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When Paul preached on Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-34) he
drew quite a crowd. We are told in v.21 that, "All
the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing
nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas."
Sounds like the chat at the end of a typical church meeting so no change
there then. Curiosity about this new thing Paul was preaching had drawn
a crowd. Having heard Paul's message the crowd were divided, some sneering,
others saying, "we want to hear you again on
this subject", still others choosing to follow Paul. Crowds are
funny old things. One minute you can have them eating out of the palm
of your hand with a great story, or a charismatic presentation, while
the next they are divided, some for you others against and a third lot
unable to make up their minds, maybe until someone makes it for them.
Paul was not fooled by the size of the crowd and neither was Jesus.
Back in Mark's gospel we find again that, "The
crowd that gathered round him was so large that he got into a boat and
sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore
at the water's edge." Imagine the gossip, the reports of this
event. The local church grapevine would be buzzing with news of the
latest gathering. There would be thrills of anticipation, "He's really
packing them in!" Who wouldn't go and see what it was all about? "Of
course I'm going! It's just too good to miss and anyway it makes a change
from the same old stuff in my church." There would be protests of disapproval.
Some would denounce it as a distraction from the real work while to
others this would seem to be a preacher's dream and a congregation's
dearest wish come true. There's a bit of the old Athenians in all of
us.
And when Jesus began to teach this parable to the crowd many were probably thinking about so-and-so who "should be here to hear this". But he knew that they were all in it and the ones who needed to hear it were already standing on the shore in front of him.
"Some was sown along the path", said
Jesus. Some, like that path, were hard and impenetrable. They had perhaps
already made up their minds before they came and had come simply to
have their worse fears confirmed. They remind me of a TV sketch in which
two men are discussing the possibility of intelligent life on other
planets. The first was emphatic in his belief that there was none. When
the second one asked why he was so certain he replied, "Well, if there
was they would be trying to get in touch with the more intelligent amongst
us - and I haven't heard anything." The path people heard nothing because
they were not listening, except perhaps to Satan whispering in their
ears telling them they were right all along to be sceptical.
"Some fell in rocky places", he continued.
These people have come to the shoreline to hear what Jesus has to say,
like it ("this would be good for the kids, Why don't we send them along?"),
but don't plan to "go overboard" with their religion. "I mean you don't
want to get a reputation for being a fanatic" they say. "The occasional
Sunday, Christmas and Easter, wedding and funerals of course, but let's
keep a little perspective".
"Some fell among thorns" Jesus went on.
These people are very taken by the message. Perhaps they come along
to church. They like the social side of things and "enjoy" the sermons
and the singing. It makes them feel good to "agree with that, nice sermon
pastor". They even begin to sound like Christians but while the Cross
is in their heads it is not in their lives. They are challenged but
not changed, convicted but not converted. Proof that you can enjoy the
gospel without really embracing it, they treat church as another facet
of their lives. Besides, there's the mortgage to pay, and work, and
life gets so busy.
"Some fell on good soil" Jesus concluded.
The proof if it? Seed. You can be part of the crowd. You can even "go
along" for a time, approving the message. Susanna Wesley, mother of
the famous brothers John and Charles said, "The tree is known by its
fruits but not always by its blossoms. What blossoms beautifully sometimes
bears bitter fruit." Jesus wasn't looking for the crowd to bear fruit.
He wasn't looking for the individuals in the crowd to blossom. He was
seeking the fruitful disciple who continues to follow whatever the cost.
In John's gospel we read that on hearing Jesus' Bread of Life sermon,
"many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept
it?'…From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer
followed him." (John 6:60-66) It should come as no surprise that this
came as no surprise to the Lord. Crowds don't follow Jesus, people follow
Jesus. What about you?
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