The Renovation of the Heart

Sermon on Matthew 13:1-9

Introduction

Anyone of you here are good at planting flowers or growing trees? Do you have green fingers? I don’t. I have fingers of death! Every living plant that I have tried to cultivate has suffered unnatural death under my horti-uncultured hands. I am so glad that God had not called me to be a botanist or a farmer. I would be the worst farmer in history.

Historical Context

Many of Jesus’ listeners were familiar with agriculture imagery even though not every one of them was in the farming business. Many of them work on fields or had their own gardens. Jesus would often use common, everyday imageries in his teaching parables. Much of Jesus’ teaching ministry occurred by the lake of Galilee. Many of his miracles were also said to have occurred here including Jesus walking on water, calming the storm, and feeding the five thousand. Jesus taught many things in parables. Even though the imageries were simple, not everyone understood the meaning behind each parable. After Jesus told this parable, we were told by Matthew that the disciples came to Jesus privately for further clarification. Let’s look at the parable in greater detail.

The passage tells us that Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. It is believed that this lake was located at the Sea of Galilee. Apparently, there is a local tradition which locates this event taking place at a distinctive cove or inlet called the “Cove of the Parables”. How is it possible for Jesus to speak clearly to hundreds of people gathered here? Apparently, the land surrounding the cove slopes down like a natural horseshoe-shaped amphitheater, providing great acoustics for Jesus’ voice to be amplified for his listeners gathered on the shore. Modern scientists have tested the acoustics and found them realistic for Jesus’ parable to have been heard by so many people. When the crowd gathered around him, waiting for him to teach, Jesus stepped into a boat and sat in it. From the boat, Jesus told them this parable; traditionally, known as the Parable of the Sower.

The Parable Told…

In the parable, we are told of a farmer who went out to sow his seeds. There were four distinct locations which the farmer had sowed his seeds: 1) along the path, 2) on rocky places, 3) among thorns, 4) good soil. The first three types of soil proved to be difficult places for the seeds to grow in. When the seeds were sowed along the path, the birds came and ate them up, even before they had the opportunity to grow. Those seeds sowed on rocky places had little soil, and even though they sprang up quickly, their growth was not sustainable. When the sun came up, it was scorched to death, because they had no roots. Thirdly, those seeds sowed among thorns were choked by the thorns as they grew up together with them competing for nutrients. The fourth location was the best, as the seeds were sowed on good soil. It produced a crop of a hundred, six or thirty times what was sown.

The Parable Explained…

After the parable was told, the disciples did not understand fully the meaning of the parable and so they went to Jesus for further clarification. Jesus explained in vv. 18-23 that the parable of the sower is about the kingdom of heaven. Unlike the parable of the weeds which Rev. Siow Hwee will be speaking on next week, the identity of the farmer in this parable was not known. In the later parable, the man who sowed good seeds in his field was identified as the Son of Man. But not in this parable. Hence, many Bible translations give this parable a sub-title, “The Parable of the Sower,” putting emphasis on the famer. But there is one scholar who suggests that the focus in this parable should not be on the farmer, but instead on where the seeds were sown. I agree with his assessment. The seeds represent the message about the kingdom. The gospel message. God’s salvation plan. The four locations represent the condition of Israel’s heart in response to the Gospel. I agree that this parable was directed at the rebellious and recalcitrant Israel who had many opportunities to hear the message of the kingdom through the many prophets in their history but failed to accept both the message and the messenger. It was a message of warning. It is important for us to understand this context before understanding this parable in our context. Let’s rename the four soils to represent different condition of the hearts instead.

The first three locations were less than ideal conditions for receiving the seed of message. The one that was sowed along the path represents “hardened hearts”. Like a pathway which is using made of stones or cement, this heart is hard and devoid of emotions. He hears the gospel, but he does not care every much for it to grow. The condition of a hardened heart is emptiness, bare of any nutrients or care. Imagine someone who have heard the gospel from a TV evangelist or had attended mass-open gospel rally once before, but did not have a church community to engage further in his or her spiritual growth. It will be easy for the evil one to snatch the gospel from his or her empty and hard heart.

Secondly, the gospel message which was sowed on rocky places represents “shallow hearts”. This heart had some soil for nutrients but it was not enough to sustain its growth. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, it, too, soon falls away, as it has no roots. Maybe someone you knew in church before was like this. Coming to church is only a Sunday-affair. A Sunday Christian. Maybe such a person would only come to church during Easter and Christmas. He or she does not build any relationship with anyone in church. Their faith is superficial. Their faith does not take root. Many Christians suffer from this condition of a superficial faith for years! On the surface, it looks fine, but underneath, it is rootless and rotten. When trials and tribulations come, they lose their faith and slipped away. When our faith fails to grow and mature, it will usually backslide.

The third location, sowed among thorns, represents “thorny hearts”. The thorns are the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. In the original Greek, the noun behind “deceitfulness” (apate) can be used to express both “pleasure” and “deception”, which may be combined here to warn about how wealth can be a deceptive pleasure. During the economic crisis, many people were caught in debts because of greed. They took up loans which they could not service or pay off. During the first 10 years of their working life, many Christians and non-Christians alike would usually place their careers first before family. We hear of many parents holding back on starting a family because they are at their prime of their working life. They have the drive, and the energy to accomplish things older folks would struggle to keep up with. This pursuit of wealth and success never ends. In fact, the drive to succeed may increase manifold when they enter into mid-life. They realize that this may be their last shot to make it BIG. Such is the deception of wealth. “Wealth begets more wealth for luxury brands and stocks” (Fadi Eid). When you think you have enough, you want more. The malaise of life soon proved to be too much for the “thorny heart” to bear, and the gospel message will soon be choked to death by it.

Lastly, the message that was sowed on good soil represents “receptive hearts”. The man with a receptive heart is one who hears God’s word and understands it. This is very important. Listening to the gospel is not enough. Hearing God’s Word every Sunday is not enough. You need to understand it as well. Not only to understand it, but to also put it into practice. The faith which we own is not only a theological or theoretical faith, but a practicing one as well. Faith is not faith unless you give it away. Our faith must be a faith of action. It must be a faith that is derived from a clear understanding of the gospel. The key to understand today’s parable is to understand v. 9, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Without this verse, Jesus’ parable remains only an agricultural story. This verse alerts the listeners that there is a deeper meaning to Jesus’ parable. This verse needs to be interpreted in two ways: 1) that not everyone has the opportunity to hear or the ability to hear, or 2) that those who do, do not always understand the message.

Jesus told his disciples in v. 11-13, that ““Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” Again, this warning is against the unrepentant Israel.

[Magic Eyes]

Who could see the object embedded in these two magic eyes photos? What are they? Not everyone could see the objects in these special magic 3D pictures. They used to be popular 10 years ago. People would be staring at these pictures for hours trying to see the secret objects.

The Parable in Practice…

Many times in life, we are the same. We may be staring at life, living it from day to day, but not fully understanding it. We like to see life like viewing a picture from the outside, but not see God’s truth hidden inside it. To see the hidden objects, we need to adjust our focus. Our eyes must look deeper within the picture in order that we can see the hidden object. Some would find it easy. Some would find it impossible. Jesus’ parables are similar. The stories are often very simple and easy to understand at a superficial level. Everyone and anyone are free to hear it. But not everyone understands it. The gospel message of God’s kingdom is well hidden in the parable. We are told that not everyone is given the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. But this does not mean that these people have been prevented by God from ever understanding it. This is not to deny some people the opportunity to hear and understand the gospel. It is simply saying that one cannot understand the gospel message when our hearts are hardened, when our faith is shallow and when our life is choked full with the deception of wealth and success.

When Jesus told his disciples that the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to them and not to the rest, it means that the message is for those who want to listen. At that moment, only the disciples had receptive hearts. The disciples did not fully understand the parable when Jesus’ first spoke of it. That’s OK. This was precisely why they came to Jesus for further clarification. This shows their eagerness to learn and to understand Jesus’ teaching. How many Christians dare to say that they understand EVERY single theology about God? How many of us would take the opportunity to engage with our Sunday school teachers, our cell leaders, our elders, our deacons, our pastors for further clarification? I am not saying that pastors have all the answers. We don’t. Having the answer is not the key. It is the heart of learning which we need to cultivate. Our understanding of God will continue to change over time. This should not stop us from wanting to know God more each day. Every day is a new discovery about the ways of God.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to encourage you with a quote from a favorite author of mine, Dallas Willard from his book, the Renovation of the Heart.

“The ultimately lost person is the person who cannot want God. Who cannot want God to be God…The reason they do not find God is that they do not want him or, at least, do not want him to be God…without this realization of our utter ruin and without the genuine revisioning and redirecting of our lives, which that bitter realization naturally gives rise to, no clear path to inner transformation can be found. It is psychologically and spiritually impossible. We will steadfastly remain on the throne of our universe, so far as we are concerned, perhaps trying to “use a little God” here and there.”

Simply put, the sooner we realize that our heart needs renovation, a clean-up, the sooner God can work in our lives! The longer we stay on our throne as king; there is no place for Jesus in our hearts.

The farmer analogy for us is really about the cultivation of our inner hearts. The call for true transformation in our lives. It starts from within us. On Jul 10, 1996, Pastor Daniel gave me a devotional book by Oswald Chambers, titled My Utmost for His Highest. This devotional book remains my all-time favorite devotion book. I would always recommend it to Christians who are looking to re-connect with God. On the first page of the book, Pastor Daniel wrote these words for me, apparently a quote from some Desert Fathers, “If the inner person is not watchful, the outer person cannot be watched.” I have tried to live my life by this saying. Yes, there are times when I am not watchful, but if my heart is repentant, God would reel me back in again. That’s his promise.

As family and friends in this church community, let us keep watch for each other in our walk with God. Bearing in mind to first remove the planks in our eyes before removing the specks in our brother’s eyes. To be mindful of where we are building our house, on the sand or on higher ground. And from today’s parable, we learn about the importance of cultivating our hearts, so that, we can hear and understand the gospel message in our lives, and to put our faith into practice. Transformation can only start when the renovation of the heart begins.

The inner person is where the renovation of your heart must take place. Get it right and you will be right on track with God. Only Jesus’ disciples were hearing and understanding the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Not because they had any special abilities of comprehensive. It is simply because they had receptive hearts to the gospel message. Let us learn today to follow Jesus in both word and in deed. Let us put our faith into practice today.

CNY is coming soon. As we take time to re-paint, re-pack or even to renovate our homes, cleaning up and throwing away old junk. Take time also to renovate our hearts. Take a stock check on what is the condition of your hearts today and ask God to help you clear out the bad habits and constant struggle with sin in our lives.

Let us pray.