Digging in to the Parable of the four soils

Last night was dedicated to reporting on our recent Mission Fuge experience in West Palm Beach, Fl. I have attached the sermon that was delivered during the service. I have had a few inquires about reading it so I thought this was the best place to publish it. The text is Matthew 13:1-9 which is the Parable of the four soils. I am not a professional theologian or Bible scholar, but I am passionate for the truth. I am attaching the text of the sermon here so that you can hear my heart. Please feel free to comment. For those of you who heard this live, I thank you for your encouragement.

In order to understand the parable of the four soils, we must look at it from three different points of view. There are three main characters in this parable and they each play a vital role in the success of the story.

We must first look to the one who gives, and sustains all life. The one in whom we must praise, the only one worth our praise and adoration. It doesn’t take much observing to see this taking place naturally. The other day I was riding down Hwy. 417 on the way to work in Simpsonville and a field of Sunflowers caught my eye on my right. I thought to myself at that time, how easy it is for the Sunflowers to be in constant praise, when I sometimes find it hard to even ask a blessing before a meal. All in unison, I saw them there looking constantly for the source of their strength. It is not hard for them to understand who deserves praise. Psalm 84:11 says,

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”

I wonder if we could learn something from these Sunflowers. I’ve seen people including myself in worship with no thought to worshiping the Lord God who is so worthy of our total worship. I see people wandering though life with no sense of the one who is worthy of all our praise. It is evident on Sunday morning when we can’t make it through a song or a sermon without a yawn. I see it when we notice an unfamiliar character joining our worship, and we are more concerned with their clothes choices than the choice of their heart to join us in worship. It is also evident outside of the church when we complain about the sun being too hot, or the weather being too wet. I know we haven’t needed to complain about the rain lately more like the lack of it, but still we are concerned with how it affects us rather than how our actions affect the one who sends the sunshine and the rain. I see the store clerk mindlessly scanning items and telling totals rather than glowing with all radiance reflecting the light of the father. I see the restaurant wait staff serving people for the most amount of tip instead of serving God and trusting in his abundant blessings. From God’s point of view, wouldn’t it be great if all of creation’s faces exclaim all Glory, Honor, and adoration to Him all the time.


Secondly, we must pay attention to the character of the seed in this story. For you see the seed has limited choices based on its circumstances. This seed differs from us in some ways, because we can choose to pick ourselves up and place ourselves in fertile soil where this seed has no say so in where it falls. Although, my wife told me one time that she saw this one grass seed that was so tough that it would even grow on concrete. I thought that was pretty good until last night I was cutting grass and realized that I already had some of this grass in my yard. It is called centipede, that stuff will run anywhere; I had it growing 1-1/2 feet onto my driveway. I don’t think this is the kind of grass she saw on TV, but aside from that, the only way to grow firmly is to be planted in fertile soil. Most of the time we have good intentions of being planted in fertile soil that we don’t realize we’ve settled in soil fertile for weeds that will choke us out once we have started to root. I spent yesterday morning removing some weeds from one of my flower beds in the back yard and I had this one vine that Bek says is poison Ivey, hope not, that had vines growing from the back of the yard all the way down to the back corner of the house that I tried to remove. I know I didn’t get all of it out, but I will keep cutting it back as it grows so hopefully it won’t take over the flower bed. We must plant ourselves in fertile soil always being mindful of weeds that can creep in and choke us out. In order to be planted in fertile soil we must understand what that looks like. For us to be rooted and growing deeper with God, we must have a passion and a desire for the word of God. It is recorded in Ezekiel 3:1-3 which says,

“And he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel.’ So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat this Scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’ So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”

If we have a passionate desire for the word of God, we will learn to read it, study it, memorize it, find it sweet and satisfying, and finally be able to use it as it is intended. As we become rooted in the Scripture we become stronger and able to handle many challenges. The Word of God can be used as a mighty weapon to ward off the enemy who is out to destroy all that is good. The writer of Hebrews says it best in Chapter 4 verse 12.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

So as we find ourselves becoming rooted we will also be equipped to remove the weeds and vines from penetrating the fertile soil so that true growth can occur.


Finally, we must look at the Farmer. The Farmer played a small, but essential role in the parable. In order for the seed to get to the place where it could take root, it was necessary for the farmer to have the willingness to sow it. Without the willingness of the farmer to sow the seed, there would never be the chance for any of the seed to bear fruit. If the seed stays in the store house or the package, it has no chance to bask in the sunlight, soak up the rain, or become rooted in fertile soil. At Mission Fuge our group was given many opportunities to sow seeds. I was placed in a group sent out to minister to children. We spent the week getting to know the children by playing games, singing songs, and telling stories. The last day of the missions track was spent at a downtown park much different from the location where we had met all week thus far. We had been playing at an old suburban landfill turned Community Park, which is a whole story in itself. This day, however, we moved to this location downtown in front of the city library. We spent the day there playing with the same children as we had all week, but at this location something interesting happened to me. I had noticed since we arrived at the park that there was a gentleman sitting at one of the tables minding his business for most of the day. It got to be near the end of our day there and we had some leftover food that we wanted to give away. Someone wanted to ask this guy if he would like some food because it looked as if he was homeless. No one else had the nerve to go ask, so I determined myself to go over and strike up a conversation with this man. I noticed as I was approaching that this gentleman was wearing a hat made from palm fronds. When I was a child, there was a man who made these same kinds of hats where we stayed at the beach. I commented on this man’s hat and told him the story of my childhood memory. He told me that he made this hat and asked if I would like to buy it. Well an hour and a half later, I ended up buying the hat from Conrad and not talking him into any of the leftover food. I learned that Conrad was originally from Germany and he has been in the U. S. since 2005 and in West Palm Beach for about 1-1/2 years. I spent most of the time listening to his story that he told in broken English and sharing with him my heart. That day God gave me the opportunity to be the farmer and sow some seed. I will probably never know if that seed bears fruit, but I will always remember meeting Conrad where he was.

The story of the four soils is not complete without an additional person that we must not forget. The story teller, Jesus Christ, is essential for this story to be told. Without hope in Him and the sacrifice that He made for our failures, we cannot realize the blessings waiting for those of us who are called into fellowship with the Father. Without a relationship with the story teller, we have no part in the story.