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Seeds Work

            According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the nut of the coco de mer is the largest seed produced by any plant in the world.  It can weigh up to forty pounds.  It resembles a coconut from the outside and grows on giant palm trees that are found only in the Seychelles, a group of islands near Africa in the Indian Ocean.  Certain orchids of the tropical rain forest produce the world’s smallest seeds, up to thirty-five million per ounce.  They are only are about one three-hundredth of an inch long and are dispersed into the air like minute dust particles.  The largest disparity between seed and ultimate adult plant is probably the Sequoia tree of the American West.  The seed is as small as any mustard seed, yet it can become the largest individual organism on the planet.

            Different seeds produce different plants, trees, and fruits.  The interesting phenomenon about the different kinds of seeds is that they all work.  But we know that sometimes a seed produces a plant and sometimes not.  Why?  There’s usually nothing wrong with the seed.  The problem is the soil.  That’s the point of Jesus’ parable in the gospel for the day.  Actually, two truths stand out in vivid story-style.  He turns our eyes to the seed and to the ground to teach us that Seeds Work.

Seeds Work unless the ground is hard

            Put seeds on a cement sidewalk.  You can wait all summer, but nothing will grow.  In fact, they probably won’t last a day or two because they’ll get pilfered by a squirrel, chipmunk, or mourning dove.  The seeds are still powerful.  They just were not planted.  The only way for seeds to grow on a sidewalk is to get a jack hammer, smash the cement to smithereens, rake out the gravel, then rototill the dirt, and plant the seeds in good dirt.

            Jesus said, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.”   And he explained, “Listen to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is the seed sown along the path.”  “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop … The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the person who hears the word and understands it.  He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

            The Word of God is just like seed.  It is very powerful.  It has the power to produce faith which generates God-pleasing attitudes and actions in our lives.  Did you ever wonder why some hear the word of God, and it doesn’t seem to sink in?  Ever wonder why such simple truths – like …We all fall short of what God wants us to be and do, and because of that we all deserve his anger.  But he sent his Son, Jesus, to be our substitute.  God now credits Jesus’ rightness and his payment for sin to our account so we can live with him now and forever – ever wonder why such simple truths don’t seem to add up in some people’s minds, and they reject them?  I really don’t have an answer to that question.  It is a puzzle that God simply does not answer in the Bible.  We were all born with cement-hardened hearts.  If you are a believer in Jesus, if you trust that for his sake you are going to live with God in perfect joy forever, then God worked a miracle.  Then God used the jack-hammer of his threats to smash up your cement-hardened heart and used his life-giving promises as seed, planted in the good soil he created in order to sprout the plant of faith.  The seed of God’s Word works, but – and here’s the puzzle – the inborn unbeliever in your heart and mine has the power to resist it.  So, when we end up in heaven, we’re going to say, “Thank you, Lord, for doing it all for me.”  But if Satan swoops in, snags the promise of God’s love off the sidewalk of your heart, and you end up in hell, it’s your fault. 

            We might hear this story from Jesus and pray, “Lord, I’m thankful that the powerful seed of your Word went to work in my heart.  I am thankful I’m not going to end up like my friend who could care less about the true God.”  But the scary part is that while we live on earth, there’s still a corner of our heart with a hard path running across it.  Too often we’re like Jesus’ own disciples.  He warned them about the self-righteousness of the religious teachers of the day and the greed of King Herod by using a figure of speech which was fairly obvious.  When they didn’t get it, he asked them: “Do you still not see or understand?  Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?”(Mark 8:17-18).  Think you and I are immune to that?  Why is it that when tensions come up in marriage, and we know that God would want each spouse to address individual weaknesses and fears to improve the relationship, we refuse to seek help or ignore help that’s available.  Hard ground.  Why is it that when God says, “Be content,” we mismanage funds and overspend just to have lots of toys and fun and end up ruining future plans and hurting others?  Hard ground.  Why is it that when God says, “Guard your tongue,” we persist in negatively critical comments about anyone and everyone?  Hard ground.  “Lord, bring your jackhammer.  Rake us over.  Plow into our hearts, and plant the seed of your Word of mercy.  Do that because we know that the seed of your Word works.”

Seeds Work unless the ground is shallow

            I spoke with someone recently who described the kids’ view of a trip out west as rocks, rocks, and more rocks.  In many places west of the Missouri River, that is actually true.  But if you slow down or get out of the car and take a closer look, you can see all kinds of scruffy plants on the rocky soil.  What happens when a gale-force wind slams into those plants?  It doesn’t take much to uproot scraggly plants and trees.  Why?  No deep roots.

            Jesus said, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed … some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.”  And he explained, “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the person who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.  When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.”

            Why does one Christian face the death of dad as celebration, a victory – yes, there is sadness, especially if the death seems untimely, but joy rolls up the sadness like an old blanket and stores it away – yet another person has trouble with a death in the family and can’t get seem to get over it?  Rocky ground.  Why do people get excited about planning a wedding here at Grace, participate in our pre-marriage seminar, take the back-to-the-basics-of-the-Bible course, join our church, get married, and then disappear?  Rocky ground.

            We might hear this story and think, “How can people be so shallow?  I would never be like that.”  But the scary part is that while we live on earth, there are rocks near the surface of our hearts.  Too often we’re like the people who first received the letter to the Hebrews, “You are sluggish in listening.  In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk is still an infant … But solid food is for the mature, who by practice have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil”(Hebrews 5:11-13).  Make sure the plant of your faith is rooted in good soil.  Get rid of the rocks.  The strategic planning team and called staff here at Grace are working to help you do that.  We’re examining all kinds of avenues to allow more to enjoy the seed of God’s Word being planted in good soil.  We are establishing Grace Groups to help remove rocks.  Why?  We all know that troubles will come.  Caring Christians connected in your Grace Group can help you cope.  We all know that people around us at work, in our friendship circles, and sometimes in our own families can give us flack because we want to be committed to Jesus.  “Lord, pull out the rocks, and keep planting the seed of your Word.  Do that because we know that the seed of your Word works.”

Seeds Work unless the ground is otherwise occupied

            It’s been a long time since we had a vegetable garden.  The primary reason for not having one any longer is that it took too much time.  And the main problem that took the most time is … weeds.  Leave for a week’s vacation, and weeds pop up around every bean, carrot, and onion plant.  Enjoy two weeks vacation, and you’ll come back to find that the weeds have taken over.  The little radishes and lettuce leaves and cucumber vines just aren’t strong enough to withstand the pressure of weeds moving in and occupying the space all around.  So, gardeners get on their hands and knees and regularly tug at every individual thistle, dandelion, and broadleaf plantain.

            Jesus said, “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants”.  And he explained, “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the person who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”

            How does your schedule look this coming week?  Maybe two people are out of the office on vacation up north, and you’ll have to pick up some of their duties.  Maybe you are scheduling in a little exercise at least every other day so that you don’t feel guilty about putting it off another week and you don’t have to go to the closet looking for the “one-size-up” clothes.  You might have a doctor appointment and also the semi-annual teeth cleaning and dentist visit.  Your laundry piles grow even though you wore the same pants twice last week.  What to make for dinner?  Hmmm.  You realize that you’re short some ingredients.  Might as well fill out a list and do the full grocery shopping.  Your car needs an oil change.  Your relatives called and wanted you to come over on Friday.  Your nephew is getting married in a couple weeks.  That means shopping for a wedding gift.  Thankfully they registered at Target, Kohls, and Boston Store so you can do the shopping online.  Checking your email, you realize that there’s more spam than usual.  It must be time for a new anti-virus and spyware program.  Wonder which one to get?  A light burned out over the bathroom sink.  The faucet in the half bath is dripping and starting to leave one of those off-color rust stains.  The softball league had to reschedule so there’s an extra game this week.  Your friends want to meet you at Jazz in the Park on Thursday.  You’re supposed to bring a dessert to the block party.  Now the pastor says, “Watch out so the weeds in life don’t choke out the study of God’s Word.  Prioritize Bible reading and Bible study.”  If he only knew!  There’s no time for that!

            Really!  Do you take time to eat?  Do you take time to sleep?  Do you take time to clean up each day?  Your body needs food and sleep and good hygiene.  Your soul does, too.  Too often we’re like Jesus’ own disciples.  He warned them on more than one occasion about getting otherwise occupied.  He made statements like, “What good is it for a person to gain the whole world yet forfeit his own soul?”(Mark 8:37).  Name one thing that is more important than the care and nurture of the faith which God has planted in our hearts.  I can’t think of one.  “Lord, forgive us for being otherwise occupied with things that won’t count in the forever-land of heaven, give us the courage to fight off the weeds, and feed the plant of faith with your Word.  Do that because we know that the seed of your Word works.”

            Jesus answers our prayers today.  “Lord, plow up our cement-hardened hearts, remove the rocks, forgive us for being otherwise occupied, and plant the seed of your Word in our hearts.  He answers by saying, “Use my Word, and you will receive blessings one hundred, sixty, thirty times more than you can imagine!”  Do you want a renewed sense of vitality as you follow the Lord?  Do you want a fresh look on life?  Use the seed of God’s Word.  It works.  “He who has ears, let him hear.”        Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on July 6, 2008

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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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