Y’all ever heard the business phrase, “going granular?” It might not be as popular an expression now as it was 5 years ago or so but I think people are still using it. About 5 years ago, you couldn’t hardly go into a meeting without someone tossing out that phrase. “We’re going to go granular” means we’re going to closely examine all of the small details and get to the bottom of the story.

“Going granular” is helpful sometimes, a good tool to get to the bottom of certain mysteries, not all, but a lot. Other times though, going granular, focusing on the little details, leaves you missing the bigger picture.

I’ve been known to do this very thing. Missing the forest through the trees and all that. Way back when, when I was in seminary, I had to take Biblical Hebrew. Now, I found Hebrew to be very, very tough and in order to do well, I got into a bad habit. I would cram Hebrew relentlessly right before a test. Id study those little lines and dots until I knew just what every one of them meant.

Except I couldn’t read hardly a word of it. I knew the words but focused so much time on that, I lost the bigger picture – that I was being taught to read the language, not be a technical expert on the pointing of vowels.

Last week I began a two-week sermon series on the Parable of the Sower. As I mentioned previously, this is a significant parable, showing up in Matthew, Mark and Luke’s gospels, one of only 7 of 33 parables to do so. Further, it is one of the few parables that Jesus explicitly explains. Whereas with other parables, the meaning bubbles up through the story. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus takes it one step further, making sure that his disciples don’t miss the point.

Last week, we examined this parable looking at the different types of soil as conditions of the human heart. Some are rocky, hard, pride-filled or concerned about the world. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is clearly a topic in view in the parable. We can’t read these words and overlook an examination of our hearts. Are they rocky with pride? Are they shallow with only artificial concern for others? Are our hearts being choked out by the cares of this world?

We should ask those questions.         

But we should also, I believe, take a step back from the soil. Get out of our granular-mode and see the bigger picture artfully obscured by our fascination with soil-typing. And here’s what we see – This is one CRAZY sower.

Now what do I mean by that?

Let’s listen again to our parable from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 1-9 and 18-23:

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, 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 produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears let him hear.”

“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 has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along 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 he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he 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 deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”