4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
~Luke 8:4-11
In this parable Jesus shares that the seeds that were sown represent the word of God. They represent Jesus to the world. Seeds that fall on the path are the people that hear the word but the devil steals it and they don't believe. The seeds that fall on rock are the people that receive the word of God joyfully but have no roots so when tempted they fall. The seeds that fall among thorns are the people who go about their lives and the word of God is choked out by the riches and pleasures of this world. But the seed that falls on soil are those people that hear the word of God and commit themselves to do good and they are able to bear fruit.
I remember an adult talk at one of our youth Discovery weekends about a decade ago where the adult youth leader gave a talk on this scripture. She did not want to do it but I #voluntold her she was doing it. (Sorry Suzy-I stole the word voluntold from you) I know it was a great talk because I remember parts of it all these years later. Suzy had a great relationship with all these youth and the volunteers. She's also one of the few people in my life who can tell me to do something and I actually HAVE to do it-no questions asked. Love you Suzy!! Suzy gave an impassioned talk about each of the youth being this good soil that Jesus was talking about in this parable. She looked across every corner of the worship center and told each of the youth that they were this good soil that Jesus talked about. It was very impactful. These youth hear the word of God and commit to spread the word of God and by sharing they bear good fruit. The more people that share about Jesus-the more people hear about Jesus. It's simple math, really.
I love this excerpt from The Making of Methodism I have: "Worship is a gracious encounter between God and the church. God speaks to us, especially through scripture read and proclaimed and through symbols and sacraments. We respond, chiefly through hymns and prayers and acts of dedication. Worship is the work of the whole people of God: a congregation is not an audience or a group of spectators."
For something to grow it has to be cultivated. Whether it is in worship, in service to others, or in inviting others to church. In the church the word of God must be cultivated by the pastor AND the lay people-in fact the lay people can be more impactful in this because there are more lay people than pastors and research shows (or at least the facebook meme tells us) that people are more than ten times likely to come to church when invited by a friend than by a pastor. John Wesley understood the importance of the lay people and empowered them to lead effectively alongside the pastor. United Methodist pastors are itinerant then as they are now. But in Wesley's time it was different because pastors would travel from church to church on foot or on horseback so the church members would have to lead in the time between when a pastor would be present.
In order for each of us to grow in our faith where we can influence and help reach others for Christ we must commit to being this good soil. It's a big part of our discipleship process. We can be taught by the pastor. Even as a pastor I am taught by other pastors and lay people alike so that I can improve as a Christ follower. It's past time that we all step up and show others that we are that good soil that Jesus talks with the disciples about: that we all hear about Jesus and we commit to doing good and sharing about Jesus.
Grace & Peace
Kevin
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