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Matthew 13.1-9,18-23
Saints Triumphant
Hymns: 255, 568, 310, 324
READ Mt 13.1-9
Some people are really into football, as in Dallas Cowboy or Green Bay Packer fans, others fail to see what the excitement is all about. Some people are so well disciplined that they train on their own to run in marathons or half marathons, others wonder why ordinarily sane people put themselves through such cruel and unusual punishment.
Then there are people who are really into religion and those who aren’t. You may know people who think that you’re a bit of a religious fanatic or, if they wouldn’t go quite that far, think that you’re in-volment with religion is quite unnecessary but if that’s your thing, let it be your thing but its’ not their thing.
Nonetheless the people whom you know who aren’t into religi-on to the extent that you are doesn’t mean that they don’t think about religion and even wonder why they don’t have a greater interest. They may have even tried getting into religion... pray-ing to whoever might be listening in the spirit world, attending worship service at a church to see if some inner spark would ignite or inner light would go on. As they observe you and see how you react to personal and unpleasant issues going on in your life...hear you express your undying trust in God in spite of all the rotten and evil things going on in the world...see you confidently living your faith by taking the high road of morality and honesty and goodness instead of joining in with the immor-al and greedy and selfish attitude of many of your friends and neighbors...when you display an inner strength and peace that makes them wish they had what you had, that’s what gets them to wondering why they aren’t into religion as you are and why they can’t seem get into it even though they’ve make some ef-fort to figure out why it works for you but not for them.
This sermon may help you reach them. It’s A Sermon For People Who Are Like A Seed That Dies, But Don’t Understand Why. READ Mt 13.18-23
Have you ever seen a picture of a tree growing out from the middle of a huge rock? It makes you wonder how a tree can be growing out of a boulder? Or have you ever seen a 6 inch pine tree growing in the forest that, a year earlier, had been consum-ed in a forest fire? or have you driven through the Arizona de-sert when it’s completely barren and then driven through that same desert in early spring when it’s full of blooming flowers? How can seed grow into a tree or flowers through a rock, through blackened soil or through desert sand? It’s because the soil beneath the surface is conducive for the seed to grow. Both the seed and the soil are alive. But a living seed can’t grow if the soil in which it lays is dead. And this describes people in whom there is no spiritual life...people who are like a seed that dies...but don’t understand why.
This is the story Jesus told his disciples, and one you can use, when trying to reaching someone who does not have a desire to be connected to Jesus spiritually, in faith, and doesn’t under-stand why they don’t have a desire to be so connected.
Jesus first describes what happens to seed that falls onto a very hard path when the farmer sows or casts the seed as he walks through his field during planting season. Some of the seed fell on ground next to the field where people walked every day...a common path. But because of the hardness of the path the seed couldn’t penetrate and birds came and ate the seed as it lay on that hard path...easy pickin’s for the birds. Any seeds that the birds miss will, over time, die from the heat of the sun or just rot and never grow into a plant
Some people have hearts like that hard path. They hear you talk about Jesus, they read your Christmas cards that have a message about the birth of Jesus the Savior, but that message is easily snatched away by the devil because it never penetrates the soil of their heart. They don’t understand who Jesus is and what he offers to everyone who believes in him. Jesus told his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and die on a cross; they didn’t understand either until after his resurrection. They did believe he was the Son of God and Savior of the world but they didn’t understand how he would save the world. When you talk to your friend about Jesus it’s similar to a Muslim talking to you about Islam and Allah. You hear the explanation but don’t be-lieve it and the words of explanation quickly go away. So it is with your friend who hears you talk about Jesus but doesn’t be-lieve and soon your words go away like a seed that dies while lying on a hard path.
Other seed fell on a thin layer of dirt that lay over the top of a large stone. The seed grew for a short time but then died; the root never has a chance to find a source of water...the stone blocked the way, the plant died (read v. 20,21).
Do you have a friend who was initially excited when you told him/her about Jesus...his love and forgiveness of sins...came to church every week, got involved and couldn’t thank you enough for bringing him/her to Jesus. But then church attendance be-came every other week, then once a month, then rarely at all, then nothing. Your friend discovered that it’s not easy to live your faith and profess Christ.
Some kids at high school don’t like Christian kids who don’t like the sinful and disrespectful and immoral things they do. So caving in to peer pressure and the need to be liked, and not wanting to shunned or talked about in whispers and over-hear-ing caddy comments your friend decided it was easier to give up on Jesus than to give up popularity, better to be a part of the "gang" at school than to be part of a Christian family at church. Too bad; the seed died, your friend who was happy with Jesus at first preferred to be happy without Jesus, and that’s a happi-ness that won’t last very long.
(Read v. 22). When the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of money, when time is devoted to whatever projects and hob-bies and work come along and when earning or finding ways to spend money become to focus and importance of life and no contribution of time or money is devoted to Jesus and feeding one’s faith in Jesus, the seed will die and those who let it die just don’t understand why because all those busy, busy things just need to be done and money needs to be earned and it’s no fun to earn it without spending it and there’s just no time for Jesus so...faith and church doesn’t matter.
(v 23). What is there about this soil that makes such a difference in people who believe in Jesus and want to live their lives for him? This is a rich soil that absorbs everything it hears and provides a nurturing bed for the seed which allows it to grow. Like YOUR heart. You hear the Word of God which clearly condemns you, not just your sin but you, condemns you for being a sinful human being without any merit or worthiness in you to be loved by God, forgiven by God or saved by God. You acknowledge this to be true. Your sin stands between you and God, between you and heaven and you can’t remove that wall because you can’t change who you are.
But you also know that Jesus removed that wall of sin when he paid for it with his own life, when he took your sin and guilt with him to the cross and hung there in your place as though it was actually you that endured that punishment. But you didn’t he; he did! 2 Cor 5.19,21. And that’s what makes the difference between you and your friend whom you want to reach but who is like a seed that dies and doesn’t know why. They are not wil-ling to confess their sin and need for a Savior. They don’t be-lieve that the most important thing for them in life is to learn about the Savior who alone can give them eternal life.
So, understand that it is the condition of their heart that is the reason why the seed dies, even though they don’t understand it. You need to get them to understand that it is their sin that con-demns them, whether they understand that or not. That is the first thing they need to except. Once they honestly confess their sin and need for a Savior, then their heart is ready to learn about Jesus, their Savior. They need to hear the seed of the gospel of Jesus and his gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
When their heart is prepared by the Law it is ready to receive the Gospel. The Seed of God is just that, Law and Gospel, which creates faith and a heart in which the Seed of God’s love can grow and not die.
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