Second Presbyterian Church

"What Kind of Soil Are We?
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
July 25, 2004

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2004 » Sermons for July 2004 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#26 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Micah 6: 6-8
• Luke 8: 1-15

Why is it that some people can receive the Gospel and others reject it?

Why is it that when some people hear the Good News of Salvation and they receive it with joy, but when life gets tough or hard, they fall away and abandon their faith?

Why is it that some Christians get so caught up in their worries and daily routines and responsibilities that they don't have any time left for the Kingdom of God?

Just as importantly, why is it that when some people hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ they are transformed by the Good News and work hard for the Kingdom of God?

These are just some of the questions that Luke addressed when he recorded the Parable of the Sower. From the very beginning of the existence of the church (those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior) believers have wondered why some people reject the Gospel, or have wondered why some people are transformed by the Gospel.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason for this. Explanations have been attempted from the very beginning. Some have suggested that it is because sin is so prevalent that the person hearing the Gospel is just plain unable to hear the Good News. So Luke quoted Isaiah 6: 9, "Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive."

Similarly, the doctrine of Predestination, in part, attempts to explain why some people receive the Word of God and others reject it. Is it because the Lord had already chosen only some sinners and given them the ears to hear so that they can receive the Gospel?

This can be very discouraging for a minister. A minister with integrity will work hard to challenge the congregation to grow spiritually and to bring people into the fellowship of Jesus Christ. Yet often the efforts seem fruitless, as if there are no results. But it is the minister's duty to sow the seed and to tend the field. But it is the Lord who provides the rain and the sun, so the harvest is up to the Lord. If a minister can remember that and concentrate on his part and leave the results up to the Holy Spirit, then the apparent lack of response is bearable.

Christians in Luke's day were becoming discouraged by the apparent indifference of many people when the Good News was shared with them. The Parable implies that when one receives the Gospel, that person shall continue to experience hard times. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that living the Christian life is easy and that becoming a Christian means you will encounter no more pain, no more tragedy, or no more problems. Every one of us here knows better than that! No one here has experienced a problem-free, pain-free existence. Every one here knows that there are more bumps in the road ahead.

I also doubt if there are very many here who identify with the first example in the parable. There probably isn't anyone here who has flat out rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of us can identify with the ones who received the Good News with gladness, only to have your faith feel like it has abandoned you during a particularly hard and painful time. It does matter how deep we allow the seed of the Word of God to go into the soil of our hearts. And people who have newly arrived in the Christian faith are very vulnerable to this reaction. It is the time when the joy of salvation meets another tragedy in our life, or the joy of our salvation meets a particularly stubborn aspect in our life that needs and takes time to heal. For example, when an alcoholic becomes a Christian chances are real good that he will have many hard struggles with the temptation to drink. Chances are very real that he will slip up again, especially if he naively thinks that just because he has been saved that his need to drink will just magically leave him.

When this happens, does he have any support from the church? Does he have others who will stand with him as he struggles with his demons? Will he allow this to become an opportunity to allow his faith to deepen and grow?

In my imagination of the condition of the human race in America and in our congregations the allegory of the third example makes the most sense. We believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. We have believed almost all our lives. But, it doesn't seem to matter; we still live a life full of worries about our situation and future. We still tend to live our lives in the world's briar patch. We still live our lives as if we really don't believe in the nurture and care of our Lord and Savior, so we take on all the hassles as if God isn't there for our benefit. When the distractions of our lifestyle take over, we are like the plants that cannot bear fruit because of the thorns and weeds that are our cares and worries. I am particularly aware of this as more and more activities compete for our time to come together and worship God on Sunday. Maybe that is why the outside observer cannot distinguish us from anyone else.

As you may know the principles that we see in the lessons I tend to apply to our life as a congregation as well as how they apply to our individual lives. So far I assume what has been said has been heard and understood on an individual basis. But another way to apply Jesus' parable is to apply it to ourselves as a congregation. As a congregation are we allowing the worries and cares of our needs for our building upkeep and expense to choke out and distract our efforts to share the Gospel and minister to our community? Do we allow the worries about how we are going to survive choke out our reaching out to those in need around us? There is nothing more spiritually deadly to a congregation than for it to remove its focus from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to start focusing upon its own survival. The purpose of a congregation is not self-preservation. The purpose of a congregation is to take up its cross daily and to follow Jesus Christ. The Book of Order states it this way:

The Church is called to undertake this mission even at the risk of losing its life, trusting in God alone as the author and giver of life, sharing the gospel, and doing those deeds in the world that point beyond themselves to the new reality in Christ. (G-3.0400)

When we worry obsessively about our survival we express our lack of faith in Jesus Christ to provide for our witness to our community.

Recently, at a medical office I was glancing at the special D-Day 60th anniversary edition of Time Magazine. There was a quote from a chaplain that went something like this: "I prayed like it was only up to God. I dug like it was only up to me. Together we dug that foxhole pretty deep." We need to depend like it is only up to God, because it is. We need to work the work of the Lord like it is only up to us, which it isn't, but the Lord demands our all in all. And together, ministry can be accomplished here at Second Presbyterian Church.

The words are true. We receive the word of God in our hearts, and we hold fast to the Word of God. Then the work we do bears fruit, with patience. Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.