Sermon – Luke 8:5-15- Created to Bear Fruit

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Luke 8:5-15- Created to Bear Fruit

New Covenant Church

January 14, 2018

This month we are celebrating creation.    We celebrate God’s creation of the world we live in.   And we celebrate the creation of the Arts Ministry banners for our sanctuary.   We are created by God for a purpose.   And that purpose, as we heard last week, is

Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.

Today we will look at what it means to be fruitful.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.  Heavenly Father, make your love real in us today.   Help us to be fruitful and increase your kingdom.   This we pray is Jesus’s name.  Amen.

Luke 8:5 “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.”

Well, we have ears and we have heard what Jesus has to say in this parable.   Let’s look closely at this sower.    A farmer has connected his planter to his tractor and is driving down Boyds Corner Road to his field where he plans to plant corn.   But a quarter mile before arriving at his field he opens the planter and spills seed on the road.   Cars are driving over the seed.  Every bird in Delaware has arrived for a feast.   

Some of the seed is blown on the shoulder of the road.   In a few days, it sprouts but because the shoulder is rocky and dry it quickly withers and dies.  

Some of the seed is blown into the bushes where it too will sprout.  But with all the weeds it never takes hold and quickly dies.   

The farmer continues on to plant his field and is surprised that he only has enough seed for half the field.  

Now, what would you think of that farmer?   I think he is stupid.   No farmer would spill half of his seed on the road.   In fact, this farmer is colossally stupid. You can’t get much more stupid than this farmer.  

Jesus’ disciples heard this story of the colossally stupid farmer and were confused.   They had no idea what Jesus was talking about.   And neither do we.   So let’s go back to Luke and hear what Jesus has to say.

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.’

So according to Jesus, we are supposed to be confused.   We have no idea what the parable of the colossally stupid farmer is all about, except, maybe we should try not to be this stupid.  So let’s turn to Jesus and hear what the parable of the stupid sower really means.

11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

This is certainly a special kind of seed.  The word of God is what we read in the Bible.   The word of God is what Jesus said and did.    And we are to plant this word of God in the hearts of others.   When we do the promise of scripture is that we will  “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”

So how do we do this?  How do we plant seeds of the word of God?   Well, we talk about our faith with others.    We tell our families and our friends and the people we work with and the people we volunteer with and the people at the MAC center or Our Daily Bread about the faith we have in Jesus Christ.   We talk about what we have learned in worship and Bible studies.   We talk about the blessings we have received.   We invite people to our church.  We keep the church clean.    We sing in the choir and ring bells.    We serve on boards and committees.  We do all these things with one purpose in mind to plant the seed of the word of God in the hearts of the people we meet.

But sometimes, when we share our faith, we run into problems.   Not everyone what to hear about Jesus.   Some people reject what we have to say.   We tell people about Jesus and how he has blessed us.  We invite people to church.    But people get angry with us and call us names.   So we become afraid to share our faith.    Here is what Jesus has to say to us.

12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

There are some people whom you talk to who will not respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.   They will refuse to believe.   Some will even get angry at you.    And so we think we should avoid these people, and not share our faith with them.   Talking with people who refuse to believe seems to be as stupid as pouring seed on Boyd’s Corner Road.   But Jesus wants us to do it anyway.   Jesus wants us to share our faith even with those who seem most unlikely to respond to it.   Jesus knows that the probability of success is pretty low with these people.  But we should talk with them anyway because if just one or two of them accept Jesus then we have succeeded in being fruitful in growing our church and increasing the numbers of disciples of Jesus Christ.   So we talk about our faith with atheists and Muslims and materialist and others who are unlikely to listen to us because the joy of bringing people to faith is so great.

There are also people who were faithful Christians who have walked away from the church.   They used to come but now their hearts are hardened like stone.   Maybe they experienced a divorce and are ashamed of what they did.  Maybe God didn’t answer their prayer the way they hoped.  Whatever the reason their hearts are hardened and they won’t come to church.   Sometimes it seem as if talking with them is about a fruitful as planting corn on the shoulder of the road.   But Jesus has this to say.

13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.   

Jesus wants us to talk with them too.   He wants us to share our faith and talk about our blessings.   He wants us to invite people to come back to church.   Of course Jesus knows that this is hard work.   And at times our efforts seem to have no effect.   But we keep trying because if someone comes back to church we have been fruitful and New Covenant is increasing in numbers.

As we talk with our friends and family and people we meet about our faith we will run into some people who are faithful and believe in God, but they have no time for church.   The demands of contemporary lifestyles are pulling families in many different directions.   Instead of coming to church on Sundays people are doing other things.  With their busy schedules they just don’t have time for worship and Bible study and prayer.    So their faith atrophies with unuse.  

Sometimes it seems like a waste of time to talk with people who can’t make time for church.    Talking with them seems to be as colossally stupid as planting seed in the weeds growing along the side of the road.   But this is what Jesus had to say.

14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.  

Jesus wants us to talk with people who are too busy to come to church.   Yes, the probability of getting them to return is not very high.   But we make the effort anyway and invite people back to church.   At least some of them will return and our church will increase.

Of course some of the people you meet in the community will be good faithful people.  Some are good presbyterians who have moved here from someplace else.  They are looking for church.   They want someplace to worship and study scripture.   They want to find a church that prays and engages in service in our community and around the world.  These are the people it is easy to talk with.   And if you do there is a high likelihood that they will come our church.   Jesus put it this way.

15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

We are that crop.   We are faithful that come to church.  We worship, study our Bibles and pray.   And we talk with others about our faith and all the blessings we have received.   We even talk with those unlikely to come to church.   But God will make us fruitful and bless us with a growing church.   Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus we thank you for this church.   We give thanks for this opportunity to worship you.   Equip with with the ability to share our faith with others, even those who probably will never come to this church.   But through our conversations with others bless this church with growth.   This we pray in your glorious name.   Amen.