Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] You're listening to a live recording from Westside Church in Bend, Oregon. Thanks for joining us. Good morning, everybody. I'm Ben Fleming. I'm the other senior pastor. And we're continuing in our series going all the way through the Book of Mark. And we're going to be in chapter four today. Mark, Chapter four. Jesus is developing a following at this point in the narrative of Mark. And at this point, he's going out onto a boat to teach to people that have gathered because there's such a large number of them, they're sitting on the beach or standing on the beach and listening to his teachings. And so where Mark has been mostly about the acts of Jesus, what he has done, and not as much what he has said, Mark takes a moment in this passage to talk about a teaching of Jesus that gets kind of at the heart of what he's trying to do. Because again, at this point, a lot of people are gathering and listening and watching him, but not that many are following with the amount of depth I believe that Jesus is hoping for. And so Jesus uses this idea of the Word of God, how the Word of God changes us and when it changes us, where it changes us, and what his expectations are of followers of him in order to receive this word. Well, so in Mark, chapter four, this is how it goes. Says once again, Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him. And so he got into a boat and then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. And he taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one. Listen. A farmer went out to plant some seed as he scattered it across his field. Some of the seed fell on a footpath and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow, but the plant soon wilted under the hot sun. And since it didn't have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so that they produced no grain. Still, other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was 30, 60, and even 100 times as much as had been planted then. He said, anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.
[00:02:08] And later, when Jesus was alone to the 12 disciples and with some others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant. He replied, you're permitted to understand the secret of the kingdom of God, but I use parables for everything I say to outsiders. So that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. And when they hear what I say, they will not understand. And otherwise they will turn to me and be forgiven. And so to this smaller crowd now, in verse 13, Jesus says to them, if you can't understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? The farmer plants seeds by taking God's word to others. The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message only to have Satan at once come and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word. But all too quickly, the message is crowded out by the worries of life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things. So no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of 30, 60, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted. Let's pray. Father God, we pray that just as the parable indicates that this message would go deep into our soul today, that we would have ears to hear even in challenging times, or even if we believe we've got it all together, we've heard this story before, that we would take a moment to listen to what you might have for us today. In Jesus name, amen.
[00:03:47] I did something this last week that I'm not particularly proud of. I went to McDonald's, and, you know, you go to McDonald's, it's not for the food, right? It's for the speed. You're here for the speed. And that is what drew me in this last Monday. I was getting out of a meeting, and I knew that I was at that kind of inflation point where I had two kids needing to go in a couple different places. And so my strategy at that point was to leave my meeting, go get food that I could then put in the back seat so they could find some. We'll call it nourishment. Just for the sake of this story. We'll call it nourishment today.
[00:04:24] And I put it in the back seat, and then they'd be ready to go. I could pick them up and then I get them on to the next thing. But of course, I get into the line and the line is not moving again. I'm here for the speed, not for the hamburgers. And so I actually am about to make a really big move, and that is to throw my pickup into reverse and get out of the drive through. But right at that moment, another car comes right behind me. And now my decision is made for me. But there's enough time where I begin doing that thing that a lot of us do, whether it's in restaurants or in drive throughs, and begin making up a story about what might possibly be happening. This is so long. Is there something broken? Did someone just get fired? Are you short staffed? Where's the manager? What is going on? I love how we just begin to do all these things really natural as human beings. Why? Because we're taking it personally. So I'm sitting here, I'm getting incredibly impatient. And like I said, this is a Monday. I am barely 24 hours removed from teaching a sermon right here on this stage to all of you about the grace and the love of Jesus Christ, specifically through the form of Sabbath and rest, understanding that God is in control of this world and not me. And yet the McDonald's drive thru.
[00:05:39] How strong has your faith been? Well, I don't know. It can't withstand waiting for a couple cheeseburgers.
[00:05:47] And it keeps going. I get up to the place where you actually order. Hi, you know, thanks for waiting. Can I take your order? And I hear myself, this was not me. This was somebody else. I hear myself go, yeah, I would like. You know, by the way, I don't appreciate the giant screens that they have anymore. I don't need the guy behind me knowing that I'm ordering like 80 McNuggets.
[00:06:10] Okay? I go through my order and then I wait some more. And then I get up and they give me my stuff. And then I realize they didn't give me the sauces that I asked for. I have to ask for the sauces. It's very important to my daughter that we have the sauces. Might spoil the whole thing. And so I wait for the sauces and I put them over there. And then I look at the clock and I know how much time I have to get across town. I like, peel out of this McDonald's parking lot while trying to grab some hot fries out of the passenger side seat in the bag. And I'm doing, and I'm going fast. I'm driving too fast. And I stop for a second and I go, what is wrong with me?
[00:06:47] What am I doing?
[00:06:49] How did it come to this?
[00:06:52] They're gonna be a couple minutes Late to gymnastics. Who's gonna kill me for that?
[00:06:58] My daughter, again, she would kill me for that.
[00:07:03] And I do. I have this, I have this moment where maybe it's being a pastor, maybe it's feeling like I'm accountable to all of you here. But I go this apparently like this whole Word of God thing has not done nearly as much work as I thought it had.
[00:07:18] I'm impatient, I'm angry, you know, the stresses of life. And we're going to talk about the storms of life. My storm at that time was waiting a little bit too long in a fast food drive through.
[00:07:31] And all this stuff came up and welled up in me. And we face a lot more than this all the time.
[00:07:36] And it's a little discouraging for me in my Nissan Titan on 14th street going, I don't know how I'm going to make it through all the rest of this life stuff. I can't even make it through this.
[00:07:49] And Jesus is asking in this moment, he's asking me in that moment, maybe he's asking you today to allow this thing that in this story he is calling the word of God to actually go to a deep level in our souls and in our lives so that we might actually be transformed.
[00:08:08] And so we're going to talk about in a moment the different soils. And Jesus actually does something that feels kind of modern. It feels a little bit like an Instagram post where Jesus is like, what kind of soil are you? Take this quiz and find out today. You know, and I believe that we can kind of use it that way we can evaluate our lives and we can look and we're going to look in and see in that. But first, in order to understand the power of the story, we have to understand why Jesus would choose a seed seed in this parable or in this metaphor in the first place.
[00:08:39] Because if we understand how the gospel functions as a seed, I believe it'll change our lives. But he likens it to a seed because it has power and because of how it releases that power and because a seed's weakness is actually the secret of the power.
[00:08:57] You see, the word of God has authority. And in the Bible we see that the word of God actually has the ability to. To create. It has the ability to bring life. James says he chose to give us new birth through the word of truth. So accept the word planted within you, which is actually able to save you. And then in first Peter says, we've been born again, not by perishable seed, but by an imperishable seed, the living word of God.
[00:09:24] This is Jesus making an attempt to help bring these followers that are standing on the shore outside of just living at this base human level, but actually unlock this spiritual place where we begin to see the world through the lens of Jesus and his teachings. Humans see the world in this certain way, and Jesus is saying, and that that's something. But to understand and to see the Word of God, to see the world, to see other people, to see ourselves through the lens of the Word of God is a completely different thing altogether.
[00:09:56] And in a world where we feel like our competitive nature, how to take what's ours, how to find our own success is paramount.
[00:10:05] But then, of course, Jesus comes and expresses the word of God and how we are to live our lives in true empathy and forgiveness, sacrifice.
[00:10:16] Jesus is encouraging every one of us through this parable to go beyond what is simply our pure humanity, but delve into the spirit world, the Word of God world that truly changes our lives.
[00:10:30] When we receive the world and we allow it to go to a depth in our souls, we don't just believe in a good and loving God, which many, many, many people in this world, Christian or not, often do believe in, but instead, when we're met with storms, the evidence comes through in the form of a shelter from the storm that when this faith has a certain amount of depth to it, when the Word of God changes us from the inside out, we can find fortification against the slings and the arrows of life. We can endure the most difficult times not by being perfect or by being passive, but instead by being confident in God's love for us.
[00:11:10] And so Jesus wants them to build something or to grow into something new and different.
[00:11:16] Now, remember we talked about this a little bit last week, that religion says, when I'm accepted, when I obey, I am accepted. And now God owes me something because I have obeyed. But Christianity, or this different opportunity that Jesus brings us says, I'm loved and accepted right now through the grace of Jesus, and therefore I want to obey. There's this kind of mechanical thing that happens in religion, and then there's this complex and more beautiful and deeper thing that happens through this faith that Jesus brings us. Now, religion will change you mechanically.
[00:11:52] You can grow a pile of bricks by putting more bricks on top of them. But Jesus actually comes and changes us organically. Like a bulb that grows into a tulip. It comes from the inside out. It's an organism becoming more complex and beautiful. The way we know that we have organic growth is not just that we're getting busier and we're doing more stuff, but we're actually getting wiser and richer and deeper. We get stronger and more sensitive at the same time. We become more confident and more humble at the same time, more generous and able to love people that are different from us, more forgiving. This is the way of Jesus.
[00:12:33] It's a sign that we have experienced the word of God and it is transforming our lives.
[00:12:38] I wonder if we can get to the place where we have worked the word of God deep enough into our souls so that we can then actually trust our instincts.
[00:12:51] I love that Jesus, in this metaphor, doesn't call the word of God a sword. It's not a bomb. Instead, it's a seed. It's not a fire, an explosion.
[00:13:01] I wonder if it's because of this that a seed actually is stronger than all of these things that are so powerful to look at, but incredibly temporary.
[00:13:12] Now, the state of Oregon is well acquainted with, of course, our own wildfires. Again, for those of you who are excited for summer, let's just chill a second, okay?
[00:13:22] Every time July comes around, I go, this is what we waited for. I don't know. It's just hot and smoky, and this is terrible.
[00:13:30] Summer's great. Sorry. I deeply offended all the summer people.
[00:13:35] But even all these fires, when they are extreme, right, they're temporary. They go as far as the fuel will allow them.
[00:13:43] And what I've noticed with all of these fires, even the most extreme ones, when you then drive through or walk through some of these places that were on fire just a year or two ago, it's amazing how fast the plant life comes back.
[00:13:59] Which means that these seeds that look so silly and insignificant compared to a roaring fire, they're buried deep enough down in these places that have experienced extreme heat to where that when that goes away in just a matter of days or weeks, they're able to grow and flourish in a place that has been charred and broken.
[00:14:25] I believe that this is the call of the Christian.
[00:14:29] Our temptation is to walk into every single situation and say, we will be the fire, we will be the sword, we will be the explosion. But something that's more powerful and has actually way more staying power, of course, is the seeds that exist inside of the ground. Also, by using a seed, Jesus predicts his future.
[00:14:50] Seeds only release their power if they fall into the ground and die. And that's the power of the gospel, which is why it's frustrating sometimes, because the gospel seems, it appears so incredibly weak compared to everything else.
[00:15:05] Jesus, even in his Life and ministry appears so incredibly weak, especially when you consider about how people were grasping for power at this time. I recently watched Gladiator 2, so I've got a really good understanding of the history of the Roman people.
[00:15:25] Now. You do. Right at this time, you have this glorification of violence and war and armies. And here comes this man, as a rabbi, as a teacher, and as a healer, who, in order to change the world, doesn't try to grab hold of his own armies to fight in the coliseum to show off his physical ability and his talent and then his giftedness as someone that can simply move the crowds because of this inspiration. Instead, Jesus comes and then he dies.
[00:15:58] Why?
[00:16:01] Because again, as opposed to the fire, that is where the power actually exists. Those that sacrifice, they allow that sacrifice to go into the ground. Then something truly great and long term and withstanding happens.
[00:16:16] The gospel is not weak, of course it is meek. As Jesus says, the meek shall inherit the earth. Humble, gentle, submissive.
[00:16:28] Not weakness, but a controlled strength.
[00:16:34] So that's the importance of the seed in the metaphor. And we'll close by going through the different types of soil here. All right, this is the part of the sermon where I'm going to give you full permission to elbow your neighbor. Okay?
[00:16:46] Not in the ribs, and don't say anything too loud. Okay? That's you.
[00:16:54] But you are welcome to bring some nice, gentle, healthy criticism to those who are next to you. Okay?
[00:17:00] The four places, the four types of soil, and their significance. The first thing is the path.
[00:17:07] These are hearts that are hard and unresponsive.
[00:17:11] The enemy snatches away the word before it has a chance to take root because of the hardness of the soil. But people in this condition may hear the message, but it doesn't actually penetrate because their hearts are closed off to the truth.
[00:17:25] This represents a hardened heart, often due to distraction or experience.
[00:17:32] Those who represent the hard soil are often found saying this phrase, I've been there and I've done that.
[00:17:41] They're used and worn and exhausted, and you can see through repetition what life has done to them. They find great safety in simply trying to maintain exactly who they have been for the last season of their life. Because to hear anyone else's story and to find empathy in their hearts for others that don't look or sound or have experienced what they have experienced would be to risk that safety.
[00:18:08] Now, those of you who find yourselves with that hard heart, that hard path, I want to encourage you and empathize with you today that there's a reason that you've Gotten to that point. It doesn't just happen in a vacuum.
[00:18:23] My neighbors and I put a gate between our fences a while ago because our dogs became good friends and so that they could run through our yards and play together.
[00:18:34] Yeah, it's a lot of rolling to talk today. What a good boy.
[00:18:40] And we have, we're on the northeast side. We have these half acre lots so they could play on all this land. It's so fun. And watch them run around. And what I realized, though, in short order is because they discovered that the gate was there and they wanted to play together. That in both of our yards now there is a trench that runs through the middle of both of our backyards of hard ground, because the dogs run exactly along that path every single day to go and to find each other.
[00:19:11] Did something horrible happen?
[00:19:14] Did I go out and take a tamper and begin to knock down all the grass and create this trench myself? No, it was life, it was activity. And a lot of it is actually good. But what happens sometimes over the course of time and experience is that we become entrenched in what we believe, our own ways that lead to holiness. And we begin to discount anyone else's story or of course even the word of God so that no other word can come in.
[00:19:43] These people haven't disagreed with their favorite news channel in maybe a decade.
[00:19:50] These people don't want to hear about this new thing or this story that you have to tell because of course that kind of intimacy is far too vulnerable. It's easier to stay closed off and stay the course.
[00:20:04] The next kind of ground is this. It's rocky ground here. The seed sprouts quickly, but it lacks deep roots. When trouble or persecution comes, this plant withers. This represents those who initially receive the word with joy, but fail to cultivate it deeply when challenges arise, their faith shaken. A challenge, perhaps, like the McDonald's drive thru.
[00:20:26] We must ask ourselves, do we have deep roots in Christ or are we easily falling away when faced with hardship? The catchphrase for the rocky ground group is, I've been on this job for two months and I can't believe I haven't gotten a promotion.
[00:20:44] Where's my acknowledgement? Don't you know? Don't you see what's happening with me?
[00:20:50] Don't you know that my voice matters every single time? Walking into a situation, whether it's church or with family or it's work or a passion or whatever, there is zero desire to actually find some real depth of understanding. And there's too much vulnerability for this Group in the time that it takes to create a certain amount of depth.
[00:21:13] I.
[00:21:15] I've played guitar since I was 19 years old. I grew up playing drums and played guitar, and I learned how to play guitar just to lead worship at churches. Okay. Yeah, my life's been really exciting between 19 and now.
[00:21:33] And so I learned how to play guitar. And when I say learn how to play guitar, I mean I learned how to play chords. And those of you who are musicians, you know what chords I learned to play? G, C, E minor and D.
[00:21:46] And then there's this magical little instrument called a capo that you can put onto a guitar, which enables me to then play in all of the keys, but only play those note formations of G, C, E minor and D. And I just move the capo up and down the headstock.
[00:22:03] That's all that it takes.
[00:22:05] A person who actually knows how to play guitar in here is looking at me and going, you do not know how to play guitar.
[00:22:14] To which, after all this time, I would concede and say, you are right.
[00:22:18] I don't know. And so after a while, I began to say, I'm actually not a musician. I'm just a worship leader.
[00:22:25] I didn't have the musical depth to back up the idea or the title of guitar player. Why?
[00:22:32] Because I didn't take the time to do it. I. I still haven't taken time to understand the scales and the depth and the music theory that goes into all of these things to actually excel as a guitar player. That piece of my life has stopped for now.
[00:22:47] There's no depth there.
[00:22:49] I know enough to just get through this one song, this one time, and to try to impress girls around a campfire.
[00:22:57] That's all I had.
[00:23:01] God is calling those of you who find yourselves in the rocky ground to more time and more depth.
[00:23:08] It's not a personal attack on you because you don't know everything yet. Instead, it's time to understand that you don't know what you don't know. And it's time to surround yourself with people that will take the time and allow you to take on the wisdom that they have in order for that seed to go deep in your soul. Finally. Not finally. Second to finally. Thorny ground.
[00:23:32] The seed grows but is choked by thorns. And these thorns represent life's worries, riches, and desires. They suffocate the word and they make it unfruitful.
[00:23:42] This is what is known in theological circles as an extrinsic faith instead of an intrinsic faith. We serve God for what we can get out of it in an extrinsic faith. Faith, but an intrinsic faith is serving Jesus to get Jesus.
[00:24:02] Jesus is surrounded by people that want the miracles, but they aren't that interested in him, which is why only a handful of people remain when he explains what the parable means.
[00:24:19] There is such a beauty that is found in a love that just comes from wanting that person, that thing, that love.
[00:24:33] There's something beautiful in this relationship that I feel like I have with my kids, that they don't just love me for what I can give them. Now that happens McNuggets and cheeseburgers.
[00:24:45] But I know in my heart, especially my relationship of love with them, I just love my kids because I love. I can't help it.
[00:24:55] This is the kind of depth that Jesus wants to have with us and that we need to have with the Father.
[00:25:02] Serving God out of this religious obligation in order to get something out of it falls truly short of what this relationship is calling us to be. I hope we can serve Jesus to get Jesus. The catchphrase of the thorny ground is rest sounds wonderful and worthwhile. And I can't wait to start following Jesus when life becomes a little less hectic.
[00:25:25] There's so much going on, and this sounds great and there's wisdom in that, but until this slows down, until I make enough money, until I find enough success, until I feel secure enough, I'll wait.
[00:25:44] This kind of person is humble enough to know that there's goodness in the way of Jesus, but too busy to actually begin the walk.
[00:25:52] And finally, there's good soil.
[00:25:54] Some seed falls on good soil and it produces a crop that multiplies. This represents those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit. There were receptive, obedient, and transformed by the word of God.
[00:26:05] Our goal should be to cultivate hearts that are soft and ready for God's word to grow and bear fruit in our lives. The catchphrase for good soil is, come what may, I will follow Jesus.
[00:26:19] Now, I want to give us all a bit of grace in here today. I would imagine that most of us probably don't fall exactly on the good soil at every moment of every day. And if you do, God bless. You're preaching next weekend, okay?
[00:26:34] But I want to remind us all that if you find yourselves in one of the other three categories, you're just not that far away.
[00:26:43] A couple of inches, a little bit of excavation can shake up what has become old and hardened pathways because of the grace and the forgiveness of Jesus. Even in these times and in these moments, of our lives where we feel like we're so stuck in our ways and that must be how we are for the rest of our lives. Salvation literally brings us out of that kind of thinking and death and into a new life that Jesus offers.
[00:27:13] So I want you to do a couple things as we close.
[00:27:16] Examine your heart. What kind of soil is your heart? Can you do the work? Can you slow down long enough to truly ask yourself yourself the question what does my heart look like?
[00:27:28] Then do the work to cultivate the soil. Just as the farmer prepares the soil, we must prepare our hearts through prayer, repentance, surrender, thanksgiving.
[00:27:40] It involves removing obstacles and rocks and distractions.
[00:27:45] And it allows God's word to take root deeply, then finally bear fruit.
[00:27:52] The ultimate purpose of hearing God's word is to bear fruit. This fruit is evidence of a changed life, a life of love, service, sacrifice and obedience to God's will.
