This morning in Luke 8:4–15, we looked at Jesus’ parable of the sower and the four kinds of soil — hard path, rocky ground, thorny weeds, and good dirt. Each one represents a different way people receive God’s word, and if we’re honest, most of us have been in more than one category over the years. The goal is to be “good dirt” — to let God’s word take root and grow by tending it daily through prayer, Scripture, worship, and service, just like you’d care for a garden. It takes work and persistence, but the harvest God can bring in our lives is worth it. So today, let’s be good dirt and see what God grows.

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Well, good morning. It’s good to be with you as we continue together in our time in Luke. I hope you had a great weekend. It’s great to be back now that school’s rolling along. Kids have been in school for a little while now.

We dropped Thomas off at school on Saturday, and Sarah’s down at Southern. College is going, school’s going, work’s going — so now we’re kind of in that August routine.

And that routine is good. I’m a fan of routine. I like that most of life is ordinary and steady, because it teaches us to look for God in the ordinary and the everyday. Life isn’t always spiritually exciting, is it? In fact, our growth usually happens when we learn to find God in the ordinary and the routine.

So that’s my hope — that Rooted is a good part of your routine. As we gather together each morning around 7:00 for this video, or 5:00 a.m. on YouTube, or as you read the podcast and email before that, I pray this time is a place where you can find God in our midst.

Today, we’re picking up in Luke 8:4–15:

When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.’
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But they have no root; they believe only for a while, and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns—these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for the seed in the good soil—these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.”

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This is a classic parable. I’ve preached on it many times, and I’m sure you’ve heard many sermons on the parable of the sower.

But I want to highlight that middle section — verses 9 and 10 — where the disciples ask, “Why do you teach in parables?” Jesus answers, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom, but others get parables so that they may see but not perceive, hear but not understand.”

He’s referencing the words God gave to Isaiah — that Isaiah would preach, but many would not understand. Jesus is fulfilling that prophecy here.

And we see that truth play out in the parable itself:

• Some people reject God’s word outright.
• Others receive it with excitement, but because it has no root, it withers under hardship.
• Others receive it but let life’s distractions choke it out.
• And then there are those who receive it deeply, nourish it, and see it grow into something fruitful.

We’ve all probably been in more than one of those categories at different points in our lives. Maybe you’ve had seasons where you were the “rocky soil” — excited at first, but not rooted enough to endure trials. Maybe you’ve had seasons where the “thorns” of life’s worries and busyness crowded out your spiritual life.

Jesus tells the disciples, “You’re the good soil.” And that’s the question for us today: Which kind of soil are we?

Years ago, I preached a sermon on this called “Good Dirt.” That’s what we want to be — good dirt that receives the seed of God’s word, lets it take root, and nourishes it. That’s what the spiritual disciplines are for — reading Scripture, prayer, fasting, worship. These aren’t just religious habits; they’re how we water and tend the seed God has planted in us.

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Now, I’ll be honest — tending a garden is hard work. I’ve done my share of hoeing rows and picking corn, and I’m fine letting Fresh Market grow my beans from now on. But anyone who’s ever grown a garden knows it doesn’t happen by accident.

You till the soil, plant the seed, water it, pull weeds, and tend it daily. And when the harvest comes — when you’re sitting with your grandmother shelling butter beans — it’s worth all the work.

It’s the same with our spiritual lives. Nourishing what God gives us takes time, effort, and sometimes persistence when we don’t feel like it. But when we do — when we become that good soil — God can grow something beautiful in us.

Some seed “produced a hundredfold.” Who knows what God wants to produce in your life? Who knows the fruit He’s ready to grow in you?

So today, let’s be good dirt. Let’s tend the seed of God’s word in our lives through prayer, worship, service, communion, and all the means of grace. And let’s see what God will grow.

We’ll pick up tomorrow with more of Jesus’ parables.