Cultivating a Kingdom

Well, uh, good morning. Let me add my welcome to that you've already received. Um, I think I've met everyone, but my name is Derek. I'm one of the elders here. We give, uh, Stephen a break every now and then, so it's my privilege to, um, be able to preach this morning. Does anyone remember the Dr. Seuss story about the sneeches? I do. This thing made an impact on me somehow as a kid. But I still remember it. Sneeches were these yellow furry creatures, but a few of them had these stars on their belly. And somehow they decided that that made them special and better than the others. And the others felt inferior to the ones that had the stars on their belly. And one day, Sylvester Mcmonkey Mcbine shows up with a machine. This machine puts stars on the bellies of different of of snitches. And so all the sneeches that didn't have stars lined up, paid their money, got a star on their belly. And then the original starbelly sneeches started to not feel so special anymore. So guess what? Mr. McBain had another machine that took stars off of bellies. And so the original star-bell sneeches paid him money to have their stars taken off. And for a moment, all was right with the world again. They were the special ones. than the original non-starbelly sneeches that had now had stars paid money to have their stars taken off. And then you see what's happening here. Then they literally started lining up to both machines and handing money out. And they were the line at both machines putting stars on stars off until the entire town was out of money. And Mr. McBain packed up his two machines and rolled out of town with all their money. And the sneeches realized that it wasn't the star at all that made them special. This is a parable. Today's text marks a transition in the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus changes his teaching style and begins to use parables as his primary teaching tool and read for us a minute ago. Verse three, he told them many things in parables. Parable is a compound word in the original Greek with parah. It's in a preposition that means alongside. It's where we get parallel from two lines alongside. And the other word is ble which means to throw or to cast. So it's a story that's cast alongside by way of illustration.

Parables normal normally carry a single idea or lesson sort of an overarching simple idea like the sneeches. This opening parable that we're going to talk about today is unique in a couple of ways and that Matthew includes for us not just Jesus telling of the parable to the larger audience but also Jesus own explanation of the story likely to a smaller group of maybe just his disciples. In that explanation, Jesus reveals that it's not just a simple idea or story like most parables, but this one he interprets more in what we might call an allegory where every detail actually has some significance. The story is a little more complex in its meaning. And so that's the parable we're going to talk about today. It marks a bit of another transition, not just in the teaching style, but also in his audience. Up to this point, other than the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaching has been primarily directed at the Jewish leaders. A lot of those interactions have happened inside the synagogues. But some of them, like the text we had last week, were out in the open where the disciples took the grain on the Sabbath and they were confronted by the Pharisees for doing work on the Sabbath. So in the verses between that story and this one, Jesus calls the leaders, you know, here's the way to uh win friends and influence people. He calls them a brood of vipers, an evil and adulterous generation. And he and he pronounces their future judgment for rejecting him. So this transition is both in message, style, and delivery, but also in audience.

Maybe those are tied together with the Pharisees. The discussion often centered around uh a particular Old Testament text that they would have been familiar with. However, uh they were misunderstanding what Jesus and God would have wanted them to know out of that text. As he transitions to presumably a more common audience, likely with less schooling in the scriptures and potentially even some Gentiles, a different approach was necessary. Thus, the parable. Matthew tells us in 12:es 14- 21, he says this, "But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him." Jesus aware of this withdrew from there. So here he is withdrawing from the Pharisees. He withdrew from the from there and many followed him and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim the justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break and the smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory and in his name Gentiles will hope. So we see this transition of audience even prophesied. So, you heard the initial telling of the parable in the early verses in chapter 13 that Anne read to us a minute ago. And we will spend the rest of our time this morning looking at the explanation that Jesus gave in verses 18 through 23. But before we jump in, I wanted to make a couple of quick observations about the earlier text. First, it says that uh um it was the same day. It was the same day. So maybe even that crowd that it said followed him is the one that's now sitting on the side of the of the sea that we're going to talk about. It's possible. We don't know exactly the sequence of events, but it said that he withdrew from the we withdrew from the the Pharisees and that this great crowd followed him. So this could be that crowd potentially was that same day. And it says that the crowds gathered around him so that he had to get in a boat. They were along the the shore of the Sea of Galilee, but the crowd was pressing in on him. So, the only way he could sort of get some space to teach was they put him in a boat and put him offshore a little bit. And they all sat along the shore or stood along the shore. And is the is the uh the the tradition in the synagogue, the one teaching would sit while the ones listening would stand. And we see that here. Jesus sits while the people on the shore stood. And he starts with the parable of the swer that Anne read for us in verses uh 1-9. And as I said, we're going to look together at verses 18- 23 where Jesus tells us what the story means. So, I'm going to pray for us real quick. Pray for me as we uh look at this text. Heavenly Father, we are grateful that you have gathered us here this morning. Let us not lose sight of what this means, that we are the gathering of your bride. This is something that you have ordained for us to do to gather together, to encourage, to worship.

This is a holy thing we do here today. And you have promised to be here amongst us.

So it is my prayer that your spirit would be about his business, your business that you have given him to do in the hearts of your people. and that what you would find here are people prepared to hear what it is that you might have to say. What you would find here is a humble servant who brings nothing to this other than a voice. And it is my prayer that you would be honored and that we would leave here different than we came in Jesus name.

So the first section I'm calling no understanding. It comes from verses 18 and 19. And Jesus says this here. Then the parable of the swer. When anyone hears the word of God, word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is the this is what was sown along the path. So here we see that the seed that is being sown is the word of the kingdom. So what does Jesus mean when he says the word of the kingdom? I think it means everything that he's been teaching up to this point is the word of the kingdom. If we were to think back about the things he said, we remember things like this kingdom is not like other kingdoms. It's not a worldly kingdom. It is not an earthly kingdom. And it's not an earthly kingdom because its primary oppressor was not Rome. But the primary oppressor was sin. And the king is not a person but God. And so this kingdom is by way of review a promised kingdom. It is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament Israel was only a taste of. It is a spiritual kingdom seeking to unite the people of God under his perfect rule and authority and presence. It is a transformational kingdom in that its citizens are different. They turn the other cheek. They care for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. And they value others more than themselves. And it is a present and future kingdom. It has a current reign in the hearts and minds of its citizens. But they await a future when there is a spiritual when this spiritual reality reaches its fulfillment in a new heaven and a new earth. So it strikes me that Jesus as he is telling this story in this boat on the Sea of Galilee, he is also demonstrating that same story. He is asking a group of people that are gathered that was so large that he had to get in the boat to even be able to teach them and ask them to consider responding to what he is teaching. In telling this about the sewing of the seed of the word of the kingdom, he is actually in fact sewing that very seed. And as he does, it is likely that in this crowd, we will see all four of those responses. And the first response is the seed that falls along a path where the soil had been compacted. So the seed does not penetrate but just sits on top. And it says the birds who Jesus tell us represents Satan come and take snatch the seed away. A group of people who failed to understand the type of kingdom Jesus was talking about. Seems likely to me that in that in that moment one of the primary people he was talking about were those very Pharisees that he had just withdrawn from those but also those who were looking for freedom from Roman rule or if we were to bring it forward today those who feel like any restriction to self-governance or self-determination is oppression or those who are unable to see and consider the possibility that there is more at work than they can see who have come to the conclusion confusion that since there is suffering or sickness, there is no God. Since there is division, since there is injustice, there must be no God. There is the same lack of understanding of what the kingdom of God is.

And that they are unable to see anything that looks different than the way they've constructed it in their own head. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 says, "The natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." This is how the enemy works. He likes to cloud our understanding. We even look all the way back at the original temptation in the garden. God's withholding from you. He doesn't want you to know the things he knows. and he tries to cloud the understanding of Adam and Eve. We see it still today, I think, in the way the world understands Christianity. You see people that say they can't be Christians because God's God condones slavery or God thinks women are secondass or God only accepts Republicans or God can and and how can a loving God allowed suffering or whatever misunderstanding they have. And as we see again, the issue is not with the seed, but the soil, which in this case creates an opportunity for the seed to be snatched away before it even gets going because of a lack of understanding, a hardening of the heart. It isn't an intellectual problem. It's a spiritual one.

The next section I call no growth. And I'm looking at verses 20- 22. Jesus goes on, "As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 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. As for the one that was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and approves unfruitful. I've always struggled a little to discern the difference between these second and third soils. And you're thinking, what do you mean? It's right there in the text. And I see the words and I understand the words. But I think as I but as I think through it and I try to understand what's going on in the mind of these two different people, the underlying issue seems to be the same or at least similar to me. And I'll try and talk you through the jungle that is my mind here in a minute. But let's look specifically at what Jesus says. He says the second soil is rocky ground. So there is only this thin layer of soil on top of rocks. The ground heats up, so the seeds germinate quickly, but it has no place to grow, no roots, so no water, no nutrients, and the sun scorches it and dies. I have had um hundreds of pounds of grass seed in my front yard go through exactly this process. Again, the issue is not with a seed. the issues with the soil, its preparation and its care. Jesus says the stress that is applied to the seed is tribulation and persecution because of their initial response to the word. When I was in high school, we had some staff from a national campus ministry arrive at our campus for several years and began to develop relationships and share the gospel to sew the seed. I was one of those that responded along with so many others. Yet not all of us remained when the pressure to participate in so many of the things that teenagers so often find themselves tempted to do or some who found themselves as the only one in one of in their friend group considering these things fell away. I think we see it too often in kids who grew up in the church were taught maybe the correct behaviors of a good Christian kid, but they failed to develop an authentic faith independent of their parents. And in college, they the lack of depth is exposed and the reality of this newfound faith that there needs to be a reordering of your life becomes too much and they fall away. Or maybe it's like somebody uh who's going through some sort of recovery but relapses. The thinking, the thought processes, the patterns can be a challenge to reorder and they fall away. The third soil Jesus describes as one that falls among the thorns. And he says the thorns here represent the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches that choke the word. Again, like the second soil, the issue is not with the word, but with the soil. This one, in my experience, seems more like young adults. I've known many who maybe were active in their faith and in their church as young adults

and maybe as college students and then in and the years that followed. But careers and spouses and cars and houses and kids and soccer and dance conspire to demand their time and their attention and their energy. I've heard it so many times that people will will step away from serving the church. you know, life's just super crazy right now. I got to step away, but I'll be back. And then their attendance drops from two or three times a month to once a month. And then before you know it, you're standing there with somebody going, "Hey, we haven't seen the Smiths for a while." And they're just gone. It's more of a fading to me in my experience than a turning.

This reminds me a little of the story that we'll get to later in our journey through Matthew of the rich young ruler. You probably heard it. A rich man comes to Jesus and asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life. And Jesus says, "Well, you got to follow the commandments. You know, don't murder, honor your father and your mother and all those things." And he goes, "Well, I've done all those things. What else do I need to do?" And Jesus says, "Well, just one more thing. You need to sell everything you own and give it to the poor." And it says that the man was sorrowful because he had many possessions. Jesus was not exposing a new requirement. It's not required for all of us to sell everything we own in order to be part of this kingdom. But what Jesus was exposing was a man who had a disordered life.

It's the same requirement he's had for all of us that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and not allow anything to compete for our affections.

And this rich young ruler was one who was unwilling to allow the love and pursuit of God to dethrone his heart's desires, the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches. Our faith is not antithetical to our career or family by any means. And in fact, in its fullest sense, it informs and undergirds and supports those things. But when we allow our faith to be just one more thing on our calendar, just one more demand among many, it too often becomes the easiest to shed. It is a failure to reorder. So that's what I mean. When it feels like the second and the third soils are similar, the pressures may be different, but the issue is largely the same. a disordered life where we allow the things of the world to take the rightful place in our heart and mind and the pressures that expose the disorder may be different but the result is similar and lastly I call it no regrets verse 23 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 100fold and another 60 and in other 30. When the seed is sewn on good soil, the seed does exactly what it was created to do. It germinates, grows, and produces fruit. I am not a farmer nor a gardener of any kind. So I speak not out of knowledge here but the uh one of the commentators I read said in the ancient near east a tenfold um pro harvest was considered exceptional. So you see the imagery. I think what Jesus is saying is that this seed can produce a a harvest that's beyond our comprehension. Again, at risk of being repetitive, it isn't that the word here is different. It isn't that the seed here is somehow different or better. It's the same word. It's the same seed, but it's the condition of the soil. And so, what is the fruit that is born from this? In John 15 where Jesus describes himself as a vine and those who follow him are branches. The true branches are those that bear much fruit and that fruit is to follow his commandments. Then he says this in verses 12 and 13. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that someone lays down his life for his friends. Paul says in Galatians 5, "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law." I think what we see here is that the fruit is a life that is reordered, that pursues God's and his priorities first and allows that to inform the rest of his life.

Whenever we read these stories in the Bible, one question we need to ask is in whose shoes are we to put our feet? Or maybe even better, in whose shoes am I to put my feet? It is important for us to understand Jesus message to us. Are we to see ourselves as part of the crowd that is hearing this parable and considering what what soil we might be?

Or are we to put our feet in the sandals of the disciples who had already been sent out once two by two and would be sent out again to the uttermost parts of the earth and then to see ourselves not as the soil but as the swer. Right? You understand the question I'm asking? You might be surprised. Probably not if you know me. The answer is both. I think we're supposed to do both.

See, I think even the disciples, even the closest to Jesus of the 12 had one, Judas, who allowed the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches to choke the word.

But then the others whose heart and life in the service of Jesus took them to far-flung far-flung places and for most of them cost them their lives. So let me suggest some takeaways for this morning. The first tend your soil. And it is important that I put some guard rails around this because I don't want you to hear me say that you're responsible for your own growth. Paul said the fruit we produce is fruit of the spirit not fruit of effort not fruit of obedience not fruit of sacrifice but that does also that does not also mean that we don't participate somehow if we fill our minds with junk if we're failing to prioritize properly the things of God the reading of the word prayer and the gathering of the saints then we're not cultivating the proper conditions for the spirit to actually produce the fruit. So tend your soil.

Second, pray for the soil of others. This is not directly from the text, but my own synthesis of scripture and my own experience. We may may not be able to tend the soil of others. In fact, parents, as much as we want to ensure the faithfulness of our children, we are not capable. We can help them by teaching teaching them to tend their own soil. We can hold them accountable. We can provide opportunities and m maybe most of all we can tend our own soil and demonstrate a reordered life to them.

The same goes for other family and friends that we so want to be part of the kingdom. So if we can't guarantee then we pray.

James tells us that the prayer of a righteous person has great power and somehow God in his wisdom and sovereignty has invited us into his work in the lives of others through prayer.

I want to pause for a minute and address one of the great questions this parable raises. What is the spiritual condition of soils two and three?

Seems relatively simple to me to say that number one had no authentic faith and number four sort of by definition has an authentic faith. So the mystery then is what is the spiritual condition of the soils two and three. I'm afraid too often that our own experience in our own family will tend to color how we see or want to see and answer this question about the spiritual condition of soils two and three.

Um I grew up with my dad believing he was a man of faith. I remember the day he went to the altar. I remember seeing his chair with the lamp next to it and the good news for modern man Bible that he had sitting on the lamp next to his chair that he would read.

And yet 10 years ago, he sent a letter to me and my children saying that he just could no longer believe the things that the Bible said.

He died yesterday.

I have no idea. I have no idea. I did have a chance. And some of you who maybe don't know me may like, "What the heck are you doing here then?" Well, he lives in Seattle or lived in Seattle. I've been there three times this year. Said good my goodbyes. He's been on a 10-week trajectory here where he was in kidney failure and gave up dialysis. So, this was not unforeseen. What was unforeseen was how long it took. But again, I've been there three times, my sisters out there. So, please understand why I'm here.

But again, I have no idea. And I think in some respects Jesus doesn't actually address that question in this text directly. what the condition of these soils two and three are. So, we don't know for sure.

But if I stitch together other messages of Jesus where they say things like they will know you are my disciples if you love one another and there is to be evidence of a changed and reordered life. And with that said, there is nothing here that someone says somebody who has initially rejected the gospel won't later respond. I told you about the campus ministry on my high school and I'm constantly amazed not only by those who initially responded and fell away but also those who seemed to not respond in high school and yet today have thriving relationships with the Lord.

In many respects, I think the answer to this question is not ours to know

because if we did know how people were going to respond, it might affect the way we approached them.

And that's not what Jesus asks of us. So this brings us to our final point so broadly. You see that Jesus in our parable as the swer swed seed that he knew would not grow or respond or grow fruit. Not just in general through his whole ministry, but even specifically in this story. There's this hillside full of people. And again, as we said, it seems unlikely that all of those people were soil for people. And Jesus knew that and yet sowed.

It seems unlikely that even every person that Jesus healed through their entire ministry grew up with a then from then on with a thriving faith in him. Yet Jesus healed them anyway.

How much more should we who do not know so broadly? We should pray for those who do not know. We should live openly our own faith as evidence of our own transformation. And we should share our own faith with others and love them despite their response. It is up the whole up to the Holy Spirit to draw others to him and to produce fruit. We are but to be faithful vessels of the truth and share willingly to be swers of seed. So tend your soil, pray for the soil of others, and so broadly. Pray with me if you would.