen!
[i] John Wenrich, Church Vitality materials.
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