Getting the Kingdom, I: "The Sower, Good Soil Produces." (from July 15)

Matthew 13: 3-9

- Before we read our Scripture, I want to point out something we all need to remember about parables and that is parables almost always have more than one point. A parable has more than one level of meaning.

- So as we dig into this parable of Jesus, we need to remember that the take-home truth we find this week might be something a little different than what you'll find in your devotional reading next week or next month or in a sermon I or someone else preaches years from now. Parables have multiple levels of meaning.

3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9  He who has ears, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12  For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“ ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17  For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

18  “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matt 13:3-23 (ESV)

- Can you hear the voice of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel? Is God speaking to you today through the gospel writer?

- As we unpack this parable today I want us to keep a question in our minds and that question is this: what did Matthew teach his readers about the growth of the kingdom of God by this parable of Jesus?

- In chapters 11 and 12, Matthew presents us with the developing controversy around Jesus.

- In the first century as today there was much disagreement about Jesus and the kingdom of God which Matthew calls the "kingdom of the heavens."

- Jesus told kingdom parables in order to guide and correct Jewish expectations.

- Jews in the first century thought that when Messiah came the kingdom of God would be fulfilled on Earth in the nation of Israel.

- But Jesus taught that this fulfillment was partial. The kingdom of the heavens was not to be embodied in Israel, but in a man.

- The kingdom of the heavens was not to be fulfilled in one nation, but in all nations.

- The kingdom of the heavens was not for the spiritual elite, but for everyone who would come to Jesus to find his rest and the joy of taking up his work.

- This parable that we have traditionally called the parable of the sower, many commentators dubbed it the parable of the soils because Jesus brings together three groups of people to represent four soils.

- The soil of the path represents the hard-packed-hardened hearts of the Jewish leaders.

- Seeing, they did not see. Hearing, they did not hear. Otherwise they would repent and believe.

- Jesus referred to the prophets using parables and he specifically mentioned Isaiah, while Jeremiah and Ezekiel also said similar things.

- Jesus came right out and told his disciples that he was speaking in parables so that the leadership would not get it.

- This is the turning point in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus reacts to the Jewish establishments radical rejection of him.

- They didn't want to listen to Jesus they didn't want to hear what he had to say because they didn't like it. It removed them from their seats of power so they chose to reject him.

- So by speaking in parables Jesus solidifies their rejection and opposes the ruling priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees with judgment.

- In the parable of the sower the seed that fell on the path is the hardened hearts of the Jewish leadership toward Jesus, his message, and his ministry.

- The excitable but uncommitted crowds represent both the rocky soil and the thorn filled soil.

- With the rocky soil, the seed is unable to endure because its roots cannot sink deeply into the soil, and with the thorny soil, the seed cannot endure as it is choked because of the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.

- Matthew's Gospel resembles Mark's whose Gospel tells us that the shallowness of the rocky soil resulted in the young plant being scorched by the heat of the sun.

- And Luke's Gospel tells us that the young plant could not retrieve necessary moisture from such shallow soil, and hence withered away agreeing with Matthew & Mark.

- Of the thorny soil, Matthew says that the seedlings grew up in the midst of thorns and were choked because of worldly cares and the deceitfulness of riches. And while Luke echoes Matthew, Mark tells us that because they were choked they were unable to reproduce grain.

- While these points reveal minor differences among the gospel writers' retelling of Jesus' parable, they point to the same things: seed that falls on rocky or thorny soil cannot sustain an enduring life because it cannot put down roots deep enough or receive sufficient nutrients that it may thrive.

- Can you hear the voice of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel this morning? Is God speaking to you today through the gospel writer?

- While Jesus spoke in parables so that some would not see and not understand the message of the kingdom of God, we need to make sure that we get it.

- That is why I called this series "getting the kingdom" because we need to get it. We need to see and to understand because the mystery, the secret of the kingdom of God is being revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

- We need to be sure that the soil of our hearts, our minds, and our lives is good soil because only good soil produces.

*- Just as Matthew recalls the voice of Jesus: "As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matt 13:23 (ESV)

- Now Matthew reverses the order in which Mark lists the crop yield (30, 60, 100), and Luke only mentions a yield of 100 fold, but each gospel writer makes the point that the good soil represents people who hear the good news understand it and bear abundant fruit.

- In other words, good soil represents people who learn to say and do the kinds of things Jesus would have them say and do.

-In the parallel account of Mark's Gospel, shortly after telling the parable of the sower Mark recounts Jesus' telling the parable of the growing seed in which the seed grows all by itself, automatically.

- And we understand because of the context this seed is able to grow all by itself in good soil. Automatic growth only happens in good soil.

*- To put it another way, only good soil produces automatic growth in sown seed.

- Luke, the doctor turned missionary and co-worker of Paul the apostle, wrote the following words about the early church in the book of Acts.

- "Each day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved." Who added? The Lord added.

- The apostle Paul wrote the Corinthians, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth."

- Who gave the growth? God gave the growth.

*- Let's go back to our question for today. What did Matthew teach his readers about the growth of the kingdom of God by this parable of Jesus?

- One of the things that I believe Matthew was teaching his readers is that growth is a miracle of God which occurs in good soil and over which the sower has minimal control.

- The only soil that we as the body of Christ can manage is our own soil, the soil of our hearts and our minds.

- We sow the seed of the good news of the kingdom of the heavens through our words and our deeds, learning to say and do the kinds of things Jesus would have us say and do.

*- The church's job is in the sowing; God's job is in the growing.

- Whose job is it to sow? Anyone? The church's job is in the sowing.

- Now some of us think, "that's what we pay the pastor for," but that's not how Jesus has designed the church; we are his body.

- We are all called to be disciples and witnesses for Jesus Christ. So the church's job really is in the sowing.

*- Through our words and our deeds we are all called to sow seeds.

- The pastor is one among many and the whole church is called to sow.

- No one can walk alone to sow seed, the job is too great.

- When I say God's job is in the growing, I don't mean discipleship. I mean, seeing people to come to faith by the Holy Spirit renewing, reviving, regenerating power of their hearts, minds, and lives.

- Remember the words of Dr. Luke in Acts and the apostle Paul to the Corinthians. Luke wrote, "Each day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved." Who added? The Lord added. Paul wrote, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." Who gave the growth? God gave the growth.

- While we need to use discernment about where best to sow seed, we cannot possibly predict who will respond and when nor can we know the condition of the soil upon which the seed falls. Our job is to be faithful sowers.

*- The church's job is in the sowing; God's job is in the growing.

*- I want to tackle one last question: what does good soil look like?

- In answer to that question I want us to refer back to verse eight. "Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

- Good soil produces, plain and simple. Good soil produces.

- What kind of fruit does good soil produce? There are only two kinds of fruit that good soil produces.

-The first kind of fruit produced by good soil is the fruit of the Spirit, Christian character and that's love. Check out first Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5: 22 and 23.

- The fruit of the Spirit is the first kind of fruit good soil produces.

- The second kind of fruit produced by good soil is simply that the seed is reproduced sometimes 30, sometimes 60, sometimes 100 fold, so the second kind of fruit is new disciples.

*- The fruit of the Spirit and new disciples are the only lasting fruit good soil produces.

- Can you hear the voice of God today? Is the Holy Spirit speaking to you this morning? Listen to what he says and do it.

- Good soil produces.

*- The church's job is in the sowing; God's job is in the growing.

- I chose the image of the pierced hand of Christ sowing seed because Jesus set the example for us and he has sent us his Spirit to dwell within us making us his body; we are Christ’s body.

- Just as Jesus sowed so also the church's job is in the sowing; God's job is in the growing.

Renewal's Second Ingredient: The Great Commission Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; John 20:21-23

- Our definition for church renewal that we have been talking about is: church renewal is the continual transformation of God's people into the people he has called them to be, doing the things he has called them to do.

- Last week we learned that, renewed worship is about renewed worshipers joining God in the unfolding of in his story.

- In a moment, we will read our three Scripture lessons. I invite you to remember that taken together these reflect the great commission of Jesus to his disciples passed down to us by the apostles and the early church.

- And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20 (ESV)

- "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (ESV)

- Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
     And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
     If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” John 20:21-23 (ESV)

- The first thing I want us to notice coming out of these passages is the relationship between these and last week's take-home truth: Renewed worship is about renewed worshipers joining God in the unfolding of in his story.

- The 11 disciples who received this commission from Jesus become a model or paradigm for all future disciples. These disciples who were with Jesus throughout his earthly ministry and throughout the 40 days following his resurrection are a model for us.

- Jesus' commission of his disciples is his invitation to them and to every disciple of Jesus after them, to join with God in his mission to the world. It is Jesus' invitation to become part of God's story, the story of salvation offered to the world through him.

- The commission Jesus gave them is, therefore, the mission of the church.

- The mission of the church is nothing less than God's mission, the continuing saga of God, the great story of his actions in the world.

- What else can we note about these passages?

- The first thing let's notice the authority of Jesus. It resembles the authority that he had during the rest of his earthly ministry, only now that he is going to return to the Father his authority is complete and total.

-  As Jesus said, "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." The authority before that he had spoken of only in riddles and parables now belongs to Jesus. The authority he had before his birth has been restored to him.

- Jesus commission to his disciples to make disciples of all nations is on the basis of this restored authority as the one who sits at the right hand of the Father.

- The mission Jesus gave to his disciples is a mission that carries his authority and it is the mission that we have received and that we must also carry out.

- As the one who has received all authority in heaven and on earth, Jesus gives his disciples a single command, make disciples.

- Baptism is a picture of a disciple of Jesus dying to their old life and being risen into the new life in Christ.

- Baptism is not just about the act of baptism. It is about our commitment to immerse ourselves into the person of Jesus Christ.

- It's like learning a new language. The best way to do that is through immersion, to place your whole self into the cultural context where you must learn the new language in order to communicate.

- That's what discipleship to Jesus is like. Jesus calls us to immerse ourselves into his person and his teaching so that we will become like him and learn to do and say the kinds of things he would have us do and say.

- The deeper our relationship with Jesus, then the more immersed into him that we are, and the better our lives, in both word and action, will communicate God's story to the world.

- Matthew also reminds us that we will not be alone in this. Jesus gives us his word that he will always be with us.

-It is this assurance of the presence of Jesus in the person of his Holy Spirit that is spelled out clearly in Acts and in John.

- Thankfully, we do not have to rely on our own strength or our own power alone. As we immerse ourselves into Christ, Christ fills us with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

-It is the Holy Spirit who gives power and authority to God's people.

- We receive the power of Jesus. In Acts 1:8, Jesus told his disciples that the power which the Holy Spirit provides is the power to witness.

- The witness to which Jesus' disciples are called is to testify to both the present and future reality of God's reign in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

- The kingdom of God (or 'the kingdom of heaven') about which Jesus preached was a present reality in his day because it was present within him. His actions and his teachings pointed to God's reign in the here and now as well as for eternity.

- Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses".

- Our role as his witnesses is to speak and act on his behalf, working to invite the world into God's story.

- As Christ's witnesses, his disciples carry his power & authority by the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit.

- Just as Jesus said, "as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you" and immediately after saying this he breathed on them and said, "receive the Holy Spirit."

- Jesus sends his disciples into the world as the Father sent him. We are sent by him to continue his ministry which is the work of inviting others into God's story.

- He sends us with his power and his authority and entrusts us to carry out his mission.

- Remember last week I mentioned that we live in a culture which has largely forgotten the truth of God's great story.

- The idea that we are all culpable for our sins, that we will all one day be held accountable and stand before Almighty God to be judged is an idea that many people in our culture flatly deny.

- In a world where many people deny that they are sinners, then not only do we need to proclaim forgiveness of sins, we also need to proclaim withheld forgiveness of sin, as Jesus told his disciples.

- Those who receive the good news about Jesus will receive forgiveness, but for those who refuse the good news and remain in their unbelief, then they will not receive forgiveness.

- It is our greatest calling and privilege to announce the forgiveness of sins that is available in Jesus Christ to the world in word and deed.

- It is this good news that the church is called to share. It is the mission of the church to learn to say and do the kinds of things Jesus said and did.

- Christ's presence, power, and authority renew his church to continue his work of inviting others into God's story.

- Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”John 20:21

- A renewed church is Spirit empowered for the work of inviting others into God story.

Renewal's First Ingredient: Renewed Worship John 4:23 - 24

"The hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."
 

- Last week we defined church renewal as the continual transformation of God's people into the people he has called them to be, doing the things he has called them to do.

- This week as we continue exploring what church renewal is we'll take a closer look at these two verses from the encounter Jesus had with the woman at the well in the fourth chapter of John's Gospel.

*- First we'll place these verses in the broader context of Jesus' ministry, and then we will take a closer look at them.

- I believe we need to look at these verses in particular because they come to us straight from the ministry of Jesus and they speak directly to Jesus' heart for people and how renewed hearts come from a renewed relationship with God, both knowing him and responding to him in worship.

*- As we look at the Gospels, it is helpful for us to remember why Jesus came. First of all Jesus came to be the light of the world.

- Previously, God called Israel and set them apart to be his people as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to be a light to the nations.

- The trouble was that Israel had largely failed in this area through ongoing historic disobedience to God's call.

- Jesus came to accomplish what Israel could not. He came to be the light of the world. Jesus came to call a new/renewed people to be empowered by his Holy Spirit to be the light of the world.

- Now that we have some sense of the broader context of Jesus ministry, let's take a closer look at the specific context of John four and verses 23 – 24.

* - Jesus also came to call the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It was no accident that Jesus stopped at Jacob's well that day.

- Jews had no associations with Samaritans because of their religious compromise and because they viewed Samaritans as impure, as well as their previous history.

- Remember that Samaritans were descendents of the northern kingdom of Israel who had broken off from Judah and Benjamin and intermarried with other peoples. Israel and Judah fought and held grudges like feuding families from the time of the exile 500 years before right into the first century A.D.

- As we have heard before it was odd for a Jewish Rabbi to give a Samaritan the time of day and even more odd for him to be in Samaria and asking a Samaritan woman for a drink.

- But ask Jesus did, out of which their whole conversation ensued and the woman came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah and told her whole village so they came and heard Jesus for themselves and they too believed.

- In the broader context of Jesus' ministry, this one story is an example of how Jesus turned upside down 1st century Jewish thinking about remaining pure and separate from those around them.

- Jesus had to go through Samaria precisely because he was and is the Shepherd to the lost sheep of Israel, and what was Samaria but a nation of lost sheep?

- Jesus reached out to Samaria as the Shepherd of Israel and the light of the world, to show Samaria his light and his love.

*- Now that we have it freshly in our minds what Jesus was doing we need to go back.  I have suggested that renewal's first ingredient is renewed worship. But a question arises from that statement: what is renewed worship?

- To answer that question we must look to our Scripture for today.

*- "The hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."

*- Please allow me echo the Scriptures by saying that renewed worship is worship that is offered to the Father by true worshippers in spirit and in truth.

*- With those words, Jesus introduced a new order where the important question ceases to be where people worship. The important question is now how one worships. (In addition to whom)

- The answer to the question of how we worship is wrapped in terms of worshiping God as Father. Jesus had a favorite term that he used for God which was Father and he taught his followers to do the same.

- Renewed worship comes from new knowledge of who God is and who we are in Christ. It is only through our relationship with Christ that we acknowledge that God is our Father.

- He is our Father because he is our Creator, but more importantly he is our Father because he has adopted us as coheirs with Christ and given us the right to become children of God.

* - To worship God as Father, we must realize that God takes us into his story not the other way around. It is not we who take God into our stories, our lives, but God invites us to come alongside him and join him in the unfolding of his great story as he reveals Jesus Christ who died and rose again to the world.

*- What did Jesus mean when he said that true worshippers worship in spirit? Renewed worship comes from the heart. The heart is the most inner part of a human being. It is that part of us which bears the image of God. The true location of renewed worship is a renewed heart. Everything else is expendable.

- Because God is spirit, then it is from a renewed human spirit that worship must flow. Only a renewed human being can worship the Father in spirit.

- The woman said, "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” John 4:20 (ESV)

- Jesus says, "Yes salvation comes from the Jews, but worship is not about Mt. Gerazim or Mt. Zion. It's not about temples and sanctuaries. It's not about the holy place or the commonplace. It's not about location. It's about worshiping the Father in spirit and in truth."

- Many people continue to make the same mistake as the Samaritan woman at the well made in thinking that you can't worship God properly unless you worship God in the officially sanctioned locations, the specially set apart places of worship.

- The questions of time, location, and style are not important. What matters is that we worship God as Father from the heart.

*- I've already mentioned that God invites us to participate with him and join him in the unfolding of his story. Renewed worship is about God's story and God's story is truth. That's why Jesus said true worshippers worship in truth.

- Jesus himself claims to be the truth and that whoever is on the side of truth listens to him.

- When we think of truth we think about whether or not something is real or genuine, whether or not something is factually true, that is, it's historical fact.

- While we might say that our worship must come from a sincere heart & while it is important for our worship to be sincere, that it comes from a genuine desire to worship God, sincerity does not cover it.

- It is not enough for Christian worship to be sincere, because it is possible to be sincere and also be sincerely wrong.

- Most religious people from any number of the world's religions are sincere, they truly are. But their sincerity is not enough because they're worship is not grounded in God's story, the story whose foundation is historical fact, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.

*-Renewed worship is in truth because we worship what is true; rather we worship the one who is truth.

* - The prophets foresaw a coming day when God's glory and name would break in on the entire earth.  As Jesus told the woman, "The hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth."

*- Just as the life of the age to come may be enjoyed here and now, so too the worship of the age to come can be offered here and now.

* - Renewed worship cannot be tied to set locations, times, or styles. Renewed worship is offered in spirit and in truth because God is Spirit and Truth.

- Renewed worship is about renewed worshipers joining God in the unfolding of his story.

- So often when we come to Sunday services we make worship about what we get from it. We make it about our comfort and our needs.

- But you know something; worship is not about what we get from it. Worship is not about our comfort. Worship is not about our needs.

- We come to Sunday services looking for that word that'll get us through the week and you know worship really isn't about that either.

- Renewed worship really isn't about us. Renewed worship is about renewed worshipers joining God in the unfolding of his story.

*- Our verse for memory and meditation is John 4:24, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 (ESV)

- If we want to experience renewal, then we must be prepared to worship God in spirit and in truth and that means being willing to join God in his story because worship is all about him.

-Haven't we been coming to worship with the wrong questions? The main question we ask is this: what can I get from God?

- Renewed worship means being willing to learn to think differently and ask different questions.

* - As a church, it means we need to be willing to ask: what can we do to be the light that God has called us to be? What can we do to join God as he works out his story?

- Renewed worshipers don't need to worry about location, where they worship, because their daily lives are offerings to God in worship.

- Their daily lives are offerings to God in worship because they have joined God and are working with him in the unfolding of his story.

- People in our culture have been fed the idea that there is no super story that makes sense of life, that there is no larger story that fits all of life under one umbrella.

- Most people in our culture have only heard that the only story that matters is the mini-story, their little story that is focused on the self.

- Is there any wonder why people are finding no meaning in their lives? People in our culture are longing to be part of something bigger than themselves.

- That is what we have to offer the world as renewed worshippers. We have God's invitation to join him in the unfolding of his story.

- People need to see God's story working out in our lives and they need to hear God's story from us because most people today don't know God's story.

- Renewed worship is about renewed worshipers joining God in the unfolding of in his story.

- I also think there's another lesson in this for us. If we make the unfolding of God's story the focus of our lives and the life of the church, then we will learn to let go of the stuff that doesn't matter since what really matters is the unfolding of God's story. In the big picture, nothing is more important that God’s story.

- Renewed worship is about renewed worshipers joining God in the unfolding of in his story.