The Parable of the Master’s Farming in the Gardens of the Heart

It was my early years of theological studies, a time when the fervour for preaching surged through my soul. Every pulpit I ascended, my sole focus was to gather the deepest content and articulate the most eloquent sentences. I naively believed: “Wherever I sow the Seed of Truth, it is bound to grow and bear fruit.”

This novice assumption continued until one day, after a Q&A session, when many young people left the hall carrying the same heavy load of unanswered doubts and questions they had brought with them. My heart sank. I rushed to my Master and, with a tone mixed with complaint and inquiry, I said,  “Sir! It is strange! Everything I say and every effort I make seems to vanish without effect in some hearts. Is the problem with my articulation, or is the fault with the listener’s disposition?”

The Master looked at me with a calm, profound gaze. A gentle smile rested on his lips, and as he softly stroked his white beard, he replied, “My son, effective preaching is exactly like the Art of Farming.”

He then, without another word, led me to a small, neglected garden plot at the end of the schoolyard. He pointed to a patch of ground covered with intertwined thorns and scattered with large stones here and there.

The Master asked, “If you sow the seed in this exact condition, on this very surface, can you hope for anything to sprout?”

I asserted firmly, “Certainly not! First, “The soil must first be prepared and then must be cleansed of these obstacles.”

The Master continued with his habitual philosophical tranquillity, “People’s hearts are precisely the same. Sometimes they are full of the thorns of misconception; sometimes the stones of hesitation block the path for the seed to penetrate. If the preacher merely scatters the seed of truth without addressing these obstacles, it will never yield fruit. One must first patiently clear the thorns, remove the stones, and then plant the seed.”

That day, I learned a great lesson from his word. From then on, I understood that every impactful and lasting sermon begins, not with accumulating beautiful words and sentences, but with answering the audience’s genuine questions and removing the barriers to reception.

Some Key Learnings from this experience

1. The Priority of Preparation Over Presentation: Effective preaching must not solely focus on the beauty of language and the depth of content. Before planting the seed of truth, the soil of the audience’s heart must be cleared of the thorns of misconception and the stones of scepticism.
2. The Need for Audience Analysis and Barrier Identification: The preacher must act like a farmer, assessing the condition of the soil (the audience’s heart). Understanding the obstacles-such as doubt, unanswered questions, and false presuppositions (the thorns and stones)-is paramount to any successful delivery of content.
3. Preaching Begins with the Answer, Not the Accumulation: The starting point for any effective outreach must be the resolution of mental obstacles and the addressing of the audience’s intellectual needs. If the main questions occupying the listener’s mind are not resolved, even the most beautiful and profound message will fail to take root.