1 00:00:03,590 --> 00:00:05,610 Amen. Amen. 2 00:00:05,620 --> 00:00:09,930 Hey, one note for parents who I realize are some of you walking 3 00:00:09,940 --> 00:00:12,000 out right now taking your kiddos to Sunday school. 4 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:15,410 But let me say this now and I'll say it again toward the end of 5 00:00:15,420 --> 00:00:18,910 our service, because we're having some people join as 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,310 members and a few people being baptized. 7 00:00:22,380 --> 00:00:25,530 We were inviting the kids back in to sit here up at the front 8 00:00:25,540 --> 00:00:28,890 to witness that and to participate with us in in those 9 00:00:28,900 --> 00:00:31,650 memberships and baptisms, which is going to be a wonderful 10 00:00:31,660 --> 00:00:34,680 thing. So at some point, likely cued by 11 00:00:34,690 --> 00:00:37,210 me praying, they're going to start filtering back in. 12 00:00:37,220 --> 00:00:38,980 We're going to have them sit up here. 13 00:00:39,050 --> 00:00:41,800 And so for parents or grandparents, anybody who 14 00:00:41,810 --> 00:00:45,560 brought a kid who hopes to take that same kid home with you, you 15 00:00:45,570 --> 00:00:49,980 need to come and pick them up here at the front at the end of 16 00:00:49,990 --> 00:00:52,650 the service. I'm saying that now in parts 17 00:00:52,660 --> 00:00:55,440 that I remember to also say it later when many of those parents 18 00:00:55,450 --> 00:00:58,180 are back from dropping their kids off at Sunday school. 19 00:00:58,190 --> 00:01:00,150 So they're going to join us at some point, which is going to be 20 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,800 a great thing if if you're new, if you're visiting, if I'm a new 21 00:01:03,810 --> 00:01:06,380 face to you, I want to say a special welcome to you. 22 00:01:06,390 --> 00:01:09,180 My name is Grant, and I'm one of the pastors here at the church. 23 00:01:09,190 --> 00:01:11,870 And you've come in on a wonderful day, a day that is 24 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,380 full and maybe a little bit longer than a typical service 25 00:01:15,390 --> 00:01:16,610 would be. So just want to give you a 26 00:01:16,620 --> 00:01:18,110 little bit of a heads up on that one. 27 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:23,190 But before we get to membership and baptism, we're gonna pause. 28 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,300 We're gonna pray, we're going to read Scripture, and we're going 29 00:01:26,310 --> 00:01:30,250 to spend some time thinking and talking about what it means for 30 00:01:30,260 --> 00:01:32,000 our lives. We're working our way through 31 00:01:32,010 --> 00:01:34,670 the Gospel of Luke. This is Luke's account of 32 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,710 Jesus's life. We've made it to Chapter 8 and 33 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,690 I'm going to read slowly for us a section of that, and then 34 00:01:42,700 --> 00:01:44,800 we'll work our way through. It'll be up on the screen at 35 00:01:44,810 --> 00:01:47,600 some point as I preach as well, so you can follow along that 36 00:01:47,610 --> 00:01:50,180 way. But if you want to find it, 37 00:01:50,190 --> 00:01:54,060 we've got Bibles in the back of the sanctuary over on this side 38 00:01:54,070 --> 00:01:56,320 if you'd like. Also feel free to pick up your 39 00:01:56,330 --> 00:02:01,930 phone and follow along that way. Let me pray you got it. 40 00:02:01,940 --> 00:02:05,080 Thanks for your love and for your grace. 41 00:02:05,410 --> 00:02:07,900 Thanks that you're with us, and thanks for the joy that it is to 42 00:02:07,910 --> 00:02:12,780 worship and the joy that it is to gather together today and to 43 00:02:12,790 --> 00:02:17,640 lean into all that you have for us, for members to join, for 44 00:02:18,370 --> 00:02:21,950 individuals to be baptized. Yeah, we're so grateful for 45 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,780 these signs of your life and your love and your grace and 46 00:02:24,790 --> 00:02:28,000 your Kingdom coming. So that would be our prayer that 47 00:02:28,010 --> 00:02:32,790 as we work our way through this text, you'd speak to us and 48 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,800 you'd challenge us and you'd encourage us. 49 00:02:36,170 --> 00:02:39,740 And in all of it that your Kingdom would come here on earth 50 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:42,560 as it is in heaven. So that would be our prayer this 51 00:02:42,570 --> 00:02:44,530 morning. We pray together in the strong 52 00:02:44,540 --> 00:02:46,620 name of Jesus. Amen. 53 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,330 So Luke 8 starting at verse one. It sounds like this. 54 00:02:53,750 --> 00:02:59,510 After this, Jesus travelled about from 1 town and village to 55 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,960 another proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. 56 00:03:03,130 --> 00:03:06,160 The 12 were with him and also some women who had been cured of 57 00:03:06,170 --> 00:03:11,260 evil spirits and diseases. Mary called Magdalene from whom 58 00:03:11,270 --> 00:03:14,480 7 demons had come out, Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager 59 00:03:14,490 --> 00:03:17,980 of Herod's household, Susanna and many others. 60 00:03:18,270 --> 00:03:21,020 These women were helping to support them out of their own 61 00:03:21,030 --> 00:03:23,660 means. While a large crowd was 62 00:03:23,670 --> 00:03:27,380 gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, 63 00:03:27,390 --> 00:03:31,740 he told this parable. A farmer went out to sow his 64 00:03:31,750 --> 00:03:34,740 seed. As he was scattering the seed, 65 00:03:34,750 --> 00:03:38,900 some fell along the path. It was trampled on and the birds 66 00:03:38,910 --> 00:03:41,800 ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and 67 00:03:41,810 --> 00:03:44,220 when it came up the plants withered because they had no 68 00:03:44,230 --> 00:03:46,970 moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, 69 00:03:46,980 --> 00:03:49,920 which grew up with it and choked the plants. 70 00:03:50,270 --> 00:03:53,000 Still other seed fell on good soil. 71 00:03:53,230 --> 00:03:57,980 It came up and yielded a crop 100 times more than was sown. 72 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,970 When he said this, he called out, Whoever has ears to hear, 73 00:04:04,020 --> 00:04:08,240 let them hear. His disciples asked him what 74 00:04:08,250 --> 00:04:11,680 this parable meant. He said the knowledge of the 75 00:04:11,690 --> 00:04:15,900 secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to 76 00:04:15,910 --> 00:04:18,600 others. I speak in parables so that 77 00:04:18,610 --> 00:04:23,380 though seeing they may not see, though hearing they may not 78 00:04:23,450 --> 00:04:28,410 understand. So you've got to help me out 79 00:04:28,420 --> 00:04:34,100 here because English class for me was a long time ago, and the 80 00:04:34,110 --> 00:04:37,340 debates out on how well I paid attention in that final year of 81 00:04:37,350 --> 00:04:40,120 English classes that I took getting ready to graduate and be 82 00:04:40,130 --> 00:04:42,200 done with English classes for the rest of my life. 83 00:04:42,210 --> 00:04:44,920 So maybe you have a better memory than I do, or paid a 84 00:04:44,930 --> 00:04:47,340 little bit more attention. Can you help me out with the 85 00:04:47,350 --> 00:04:49,850 difference between a simile and a metaphor? 86 00:04:51,020 --> 00:04:54,290 Anybody remember the difference between a simile and a metaphor? 87 00:04:54,300 --> 00:04:56,670 And it's OK, so rash. This is like fresh stuff for 88 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:01,230 you. Alright, 1 uses like or as 89 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,570 correct. And the other is a direct 90 00:05:03,580 --> 00:05:07,390 comparison because I need this and maybe you do as well. 91 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:09,710 Let's give a couple of examples. Alright? 92 00:05:10,060 --> 00:05:15,890 God is like a lion, that's a simile. 93 00:05:16,260 --> 00:05:18,630 Great. God is a lion. 94 00:05:18,860 --> 00:05:22,040 That's a metaphor. Now they're both comparisons. 95 00:05:22,050 --> 00:05:24,920 They both compare two things to help qualify and give 96 00:05:24,930 --> 00:05:27,380 characteristics. Describe what something is like 97 00:05:27,490 --> 00:05:29,180 1 uses like or as and your other. 98 00:05:29,190 --> 00:05:31,460 The other is just a strict straight comparison. 99 00:05:31,470 --> 00:05:35,000 One is the other and we know typically that what we're saying 100 00:05:35,010 --> 00:05:38,300 is not literal. God is a lion, but maybe has 101 00:05:38,310 --> 00:05:41,000 some characteristics of such right? 102 00:05:41,050 --> 00:05:45,180 Most famous metaphor, maybe this might be maybe you have 103 00:05:45,190 --> 00:05:46,820 competing ones. That would be great to hear 104 00:05:46,830 --> 00:05:51,280 afterward. All the worlds a stage by 105 00:05:51,290 --> 00:05:58,100 Shakespeare metaphor. My favorite simile life is like 106 00:05:58,110 --> 00:06:02,020 a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna 107 00:06:02,030 --> 00:06:09,300 get from Forrest Gump. Jesus taught in parables, and we 108 00:06:09,310 --> 00:06:13,510 just read a parable. The parables in their simplest 109 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:19,330 form are similes and metaphors, their comparisons, their stories 110 00:06:19,340 --> 00:06:23,930 that contain deep truths about what the Kingdom of God is like. 111 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,240 And so many of them start like this. 112 00:06:26,250 --> 00:06:29,670 The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. 113 00:06:30,860 --> 00:06:32,170 Tell me what the Kingdom is like. 114 00:06:32,180 --> 00:06:36,470 It is like a mustard seed. The Kingdom of heaven is like a 115 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:40,110 treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it 116 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:42,900 again and then in his joy he went and sold all that he had so 117 00:06:42,910 --> 00:06:48,060 he could buy that field. Another parable, The Kingdom of 118 00:06:48,070 --> 00:06:52,020 Heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and 119 00:06:52,030 --> 00:06:54,940 caught all kinds of fish. The Kingdom of heaven is like 120 00:06:54,950 --> 00:06:59,020 yeast that a woman took mixed into about 60 lbs of flour until 121 00:06:59,030 --> 00:07:01,360 it worked all the way through the dough. 122 00:07:02,090 --> 00:07:04,380 Tell me what the Kingdom of heaven is like. 123 00:07:04,390 --> 00:07:10,060 Jesus uses parables to tell us. Show us what the Kingdom of God 124 00:07:10,070 --> 00:07:12,220 is like. And parables are meant to 125 00:07:12,230 --> 00:07:15,920 capture not just your attention, like what's going on, but your 126 00:07:15,930 --> 00:07:20,110 imagination. They're meant to make you think 127 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:25,010 and wonder and picture the meaning of the story and ask how 128 00:07:25,020 --> 00:07:29,330 you might find your way into it, where you belong inside of it. 129 00:07:29,340 --> 00:07:33,800 What does it have for me? What does it have for us? 130 00:07:34,660 --> 00:07:38,870 What's the truth in it that Jesus is trying to communicate? 131 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,170 How can you find your way into it and figure out its 132 00:07:42,180 --> 00:07:49,200 implication for your life? Ch Dodd has this great quote 133 00:07:49,210 --> 00:07:52,520 about parables, and this is what he says. 134 00:07:52,530 --> 00:07:55,770 At its simplest form, the parable is a metaphor similarly 135 00:07:55,780 --> 00:07:59,000 drawn from nature or common life. 136 00:07:59,070 --> 00:08:03,820 And I love this language. Arresting the hearer by its 137 00:08:03,830 --> 00:08:10,080 vividness or strangeness makes you stop and then, he says, 138 00:08:10,090 --> 00:08:15,780 leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise 139 00:08:15,870 --> 00:08:22,530 application to tease it, the mind, into active thought. 140 00:08:23,530 --> 00:08:28,240 It is meant to stop you in your tracks and make you picture and 141 00:08:28,250 --> 00:08:34,150 think and wonder and dream about what Jesus is saying to you and 142 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:36,480 then leave you with a little bit. 143 00:08:36,490 --> 00:08:40,429 Enough he says, enough doubt, enough uncertainty so that you 144 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:46,970 have to actively work out the full application of the parable. 145 00:08:47,050 --> 00:08:50,420 Jesus doesn't just simply say, so go and do it. 146 00:08:50,430 --> 00:08:55,740 A + B = C all the time. He invites you to actively 147 00:08:55,750 --> 00:09:00,380 participate in working out what the application is at its core. 148 00:09:00,970 --> 00:09:06,340 This parable that we read about seeds and soil is really 149 00:09:06,350 --> 00:09:09,120 actually a parable about parables. 150 00:09:09,190 --> 00:09:12,750 It's a parable that almost sets up every other parable. 151 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,780 When you read every parable through the Gospel of Luke, you 152 00:09:15,790 --> 00:09:20,220 can reference back to this parable to help you understand 153 00:09:20,290 --> 00:09:23,820 how to find yourself into it and how to wrestle out the 154 00:09:23,830 --> 00:09:28,410 application of it. Jesus, in a sense here, is using 155 00:09:28,420 --> 00:09:33,450 a parable to teach how we ought to listen to parables. 156 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:39,070 It's a parable about hearing the word of God, about hearing 157 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,470 Jesus. Jesus wants you to hear this 158 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,650 parable, and not just this parable, but all of the parables 159 00:09:47,660 --> 00:09:50,970 and all of his teaching about what the Kingdom of heaven is 160 00:09:50,980 --> 00:09:54,770 like and what the application of your life and our lives together 161 00:09:54,780 --> 00:09:59,800 might look like. He wants you really hearing. 162 00:10:01,850 --> 00:10:06,600 It's not the like, yeah, Dad, I'm listening, sure, kind of 163 00:10:06,930 --> 00:10:10,870 listening or hearing. It's that I'm willing to be 164 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:15,250 wrong about something and have my thoughts and my actions 165 00:10:15,980 --> 00:10:21,010 changed because I'm wrong about something kind of hearing. 166 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:26,390 And that's why Jesus calls out whoever has ears to hear, let 167 00:10:26,460 --> 00:10:29,490 them hear. And he's not just literally 168 00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:32,590 saying whoever has ears, whoever is capable of hearing, whoever 169 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,830 can listen to these words, sure, you may listen. 170 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:42,530 What he is saying is really listen to them, attempt to 171 00:10:42,540 --> 00:10:48,210 understand what they mean, find your way into the text and allow 172 00:10:48,220 --> 00:10:50,550 yourself to be transformed by it. 173 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:54,310 Whoever has ears to hear, whoever is willing to do the 174 00:10:54,320 --> 00:11:00,020 hard work of being confronted by this teaching, he says, let them 175 00:11:00,030 --> 00:11:02,580 hear. It's almost like this, this 176 00:11:02,650 --> 00:11:08,580 promise you will hear that one line, I think encourages us to 177 00:11:09,330 --> 00:11:13,880 sit up, lean in and really listen. 178 00:11:14,410 --> 00:11:18,840 Jesus told this parable. The farmer went out to sow his 179 00:11:18,850 --> 00:11:21,500 seed, and as he was scattering the seed, some fell along the 180 00:11:21,510 --> 00:11:23,540 path. It was trampled on. 181 00:11:23,950 --> 00:11:27,170 The birds ate it up, and some fell on rocky ground. 182 00:11:27,180 --> 00:11:29,980 And when it came up, the plants withered because they had no 183 00:11:29,990 --> 00:11:32,800 moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, 184 00:11:33,210 --> 00:11:36,000 which grew up with it and choked the plants. 185 00:11:36,010 --> 00:11:38,380 Still other seed fell on good soil. 186 00:11:38,450 --> 00:11:45,320 It came up and yielded a crop 100 times more than was sown. 187 00:11:45,690 --> 00:11:48,220 And I don't know about you, but if I think, like if I close my 188 00:11:48,230 --> 00:11:51,660 eyes, I can almost picture this parable happening in real time. 189 00:11:51,740 --> 00:11:54,600 And if you close your eyes, maybe you can picture the farmer 190 00:11:54,610 --> 00:11:58,720 planting the seed by hand, walking up and down the field, 191 00:11:58,730 --> 00:12:02,360 tossing seed as he goes. And it's not slowly like 192 00:12:02,370 --> 00:12:06,140 individually, like seed by seed, like how we plant some of the 193 00:12:06,150 --> 00:12:07,900 garden boxes and things like that. 194 00:12:08,010 --> 00:12:13,500 He's throwing it, scattering the seed, trying to cover as much 195 00:12:13,510 --> 00:12:17,480 ground as possible. He's throwing it with force, 196 00:12:17,490 --> 00:12:20,480 handful by handful. And some seed, we're told, it's 197 00:12:20,490 --> 00:12:23,830 scattered on the path and it's trampled up. 198 00:12:24,930 --> 00:12:28,350 It's ground up, maybe into the hard ground. 199 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:30,920 And then the birds swoop and they eat it up because it's been 200 00:12:30,930 --> 00:12:33,300 ground enough. They just come and Peck away at 201 00:12:33,510 --> 00:12:37,530 the food. Some seeds fall on rocky ground 202 00:12:37,540 --> 00:12:41,150 and they start to sprout a little bit and they start to 203 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,530 press up through the soil and they make it and they get a 204 00:12:43,540 --> 00:12:47,900 little bit of sun, but the ground is rocky and dry. 205 00:12:47,910 --> 00:12:52,060 It's parched. The plants wither because they 206 00:12:52,070 --> 00:12:54,890 don't have enough to drink. There's not enough water and 207 00:12:54,900 --> 00:12:57,770 some seed. It falls into thorns and weeds, 208 00:12:57,780 --> 00:13:00,840 and the weeds, they grow too quickly and they suck up all the 209 00:13:00,850 --> 00:13:05,170 nutrients and they take up all the space and the little 210 00:13:05,180 --> 00:13:08,470 seedlings that try to poke their heads through are just choked 211 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:14,150 out. Some seed falls on good soil and 212 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:18,450 it comes up and there is water and nutrients and it does 213 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:22,750 flourish and it says it does yield a crop 100 times more than 214 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:24,610 was sown. Maybe as you picture this 215 00:13:24,620 --> 00:13:27,280 parable and as you follow it unraveling in front of your 216 00:13:27,290 --> 00:13:30,070 eyes, like you begin to wonder who is the farmer that Jesus is 217 00:13:30,140 --> 00:13:33,790 referring to. Maybe you begin to question what 218 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,290 the seed is. What does Jesus really mean? 219 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,770 What does it mean that the birds eat the seed or that it's 220 00:13:38,780 --> 00:13:40,870 trampled? Like surely Jesus isn't handing 221 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:45,340 out farming advice like what farmer plants on a path? 222 00:13:46,470 --> 00:13:49,500 What does it mean to be choked out by thorns and weeds? 223 00:13:49,510 --> 00:13:52,200 Besides, sometimes I feel like I'm being choked out. 224 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,780 It feels like it hits a little close to home, like God's love 225 00:13:57,790 --> 00:14:01,340 is far away, or like the joy that I once had is now gone. 226 00:14:01,350 --> 00:14:02,960 Like could this parable be about me? 227 00:14:02,970 --> 00:14:05,440 Could I find my way into it somehow? 228 00:14:05,450 --> 00:14:08,380 How does my life become like the seed that's planted on good 229 00:14:08,390 --> 00:14:14,950 soil, which yields its crop? What kind of soil am I anyway? 230 00:14:17,790 --> 00:14:25,470 My full of rocky dry kind of ground up the seed soil or how 231 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:30,290 can I become good soil where the Word of God flourishes in my 232 00:14:30,300 --> 00:14:34,640 life and because of it in other people's lives alongside. 233 00:14:36,220 --> 00:14:38,690 Maybe you eventually even find your way into the disciples 234 00:14:38,700 --> 00:14:40,850 question where it feels like they're pleading with Jesus. 235 00:14:40,860 --> 00:14:45,650 Like what does any of this actually mean? 236 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:50,180 Jesus, tell us, what does this mean? 237 00:14:51,060 --> 00:14:54,380 Then we get this great line. There's disciples, ask them what 238 00:14:54,390 --> 00:14:59,670 the parable meant, he said. The knowledge of the secrets of 239 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:05,970 the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others. 240 00:15:05,980 --> 00:15:10,030 I speak in parables so that though seeing they may not see, 241 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,710 though hearing they may not understand. 242 00:15:16,940 --> 00:15:20,690 Jesus speech is enigmatic speech. 243 00:15:20,700 --> 00:15:24,700 That is, it's hard to understand, it's hard to figure 244 00:15:24,710 --> 00:15:27,860 out. It's specific speech, it's 245 00:15:27,870 --> 00:15:32,400 poignant, it has purpose and meaning, but it is not 246 00:15:32,460 --> 00:15:37,670 intentionally deceptive. And that I think is an important 247 00:15:37,730 --> 00:15:40,610 point. It's not intentionally 248 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,910 deceptive. And I want us to understand 249 00:15:43,980 --> 00:15:47,750 Jesus here is quoting when he says though seeing, they may not 250 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:50,350 see, though hearing, they may not understand. 251 00:15:50,420 --> 00:15:54,750 He's quoting from Isaiah and he's quoting from Isaiah 6, 252 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:59,450 verse 9, where God directs Isaiah to speak these same words 253 00:15:59,460 --> 00:16:01,750 to the people. Be ever hearing and never 254 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:06,250 understanding be ever seeing but never perceiving and it is a 255 00:16:06,260 --> 00:16:09,790 judgment. It is a critique on the people, 256 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:14,030 but but it it has a direct correlation is directly related 257 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:19,890 to their unwillingness to listen to really listen, to have their 258 00:16:19,900 --> 00:16:23,050 lives changed by what God is speaking to them. 259 00:16:23,220 --> 00:16:28,220 And so he says, listen, like if you go on being ever hearing but 260 00:16:28,230 --> 00:16:31,300 never understanding, like you're never gonna understand, ever 261 00:16:31,310 --> 00:16:36,570 seeing but never perceiving, He's critiquing their 262 00:16:36,580 --> 00:16:42,660 unwillingness, their heart posture to actually listen to 263 00:16:42,670 --> 00:16:45,710 what Jesus is saying. And so I want to say this. 264 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,240 If you find yourself asking of Jesus's teachings and maybe 265 00:16:48,250 --> 00:16:51,300 asking over and over and over again, what does this really 266 00:16:51,310 --> 00:16:54,270 mean? Like you're in great company 267 00:16:55,730 --> 00:17:00,090 because Jesus in turn says to his disciples, the knowledge of 268 00:17:00,100 --> 00:17:02,850 the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you 269 00:17:04,589 --> 00:17:10,640 because they were willing to really listen and to lean in and 270 00:17:10,650 --> 00:17:14,660 to wrestle it out and to wonder and to voice that question. 271 00:17:14,670 --> 00:17:19,619 Jesus help us understand what this means. 272 00:17:21,099 --> 00:17:23,380 And so in 11, we continue reading. 273 00:17:24,790 --> 00:17:27,460 This is the meaning of the parable. 274 00:17:28,349 --> 00:17:31,520 So this is a relatively unique parables. 275 00:17:31,530 --> 00:17:33,460 This this doesn't happen in all the parables. 276 00:17:33,470 --> 00:17:38,460 Jesus gives an explanation of this parable to the disciples in 277 00:17:38,470 --> 00:17:42,820 response to their question. He says the seed is the word of 278 00:17:42,830 --> 00:17:45,590 God. Those along the path are the 279 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:51,530 ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the 280 00:17:51,540 --> 00:17:54,950 word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be 281 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,630 saved. Those on the rocky ground are 282 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:02,830 the ones who receive the Word with joy when they hear it, but 283 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:07,270 they have no roots. They believe for a while, but in 284 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,360 a time of testing, they fall away. 285 00:18:10,820 --> 00:18:12,650 And then he continues. The seed that fell among the 286 00:18:12,660 --> 00:18:17,170 thorns stands for those who hear and who hear, but as they go on 287 00:18:17,180 --> 00:18:21,910 their way, they're choked by life's worries, riches, and 288 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,750 pleasures, and they do not mature. 289 00:18:25,820 --> 00:18:29,570 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good 290 00:18:29,580 --> 00:18:37,350 heart who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering, produce 291 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:41,230 a crop. It's easy to fall, I think, into 292 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,090 this trap that is like fatalistic and deterministic. 293 00:18:44,100 --> 00:18:47,530 It's easy to tip toward fear and anxiety when we read verses like 294 00:18:47,540 --> 00:18:50,110 this in passages like this. Like, were you talking about the 295 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:51,880 devil comes and takes away the word from their arts? 296 00:18:51,890 --> 00:18:54,230 Like, what if that's me? What if that's my story? 297 00:18:55,620 --> 00:18:57,450 We were talking about like time of testing. 298 00:18:57,460 --> 00:18:59,690 What if that comes? Like they fall away? 299 00:18:59,700 --> 00:19:03,270 What if that will be me? What if that will be my story? 300 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:08,810 What if and I read this passage and I read this passage and I 301 00:19:08,820 --> 00:19:11,590 find myself asking a different what if question. 302 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:17,280 What if what Jesus wants us to see is that to anyone who's 303 00:19:17,290 --> 00:19:20,950 chosen to live their life inside the Kingdom of God with deep 304 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:28,250 faith, wrestling out doubt, experiencing joy and sorrow for 305 00:19:28,260 --> 00:19:34,130 anyone who has taken that step, there will be pressure exerted 306 00:19:34,140 --> 00:19:40,280 on your life that attempts to distract you and destroy your 307 00:19:40,290 --> 00:19:42,600 faith and relationship with Jesus. 308 00:19:42,970 --> 00:19:46,610 Jesus says there are pressures on the life of the disciple. 309 00:19:46,690 --> 00:19:50,900 There are pressures that impinge on the one who has chosen a life 310 00:19:50,910 --> 00:19:54,890 of apprenticeship toward Jesus. These are ones who have heard 311 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:04,080 who here, who receive. And then have pressure exerted 312 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:12,120 on their life. And I think what it means is 313 00:20:12,130 --> 00:20:18,500 that we as we and the challenge is as you choose to lean in, as 314 00:20:18,510 --> 00:20:20,550 you choose to ask, what does this mean? 315 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,690 As you choose to find yourself wrestling out the teachings of 316 00:20:23,700 --> 00:20:29,330 Jesus, that is going to lead you toward a life of pressure, not 317 00:20:29,340 --> 00:20:34,290 of like anxious pressure on your body that just kind of feel like 318 00:20:34,300 --> 00:20:39,630 internal pressure that impinges on your relationship with Jesus 319 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,270 and on living life, actually living it out inside the 320 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,650 Kingdom. I think what Jesus is saying is 321 00:20:46,660 --> 00:20:49,820 that there will be pressure in an attempt to convince you to 322 00:20:49,830 --> 00:20:52,610 not allow the Word of God to take deep root and to really 323 00:20:52,620 --> 00:20:56,970 actually transform your life. And so he names them external 324 00:20:56,980 --> 00:20:58,670 pressures. He says the devil, the 325 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,770 adversary, the accuser, one of the external pressures, the one 326 00:21:02,780 --> 00:21:05,490 who in Genesis acts, Adam and Eve. 327 00:21:05,540 --> 00:21:09,970 Did God really say that? Like the devil is gonna try to 328 00:21:09,980 --> 00:21:13,050 convince you that God isn't good, that he's not trustworthy, 329 00:21:13,140 --> 00:21:16,720 that you can't trust what he says, that he shouldn't be 330 00:21:16,730 --> 00:21:20,480 trusted with the deepest and most significant parts of your 331 00:21:20,490 --> 00:21:22,090 life. There will be external pressure 332 00:21:22,100 --> 00:21:28,290 on the life of a disciple. And there will be external 333 00:21:28,300 --> 00:21:33,020 pressure in the form, he says, of times of testing, be it grief 334 00:21:33,100 --> 00:21:37,390 or sorrow or doubt, with no place to find its voice, to 335 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,050 articulate the deepest things rattling around in your heart. 336 00:21:41,060 --> 00:21:45,110 Seasons of mental or physical illness, seasons of job, loss of 337 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:47,310 loss of purpose, vocation, identity. 338 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:53,030 Like these pressures that impinge and challenge what Jesus 339 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,290 says about you. Not only are there external 340 00:21:57,300 --> 00:22:00,190 pressures, though, Jesus says there will be internal 341 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,730 pressures. Internal pressures, and with 342 00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:06,960 these I'm becoming increasingly convinced, are some of the most 343 00:22:06,970 --> 00:22:12,470 subtly dangerous pressures to the faith, where there is great 344 00:22:12,540 --> 00:22:15,440 affluence in culture and society. 345 00:22:17,710 --> 00:22:24,190 And so Jesus names worry, worry, riches, pleasure. 346 00:22:24,940 --> 00:22:29,930 Like, let me numb my anxious thoughts because I would rather 347 00:22:29,940 --> 00:22:35,610 not feel them than face them. Let me amass wealth and the 348 00:22:35,620 --> 00:22:38,530 power, or at least perceived power, that comes with it. 349 00:22:38,540 --> 00:22:42,890 Let me pursue pleasure, all in the name, ultimately, of a 350 00:22:42,900 --> 00:22:47,130 comfortable life. Let me live a life free of pain 351 00:22:47,140 --> 00:22:50,490 and suffering as much as I can. Wealth. 352 00:22:50,820 --> 00:22:57,330 Mark Sayers says wealth, stability and comfort blunt the 353 00:22:57,340 --> 00:23:02,540 mission of the church. Comfortable times create 354 00:23:02,610 --> 00:23:08,190 comfortable Christians. I think this parable could be 355 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,720 written in so many different ways in 2025, right? 356 00:23:12,730 --> 00:23:16,250 What about the seed that's planted but drowned out by the 357 00:23:16,260 --> 00:23:20,750 distraction of mindless doom scrolling social media? 358 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:26,110 Just post after mindless post. We want the seed that's planted 359 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:32,750 but bulldozed by greed of like one more easy, one click away 360 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,190 purchase of one more thing that can arrive on your doorstep in 361 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:40,480 just one more day that you don't really need. 362 00:23:42,620 --> 00:23:45,650 What about the seed that's planted but torn up for new 363 00:23:45,660 --> 00:23:49,590 roads, bigger homes, higher skyscrapers, bigger everything? 364 00:23:51,020 --> 00:23:54,630 All of it, ultimately pointing out what this passage is trying 365 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,050 to reveal. Which is our heart posture 366 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:03,760 toward God, our position before God. 367 00:24:05,290 --> 00:24:10,210 The only way to be good store soil is for the posture and the 368 00:24:10,220 --> 00:24:16,500 position of your heart to be transformed and turned toward 369 00:24:16,590 --> 00:24:21,570 God. And so I find myself wrestling 370 00:24:21,580 --> 00:24:24,810 with these questions. Like, do we want information 371 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:29,500 without transformation? Like, do we tip toward wanting 372 00:24:29,510 --> 00:24:32,280 entertainment without obligation? 373 00:24:32,290 --> 00:24:37,220 Or are we really willing to face the uncomfortable and often 374 00:24:37,230 --> 00:24:44,070 painful process that leads toward life by transformation? 375 00:24:45,910 --> 00:24:52,060 So Jesus says, pay attention to how you hear, to how you really 376 00:24:52,070 --> 00:24:55,290 hear. Do you find yourself leaning in 377 00:24:55,300 --> 00:24:59,800 and asking? Do you find yourself recoiling? 378 00:25:00,230 --> 00:25:04,060 I'm just trying to like, if I stand over here, then nobody 379 00:25:04,070 --> 00:25:13,070 will ask me anything about anything interesting to me. 380 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,950 And this wasn't like a real, this wasn't an experiment. 381 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,870 But I had a number of people who came up to me ahead of the 382 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,410 service today and asked what this painting was all about. 383 00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:25,360 They're like, what's the story? What are you going to talk 384 00:25:25,370 --> 00:25:26,840 about? How does it fit into the sermon? 385 00:25:26,850 --> 00:25:29,640 Like, what's it? And kind of slowly, I saw people 386 00:25:29,650 --> 00:25:34,030 actually coming to the front and looking at it and getting a 387 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,110 little closer, like what's going on here? 388 00:25:37,860 --> 00:25:41,070 The beautiful thing about art and the image that I want to 389 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:45,190 leave you with is that it does exactly what Jesus is 390 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:52,090 encouraging us to do, which is to move closer and to look at it 391 00:25:53,700 --> 00:25:58,110 and to wonder at its meaning. And a question like, why did the 392 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,730 artist paint it like this? And what is it containing and 393 00:26:00,740 --> 00:26:02,120 what are they trying to convey to me? 394 00:26:02,130 --> 00:26:03,950 And is it right side up or is it upside down? 395 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,710 Like how, you know, lean in, how can I understand the thing of 396 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:10,740 it? And then to back up and get 397 00:26:10,750 --> 00:26:15,910 perspective and how does it fit into all of what's around it? 398 00:26:16,180 --> 00:26:19,930 Like this is what Jesus is doing when he paints these pieces of 399 00:26:19,940 --> 00:26:24,490 art with words. He's saying lean in, really get 400 00:26:24,500 --> 00:26:29,580 close, pay attention, try to figure out the thing of it and 401 00:26:29,590 --> 00:26:32,940 try to find your way into it and really wrestle with what it is 402 00:26:32,950 --> 00:26:36,000 saying to you and wrestle with how you're being convicted by it 403 00:26:36,010 --> 00:26:40,220 and how your life might need to transform because of it. 404 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:47,480 Art causes us to lean in. Parables challenge us to lean 405 00:26:47,490 --> 00:26:49,960 in, to look closely. Interestingly, this is what the 406 00:26:49,970 --> 00:26:52,820 women at the very beginning of the passage I think are credited 407 00:26:52,830 --> 00:26:55,120 with. So we have Mary, who's called 408 00:26:55,130 --> 00:26:57,920 Magdalene, from whom 7 demons had come out, Joanna, the wife 409 00:26:57,930 --> 00:27:01,060 of Chuza, the manager of Herod's household, and Susanna and many 410 00:27:01,070 --> 00:27:03,660 others named three. These women were helping to 411 00:27:03,670 --> 00:27:05,080 support them out of their own means. 412 00:27:05,090 --> 00:27:10,280 They were willing, I think, to lean in, willing to follow, 413 00:27:10,290 --> 00:27:13,650 willing to wrestle with Jesus's teaching and all of what life 414 00:27:13,660 --> 00:27:18,260 might be challenging them to do. And in a modern day parable, 415 00:27:19,750 --> 00:27:23,640 it's what those who will be baptized and become members are 416 00:27:23,650 --> 00:27:27,210 demonstrating as they declare Jesus, Lord and Savior. 417 00:27:28,670 --> 00:27:35,550 A willingness, a heart posture that leans in, not with 418 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,640 certainty, with like every answer figured out along the 419 00:27:39,650 --> 00:27:41,510 way. Like the right answer to every 420 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:47,230 question for willing to wrestle with the thing of it and find 421 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:52,240 their place into it. Jesus wants to get a hold of 422 00:27:52,250 --> 00:27:59,360 your heart and transform it, and a large part of that is for us 423 00:27:59,370 --> 00:28:03,690 to learn to die to the cult of like radical individualism, 424 00:28:03,700 --> 00:28:08,140 self-reliance, and to choose to depend on another and to lean 425 00:28:08,150 --> 00:28:10,650 in. Had a wonder at the thing of it. 426 00:28:12,170 --> 00:28:17,910 Let me pray. God, thanks for the life that we 427 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,760 have found in you. Thank you for your love and your 428 00:28:21,770 --> 00:28:24,500 generosity toward us. Yeah, we're grateful. 429 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:30,560 And so as we continue to worship and as we now celebrate new 430 00:28:30,570 --> 00:28:35,660 members, baptisms, yeah, again here say we are so, so grateful 431 00:28:36,070 --> 00:28:40,090 for who you are and how you are toward us and toward the world. 432 00:28:40,100 --> 00:28:42,260 Thank you for forgiveness of sin. 433 00:28:43,290 --> 00:28:45,920 Thank you for Jesus, your death, and your resurrection. 434 00:28:45,930 --> 00:28:49,420 Thank you for eternal life. Thank you for new life. 435 00:28:49,470 --> 00:28:54,040 Here and Now thinks that the life that we share together is 436 00:28:54,110 --> 00:28:58,700 life inside the Kingdom, and so would we as your people continue 437 00:28:58,710 --> 00:29:02,570 to wrestle it out no matter where we are along the journey. 438 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,080 God, I pray that we would lean in, wonder at what you're doing, 439 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:13,370 and with thanks, continue to praise and worship and then work 440 00:29:13,380 --> 00:29:16,330 differently in the world. So God, do what you need to do. 441 00:29:16,540 --> 00:29:20,310 We're grateful for all that we get to experience together, but 442 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,010 more than that, how we're grateful to do this together 443 00:29:24,060 --> 00:29:26,890 knowing that you are here. So thanks for your presence in 444 00:29:26,900 --> 00:29:30,620 this place. We pray in Jesus name, Amen. 445 00:29:34,210 --> 00:29:39,440 So it is a joy. It's just pure joy to celebrate 446 00:29:39,450 --> 00:29:41,060 baptism and membership.