Rethinking the Parable of the Sower
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
I’m sure we’re all familiar with the parable of the sower.
On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.
You know the rest of the story.
The sower sows seed.
Some falls on the wayside,
Some falls on stoney ground,
Some fell among thorns
While some fell on good ground.
Later, when its just Jesus and the disciples, He explains the story.
The seed is the Word of God.
The wayside is the people do not understand it, and the devil snatches it away.
The stoney place is when someone hears the Word, but only follows for a little while.
The thorns are when the cares of this world choke out the Word.
And the good soil is the person who hears, understands, and bears fruit.
A very nice parable,
And a very good life lesson.
But I was reading this parable one day, and something just popped.
The sower.
Jesus explains the soil, but I was thinking about the sower.
The Sower
The Sower
We always focus on the soil, but we don’t seem to think about the sower.
A sower went out to sow.
It is what a sower does.
But have you thought about the sower?
The sower didn’t avoid the road.
In other words, while he was sowing, he didn’t make sure none of his seeds fell on the road.
He just spread the seed.
How many of us are careful only to share the Word of God in “appropriate company”?
We’re concerned that it might fall on the highway and be scooped up by the devil.
So we don’t share the Word at all?
The sower didn’t prepare the ground first.
Up in the Northeast, their are fields surrounded by dry-stacked stone walls everywhere.
That’s because farmers would pull the stones out of their fields before planting.
They’d drag these stones to the edge of the field,
And many were just stacked on top of each other to designate the different fields.
But our sower didn’t do that.
He just sowed his seed wherever he was.
Do we not “prepare the ground” before we talk about Jesus?
We kind of “sneak up” on the discussion,
Generally because we don’t want to surprise our intended target and scare him off.
I’m not much of a farmer, but even I know you don’t sow seeds in ground that’s covered in weeds, especially with thorns,
But the sower sowed seeds in thorny ground.
We wouldn’t think about bothering someone whose loaded down with a world of cares.
We’d wait until things cooled off a bit.
But notice what I think is the most important thing about the sower.
He pays no attention to where he is sowing,
Or how carefully he is sowing,
His goal is not the growth of the seeds.
His job is to sow.
He leaves it up to God to make the seeds to grow.
Wheat and Tares
Wheat and Tares
Thinking about this, I realized there’s another parable about sowing, starting in v. 24
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
Here we see another sower,
While this sower is sowing good seed, an enemy sowed bad seed in his field.
Have you ever shared the Word with someone only to find they’ve mixed it with some spiritualism?
Someone saying “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.”
Who mixes the Word of God with the way of the world, then wonders why it doesn’t work?
For example, “If God helps those who help themselves, then why isn’t He helping me?”
How should we react to the introduction of weeds into our sowing?
So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
We’re tempted to jump right in and pull out the weeds.
But in doing so, we can uproot the seeds we have planted.
Better to wait until the fruit is ripe,
Then it will be easy to see which was the good seed, leading to good fruit, and which was the bad seed, leading to bad fruit.
You may be better off letting the fruit ripen a bit, then see if the person you sowed into can see the difference.
Rich Young Ruler
Rich Young Ruler
Sowing seeds of the kingdom of God takes patience.
Look at how Jesus dealt with one person.
Luke 18:18–20 (NKJV)
Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
This young man, a ruler in his community, comes to Jesus looking for some seed to be sown into his life.
“Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus sows some seeds,
But not the ones the young man was expecting.
Why do you call me good? Are you calling me God?
Follow the commandments.
But the soil of this man’s heart isn’t ready yet.
And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
He’s kept the rules, but his heart isn’t ready yet.
Jesus sees this, and sows one more big seed.
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
A very big seed indeed.
You lack one thing…
Sell all that you have, give it away, then follow me.
But again, this man’s soil isn’t ready.
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
First, it seemed this man’s soil was the road, for he didn’t understand.
Or maybe it was on stoney ground, and it didn’t take root.
Now we see that it was among the thorns, because the cares of this world choked it out.
If this were any one of us, we’d have chased after the man.
We would have explained the joy of giving, or the blessings of faith in God.
We would have worked that soil trying to make it good.
But not Jesus.
And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!
Jesus observed the condition of the soil in that man’s heart, and used it to teach others.
He did not run after the young man, or try to heal his soil.
He merely observed, then went on.
The sower sows, because that is his job.
It’s not to prepare the soil, that’s God’s job.
It’s not to make the seed grow, that’s God’s job too.
It’s not to pull the weeks, that comes later.
But with all of this rocky ground, it can get discouraging.
After all, it would be easier to sow if we see the crop.
At least, that’s what all my gardening friends tell me.
Do Not Grow Weary of Doing Good
Do Not Grow Weary of Doing Good
So why should we sow, even if we don’t get the results we want, in the time we want?
I’ve seen plenty of people just give up when things don’t work out the way they expected.
And not just in churches.
The reason is simple.
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Do you do good solely for the reward?
Like the child who promises to clean their room if they get the puppy?
Or the person who promises to do if God will only save them from some situation they’ve gotten themselves into?
Do we do good not for the reward, but because it’s what we’re supposed to do.
What the Good Teacher has told us to do?
Remember the parable of the talents?
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
God gives to us according to our abilities.
1 cor 12 20
But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
We all have jobs,
Some are unique to us, because that is our place in the body of Christ,
Others we all share...
Including the job of sowing His Word.
The question is, what do we do with it?
Do you remember the reaction of the traveler when he got back?
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
The servants that were faithful with what they had been given were rewarded.
It didn’t matter how much they had made with the opportunity given to them.
Only that they were faithful with what they had been given.
That is except for the one who squandered his opportunity.
“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
We should do good not for our reward, but to serve God.
Whether that’s with money or His Word.
Whether the amount is large or small.
We continue, whether we see the benefit or not.
We sow, knowing that some of our seed will fall on bad soil and not produce.
Or some will be covered with weeds.
Yet we sow.
Because we glorify God not by the outcome, but by obeying His commandments.
When the way gets hard and the sowing is unfruitful,
We should always remember the words of John Quincy Adams.
“Duty is our. Results are God’s”