Sermons Preached In Moody Texas

Moody-Leon United Methodist Church

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”

“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

This week I heard a name describing a principle that many of you have heard before. It was called the Carnegie principle. It answers the question, “How does one get to Carnegie Hall as a performer?” The principle - “Practice, practice, practice.”

The parable we just heard reminds me of the Carnegie principle. Rather than “Practice, practice, practice,” the message of this parable is more like sow, sow, sow. This parable of the sower is one of the better known parables. If you have been in the church any time at all, you have heard a sermon on this parable. As I considered the text for today, this parable seemed to be the right word at this very moment in the life of our church.

This is one of those few parables of Jesus that finds an interpretation in the scriptures. From the interpretation, there is no doubt that the seeds that are sown represent the word about the kingdom. This is often broadened to the word of God. It is sometimes restricted to the Holy Bible. You could debate the roles of the sower and the various types of soil. They can be viewed in several ways.

One of the exciting things for me about a parable is trying to find myself in that parable. In this parable the different types of soils can represent different types of people. Which type am I? Could I be the sower in this parable?

I want to begin by considering those of us gathered here today as the sowers. A more accurate view might be God using us to sow the seeds of God’s word. I want to spend some time looking at these different types of people who would be receivers of the word as represented by the different types of soil.

THE PATH

The parable says, “some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.” The explanation in Matthew’s gospel says the path represents people who hear the word, but do not understand. These people might be like the pious pachyderms in a story I ran across.

It seems a circus parade was moving gaily through the streets of Milan, Italy. Suddenly one of the elephants veered from the line and marched into a church. [In Milan, church doors are large, and in the summer are often wide open.] This visitor wandered up the center aisle, trumpeted a bit, swung her trunk around and headed back to the parade.(1)

Unfortunately, many church members seem to imitate this pious pachyderm. On a Sunday morning they lurch into church, make a few noises, observe the congregation, receive the word every Sunday then step out to resume their place in the parade. That is the extent of the Word growing in the well beaten path of their soil. They are elephants in church! This soil also represents those who say to me, “Well, preacher, I’m not church people. I believe I’m just not a church person.” I meet these folks often at weddings and funerals.

What do we do about these people? Do we sow and forget it? Remember, right now we are thinking as though we were the sowers? Our job is to sow, sow, sow! But just maybe we could pray for open hearts to receive and understand the Word we sow.

THE ROCKY GROUND

The parable says, “Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.” We are told, “This is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.”

We might think of these people as the ones who sing the Hymns of the Half Hearted Christian.

I love thy church, O God; / Her walls before me stand;

But please excuse my absence, Lord; / This bed is simply grand!

A charge to keep I have; / A God to glorify;

But Lord, don’t ask for cash from me; / The glory comes to high.

Must Jesus bear the cross alone, / And all the world go free?

No! Others, Lord, should do their part, / But please don’t count on me.

Praise God from who all blessings flow;/Praise him, all creatures here below

Oh, loud my hymns of praise I bring, / Because It doesn’t cost to sing!(2)

What do we do about these people? We sow the Word. They receive the word with joy, it takes root, but the roots are shallow. While these people know the Word, they resist the changing power of that Word. Just maybe we could live lives transformed by the Word as a witness to them. As Will Willimon put it, “The Bible doesn’t necessarily want to simply address the modern world; it wants to create a whole new world that cannot be seen without conversion.”(3)

THE THORNY SOIL

The parable says, “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.” We are told, ” this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.”

Most of you would not be surprised to know that I have a computer program that catalogs illustrations. Many of the illustrations are cross-referenced to scriptures. Of all the verses in today’s text, verse 22 had more illustrations than all the others combined. The Word is choked by the world and the lure of wealth. Those who reside in thorny ground live in a world filled with distractions. By the time their children are three or four, they have them so busy that even they have no time for God.

In my mother’s last years, she stayed in her home. She left only to go to the Doctor’s office or to get her hair fixed. She followed us as we moved from Cleburne to Azle to Arlington. On her birthday she much preferred to see me rather than a present. During Christmas, she wanted to be around family not things. God is saying to the thorny folk, “I want you near me, not all those things that distract you-that crowd me out of your life.”

What do we do with these people? Dwight L. Moody once said, “I prayed for Faith, and thought that some day Faith would come down and strike me like lightening. But Faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘Now Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.’ I had closed my Bible, and prayed for Faith. I now opened my Bible, and began to study, and Faith has been growing ever since.”(4) Was Dwight L. Moody fruitful? Was he the good soil? What do we do? We can open our Bibles and seriously STUDY them.

THE GOOD SOIL

The good soil-that’s us. Are we the sower or are we the good soil? The Word planted in good soil bears fruit. There are people who hear the Word, allow the Word to work in them, and bear fruit. How many people have found salvation in Jesus Christ in this church? How many people’s lives have been touched by God’s grace through this church? Is the number small because we are in a small town or could it be the Word has landed on the path, the stony ground, or in the middle of the thorny weeds?

We will be having a revival at the end of the month. I have read and heard time and again that the day of effective revivals is gone. Revivals just don’t work the way they use to. Are revivals a way of sowing seed?

Speaking of sowing seed, Roy Oswald of the Alban Institute(a highly reputable organization that sponsors research and publishes materials having to do with parish development and church growth) wrote The Inviting Church. In it he reports the results of a survey of new church members at a number of congregations. One of the questions on the survey was “What brought you to church?” Here are the results:

2 percent said that they had seen a church advertising

6 percent said that they had responded to an organized program

6 percent said that the pastor had invited them

86 percent said that a friend or neighbor invited them.

In other words, over 90 percent of the newcomers to those churches came because someone invited them. Inviting people to our revival is like sowing seed. Not everyone whom you invite will come, but nearly everyone who comes will have been invited.(5)

Why are we having a revival? What is our purpose? Its fruitfulness is in our hands. Sow, sow, sow!

Endnotes:

1. David R. Randolph, quoted by Donald P. Hustad in Jubilate II. Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 14.

5. Richard Donovan, SermonWriter for Proper 10A (July 14), e-mail subscription.

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