FOUR REACTIONS TO JESUS

                      Mark 4:2-9

During World War 1, a group  of Turkish soldiers held a cliff top vantage point to protect the Turkish army near an location called Michmash. The British army was ordered to wipe out the Turkish opponents, which was easier said than done. But one of the British officers remembered an incident in the Bible at the exact location – where David’s friend Jonathan found a trail which led him and supporters to the top of the cliff where the enemy were defeated. The British searched and found the same trail used by Jonathan some three thousand years earlier – and history repeated itself – all because one British officer remembered an episode from the Bible. Remembrance is important, and our theme for communion, where we remember Jesus’ amazing sacrifice for us. Jesus left us this memorial ceremony so that we could remember the greatest of all truths – that He died for our salvation!

Today’s parable shows us not only the four types of response to Jesus and His Word, but it also shows four different reactions that we can make to Him at different times in our lives! The first group are the people who hear the Word of God, but it goes “in one ear and out the other!” In other words, these people are quite indifferent to God’s Word, and it makes no impact on their lives whatsoever! These are the people who turn up to church for an infant baptism or a funeral. They sit with their ears closed throughout the service – especially for what they see as the ‘religious bits’. In the book Hey God, the Italian momma, on the day before she dies, approaches a man walking past her home and she says, “Sir, you better accept Christ and accept Him quickly because you haven’t got long!” But the man keeps repeating, “I don’t want to hear it!” Momma’s son attended that man’s funeral four days later! Most people just don’t want to hear about Jesus, and most of them just prefer to commit the only unforgiveable sin – which is leaving Jesus out of their lives forever!

The second group we are told have shallow soil and the seed sprouts quickly but is soon scorched and withered! These are the people who at first respond positively to Jesus and His Word, but for them it’s just a brief novelty – “here today and gone tomorrow!” I once took a small group of students to a Pentecostal church, and by the end of the meeting, they were all speaking in tongues! They were so excited on the way home and of them wanted to be baptised the following week. But there was no depth to their decision, and by the following week, after getting the usual tormenting from their friends in the dormitories, they had put the whole experience behind them and were happy just to go to the usual service at the Anglican church!

The third group are those who take notice of the Word of Jesus, but the world quickly chokes out what they’ve heard! For them it’s a case of “easy come, easy go!”  They get easily sucked in by the temptations of the world, and their faith is easily swept away when their friends say, “Come with us and have some fun!”  The so-called fun though is usually self-indulgent and self-destructive, and doesn’t allow any room for Jesus! There is no shortage of worldly activities which lead us downhill if we’re ready to go looking for them!  People often fall for one of the three the three p’s:   pokies,  pubs and pot! One of my students once insisted on seeing a priest so that he could become a Christian! I said, you don’t need a priest, you just need to turn to Jesus! And I prayed the sinner’s prayer with him! But then he was so keen to ‘share’ faith with his mates,that he headed straight to the pub to tell them about it! And that’s where it ended. He quickly joined in the drinking and swearing and his new faith was swept away in no time!

But the fourth group hear the Word of Jesus, and are willing to accept Him in place of their empty lives once and for all! The book Hey God, which I’ve already mentioned, tells of several members of Momma’s family who resist Jesus for many years until finally they surrender their lives to Him and can’t wait to share Him with everyone they meet! A lady I know came from a non-Christian family, except that one of the four daughters attended Sunday School. Gradually however, the mother and the other three daughters turned to Jesus and finally the father surrendered  also. The father was so full of the joy of the Lord, that no-one could stop him talking about Jesus at every opportunity. The mother developed a similar zeal. Today it is only the first daughter who gave up the faith and married a non-Christian! She clearly fell into the second or third group which we’ve already described! What about you? Do you give up too easily, or are you willing to face the fact that only with Jesus do we have a real purpose for living and a real confidence in dying!