A Sower Went Out
To Sow His Seed
I would like to compare two farmers, or sowers of seed, this morning. They are very different in their outlook. First let’s look at the one in our gospel lesson, Luke 8:4-15.
This man goes out to sow his seed, but he is not a very careful sower, is he? Some of his seeds land on the footpath, hard-packed by traffic, so it lays on the surface and becomes a feast for the birds. Doesn’t the sower know better than to throw good seed on the sidewalk?
He also threw seed on rocky soil. The hardpan rock absorbs the sun’s heat, so this seed quickly shoots a blade out of the soil, and things look great for a few days. But when the full heat of the sun bears down on it it withers because it has no depth of root. It makes a good beginning, but ends as quickly as it began. Doesn’t this sower know his field any better than to throw seeds where they will not grow?
Other seeds he scatters among thorn bushes. Why are thorn bushes in his field? They were put there on purpose to form a hedge around the field to keep animals and trespassers out. These seeds begin to grow among the thorns but they lose the battle for space and nutrients. Doesn’t the sower know better than to throw seed near the thorn bushes?
This sower throws his seed indiscriminately, as if he doesn’t care where it goes. Isn’t this wasteful? Shouldn’t he be more careful with precious seed?
There is another famous farmer in Psalm 126:5,6. This man goes forth "weeping, bearing precious seed," knowing that the seed he is throwing on the ground would feed his family for several months. He is trembling with fear of failure and hope of success. If his crop doesn’t come in, he and his family will have nothing to eat. It is a tremendous act of faith to throw kernels of grain on the ground where birds can eat them, or where the soil may simply refuse to grow them. Maybe they will begin to grow and locusts will eat them. Maybe there will be no rain. Maybe it’s best just to make bread from these kernels rather than plant them.
He may sow in tears, but he will reap in joy. If he doesn’t sow, he will not experience the joy of harvest. If he sows his seed, and tends his crop diligently, he will bring in his sheaves in their season.
The sower of Psalm 126 would not let one kernel of grain fall among thorn bushes, or on the footpath. He knew his land well, and would never think of planting precious seed in the rocky soil, whereas the sower in Jesus’ parable throws seed around promiscuously, like he’s got all the seed in the world: and this is why the disciples need to have the parable explained. No one sows seed like the sower of this parable, and therefore, the parable makes no sense to them.
Jesus is the sower in His parable, of course, and if we are patriotic subjects of His kingdom we should sow like Him, and spread the seed of His word wherever we go. The seed, Jesus says, is the word of God, which is inexhaustible. Remember the Doritos commercial where Jay Leno says, "Eat all you want: we’ll make more"? Regarding the word of God, I say, give it away, it will never run out. Throw it everywhere you go.
The Gideons, for instance, are promiscuous sowers of seed, setting a good example for us. They leave Bibles everywhere; hotel rooms, hospitals, bus stations, supermarkets, you name it. They hand them out to people they meet all the time. In some cases people have picked up Bibles off the ground that others have thrown away, and the seed bore fruit in their lives. So we should never worry that we are wasting the word of God, whether we are handing out Bibles or quoting Scripture.
True, some of the seed we will sow will fall on the sidewalk, and bear no fruit. So? Jesus Himself throws seed around indiscriminately, so that some of it lands on hard-packed soil and amounts to nothing. Some of it lands on shallow soil, and some among thorns. Shouldn’t we be like Him though, and do the same? What happens to the seeds that fall on good soil will more than making up for what lands by the wayside.
So the first application of the parable is that we should not care where we put the word of God. It will have its intended effect wherever God wants it to. Our job is just to be obedient sowers. If the birds, the weather, and the weeds waste some of the seed, so be it. There is no shortage of it, so we should not be stingy with it. There is good soil right next to the thorns, the sidewalk, and the shallow soil. If we are careful to avoid what we think is bad soil, we may unwittingly neglect good soil.
There are other applications we could make of this parable. Jesus says in v.10 that "it is given" to some to be good soil, but others will never be able to grow fruit for the sower, an illustration of the doctrine of election. Leave it to God to give some understanding. If some do not understand, so be it, but let us not allow them to say they were never told.
Jesus makes an odd statement here, quoting Isaiah 6:9,10, to justify this scattergun approach to disseminating the Scriptures, "…that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not hear." This is why He spoke in parables, to demonstrate that God will give understanding to whom He wills to have it. What we might think is rocky soil, or soil too close to the sticker bushes, God can make blossom.
Of course, God passes over some men because of their sins, but those He brings into His kingdom He brings in despite their sins. We however, don’t know who is who, so we should not pass over some people because we think they are beyond hope, because then we would give up on everyone.
My final application of this parable has to do with making our calling and election sure. The three classes of people Jesus speaks of just may be in church at any time. Remember, Jesus was speaking of those in Israel whose hearts were hard, or bound up with thorns. He was quoting Isaiah, who was addressing people in basically the same condition. These were the people of God, not unbelievers!
Some, despite repeated seedings, do not absorb any of the word. The devil is quick to snatch it away because they have closed their hearts to it, despite hearing it. Others may have just come to Christ, and show good signs of bearing fruit quickly, but when persecutions arise they become embarrassed when someone asks them why they are so religious, and they wither as quickly as they grew.
The third class is the most troubling. These are the ones who allow the cares of this world to squeeze the life out of them, and as Matthew 13:22 puts it, they "become unfruitful." They were simply distracted from following Jesus.
Thorns came upon the earth with the curse, Gen. 3:18, and just as actual thorns impede our agricultural efforts, so do metaphorical thorns - cares, riches, and the pleasures of this life - act to impede our production of spiritual fruit for the Lord.
Finally, a word about the good ground, v. 15. Some have an honest and good heart, do they? Well, they must have gotten it from the Lord, because the apostle says that our mouths, apart from Christ, are open graves, Romans 3:13. If the issues of life proceed from the heart, Proverbs 4:23, they do so through the mouth. It’s what comes out of a man that defiles him, Matthew 15:11. If you have a good and honest heart, then thank God for it. Also, thank God that someone, a parent, a brother, a neighbor, someone, was faithful in planting the seed in you, even though the quality of your soil was perhaps unknown to them, even in doubt.
Matthew says that the good soil will bear fruit, some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, and some thirty-fold. Just as there are different kinds of bad soil, there are different kinds of good soil. I think the only difference between the good soil that produces a hundred-fold and that which produces thirty-fold is desire, desire to produce as much fruit for the Lord as possible. We are all somewhere between the fruit that grew up among thorns and that which produced a hundred fold.
Give diligence to make sure, first of all, that your soil is well nourished and free from thorns, the cares of this world, and then strive to bring forth as much fruit for the master as you possibly can. Your fruit may not be growing as quickly as you might like, but the Lord says that, "with patience," good soil will produce fruit. So be patient with yourself, but don’t confuse laziness with patience. Good soil *will* bring forth fruit.
