God's Last Words

Farmers Lottery

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Two farmers each won a million dollars in the state lottery. The first farmer said he was going to use his money to retire, move to Florida, and live the good life. When the second farmer was asked what he was going to do he replied, “I don’t know, I think I’ll just keep on farming until it’s all used up!”

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought of it this way before but I’ve talked to many farmers who look at planting and harvesting as the ultimate gamble. They never know how the reaping will go in the end until it’s over, hoping that it will be profitable. They know that many things including the weather are beyond their control.

But there is always one fact that matters: you have to invest in the seed and prepare the land before you sow.

Two old men were sitting around talking and the first one said, “Let’s go get some lottery tickets. The jackpot is up around 400 million dollars.” The second old guy said, “I don’t buy those things.”  

“But that’s a whole pile of money. Don’t you think it’s worth spending five bucks to win?” said the first guy. The second old guy replied, “No! You’ve only got 1 in about 5.4 million chances to win. That puts the odds of proving you are a loser to almost 100 percent.”

“Well, not playing at all makes you an automatic loser,” was the retort of the first old guy.  “That’s okay,” was the reply, “At least I’ll still have my five bucks!”

A Texan farmer goes to Australia for a vacation. There he meets an Aussie farmer and gets talking. The Aussie shows off his big wheat field and the Texan says, "Oh! We have wheat fields that are at least twice as large".

Then they walk around the ranch a little and the Aussie shows off his herd of cattle. The Texan immediately says, "We have longhorns that are at least twice as large as your cows."

The conversation has, meanwhile, almost died when the Texan sees a herd of kangaroos hopping through the field. He asks, "And what are those?" The Aussie asks with an incredulous look, "Don't you have any grasshoppers in Texas?”

Jesus used farming, or at least the concept of planting and harvesting as metaphors of the Kingdom of God. Let’s hear the first of three (from Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23):

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.  Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 

And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 

Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 

As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.

As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Jesus tells us that only those seeds sown in good soil will bear fruit. Notice that He doesn’t make any distinction between the seeds themselves, but discusses only the type of ground the seed interacts with. This confirms the concept of “free will” in humanity and tells us that God loves the sinner but hates the sin.

Jesus, in highlighting the “soil,” or ground, and is telling us that we must ever be careful of the temptations, snares, and tarrasso’s surrounding us in the larger culture and/or society around us. It is from these, that bad fruit and stunted growth come from.

Remember what Jesus means in Matt. 15: 11 by saying it isn’t what goes into a man’s mouth that defiles him but what comes out of it?

This discussion began when the Pharisees wondered why the Lord’s disciples didn’t conduct a ceremonial hand washing before eating (Matt. 15: 2).  The Lord’s point is clear that observing such a ritual would not in and of itself make a person ceremonially clean, because many of the words we speak with our mouth originate as feelings in our heart. And that’s where any spiritual uncleanliness we harbor resides, not on our hands. Jesus explained this more fully in Matthew 15: 18-20;

“But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The “soil” of a person is their heart. And it is here that the word of God, the “seed” of God must take root.

Sam was in dire trouble. His business had gone bust and he was in serious financial trouble. He was so desperate he decided to pray for help. He began, ‘God, please help me. I've lost my business and if I don't get some money, I'm going to lose my house as well. Please let me win the lottery.’ Lottery night came and Sam didn’t win.

Again Sam prays, ‘God, please let me win the lottery! I've lost my business, my house and I'm going to lose my car as well.’ Lotto night comes and Sam still has no luck.

Once again, he prays, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?? I've lost my business, my house, and my car. My wife and children are starving. I don't often ask you for help and I have always been a good servant to you. PLEASE just let me win the lottery this one time so I can get my life back in order.’

Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light as the heavens open. Sam is confronted by the voice of God Himself: ‘Sam,’ says God, ‘meet Me halfway on this. Buy a lottery ticket.’

You get the idea – just like the saying goes – you got to submit yourself to God to receive His Blessings and reap the harvest of good fruit in His Kingdom. Amen.