The parable is addressed to farmers, sinners, strugglers, and dull hearers—not primarily as a philosophical debate on Mars Hill concerning abstract categories of elect and non-elect.

This article is a reflection of a sermon I preached last Sunday at La Iglesia Presbiteriana Comunidad de Cristo¹ in the Republic of Panama concerning the Parable of the Sower. The sermon was a straightforward exposition of the text and what follows is an amplified explanation of that sermon.

Introduction

My intention in the sermon was to encourage the congregation to a more faithful understanding of the gospel by hearing what our Lord taught. The title was “The Gospel According to Jesus.” I used the parable of the sower to clarify what it means to hear the gospel aright. Shallow hearing does not produce a saving understanding of the message nor does it produce the bountiful harvest envisioned in the parable. This sermon sits at that existential reality—what does it mean to hear the good news.

This parable has been the cause of much debate among theologians about the exact nature of God’s election and the relationship between sovereign grace and human freedom. When that is the primary register of the text, however, the actual authorial intention of the passage loses its force. This parable was preached by Jesus to actual people with the intention of explaining the gospel to them. It is the kerygmatic nature of the text that is central—He who has ears—let him hear!

A Sermon to Farmers

As Jesus accommodated His sermon to His hearers, He used familiar images they would immediately understand—farming. Today, much of that understanding has faded with the mechanized nature of industrial food production. We no longer think like farmers. We do not instinctively understand soils, cultivation, seasons, pruning, or fruitfulness.

Yet soils do not begin as perfect soil. They must be prepared so that they may produce. Farming is the labor of cultivating the ground unto fruitfulness. Hard ground must be broken up. Rocks must be removed. Thorny fields must be cleared. Neglected soil becomes overgrown and unfruitful.

Throughout the Old Testament, agricultural metaphors are repeatedly used to describe spiritual realities.

For example, Book of Jeremiah 4:3 says:

“Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.”

And Book of Hosea 10:12 says:

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Likewise, Book of Proverbs 24:30–31 says:

“I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.”

All of these agricultural images are largely lost to us if we treat the condition of the soil as fixed. The very work of farming is the cultivation of the soil so that it may produce fruit. If there are rocks in the field, they must be removed. If thorns grow and choke the crops, they must be cleared away. The sluggard in Proverbs represents neglect and foolishness, while the wise farmer diligently cultivates his field so that it may become fruitful. Even pruning, though painful, is done so that greater fruit may come forth. Jesus Himself says that He is the true vine and that the Father is the vinedresser who prunes the branches so that they may bear greater fruitfulness.

Jesus was speaking in farming grammar so that the men of Galilee could understand His message. The Parable of the Sower is therefore not merely a static diagram of fixed categories, but a living exhortation concerning hearing, receptivity, fruitfulness, and spiritual cultivation. We will do well to recover these agricultural metaphors if we are to understand what Jesus was saying.

The Ancient Homilia Sermon Format

With this expanded introduction in mind, I then preached the sermon on the parable itself. I intentionally preached it in the style of the ancient homilia, the text-bound method of exposition commonly used by the apostles and the early church. In this form of preaching, commentary, exhortation, and application are woven directly into the exposition of the text itself.

It is not a polished sermon, but the pressures of being bi-vocational and the lack of preparation time often make this style my only option. It is not a polished cathedral sermon, but more like an 82nd Airborne lightning strike or a Ranger assault—direct, urgent, mobile, and proclamation-centered. Its texture is closer to the US Army battle cry, “All the way!” and “Rangers lead the way!” I do enjoy hearing polished cathedral sermons, but that is not presently within my capacity. What I can offer instead is a direct, text-bound proclamation aimed at pressing the hearer toward attentive hearing, repentance, faith, and fruitfulness. The sermon is raw and not without need of homiletical polish—but this is where I am in the battle. Bear with me.

Quite frankly, I would rather deliver an unpolished sermon than sit back and endlessly think about delivering one. The kingdom advances through proclamation, not paralysis.

The Parable of the Sower

Matt. 13:1

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying:

• The Gospel is from the word of God that is explained to us. We need to be taught the gospel. It is not something we can figure out on our own. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.
• We must remember that this parable is a sermon to an agricultural people and not a discourse on Mars Hill to discuss philosophy.
• Sermons are exhortations unto action and not simply information or speculation about metaphysical realities.

“A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”

• Appears to be a simple observation from nature. Jesus was speaking to farmers, so he made His illustrations according to their understanding.
• Simple outline of the parable:

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