Roots and Soil

He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, a farmer went out to sow (Matthew 13:3)

I want to challenge us to look at this parable in a slightly different way to help us appreciate the times we are in.

The first thing we will notice is what that seed is. Jesus said that it was the word of the Kingdom.

It is not stories about the Kingdom or even about the King.

What then do we understand by the word of the Kingdom? You may be wondering.

The closest we may equate it is a release from the King or what in ‘demoncrazies’ is called the state of the nation/union address.

The King is simply addressing his subjects about his kingdom and laying the ground rules about how that kingdom should be operating. He is also giving guidelines about how his subjects should be operating in his kingdom.

Joseph was elevated in such an address, as was Haman and later Mordecai.

We are therefore talking about knowing how the king operates and how we also should live to fit in the kingdom. It talks about rewards and punishments expected as we respond to the address.

In short, it is the king talking and us listening. We are not questioning Him or even discussing issues with Him. He is speaking as we are listening with the view of obeying if we are subjects in the kingdom.

Weeping and gnashing of teeth is the reward of not obeying that address. And it does not matter whether we understand it or not, provided we are subjects.

How we receive and react to that address is the focus of this parable.

That is why motivational preaching is such a dangerous diversion to the church. Jeremiah the prophet was given ‘teachers of rebellion’ as a description for such people. And it is because it shifts the focus from the King to us, the subjects. Meaning we become the owners of the kingdom since the king then starts playing our tune.

The setting is the seed and soils. What is required for soil to produce a harvest?

There is need for the seed to have space to develop a root system without any hindrance and disturbance. That was the problem the first two soils had. In the first, the seed was too exposed that it became food for opportunists before it could germinate. The second was too shallow to develop a root structure. It is interesting that it sprouted faster than even the productive soil. I am sure that had it had depth it could have produced the most bountiful harvest. Sadly the roots had nowhere to anchor.

The second thing a seed needs is space to grow. It must access sunlight and have space to expand its branch system.

The third soil failed in that. It was too occupied with feeding so many that it forgot the king’s assignment; the only assignment that counted.

It is the fourth soil that provided the right environment for growth and production.

There are a few constants for all the soils.

The first is that seed was sown on all soils. The second was that the weather was constant for all the soils. It meant that the rain was not discriminating on any. And the third is that there was an expectation of the harvest on all the soils.

The sower sows the word. How we react to it determines the kind of word harvest we will have.

The first soil is a pathway. It means that this person has interacted with words from all over. As such, the word of the Kingdom is treated just like the other words. It means that it has a zero chance of even sprouting since the soil is a philosopher full of other words as he treats all words as the same or at least similar.

He is at home with all dogmas and religions and can effortlessly quote their books. He can even find common ground between theists and atheists.

If all roads lead to heaven as he believes and lives, he would be spoilt for choice.

But that is not the truth. It is a highway to hell as the seed of the Gospel has no chance of getting through. He has been blinded by the glare of darkness.

The second soil describes a person who has seen the light somehow.

Many times though he is responding to a crisis; death to close family, a health scare or even things falling apart that he realizes the futility of life. Or probably a sermon has painted hell so graphically that he jumps into the solution without much thought.

He will therefore respond to the word to ward off the crisis and will be faithful as long as the threat remains.

An old man was sent to me for ministry (they say prayer). Everything about him was falling apart; from health to marriage to business.

I offered to pray for him but told him that it was even better if he made his own connection to Christ. And he quickly did it.

In a very short while everything was sorted and he became his old jovial self.

Then I asked him about baptism as we had agreed when he was in the crisis and he became a joker. He turned everything we said to him into a joke.

I was sad to hear of his death not long after he turned his faith into a joke.

Though most conversions are the products of a crisis, it is very important to divorce the crisis from faith and the Lordship of Christ.

Or take this young man who was sent to me to help him out of drugs.

I am a friend of a rehab that leads people to Christ as the solution. He agreed to accompany me there and did not even want to go back for anything for the urgency of his situation. That is what I did. We looked for clothes for him as he was in the centre.

In a week he was clean. In a month he was so dependable and useful to the whole centre; hard working, sacrificial, innovative. He became the pride of the centre.

Of course things became better for him from all fronts. He got a phone and some friends started sending him money and in a short while he had to leave the centre.

After a short while we meet and he almost kneels before me confessing his error and pleading that I get a second chance for him. I do and the cycle repeats.

When he repeated it the third time I realized that inasmuch as he wanted to be delivered from drugs, he was not really prepared to do it for the long haul.

To date he pleads with me to take him to the centre. But I always remind him that the same Jesus who is preached at the centre is everywhere. That when he becomes desperate enough to leave drugs, he should just ask Jesus to sort him out.

This soil describes such a person. Their reception of the Gospel, though genuine, is only surface deep. And we know roots need more than surface to grow.

The third soil is good and able to produce fruit. But it has allowed many other plants to grow side by side with the word. Due to all those plants, the seed of the Gospel lacks enough sunlight and space to bear fruit as it has to compete for everything.

In the first soil, it was the heart that was cluttered. In this soil, it is life itself that is cluttered. There are friends and hustles and hobbies that are competing with the word for attention. It thus means that the King is unable to interact with His subject since the subject is full to overflowing with his issues.

The fourth soil of course describes this person who takes the word as the absolute determinant of his life and decides that nothing else is comparable to that word from the King. No wonder he bears that much fruit.

I believe a good teacher of the word should teach his congregation in such a way as to help them identify the kind of soil they are. This is so that they can wisely choose to be productive soil for the kingdom. And it is because the wrong soil will never produce food acceptable to the king however and whatever is invested in it.

Maximizing your potential in the wrong soil will still take you to hell.

The right soil takes God’s word seriously, so seriously that food pales in significance. Remember man does not live by bread alone. This soil therefore is always feeding on God’s word which is the word of the King and therefore kingdom.

As a result of that, it has no problems with obedience since it made the decision early enough.

That word determines all of his life; from the friends he keeps to the jobs he can work in. That is why he consistently bears fruit.

Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in Yahweh's law. On his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper. The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish. (Psalm 1)

Spend some time reading and rereading Psalm 119 as it will make things clearer.

Remember Moses spent close to three months on the mount listening to God without eating or drinking anything yet came out with his face glowing!

That is why in Matthew 6 we are commanded to practice our inner faith in private but will have the results of the same displayed publicly (my paraphrase).

God’s word should be so prominent in our hearts that it will start seeping out when we are under pressure. I think that is what bearing fruit means in this context.

But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

That is the right soil for the word of God to grow and bear fruit.