The Parable of the Sower Outline Version

Prayer/Story Summary/Into Question

I would like to open with a word of prayer, Would you please join me in prayer.

Summary: Instead of reading the text I’d like to share an overview of the narrative with you. Jesus is telling a parable to a large crowd about a sower that goes out to sow seed. The sower scatters seed and it falls on the ground in various spaces: the road, the rocks, the thorns, and the good soil. Only the good soil brings a crop some multiplying thirty, sixty, some a hundred times.

In the text the disciples come to Jesus and ask, what does this parable mean? We find that what is sown is the word, the seed that falls on the path is snatched by satan, the seed in the rocks are those who receive the word but fall away in times of trouble. The thorns that choke the seed are the worries of life and desire for other things. While the good soil is that which produces a harvest far beyond the seed that was sown.

Context/ Background

Most of us have heard this parable several times in our life. And on first thought we might scratch our heads when we consider the parable. We may come with several questions. We might ask why would a farmer plant like this? as Mennonites who want to be good stewards of our resources, it seems on the surface that a lot of seeds go to waste. Well, to offer some background. This refers to a specific farming practice in that time where the seed was sown and the ground was then plowed. The seed not left where it fell, but was mixed into the soil underneath.

Question:

But I want to ask another question, “What does the sower think about when He sows?”

Page 1: Trouble in the Text.

The trouble in the text is simple. The sower plants by hand,, There are some seeds that produce a crop, but In the end there are some seeds that do not produce anything at all!

Yet there is a deeper trouble, Jesus draws our attention to the sober reality behind the parable that there are sowers of the not of mere seend but of God’s word and the harsh truth is there are people who will hear the word of God but it wont take root. with that in mind, It would be easy for the sower to think about how much of his work amounts to nothing.

Page 2: Trouble in the World.

In our world the reality is we will sow seeds that dont produce a crop. This could be fleshed out in a number of ways, there are people who wont recieve a word of salvation, encouragement, council, correction, or quite frankly a sermon may fall on deff ears. Again, I ask what does the sower think about when he sows?

Me: If I can be honest when i think about the seeds that dont bare a crop, I cant help but wonder if the six years I have preached the word and sown at my current Church, Diller Mennonite has been completely in vain. I have yet to see the fruit of my ministry.

You: Maybe you share some of the same discouragements in your own contexts. in the programs you have tried to start, ministry youve partnerships youve pursued, we cant partner with those people, prayer groups where no one may show up. or even a failed Bible study. All sown with passion, but at the end of the day you feel like your field is full of rocks and thorns. This may not be what the the sower thinks about but this is what I think about and I guarantee you anyone in ministry thinks about at one point or another.

Page 3: God’s action and Grace in the Text.

However, I want to draw your attention once again to the parable. Think about how the sower goes out in the parable. Sowing his field in the same way, year in and year out. The results of last years harvest dont change the way the farmer sows. The Sower doesnt judge the ground before his scatters the seed. No the Sower simply thinks about Sowing the seed with reckless abandon knowing that God will produce a crop if he sows. That is what the sower thinks about.

Jesus is the sower. Jesus went about his life sharing the word of God wherever he went. He preached in the the temple and all the hill side. He preached on the land and from a boat. Here is the real kicker. Jesus knew the people he preached to. He knew when the seed would fall on the path, in the rocks, in the thorns and in the good soil. Yet, He still spread the goodnews wherever He went.

Page 4: God’s action and Grace in the World

The reality is we dont know how many times the word that Jesus’ words fell on deaf ears, but I can tell you something we do know. The harvest, Jesus’ word produced a harvest a million times over, Why? We are the harvest friends think about it. Jesus shared the good news with one person that told another and another (5 times) and one person one day sowed a seed in you. In reality, multiple people probably sowed something in you. I want you to take a moment to Pause and reflect on who has sowed a word in your life. As Paul says in 1 Cor 3, one person may have planted a seed, another waters , but God causes a seed to grow, Amen?!?!

One shared an illustration using a twenty dollar bill. That the value doesn't change no matter what you do to it. Its the same with us, our value doesn't change. Sitting in the congregation was a visitor. That visitor wrote me a letter years later and shared how that one illustration changed her. And how she shared that illustration with a friend who was having a difficult time.

I want to close by following Jesus and the Sowers’ example right now. I want to sow a word in each of you. I have word for each of you today, with the hope and prayer that if I plant it, God will water it, care for it and produce an abundant harvest in each of you.

Yoel - Quiet Wisdom

Luke- Thoughtful

Betty- Blessed Meekness

Lesley- Authentic Leadership

Bev- Light and Laughter

Josh- A quiet steady Stream

Laura- An Ode to Self

Suzie- Courageous Encouragement

Kelly- Care and Called

Teresa - A Butterfly

Rebecca- Powerful Prophet

Randal - Compassionate

Christy- A Mighty Oak Tree

Alaina- God’s Mouth Piece

Brothers and Sisters, Think like the sower and sow the seed where every you go and with reckless abandon. Knowing that if you sow, God will produce a harvest in you. Amen.