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Parable of the Soils
Mark 4:1-20
by Karen L. Oberst
June 5, 2011

This summer, Faith is planning to do a series on the parables of Jesus. This morning I'm going to talk about a parable called the Parable of the Sower, or more accurately the Parable of the Soils. This is appropriate for a couple of reasons. First, after meeting we will be going over and planting the garden, where we hope we have all good soil! Secondly, according to Mark, likely the most chronologically accurate gospel, this was Jesus' first parable.

Listen to a modernized version of Mark 4:1-20.

One day near the Sea of Galilee, a large group of people gathered to hear Jesus speak. In fact, there were so many people crowding around, that Jesus borrowed a boat and stood in it to talk to them. But rather than preaching or anything, he told a story. It went like this.

"Listen! A farmer went to sow seed in his field so he could raise a crop. When he scattered his seed, some fell on the hard-packed pathway that ran beside the field. The birds flew in and soon made short work of those seeds. Some of the seed fell in places where gravel mixed with the soil. This sprouted quickly, but because the roots had no depth, the plants soon withered and died. Some seed fell at the other end of the field where thorns and weeds flourished. Though the plants grew, they had little chance competing with the thorns and other weeds, so they never matured. However, some seed fell on the plowed and prepared soil where it grew strong and hearty and produced a good crop to feed the farmer and his family. If you have ears, listen!"

The disciples were baffled. They had never heard Jesus tell a story like this, and they couldn't figure out what he was getting at. As the crowd dispersed, they discussed it among themselves, but finally went and asked Jesus what he meant by the story.

He sighed. "You really didn't get it? How are you going to figure out what my other stories mean? I'm going to be doing a lot of teaching through stories from now on. The people who are tuned in to what God is saying will hear and grow, and those who might be enemies won't understand.

"Here's what this story means. The farmer is the person speaking God's words to people. Some people are like the pathway. They aren't ready to hear God's teaching, and Satan plucks the words out of their minds and hearts. Some people are like the rocky ground. They hear God's words with joy, but aren't willing to do anything that would give depth to their commitment. When any kind of trouble comes along, they fall away. Some people are like the weedy place. They hear God's words to them, but they have so much else on their minds that it gets crowded out. Finally, dear friends, there are people like you who are ready and eager to hear God's words. The word will take root in you, and grow, and you will produce a great crop."

Before I begin talking about this particular parable, I want to take a moment to look at the word parable itself. It's a Greek word, parabole, which means the placing of one thing beside another. The verb form was originally a nautical term meaning, "to bring to land," used of pulling a boat up beside a dock. By the time of Plato, it had come to mean a story or illustration told to throw light on something else; a story that comes alongside the truth and illustrates it. And this tells you that parables were not unique to Jesus or to Judaism.

Jesus did different kinds of teaching. There are his straight moral teachings like the Sermon on the Mount, where he spoke the truth openly, and there are the parables that can be interpreted and understood various ways. Why did Jesus use parables? He tells us one reason in Mark 4:11. "He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables" Therefore, it seems that one purpose of parables was to put the truth in code to keep Jesus out of trouble with those in authority.

There are other good reasons for telling stories. People remember stories better than straight teaching. Especially in the illiterate society of first century Israel, stories would help the truth stick in someone's mind.

Jesus told stories about common things that common people could understand, thus bringing the truth home to them. By the way, since the Pharisees tended to be in the upper class, another purpose of parables could be to use situations they would not so closely relate to, which would take them a step further away from the radical teachings of Jesus.

Whether Jesus intended this or not, I think another value of stories is that they provide layers of meaning, and can mean different things to us at different ages, and in different circumstances. On the other hand, we must also be careful not to read more into them than is warranted.

Jesus' hearers would have been very familiar with the actions of the farmer in the story. Jewish farmers planted their crops by broadcasting seed, that is, by walking up and down a field and scattering handfuls of it. In using this method some of the seed would fall on places where it did not grow at all, or did not reach maturity.

I come before you today as a gardener who has plenty of experience with hard soil, rocky soil, weedy soil, and good soil, so this parable means a lot to me. Perhaps you have that experience too.

Jesus talks about four kinds of soils. The first is that used as a pathway beside the field or between rows, packed down by people walking on it. I call this kind of soil the hard path.

Who are the hard path people? My first thought was that they are those we might call the hard cases of society - the habitual sinners, people who live a debased lifestyle. And this is so, since habitual bad choices can make the heart hard. Yet this is not the only way of life that can lead to a hard heart. The Pharisees, for example, were so invested in the life of religious rule-keeping that they could not hear the truth. We can be so invested in any opinion or idea that we refuse to listen. As Westerners, for instance, we can be so convinced that we have the right to all our luxuries that we cannot hear the whispered words of Jesus to share with others.

That brings me to an important point. Just as the various types of soil all existed together in one field, so we also can have hard places, thorny places, rocky places, and well cultivated places in our own hearts. My heart is hard in any area where I am so certain I am right that I am no longer willing to listen to any other viewpoint, whether that is my religious convictions, my political leanings, my conception of my rights, my knowledge of a particular subject, my stand on issues. I am not saying there is no right and wrong, but when we condemn without listening, when we shut our eyes to others' problems and points of view, we are acting as hard soil..

Next Jesus talks about rocky soil. The Message calls this gravel. You can picture it as a thin layer of soil over rocks, or as soil mixed with gravel or small pebbles.

Who are the gravelly soil people, the shallow people? They are those who have some kind of connection to God, but who are not growing in their spiritual lives. We can use various metaphors to describe these folks. Paul calls them spiritual infants in Ephesians 4:14. "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching…" All through The Great Omission, Dallas Willard bemoans the fact that so many people want to be Christians without becoming disciples, which describes the same shallow commitment. When I was growing up, we spoke of those who saw Christianity as "fire insurance," that is, something to keep them out of hell.

It is true that simple belief is enough to get into God's Kingdom. The thief on the cross illustrates this. In Luke 23:43, Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." However, with the exception of such deathbed conversions, once we are in the Kingdom, our normal path is to grow into our true child of God selves, mature and fruit producing.

We all have within ourselves shallow places, places we hang on to and refuse to grow out of. I may be shallow in my love for others, for instance, judging, rather than accepting them. I may be shallow in my trust, preferring to put my confidence in my bank account rather then God. I may believe my intelligence is enough to get me through, without needing to ask God for help. I may put my faith in a particular pastor, rather then in Christ. We all have places where the soil of our hearts is rocky and shallow. Only God can show us the places in our lives that we need to deepen, so that we are not caught off guard when trouble comes, or something challenges our faith.

The third type of soil Jesus mentions is thorny or weedy ground where the growing plants are choked out. Who are those people we might consider thorny ground? At its simplest, they do not know, have not taken the time to decide, what the really important things in their lives are.

Most of us lead very busy lives. We work and raise kids, with all that entails. Various outside interests occupy us. We keep house and fix meals. We try to get ahead in our profession, etc., etc. Any or all of these things can be thorns - that is, weeds - in our lives, though they don't have to be. It all has to do with goals and priorities.

There are at least a couple types of people who qualify as thorny soil. First are those who have no goals at all, and just do whatever needs doing at the moment. Some have called this the tyranny of the urgent. These folks never stop to organize their lives or decide what is important and what is not worth doing. I suspect this happens to all of us at one time or another, but the point is not to allow the urgent to crowd out the important.

A thorny soil person can also be one who is always on the go, always involved in something. It is very easy for this to happen in our multi-tasking world. For many of us it is easier to busy ourselves at a concrete task than to step back and ask whether that particular task is meant for us. Nor do we want to take time for ourselves. After all, we don't want to appear self-indulgent! In The CEO of YOU, Marsha Petrie Sue calls these folks human doings instead of human beings.

If we are to cease being thorny soil, we need to take time to step back and evaluate what is important in our lives, what needs to be nourished, and what needs to be let go, or laid down, as we Quakers say. This is not an easy task in our busy lives, but it is necessary for our growth into our true child of God selves.

Finally, Jesus talks about good soil - the soil that is tilled, weed free, stone free, and ready to plant. Who are the good soil people? Who are the folks producing a bumper crop? They are those seeking to follow Christ with their whole hearts, who seek to live out Sermon on the Mount values in their lives, who strive to grow into their true child of God selves.

One last thing I want to mention is the reason why we seek to become better soil. It is true that our growth is a source of joy to us, and a pleasure to God, but the main purpose is not to make ourselves better. Just as the point of sowing seed in good soil is to produce a bountiful harvest to feed the farmer and his family, so the intention of our growth is to become better able to serve others.

As we go into open worship, here are a few queries to think about.

1. What kind of soil am I generally?
2. Where are the hard places in my life, the places where I refuse to change? Where are the stony places in my life where I am not growing? Where are the weedy places, where I let other things crowd out the important?
3. Where are the good soil places, where I am doing well?
4. How do I evaluate my life to be sure I am doing what is important to me and not allowing the urgent or the immediate to crowd that out?