Key Verses: 2, 8, 11, 24, 39
A
common way of communicating a truth is to use something from everyday life and
then make the bridge to the truth you are trying to teach. We do it with kids
all the time and think nothing of it. These stories are used as a tool, not an
end in themselves. We need to recapture the use of stories to teach truths.
Too
many preachers and teachers simply hand out the truth and think the application
will automatically follow from the presentation of truth. Nothing could be less
true. Jesus could have just presented the Truth and let the people figure out
what it meant and how to apply it. He didn’t. Neither should we. Then, the
people didn’t have the truth, so Jesus used the stories to open them up to the
truth. We now have the truth and need to use stories to show how to apply the
truth. Or in the case of non-Jesus-followers, open them up to the truth.
Stories
need to capture the imagination and emotions. There has to be enough of the
story to get the imagination involved, but not so much that the imagination
goes into neutral. We need to be picturing the story in our mind’s eye. Then
when the truth is taught it gets wired to that deep part of our brain and is
not easily forgotten.
Harvest time in the ancient world,
and in subsistence areas of the world today, is a time of celebration. It means
survival for another year. When there is extra, it means insurance against a
bad crop next year. It is not enough to grow enough food for next year, there
must be enough to eat and enough to put into the ground to grow another crop. A
yield of thirty times what was sown would be a great yield even by today’s
standards. It would easily provide for the farmer’s needs for life. It meant
there had been rain at just the right time in just the right quantity. Yields
higher than this would have been unheard of in that day and age.
So when a person’s heart is receptive
and prepared, it is amazing what God can do in that life. Soil must be soft
enough for the seed to take root and find nourishment. There can’t be too many
other things of importance to take away nourishment from the crop. This is the
reason people need to feel need before they are receptive to the Gospel.
Difficulties in life soften the heart. When things are too easy, need is not
felt. Remember that the next time you try to help out someone feeling a need
deeply. Perhaps God is using the difficulty to soften their hearts!
We must consider carefully with what
we hear and measure it carefully. If we accept the truth with lots of filters,
not allowing it to sink into our hearts and minds, future truth will have a
harder time finding a place to land. We can’t just let it go in one ear and out
the other. Truth must be considered, thought about, chewed and digested. It
must be applied. Truth has a power of its own to change its environment.
And then we see Truth change His
environment. Jesus did not just speak truth, He IS Truth. His disciples are
troubled and in turmoil by the storm. He speaks truth to the storm and it
quiets. The disciples are still digesting the reality of Jesus. They have not
grasped enough of Jesus to be at peace. Their faith is still not firmly placed
in Him. So Jesus brings calm and invites them to have faith in Him. Faith in
Him will quiet the internal storms.