Elements City Church
we're looking at parables - those stories and life lessons Jesus told to help us know God and the best way to live life. This Week: The Sower and the 4 soils (Luke 8:4-15)
We are looking into some Parables Jesus told. Parables – are some stories and life lessons from Jesus. It’s often how he encapsulated spiritual truths about the kingdom of God and how God sees things, God’s character and dreams for our life – how God desires things to work and function their absolute best. So each week, we’ll look at a new one and draw some conclusions and actions steps for us
Luke 8:4-15 NLT
Jesus is explaining the ways of the kingdom of God – ways of God to the disciples. The term ‘kingdom of God’ and ‘kingdom of heaven’ are interchangeable terms. They appear 98 times in the New Testament. This parable is about God’s kingdom advancing in the hearts of people – Your heart. My heart. The hearts of those around you. Some will NOT be open to it, some may be infatuated with it for a bit and others will be fully captivated by it…the ‘soil’ of their heart is reflected in the descriptions Jesus gives. Ultimately this is a parable, a story, about growth, which is God's intention for his kingdom and for all human beings. Growth is a normal sign of health.
He tells a story about 3 elements –the seeds and the sower and the soil. Now, this is one of those parables - where you look at the elements and what you notice is which ones hold constant, which ones don't change and which element changes. Which one is the variable?
The seeds don't change. This is not a story about good seeds and bad seeds. The seed: the word of God, the word of the kingdom, the good news -- the seed will always bear fruit if you give it half a chance. The seed doesn't change.
The sower doesn't change. This is not a story about good sowers and bad sowers. In fact, the thing you notice about the sower is how generous he is - overly extravagant. He doesn't seem to be very careful about where it lands, this wonderfully generous sower. He lavishly gives it out everywhere.
The sower doesn't change. The seeds don't change. So what's the variable? It's the soil. You can replace the word "soil" with your heart.
Some soil will resist growth, but when a persons heart is right & receptive. The harvest God can produce in and through them is beyond calculation. The point that he's making is that the fruitfulness that God desires for his kingdom and for his people is beyond human comprehension or ability.
In fact, one reason that Jesus told this story is to encourage his followers, because we, you and I, are not just soil. We are also called to be sowers. We're given the privilege of sowing seed – sharing the hope, love and grace of the good news of Jesus. Part of what he's saying here is just know this ahead of time, when you sow seed, sometimes it will fall on non-responsive soil. Often it'll fall where the soil is hard or where it's shallow, and it'll look good for a little bit and then it'll disappear. Or where there's clutter, and it'll spring up but then get choked out.
Jesus says often this will happen as you're sowing seed, and you'll be tempted to give up. But Don't Quit!
Because the harvest is plentiful – the harvest is coming… sometimes conditions are right, and when that happens, watch out. After all – it’s God who does the growing; growth is mysterious in some ways and can’t always be predicted.
Some people think that the whole point of what Jesus was really trying to get at in this parable was how you avoid hell and how you get into heaven. But this parable is so much bigger than that. This is about the kingdom of God coming and growing. We’re invited to be a part of the kingdom movement of God in our here and now – spreading the seeds of His love, grace and hope… wherever we go and to all we know. Make sure to keep the soil of your own heart tender so you can keep growing and producing a little bit more of the ‘Kingdom of God’ on earth as it is in Heaven!
A person’s reception to God and His Word is determined by the condition of his/her heart. Jesus is talking about the right heart condition - tend to your heart.
May your faith and your life exemplify the "good soil" growing in faith – may your purpose be reassigned to join the sower in spreading the seeds of love, peace, hope, and grace of Jesus on earth as it is in heaven!
Need Prayer? we've got some of our prayer team and pastors available following service to pray with you.