The Parable Of The Soil

it is a great day to be in church. Kind of turned a weather corner this week a little bit. It actually started getting colder at night. Did you catch that? And I'm like, not yet. I mean, I like it, but that also means we're heading towards the fall and there's new things coming. And of course, people are preparing. Many families are getting ready for kids to go back to school. The fall season's coming in. Yeah, there's still state fair ahead of us and some other things. But in reality, we're in the middle of a moment where we have an opportunity to be prepared for our future. And that's really the focus of this brand new series, The Storyteller. And of course, you see on the platform behind me, we've got kind of a typical campfire setup. You know, you've got the fire and the chairs and the coffee and the fishing tackle box and lots of different things, the s'mores. And what happens at a campfire is kind of special. How many of you enjoy those kind of moments where you're just kind of sitting, you're staring aimlessly into the flames. Somebody might want to share a story. Maybe you have a family member that's the best storyteller.

We have many different storytellers, ones that can make you laugh, people that can make you cry. And then if you're like in a larger setting, perhaps family or friends, and they want to know something about you, you begin to share that story. They'll go, tell me about how did you get to, when did you and mom know that you loved each other? Those kinds of things start happening. Maybe one of these weeks I'll share the story of Jody and I and how we connected way back in the day. We had those stories. Anyhow, what I want you to think about is it's really important to share your stories, to share them in our lobbies. We've got jars with some questions in them that just help like a discussion starter if you're with other people in the lobby after service. I really would love for Emmanuel not just to be a theater church where you come in and watch something on the screen and then kind of walk out in the lobby. Maybe you are discussing what happened in the meeting, but we would love for you to linger a little bit and get to know each other. It'd be really awesome. Now, some of the stories that we tell are fun. One of the things that I've shared over time around the fire is I've shared a story

of back in the day when I was a youth pastor and we were gonna take a group of Minnesota suburban teenagers into Brooklyn, New York City. So we had all these practices and we were getting ready and we were telling them about what to prepare for. They had puppets, the things that they did with the puppets, don't bite your words. And we taught them songs that we're gonna do on the streets and those kinds of things. We also prepped them for things to do and not to do and security concerns and all those things. We had FAQ sheets and parent sheets because parents are freaking out. And then we took a van ride and we actually took the van 30 hours to the East Coast from Minnesota. And as we're driving, it's a long drive and you go through big, long periods of time where nothing but trees and farms and everything else. But then when you cross the George Washington Bridge into the city of New York, this massive city all around you, all the students that were behind me, I could see in the rear view mirror, they started going. And if you've ever been to New York, you know what I'm talking about. It's a sea of humanity and 20 million people everywhere. And it feels like the city begins to collapse on you. And we're not in Minnesota anymore.

And then the lanes begin to narrow as they do in the East Coast. And cars are close and they're running by and it feels more intense. And then we get off our exit in Brooklyn into the Bushwick and we pull in and we're going through various neighborhoods. And then over on the side of the road, we see people dancing and there's music and it's the Puerto Rican neighborhood. And they're going crazy and having fun, literally on cars and our students are like. And then we finally reached Living Hope Fellowship and Living Waters Fellowship and we get there, we pull in and the pastor comes out and all the storefronts have steel garage doors over there so they don't get robbed at night. And he pulls the garage door up, it's lit in the evening. He comes out and gets us and we're all excited and the students are tentatively getting out of the van. And as they get down, all of a sudden you hear this, pop, pop, pop, pop. And I'm not lying, five of our students dove back into the van, convinced that it was a drive-by. shooting of some sort. It was just around the fourth of July. There were some firecrackers going off around the corner. Now what a story does is a story takes you somewhere other than where you've been. The story has a capacity to reveal emotions, fears, concerns, and worries. You can find yourself in characters in a story. We're going to look at the greatest

storyteller of all time today. And it's Jesus. And Jesus loved to tell stories. The Bible references them as parables. These stories were not meant to just be entertainment. They were meant for the audience to hear them and apply it to their own heart and their own life. We're going to look at Jesus and how he told stories with a purpose. Those stories were like an Easter egg that has layers of it. And God has a way of even when you hear his stories, of you chewing it in your mouth, in your mind, in your heart, throughout the week in a way that helps you be prepared for what you're going to be walking into. Today, we're going to look at one of Jesus stories, the parable of the soil. In Luke chapter eight, if you go there, we'll dive into it in just a moment. This story that Jesus shares in your Bible might say the parable of the sower. But I'm going to refer to it as the parable of the soil today. It's also referenced in Matthew chapter 13, and Mark chapter four. So there are other Gospels. Luke, the author of Luke was not one of the 12 disciples that you see accompanied Jesus. He came a little bit later. And yet he interviewed all firsthand accounts, including Peter, to get his content. And he was very precise. He was a doctor. Many people call him a Dr. Luke. And he had the preciseness, he had to verify what he heard from each of those people. So that's the uniqueness of Luke's story. As we dive in, we're going to see that Jesus is on a tour of towns, and his fame is starting to grow. And the people are leaving their towns, the countryside as well, to come and follow him. There's large crowds gathering. And at the beginning of chapter eight, you'll see that there's a group of people that are now with Jesus, his disciples, plus a number of women in there, you'll

see at the beginning of chapter eight. And Jesus was revolutionary at that time, and that women could go with them. Women could be a part of the story. How many of you ladies are thankful that you're a part of the story too, right? And I just think it was just revolutionary what Jesus was doing. And as we look at, at the story, there are so many people, and he even names them in Luke, in the first few verses, Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Susanna. There are actually names listed in here, not just people. And I just, I think it's really cool how Luke lays it out. Okay, I'm going to Jesus' story in Luke chapter eight, starting with verse number four. One day, Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him. A farmer went out to plant his seed. And as he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. Other seed fell among rocks, and it began to grow. But the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted. When he said this, he called out, anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. I'm going to know off our last previous series on Revelation, that's a common phrase for Jesus, that when he talks, he wants us not just to hear his words, but he wants us to listen and understand. Turns the person actually to say, you better listen up. So Jesus begins to share this story and we're about halfway through, but I want to stop here and we'll continue in a moment. He describes a farmer who scatters seed. Do I have any farmers in

church today? If you're a farmer, I want to recognize you in any one of our locations. Go ahead and put your hand up. Give it up for the farmers. We've got one in the back in Spring Lake. I don't know if we got them there in Naples Grove and Elk River and Lakeville. Man, they're just rare in our culture, in our society today. But Jesus, it was very common. People understood who farmers were and what they were doing. And Jesus describes that this farmer is scattering seed, and it falls on four different types of soil, four places. The first was the footpath. He references that there's this footpath. And on that footpath, I've got a picture of a path here. On the footpath, it's traveled on, trampled on. People walk on it. The seed fell on there. It didn't really stand a chance to grow. And then Jesus also in his story says that the birds notice the seed, and they come and steal it, and it's gone. Now, the next part of the soil, he says there's another type of soil. And that's the rocks. Now, this is the rocky soil, if you will. And the rocky soil is possible for seed to grow, but it's very difficult for it to last. In the Palestinian area of that world, Israel, all of that part of the world, there's a lot of dew at night, and water would rest on the rocks. So a seed could get some of the moisture from the rock.

But as the sun came up during the day, that moisture evaporated, and it didn't have enough to be sustainable. And then there's another type of soil, and that is the soil that has thorns in it. And the thorny soil, the thorns would grow up along with the plant, and it would choke out the good plant, the seed that is being planted. And then finally, the good soil, Jesus references. And that good soil produced 100 times as much as normal out of just one seed in the ground. And Jesus says that anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Now, His disciples are listening to this, and the text begins to, in different Gospels, begins to show that they're asking questions while He's telling a story. Have you ever been telling a story? I mean, somebody wants to stop you, interrupt you, and you're like, I want to keep talking, but they're asking questions. This is kind of the moment, in fact, in Matthew's account, Matthew 13, 10, it says His disciples came and asked Him, why do you use parables when you talk to the people? Why is it that you do that? Because Jesus talked differently with His disciples than He did with the crowd. So they're asking Him, why are you sharing it in a story format?

And all of the parables were meant for the benefit of the people who hear them, and the story had an ability to encourage and warn and provoke. But for Jesus, He was telling a parable so that people could begin to understand His kingdom better. That's what He wanted. He wanted them to understand Him better. My mentor, Dr. Gordon Anderson, he used to say that Jesus preached about the kingdom of God in a way that only the hungry would catch it. So He would tell a story, but if you were, and you were hungry for spiritual things, for understanding, what is God saying in my life? Then He would tell a story in a way you would find it in His story. So this is what we have going on here. Back to Luke's account. In verse number nine of Luke eight, He says His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, and He replied, you are permitted to understand the secrets, in other versions say mysteries, of the kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that, everybody said so that, the scriptures might be fulfilled. When they look, they won't really see. When they hear, they won't understand.

Now Jesus is quoting from Isaiah chapter six, verse nine. Matthew spends a little more time quoting more of that passage in his account. But basically, in that passage, the prophets were saying something, God was saying something through the prophets to the people, saying, hey, listen, I'm saying things, and you have ears, but you're not hearing. I'm showing you things, and you've got eyes, but you aren't seeing it. And their hearts were hardened, and they were missing the point. God was speaking, but they didn't have eyes to see or ears to hear. So Jesus now wants to share a story in a way that you see it, and you hear it. He wants you to hear him. He wants you to see what he's saying. I wanna say this as a pastor, that in 2020, 26, in this moment of history, there are many of us that are like, I don't understand what's going on. I don't know what to do with this circumstance in my life. I don't know how to handle the tension in my marriage or in my relationship to finances or my career. And I want you to know that God will give you guidance and if you lean in to listen, Jesus' kingdom is available for you right now. That he is here for you in this moment. Jesus wanted them to see it.

He wanted them to understand it. You've got so much information nowadays in our society with TikTok and AI and apps and reels that your habit could be to hear information only through social media. But can I encourage you to not let that be your main place to hear the voice of God? You could see certain things that seem good but miss the point. Jesus has a story for you. Can I get an amen to that? You don't have to guess what he's saying here though. This isn't like weird mysteries. He actually turns around and he says in verse number 11, this is the meaning of the parable. He's gonna tell you what it means. He says, the seed is God's word. The seed is God's word. He's saying it in a way where for you and I, we think of this as God's word and it is God's word. But it wasn't just at that moment, just the historical text. It was the present tense preaching of God's word. May I encourage you when Jesus would go everywhere in the gospels, he would talk to small crowds, large crowds, he would do one-on-ones and he would proclaim the kingdom of God wherever he went, the present tense kingdom of God. And as he would present the kingdom of God, people had a responsibility to hear and receive what he was saying in that moment.

When you come to church, it doesn't matter who is speaking, who is doing whatever, who's leading worship or you go to your Bible study or small group, it doesn't matter who is communicating it at the moment. If God is wanting to speak, you need to have ears to hear what Jesus is saying to you right now. Like literally, this is what Jesus is doing. He's sharing this story and he says that the seed is the word of God. Now this seed works. Jesus is sharing that the kingdom of God works. It starts as a seed. It's got all the promises and the warnings of the scripture and yet it works, it grows in the one who receives it. The seed produces the same thing no matter what. An orange seed produces orange trees, apple seed, apple trees. The kingdom seed produces the kingdom. It works, turn to the person next to you and say it works. But the success of the seed is dependent on the soil. It's not about is the seed right, does it work? It works, it has to do with the soil. Of course, he's gonna talk about that here in a moment. For a moment, I want you to think about this in the story. I brought with me from home a spreader that I used this spring when we came out of winter. I had huge patches of my grass, my lawn that had no grass. Now there's certain reasons for that. There's a company that came through and they did some stuff in my yard

and they had eminent domain or whatever they could do, whatever they wanted and I wasn't too happy about it and I had to get over it, right? But I had all of this parched land that I wanted grass on. So I went to the store, bought up two bags of grass seed and I put it in this thing. So I got the grass seed right here and I started doing it. We're gonna have to vacuum later, I think. Might be harder to see in each of our locations, but I got seed going all over the platform right now. It's just flying out, okay? I'm redecorating the church today. Now I want you to think as Jesus is talking, he's talking about a farmer who's walking along and he's spreading seed. and it's landing in different places. Same seed, but landing in different places. Seed works, but it's landing in different places. I'm gonna volunteer to vacuum. Let me talk about those places Jesus mentions here. He says, and there's four types of soil that the seed lands on. Those four types of soil, the first is this, the footpath. Look at verse number 12. He says, the seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. These are people who hear the message, but it doesn't stick.

And because it doesn't stick, maybe their heart is hardened like that footpath. The devil notices it. He references it as a bird earlier in his story because the devil's watching. Do you know, I think the enemy watches our video. He's got some kind of, he can't get in our mind. He can't read our minds. He can watch our behaviors and he can watch us and study tape. And if we went to church on Sunday morning and God was speaking a certain gibberish, we got some seed on the top, but that seed isn't going in. And so the enemy comes in and he snatches it and takes it away. It prevents us from believing and yes, even being saved, receiving the gospel. I know people that have heard more good news preached to them, but they've never let it go into their heart. They've got hardened hearts. And there are reasons that people have hardened hearts. This footpath where people trample, it gets harder and harder and stubbornness can settle in. We aren't really listening to what is possible. How many know that we don't get the benefit of the seed? Actually, it goes the other direction. Some of us get angry and cynical. The footpath. Now, let me just say this.

Jesus, when he's talking, he's not just talking only about the initial stages of salvation, the gospel, the good news for salvation, but the kingdom of God is actually for every stage of your life. It's about every age and stage. There was a moment that you might've had good soil and the kingdom went in you, but then things got hard and difficult over time. And you didn't realize it, but your heart became hardened and you're no longer receiving it into your soul. And even believers can be attacked where the enemy wants to snatch what God is trying to give you. And Jesus is telling a story. You have to think about where the soil of your heart is. The second was the rocky soil. In verse 13, Jesus describes what he means. He says, the seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. This is like, man, they received it, went forward on fire, going after it. I love new believers. I really do. I love the excitement that comes, the turnaround. And when you get saved, not just saved, but saved, saved.

How many know the difference? And you get so saved, saved that now you got, everybody's got to have what you want, have. But then you hit the difficulty. And Jesus talks about the rocky soil prevents growing roots that will go down and sustain. It's just roots on the surface, if you will. And it doesn't help you when difficulty comes. And the tipping point is struggle. When hard things happen, when suffering happens, if you don't have roots, it will be ripped out of you. By the way, there's great benefit in other places where Jesus talks about perseverance and enduring suffering. And there's a prize for those who persevere. And all of the rest of the scripture talks about because in the struggle is what forces your roots to go down. But if you're in rocky soil, there's nowhere to go. You got to remove some rocks to get to that place. I have had moments in my life where the rocks were there and it prevented me and I didn't understand and I had to do some repenting. I had to do some rock removal. I had to be at a place where I could once again allow my roots to go down. The third place, the type of soil that Jesus mentions is in verse 14. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message but all too quickly, the message is crowded out by the cares and riches

and pleasures of this life and so they never grow into maturity. You work hard, your prayers are answered but then you have more money to spend, more places to go, more responsibilities and clubs and sports and everything else to get your kids signed up for. Now all the things that you prayed for accumulate and as they accumulate, it's like the thorns that push out your love for the kingdom of God and we stop growing in those seasons. We're no longer maturing. The roots aren't going down. They're getting choked out on the top. Let me just say this. If you're in that place, Jesus is talking to crowds that have their own responsibility to see where they fit in this story, where their soil of their heart is. I don't take it as a major judgmental point the finger at the crowd kind of moment. Actually, Jesus puts the onus on the listener of the story to identify where their soil of their heart is. I can't tell you. I know people that have been blessed and they've been faithful. God has helped them. They've accumulated wealth. They're very generous people and their soil has remained good.

So it's not just having things that is the issue. The issue has to do, do the things have you? Has it begun to choke out your obedience, your instantaneous ability to say yes to the Holy Spirit when he prompts you to do something or are your masters switching over to something else? Finally, Jesus, and this is really the point of the whole story. He wants to say, hey, there's an opportunity here and it's the good soil. Look at verse 15. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good hearted people who hear God's word, cling to it and patiently produce a huge harvest. Jesus says that they're the good soils, honest, good hearted people. They hear God's word. In other words, there's an input there somewhere and they cling to it. Now, why do you have to cling on to something? You have to cling on to it because something's trying to knock it out or the circumstances could cause you to lose your grip on something. So Jesus isn't describing passive Christianity in the good soil. He's talking about people who actually hold on to it and they refuse to let go. They cling to the word even in drought seasons, in seasons where things don't seem to be working right.

In moments of the story, when you begin to even doubt comes up in your head, Jesus is describing good, honest people who cling to it. They hold on. They don't let go. Turn to the person next to you and say, don't let go. And the result is that they're patiently producing a huge harvest. This is what Jesus is offering. It's not just don't have bad soil, get rid of thorns and throw the rocks out. You guys are all evil people. Jesus says, hey, listen, this seed that I have that's available for you, if you let your soil be good and you hold on to it and you stick to it, not for one moment or one weekend or one season. If you stick with it, there's gonna be a huge harvest because when the kingdom goes inside of you, it changes everything. Changes how you relate to people. It changes your work ethic. It changes how you see opportunity. It changes how you fight your adversary. It changes everything. Jesus says that there's gonna be a huge harvest. When I am speaking today, I'm thinking of people in Maple Grove and Elk River and Lakeville and Spring Lake. I'm thinking of believers of every age and stage.

I'm thinking of young adults and young families. I'm thinking of people that have served the Lord for 30 years and now you're empty nesters. I'm thinking about single adults and people who don't necessarily have a group of people around them. And I'm saying, if you hang in there and you keep letting the kingdom go in, if you pay attention to the soil of your heart, then something good is about to happen. You may not see it in the moment, but it takes time. When I planted the seed this spring, I talked to my friend, Tim Olson, former pastor at our church. He's an expert in the landscaping field. And he came by and I said, see all this? And he said, yeah. And I said, I put some seed in the ground. He said, you won't see it for two months. I'm like, the devil is a liar. I'm like, no, I don't want that. I want it quick. I want it now. I don't want my neighbors to notice. I want it now. Jesus doesn't say, I'm gonna give it to you now. He equates his kingdom to a seed that grows and it will produce a huge harvest. Remember what he said in the first part of the story in verse eight, he said,

still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted. I'm just saying this to you, men and women of God. I'm saying this to you, children of the same father. He wants so much more for your future. If you pay attention to the soil of your heart. See, Jesus has a positive opportunistic view of what the seed can do in a heart of good soil. And it's always an amazement to me how Jesus' view of what he can do in us is bigger than our own view. His seed grows, patiently produce a huge harvest. You know, deeper roots take time to get there. They start searching for resource beyond where you're at. Sometimes the tensions of life, the obstacles, the frustrations that we're pushing against are the very thing that causes us to get on our knees and have our roots go deeper. To be a Christian is not the absence of struggle or suffering, it's the ability to grow deeper roots in those things. And because of that, there's a greater harvest above ground. Hang in there. Trust that God's kingdom works in you. And success equals accomplishing God's goals and God's timing, not God timing. I just noticed, so I got a little typo there. Sorry about that. God's timing.

It's in God's timing. Now Jesus uses a farmer in his parable. Farmers don't just plant and cultivate and harvest one time. It's not just about the moment that you gave your life to Christ. It's actually every season is a new harvest season. And there are annual cycles, soil preparation to receive the seed, watering it, harvesting it, and then waiting for the next season. What was the soil of your heart as you look backward in your story? What did it look like? Were there moments that you had good soil and moments that you had rocky soil, moments that you had thorny soil? What were those moments that the footpath prevented the seed from going in? What made the difference in your life? Can you remember the moment you went forward, you gave your life to Jesus? Can you remember the time that you prayed for your sick child and you kept praying, God held you and the family through that time? Can you remember the moment you didn't have the money to pay the bills, but because you've been tithing, God trusted you in a difficult season and he provided his Jehovah Jireh? Can you remember those moments that you went through the tensions of abandonment

and yet God the Father stepped in? He's always nearby. What is the condition of your soil right now? I'm gonna take a quiz. Which soil represents you? you. Right now, is your soil a footpath? Is it a rocky soil? Is it thorny? Or is it good? Is it ready for seed? Jesus told the story in a way that the whole crowd had to answer the quiz for themselves. I want you to stand with me today, church. Jesus' kingdom is available right now. What if we all leaned into what Jesus is saying, seeking to hear and to understand? Have you experienced the birds plucking love and joy and peace from your heart? Are you hardened soil? You hear Jesus talking right now. Did you know that you can have your soil of your heart tilled up? That's what repentance does. Saying, I'm sorry, I don't want to be, I don't want to be hardened soil anymore. I don't want the rocks in there. I don't want the thorns choking it out. I want to be good soil. Listen, Jesus hears the voice of his children. You have a history of experiencing the power of God. But painful times came in, and you fell away without deep roots. Many of us battle busy, cluttered schedules. I don't even want to show of hands today for that. But have the cares of the world pushed out your passion for God's kingdom? We all have the opportunity to prepare the soil of our heart, and Jesus is still spreading the seed. If we listen and understand the kingdom of God is available to all of us right now, real time. We need to hit the refresh button on our browser. We need to say, Lord, forgive me. And then we need to let bitterness out of our heart and unforgiveness towards other people so that our soil is ready for God's kingdom. Forgive. Let go of the bitterness.

Anger attracts the birds. We need to seek to grow up and grow down. May need to cut the weeds, change the schedule, make sure the blessings don't turn into thorns, and evaluate our lives. But listen, the goal isn't to feel guilty about where you are. The goal is to have soil that receives God's kingdom right now. Come on, somebody. That's what we need. What if all of us opened ourselves to the present tense seed to either be planted or watered or pruned or harvested? What would your family experience? How would your faith grow if you believe for bigger and better things? How could you embrace the struggle knowing that the seed is growing and there is a harvest coming? We're going to sing in a moment, church, but I'm done sharing Jesus' story. Now, together as an audience, we have an opportunity to let him stir our hearts. Would you lift your hands to heaven with me right now? Father, we come before you. And you see us and you share your stories not to tear down but to build up, to encourage. And I pray, God, that as you look at the soil of our hearts, there are a lot of other things that have over time been a part of our story. And I just pray, God, that, Lord, you would move all of our hearts to good soil, to receiving what you have, to being available for what you want to do. May your kingdom be planted deep within us. May it grow. May it, Lord, develop. May you teach us to persevere, to not quit, to stay in the race, to pursue the best that you have for us. I pray, O God, that it would become more than just a story in the Bible, God. It would be words of life to those who are hungry to receive what you are saying right now. You are close. We thank you for it. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.