Of all the topics that a pastor talks about, by common consensus everybody would agree, the most sensitive topic that a pastor talks about is - money. However, the most difficult topic that a pastor deals with is the one we have been talking about for the last couple of weeks in the series we’ve entitled, “Missing Person.” We have said that a missing person is any person who is far from God - any person who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The very first command that Jesus ever gave to anyone was to be a finder of missing persons or the way He put it to His first disciples was “to be a fisher of men.”
The common term for that is evangelism. The truth is for the vast majority of us, who claim to be followers of Christ, evangelism, finding missing persons, and fishing for men is the most difficult part of the Christian life. We know that we need to do it. We know that we ought to do it. We know that others need us to do it, but the truth is many followers of Christ never do it, and those that do it feel inadequate doing it, get stressed out doing it and feel guilty for not doing it.
Furthermore, it is not only the most difficult many of us try to do, but those of us who try to do it find it sometimes to be one of the most frustrating things we try to do. Perhaps you’ve had the experience of trying to evangelize or trying to reach somebody for Christ and it didn’t work and you felt like you were a failure.
I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to share the Gospel with someone and to tell someone about how to have a relationship with Jesus and at every point you make with them they nod their head, they agree, they will say “yes” and you will think you are reeling this fish in. It is going to be like taking candy from a baby! The conversation will go like this, “So you understand that you are a sinner in need of a Savior?” “Yes”. “You understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins?” “Yes.” “You understand that God raised Him from the dead and He is alive right now?” “Yes.” “You understand He wants to forgive you of all of your sins and give you eternal life?” “Yes.” “You understand that He wants to give you a purpose for living and make your life meaningful and worthwhile?” “Yes.” “You understand all of this is absolutely free and it is because of God’s grace and God’s love?” “Yes.” “Would you like to receive Jesus Christ into your life?” “No.” Can I be honest? There have been a few times that that has happened to me that I have come the closest to committing a felony. I think it is called assault and battery with intent to commit great harm.
If you have been here for this series and all it has done is make you feel guilty (because you are not out there looking for missing persons, you don’t have any hooks in the water, you are not trying to fish for people, or if you really do want to do what you know the Lord wants you to do and you feel inadequate, and you feel like you might make things worse, and you feel like it would be better not to try than to try and fail) then, there is a story that Jesus told His disciples that you need to hear. It puts this whole matter of missing persons and what your role is and what their role is and what God’s role is in proper perspective. [Turn to Matthew 13].
We are going to look today at a parable. For those of you who may not be familiar with Jesus’ teaching one of His favorite ways to teach was through telling stories called “parables.” The simple way to define a parable is it is “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” There are several reasons to believe this may be the most important of all the parables for several reasons. Jesus told about 40 parables. Of those parables, it is only one of two that has a title and it is only one of three that Jesus, himself, interprets. It is one of only three parables that is found in all three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and in all three it is the first of all the parables that Jesus told. It is not only the first parable – it is a foundational parable. It is the parable about all the parables.
Remember, Jesus’ very first sermon was about the Kingdom of God. Jesus made it plain that the kingdom is a kingdom of God’s word and this parable is a parable about receiving that word.
The story is very simple. It is simply about a farmer who goes out into the field and sows some seed. That seed falls on different types of soil. The quality of the soil determines whether or not the planting of that seed is successful and produces a harvest. If you listen carefully to what I just said, you recognize there are three major components of the parable. There is the sower, the seed, and there is the soil. Before we read the parable let me identify what each of these three represent, because Jesus tells us. The sower is the Christ follower – the disciple – you and me. The seed is the Word of God – the message of the kingdom and salvation. The soil is the heart of the missing person that we are trying to reach. Keep that in mind as we read this parable.
“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.’” (Matthew 13:1-9, ESV)
It is very obvious where the focus of the parable is. The focus is not on the sower. He is not even identified. The focus is not on the seed. It is just scattered. The focus is on the soils. The soils are the only variable in the story. The sower doesn’t change. The seed doesn’t change and the only variable determining failure or success is the soil on which the seed falls. In other words, the one thing that determines success and evangelism is not the sower or the seed, but the soil. It is not the messenger and not the message. It is the receptivity of the missing person that determines whether or not our evangelistic efforts are successful.
You will notice there is nothing wrong with the sower or how he sows the seed. It is not his method. There is nothing wrong with the seed. It is not that he has bad seed. There is nothing wrong with the composition of the soil. The problem is the condition of the soil. Right here we find the point of the parable and the key take away. Key Take Away: Our part is to sow. God’s part is to grow. Let me put it to you another way. We can do our part, but only God can reach the heart. God won’t do our job – we are to sow. We can’t do His job – He is to grow. We learn that in the interpretation that Jesus himself gives this parable. There are always three players in evangelism: you, the missing person, and God. Each has their own part to play.
I. Our Part Is Sowing The Seed
So there is no misunderstanding of what Jesus meant by this story, He tells us in His own words.
“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom.” (Matthew 13:18-19, ESV)
Matthew calls the seed, “the word of the kingdom.” In Luke’s version of the parable he puts it this way, “Now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God.” It is easy to understand why Jesus would compare God’s word and the message of the kingdom to seed, because a seed is productive. The very purpose of a seed is to produce fruit. Do you know how a believer is produced from an unbeliever? By having the seed of God’s word planted in his heart. I Peter 1:23 says, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23, NIV)
Don’t miss the importance of the fact that the sower went out to sow the seed and the seed is the Word of God. A seed cannot plant itself. It needs a sower. All the seed in the world is useless if the sower does not go out and sow it. The farmer cannot do his job sitting in the house. He has to get out to the field. The fisherman can’t do his job on land. He has to get out into the water. Missing persons can’t be found if no one is looking for them.
On the other hand, the farmer has to go with the seed and the fisherman has to go with a hook. That is why the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God must always be central in everything that we do.
Don’t miss this. What mattered was not how the sower scattered the seed, but that he scattered the seed. The success or the failure of the seed doesn’t depend on the sower’s technique at all. Sowing seed was a very low tech operation. The sower would simply carry a seed in the fold of his outer garment and he would walk along the fields and cast it around. Some would hit hard ground, some would hit rocky ground, some would hit thorny ground and then some would hit good ground. It doesn’t take skill or training or education to scatter seed. What matters is not how it is scattered, but that it is scattered. Why? Because it is not the expertise of the sower, but it is the quality of the soil that determines the harvest. Our part is to just go and sow. Our part is sowing the seed.
II. Others’ Part Is Receiving The Message
Remember the focus of the parable is not on the sower of the seed, but on the soil. Even the best sower with the best seed will not have a harvest if he has bad soil. Jesus identifies the soil as the heart of the missing people we are trying to reach.
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.” (Matthew 13:19, ESV)
Do you know what makes the Word of God different from every other book or message that you will ever encounter? You read God’s word with your eyes. You hear God’s word with your ears, but you receive God’s word with your heart. Jesus describes four different kinds of hearts in this parable and they are probably all in this room. The first heart is described in verse 19. It is described as “the path”. In Palestine people would walk through fields and they would basically take the same path to where they were going. As they walked along the same path they would trample down all the grass and the ground would become rock-hard. This was the type of the soil where the seed simply could not get in. It could get on the ground, but it could not get into the ground.
We all know some people whose hearts are literally as hard as an underground bunker. You could preach a sermon, give a tract, share a testimony and it doesn’t matter. It would be like water running off a duck’s back. It would be like the proverbial rubber ball bouncing off the concrete wall. These are the kind of people whose attitude towards God’s word ranges from complete disinterest to outward hostility.
The second kind of heart is described in verses 20 and 21.
“As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21yet 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.” (Matthew 13:20-21, ESV)
Those of you who have been to Israel with me know that one thing Israel has an abundance of is rocks. Much of Israel is limestone and bedrock that is just covered over with a thin layer of soil. You don’t see the rocks for the dirt. Where the first soil was soil where the seed could not get in, this is seed where the soil could not get down. These are people who receive the message with joy and give the appearance they are ready to follow Jesus, but they are not. It is like the people who come up to a pastor and say, “That was a great message.” What they are really thinking is, “Not going to change me”, “Not going to affect me,” “I’m not going to do anything about it.”
These are people who come to Jesus for the wrong reason. They come for health and wealth. They come for success and satisfaction, but the first time trouble hits they disappear. They thought they were joining God’s army as a four-star general who could sit behind a desk and give orders, but the first time they hear a bullet go by their head or a bomb explode they desert. The first time they realize that following Jesus means surrender, obedience, and commitment they check out.
We have people here who will check off on our decision card that they prayed to receive Christ and give us contact information. We will call them, email them, and write them and never hear from them again. Just mention being baptized and they discover a newfound allergy to water!
Then there is the third heart.
“As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22, ESV)
The first soil was where the seed couldn’t get it, the second was where the seed couldn’t get down, but this soil is where the seed can’t get out. The Word of God is choked out by financial prosperity and worldly possessions - think rich young ruler.
These are the people who hear the Word of God and say they want to follow the Son of God, but the golf course, the lake house, the extra money, the bigger paycheck, and the corporate ladder keeps getting in the way. Or, it keeps getting in the way for the people that don’t have these things but want them and having them and getting them is far more important to them than following Jesus.
In case at this point you are utterly discouraged and wonder, “What is the use of sowing seed at all?” Listen to the last heart.
“As 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 a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. He put another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.’” (Matthew 13:23-24, ESV)
This is the heart that is receptive to the Word of God and hears it. It is responsive to the Word of God and understands it and is reproductive of the Word of God, because it bears fruit. This is what keeps bringing the farmer back to the field and the fisherman back to the water. There are missing persons that want to be found. Not everyone is hearing impaired. There are people who will say, “Yes” and mean it and become fruitful for God’s kingdom. When that happens it is not because of you – it is because of God.
III. God’s Part Is Producing The Harvest
All a farmer can do is sow the seed. Once he does that the harvest is in God’s hand. All the fisherman can do is throw his hook in the water. After that, it is up to God as to whether or not he catches any fish. Our job is to sow. God’s job is to grow. The key to reaching missing people is not the presentation of the message. It is the penetration of the heart. The presentation is our part. The penetration is God’s part. Let me give it to you in the form of an equation.
Faithful Sharers + Fertile Soil= Fruitful Success
If you are sharing what you know and if you are living what you share that is all God asks.
Now, you can sow and have no harvest – that is proven in the parable. There is one thing even more certain than that. If you don’t sow there will never be a harvest. I am going to ask every one of you to do something we have asked you to do many times before and we will ask you to do many times again. Ask God, this year, to give you three people that you could plant your life into - three people that you could sow the seed of His Word into and then trust God for that harvest.
As you do that there is one last thing you need to know. You can move people from one soil to the next. You have to take people where they are and the truth of the matter is you don’t know the soil. What may appear to be soil that is hard as a rock can be soil that is soft as a pillow.
I want to share with you the true story of a man who died several years ago. He name was Pacey Cohen. That name probably means nothing to you and it doesn’t even matter what city he was in or where he came from.
Years ago it was popular for some churches in America to put on outdoor crusades at night. They would rent out the local high school football stadium and then invite famous people to come to draw crowds where the pastor could then preach the Gospel. On one particular night, a church had invited Terry Bradshaw, who at that time was the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, to come and give his testimony. That evening, Pacey Cohen was driving home to commit suicide. For some reason he took a different way home that he normally didn’t take and he came right by the football stadium. He didn’t even know the crusade was going on. He saw this big marquee out front that said, “Hear Terry Bradshaw – Quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.” It just so happened that Pacey Cohen was a big Steelers fan. He thought to himself, “I’ll get one last thrill. I’ll go hear my hero, Terry Bradshaw and then go home and blow my brains out.”
After Bradshaw finished giving his testimony he left the stadium, because he had to take a plane back to Louisiana. There was really nothing there to keep Pacey Cohen and he could have gotten up and left himself and he wanted to, but he told me later, for some reason, he couldn’t do it. Pacey was Jewish. He had never heard the Gospel in his life. He had never been in a church in his life. The pastor got up, preached a simple gospel message and then gave the invitation.
There were 3,000 people there that night and Pacey was sitting on the very top row of those bleachers. He began to watch as people began to come down on that field and surrender their lives to Christ. He didn’t move. The pastor was just about to finish the service when he said something he had not planned to say. That preacher said, “There is someone here tonight and it will be your last night on this earth if you do not come and give your heart to Jesus Christ. You will not be alive tomorrow and you will spend eternity separated from God.” If you were to have met Pacey after that night, he would swear in a court of law the preacher was looking him right in the eye.
When the choir sang that last stanza, out of 3,000 people, the only person that walked down those bleachers was Pacey Cohen. That night he received Christ. That next Sunday he joined that local church and was baptized. Are you ready for this? He became a full-time evangelist for Jesus Christ. He spent the rest of his life leading other people to Christ. He came to that crusade ready to kill himself. And instead he spent the remainder of his years leading people around him to eternal life in Christ. Only Jesus could have done that!
Pacey died of lung cancer. Near the end he had gotten to the point that he could only breathe 60 seconds without an oxygen mask. His wife said the day he died, that with his last breath and last words he led his own nurse to Jesus Christ. God took a heart as hard as a rock and made it a heart as soft as a pillow. Our job is to sow. God’s job is to grow. You do your job and God will do His.