A Secret Revealed

Mark 4: 1- 20
17 July 2011

One of the comments that I have often heard in the 25 years that I have been in the professional ministry is this: “How can I read the Bible so that it can make sense to me?” In other words, many people shy away from reading what is in the Bible because they are afraid they will not be able to understand what it says. Maybe you are finding yourself in that category. Relax, because you are not alone.

One day, Jesus was teaching people by the lakeside and He told the following parable. I read it last week and I will read it again, so that it is fresh in our memory. “‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen (Mark 4: 1-9 NRSV)!’”

To us, maybe this parable is clear but to Jesus’ closes friends, it certainly wasn’t. As Jesus was teaching, it would appear that they were feeling more and more in the dark. What was Jesus really talking about? What were these things He was talking about, trying to explain what the Kingdom of God was like?

So, “When Jesus was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that “they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven (Mark 4: 10- 12 NRSV).”

Jesus answer is a quotation from the prophet Isaiah (6:9-10). When I first read these words and thought about them, it would seem that God is keeping people in the dark on purpose. To me, that doesn’t make sense. It would be like my parents talking English to each other. I grew up in a French speaking home, both my parents from French speaking parents, grand-parents and so on. But any time my parents wanted to say something that they didn’t want us to hear or to know about, they spoke English to each other. It used to frustrate me. As much as I would plead for them to tell me what they had said to each other, they wouldn’t. Many times they would simply say,” you’ll see.”

Is God speaking a different language so that some people won’t understand Him? Given the generosity of His sowing, this does not make sense. How can God, the sower of the Good News, spread the seed so generously and liberally without paying any attention to where it may land, give messages that cannot be understood? Why spread the seed if is serves no purpose? Let’s see what Jesus answered his friends.

“ And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. The first are the on-the- path-people where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the rocky- ground-people: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those among- the- thorns- people: these are the ones, who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the good- soil- people: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold (Mark 4: 10- 20 NRSV).’”

Nowhere in Jesus’ explanation of the parable does he mention that people don’t understand the Word. Nowhere does He say that the message of the parable is hidden and God purposely hides the message of the Good News from anyone. It seems to be quite the opposite. People hear and people understand. It is what they do with the message that makes the difference.

What Jesus is driving at is this. When the hearer prepares the soil of their hearts properly, their heats, their souls will be fertile. They will produce fruits of the kingdom. However, those who do not have their soil prepared properly will not produce fruit. In fact the Word of God will wither away and die.

Jesus first points out to those who hear but their hearts are so hardened to God that they simply will not allow themselves to believe. They believe what they believe and that is that. Nothing and no one will ever change their minds on the subject. Those of us who have children might remember when they were little, maybe two or three years old. When they have something in mind, nothing can distract them. When a full blown tantrum arises it simply has to run its course. Jesus says that the on-the-path people live so much in the darkness that Satan comes and takes away the seed of Good News as if it never been planted.

Jesus then discusses those who hear the word, receive it, start to grow, but forget to continue to cultivate their soil and enrich it. As soon as hardship arises, their faith weakens. Their trust in God waivers until fear and anxiety takes over and they no longer trust in God. Mark’s listeners would know people like that because they lived in an atmosphere of persecution. Many people had heard the Good News of God and made the decision to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. But as the Romans made their lives difficult and as non followers of Jesus made fun of them and pointed their fingers at them from being different, they let go of their decision and went back to the way they were before.

Indeed, the soil of our hearts needs to be cultivated and enriched if our faith is to grow. Otherwise, at the sight of hardship, we will refuse to believe that God provides. Circumstances will want to tell us that He does not and we will believe that He cannot. In the midst of adversity, believing in God is difficult. Faith requires roots.

The thirds description that Jesus gives is the person who hears the Good News, is interested by it, but gets distracted by life. They really love what they have and the lure of what else they may possess that they let go of the Good News. They only think of the moment or of the immediacy of life. They don’t think of life from an eternal perspective. All they have and will ever have is here or will be here. There is nothing on the other side of this life. And if there is, they are not really concerned about it. I suppose one could say their motto is “Seize the moment.” Perhaps they are the people who hear Jesus saying “Count the cost of following me” and do so, deciding that the cost of following Jesus and living in God’s kingdom is too expansive on this side of life.

The last group of people Jesus mentions are the good- soil people. They are the people who hear the Good News of God and put it in practice. And as they do so, they discover that their faith grows stronger. And the stronger their faith is, the better they are at putting into practice what they hear, the more they understand what Jesus meant by His words.

All week long last week at our VBS, we talked about how upside down God’s Kingdom is. While most people put themselves first, in God’s Kingdom, it is God who is First. While most people put their wants and their desires first, in God’s kingdom, we put other’s needs first. To cultivate good soil for the seed of the Good News is to work on our trust of God.

I told the children last week that the number one thing that God desires for us is that we trust Him – not partially, but fully. This means that I will trust that He will give me what I need for life. I will trust that come what may, He will be there for me. This means that even if I don’t understand my circumstance I will trust that He has not abandoned me.

To trust God, it also implies that I believe in the direction He gives me for living. It implies that I trust his rules for living are the right ones, even if they are different from the ones my society believes. For example, our world tells us that to make it in the world we need all kinds of resources and education. Not that education and resources are bad or not necessary, but that is not what we need to make it in life. I have know people who had more resources and education than they knew what to do with. Still they were not content with life. They keep looking for more. And I have known people who have very little, financially and education, yet, they are the most secure, the most joyful people I have met. Why? It is because they have discovered the secret of life in God. And they cultivate the trust they have in God.

Cultivating the soil that is in our heart requires that we trust in God. And as I trust God, I can allow Him to use me to seed those around me. I seed other people by thinking of them before I think of myself. I think of the resources that I have been given and instead of seeing them as my reward for a job well done, as see them as a gift to be shared. You see, I am nothing more than a steward, as custodian of the resources given to me. I understand that God gives me so that I can give back. He gives me time that I use not just for my endeavours but for others too. He gives me talents in various areas for the purpose of using them to His glory. He has given me life to be a blessing to those around me.

I often reflect when I go to Evergreen to lead a worship service there, about the resident. Many don’t seem to be aware of their surroundings anymore. It would be easy for me to say how terrible of an ordeal this is. What possible purpose could there be in life like that? And I am brought back to the gift they give me. They allow me to love unconditionally. They allow me to learn about patience and about the value of the basic life. They remind me that every person in this world is a child of God and deserving of His love. And as I give, I receive their blessing too. There is a man that lives there who, at first glance, seems to be oblivious to me being there or even to participate in a church service. Yet, every time, after the service, when I go around shaking hands or touching a shoulder, he responds. And I know it was of value for him to be there and for me to have been there.
What I am saying, and I think this is what Jesus wants us to know, is that the soil that exists in our heart is ours to cultivate. God does not make it difficult for us to receive the seed of His unconditional love. What makes it difficult for us to make it grow is whether we cultivate our soil or not. Faith does not grow by itself. Although God will make the seed grow, this growth is dependent upon our cultivation and feeding of the soil. And this is all about putting into practice what we hear.

To grow in faith then, is a matter of simple belief, hard work and more hard work. But as a farmer enjoys the yield of their work, so do we when we not only put our trust in God but put that trust to work – actually believing that He provides, guides, and loves as we love, live and think the way Jesus has taught us to. And that is the secret that Jesus revealed in this parable.

Our faith will not grow through knowledge of God alone. It can only grow by practicing what we learn from Him.