“Only the Fruitful” -- Mark 4:13-20

There are all types of fans in our world. When Kim and I first moved to Waco almost 25 years ago, we would walk into stores where clothing were sold and see plenty of Longhorns and Aggies shirts and items, but hardly anyone sold Baylor things unless it was the Baylor Bookstore on campus.

The reason was that Baylor football had fallen on hard times. It had been years since the Bears had done anything—since Grant Teaff’s years as coach—and with the team’s failings interest seemed to wane in Baylor as a school. Reading through the newspapers when the valedictorians and salutatorians of the local high schools were listed, almost all of them expressed an interest to attend college away from Waco.

Then Art Briles came to Baylor, and within three years, it was popular to support the Bears. The team was winning, and with Robert Griffin’s Heisman and the building of the new football stadium on campus, Baylor was all the rage.

Then came the scandal that cost Briles his job, and interest in the Bears began to wane again. It didn’t help that the team went 1-11 under Matt Rhule. The stadium was half empty, people were grumbling about Baylor and all that was swirling around the campus and the team.

There are all sorts of fans in our world. There are those who will follow their team through good and bad—the true fans. There are those who will cheer the team when it starts playing well—the fair-weather fans. And there are some who will never like the team for whatever reason—the never fans.

As we continue considering what it means to follow Jesus, we consider a parable Jesus told about a sower, seeds and soil. In this parable, Jesus shows us what it means to follow Him.

Background

Jesus was an excellent teacher, and one of His favorite ways to teach was with the use of the parable. Someone described a parable as an earthly story about heavenly things, and Jesus uses the parables to explain the kingdom of heaven in ways that are relatable to people today.

This parable—the parable of the sower and the seeds—is one of the best known because it is Jesus’ first parable and it is one that He takes the time to explain. Yes, Jesus did explain other parables at times, but this one stands out because of the detail of Jesus’ explanation. The parable describes the sharing of the gospel and how we receive it.

Central Truth: If we follow Jesus, we will bear fruit.

To understand, ask Jesus (13-15)

After Jesus had told the parable, the disciples waited until they were alone with Him when they asked Him to explain the parable to them (cf. v. 10). The verse tells us that the twelve and others with them asked Jesus about the parable.

Jesus’ response is to ask them if they don’t understand the parable, how did they expect to understand any parable. The answer comes in exactly what the disciples had done. They didn’t understand, so they turned to Jesus. That’s the answer to Jesus’ question. He wasn’t chiding them, but He was letting them know that they needed to understand the parables.

The way you and I understand the parables is by prayerfully reading them in context and trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us. Most of the time, we will find the answer in other passages of the Bible. That’s what’s going on here. “We don’t understand, Jesus. Will You explain it to us?”

Jesus then begins to explain the parable. The first thing He tells them is that the sower is one who scatters the Word of God to the world, immediately letting His hearers and us understand that the story isn’t about agriculture. It is a message about how people respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the sower is the one who shares, the soils are the ones who receive the word.

The first soil, explained in v. 15, is the hard soil that is unable or unwilling to receive the word. There are those who are so closed to the word that the message falls on deaf ears, and it is easy for Satan to keep them from hearing. Such people have the opportunity to receive the word, but they do not want to nor will they do so. These are the ones we traditionally have always considered the lost. We mourn them, but we are encouraged by the next three groups.

Sadly, we need to reconsider, because in the next three examples, Jesus lets us know that it isn’t enough to hear the word, even to receive the word joyfully. To be His followers, Jesus expects more from us than to simply hear and receive gladly the word.

Shallow soil (16-17)

The shallow soil—the rocky soil—is a thin soil on top of a hard bedrock. Such a soil is easily warmed by the sun and allows seeds to sprout and grow quickly. It doesn’t take long for such soil to seem to have a bountiful, lush crop of whatever seed was sown.

The trouble with such soil, though, is that it isn’t conducive to establishing a deep root system. Because the plants are poorly rooted, they are susceptible to the harsh sun and wind that beats down upon them. The soil, though warm, doesn’t have a sufficient amount of nutrients to sustain the crops, and soon the crop that once seemed so promising is dying in the field.

You and I know people like this. They join the church and are immediately involved in all the activities of the church. They join the choir, offer to teach Sunday School, even are actively involved in visitation and outreach. Such people are so on fire for God that it seems there will be no stopping them.

But something does stop them. Time passes—weeks, months, a year—and suddenly this person isn’t so excited about their faith. Their attendance has dropped off, their fervor has waned. Soon, these members who were once so dependable are nowhere to be found.

Jesus describes such people as ones who hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But they have no root and soon fade away. In Luke’s account of this parable, he writes that such people are believers, but Matthew and Mark do not say that, so I believe it is correct to say that such people as Jesus is describing here are people who were once good church members, but never followers of Christ. They never root themselves in Him, so when “trouble and persecution come because of the word, they quickly fall away” (v. 17). Such people are glad to call themselves “Christian,” but only so long as things are going their way.

Weedy soil (18-19)

Soil can be deceiving. It can look like good ground, but it can hold hidden dangers. Some soil can seem ideal only to be a shallow layer on hard rock, as in the previous two verses. Other times, the field can appear ready to support a good crop, only to see weeds come up and choke out the life of the seeds that were planted. Such is the case in this passage.

Jesus says that these seeds hear the word, “but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke out the word, making it unfruitful” (v. 19).

Such people have divided loyalties. They claim to follow Jesus, but they are unable or unwilling to let go of other things that hinder their following Him. They find themselves still attracted to things in this world, and these things hinder their walk, eventually leading them away from the One who calls them.

When Jesus calls us to follow Him, we may receive His call gladly and joyfully, but inevitably, there will be something that comes up and challenges what we believe. There may be a situation at work that will challenge what I know Jesus teaches, and I have to decide if I will follow Jesus and risk failure. All too many people are willing to put work before Christ. There are some that put their family before Christ. Others put their hobbies before Him, or even their church membership. There are so many things that hinder or kill our desire to follow Him. The first thing Jesus mentions is worries in this world.

Please understand, it’s not that work, family or church aren’t important. They are. We are called to be good and faithful workers and family members and church members. But if any of those things are placed before Christ, then we are not following Him.

Jesus’ point is that divided loyalty will eventually choke out the desire to respond to His calling. As Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the foolish man is the one who hears His words but doesn’t do them. When we rely on our own ability to do God’s will, we will fail, and in our failure, we will become discouraged to the point of believing there is nothing to this calling in the first place. Intellectually, we may agree with Jesus. Jesus tells us that we must love Him wholly and completely, and that we cannot have anything before Him or even beside Him. He must be lord of all or He will not be lord at all.

Fertile soil (20)

Of the four types of soil Jesus mentions in the parable, there is only one field that was deemed to be truly receptive to the word. It is the soil mentioned in this verse. The good soil not only hears the word, but it also accepts the word and produces fruit in keeping with their acceptance of the word.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that we can tell genuine followers of Christ from false prophets by the fruit we bear. The fruit Jesus refers to is demonstrated in the way we live our lives. If the Spirit is truly in us, then we will demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. The love of Christ—our love for Him, yes, but also Christ-like love—will be evident in the way we treat others.

The fruitful seed is the one who not only hears God’s word, but put it in to practice. The fruitful believer is the one who understands that it is God living in us through His Spirit that is able to make the differences in our lives. The one who bears fruit is the one who is offering him- or herself as a living sacrifice, allowing ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit to will and to do His good works.

Good works is what God saves us to do, and good works are what God will do through us, for His glory and praise. And we will be fruitful according to His will.

Conclusion

When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He does so with a high standard and expectation of our complete devotion. If we allow anything—hard times, worries, conflicting allegiances—to hinder that walk, then we need to reassess where we are in our relationship.

Are we hearers only, or do we do His will? Is He really Lord, or is that just something we say because it’s expected of us?

What kind of soil am I?