Creating Good Soil for the Word of God
Scripture: Psalm 138 read responsively and Mark 4:
1-20
Preached by
Linda Jo Peters ~ June 10, 2012
Unity Presbyterian Church ~ Terre Haute, Indiana
INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 138 read responsively
Though this is a song of thanksgiving and an affirmation of
the psalmist trust in God, it is written with honest expressions of anxiety and
even doubt. Its witness provides
encouragement for all of us who "walk in the midst of trouble."[1]
1I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2I bow
down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast
love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above
everything.3On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Mark 4: 1-20
Jesus uses a Greek word 8 times in this passage to tell the
gathered crowd to listen, to pay attention, to understand and hear what he is
saying. At the end of this passage we
have an example of one of the few times that Jesus is recorded as explaining a
parable to his disciples. So akouĊ, listen to the word of God:
Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3“Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 9And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
10When he was alone, those who were around him along with
the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, “To you has
been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything
comes in parables; 12in order that
‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”
13And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word.
15These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan
immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16And these are
the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately
receive it with joy. 17But they have no root, and endure only for a while;
then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately
they fall away. 18And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the
ones who hear the word, 19but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth,
and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields
nothing. 20And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and
accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
SERMON
Have you ever heard a joke or story that just went right
over your head? Since most of us have
heard the parable of the sower, it is hard to listen to it with new insights or
understand what the disciples where confused about what it meant. Yet that is just what Jesus wants from his
disciples and us. To listen deeply to
what he says. The purpose of a parable
is really not to veil the truth, but to illustrate the truth. And many times
when people become dull of hearing, where they will not receive just straight
teaching, when you've lost the attention of your students, a method by which
attention can be drawn back again to the subject is by illustration. Tell a
story. We are, all of us, very interested in life and in things of life, and
when you start to tell a story, suddenly people are paying attention again. And
in the story you are able to subtly able to illustrate the truth that you are
trying to point out. In each of the parables of Jesus there were truths that
were being illustrated, truths that the people would not listen to on just a
straight teaching method.[2]
We talk about the Word of God taking root in our lives. But in order for this rooting to take place
we need to prepare the soil so the Word of God will flourish in our hearts,
minds and lives.
Since all of us have had some experience of schooling, I
want you to think of a subject that was difficult for you to learn. What was the reason? I can remember sitting by a huge window in
second grade and my mother complaining that it was too distracting for me. My teacher, Mrs. Patterson, said I would
learn to concentrate. I did learn to
concentrate but some of the subjects I had trouble learning such as spelling,
have been a challenge my whole life. I
can remember my mother, grandmother and sister trying to get me to learn
phonetics but it wasn’t taught in school then and I didn’t want to study when I
go home from school. I wanted to be out
playing. What was missing was a learning environment that would help my focus
on spelling. So we need an environment where the
Word of God can grow.
What kind of environment would grow God’s word in us? Being part of a community of other believers
is a big source of nurture for the Living Word of God. Times of quiet reflection and study are also
important environmental resources that need to be balance with a life free of
harmful distractions. Pay attention to
what fills your time that does not nurture God’s word.
Yesterday Unity's Youth Group met at our home for a pool party. What does having fun have to do with growing God's Word? Along with the 10 youth there were seven adults that invested their time in the lives of our youth. Being with people lets them know how precious they are. When times of touble come these young people kno wthere is an extended family of God that loves them and cares for them. I want every child in our congregation to know that they are loved by God. I want everyone in the whole congregation to know they are loved by God. I yearn for a world that knows it is loved by God. The rich soil for growing God's word is an enviroment of abiding love.
We also need commitment/dedication to grow God’s
word in us. This is not an easy
subject. God’s word growing in your life
will change your attitude and behavior.
Sometimes the changes will be uncomfortable and you will want to ignore
and neglect it. Let me illustrate this with the lives of three very different men who are working with our youth. John has a vision for youth ministry and an abiding sense of direction and pupose. Julio can be the clown but is also hard working and a passionate servant of Jesus Christ. Then there is Rob who is a quiet consistent presence modeling the value of service. Each one of these men demonstrates the importance of commitment. Even more amazing is the commitment demonstrated by three imperfect couples of their love and care for one another. In time when long term relatinships are over five years, these youth are seeing people who have stayed together through thick and thin for over 30 or 40 years.
On the cover of our bulletin is a composite of pictures of our Giving Garden here on Unity's site. It is the result of hours of work to prepare the soil and plant so food pantry folk will have fresh vegetables. None of these people serve to be recongnized or celebrated but hey serve so the Word of God can grow right along with our garden.
Repetition is a part of learning
that many of us see as boring but it is vital to growing God's Word in our life. The garden will need regular watering and weeding. The youth need commitment of time and talents and trasure to grow their ministry. Some of you are gifted at working in the good earth and others of you are very gifted at music. Some of you are strict disciplinariesna and others are playful companions - what I calle prophets and priests. Some like to work with investments and otehrs like to work with their hands. Some of you like to multitaks and others need to focus on one subject at ta time. But all of your owrk has to be repearted again and again to grow a ministry and so too with God's word. You need to hear it again and again to understand it. Amazingly a passage will speak to yoru life in a new way after years of study. The Word of God is worth repeting.
So brothers and sisters, listen to the word of God with all your heart, mind and soul. Prepare the environment in which you receive God’s word. Make it free of distractions. Make a commitment to invest in hearing God’s word and finally repeat and repeat so God’s word becomes a part of you both now and forever. A flourishing gift that bears fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold! Amen.
