Luke 8:5: A sower went out to sow his seed:
When I was a kid, pretty much everybody in the neighbourhood had a garden. We had quite a large one. I remember helping my parents to plant the garden and how the seed for different plants was sown in different ways. I remember especially how we planted our corn by making little holes in the rows and putting two kernals in each hole, using two to be sure that at least one of them sprouted.
The man sowing seed in Jesus’ parable was obviously not sowing corn. He was sowing something like grass. He threw it everywhere – he broadcasted it - and it landed just wherever it landed. The picture speaks of a person who simply wanted to get as much seed over as wide an area as possible and he had faith that enough would take root that his planting would be successful. He knew some would not take root, but at least most of it would.
Jesus then tells us that the seed in the story was symbolic of the Word of God. While the main point of the parable has to do with the kinds of soil onto which the seed fell, nevertheless, there is a lesson here of how the Lord would have us to spead His Word in this world so that it will reach those hearts that are like the good soil in the story and bring forth fruit. We are not to bring the Word of God into peoples’ lives like we plant corn; being careful to select just the right spot that we have carefully prepared – afraid to put it in the wrong place. We are to freely scatter it – broadcast it – to as many places as we can and let God see to the result.
Now while I want to say more about this method of spreading the seed of God’s Word, before we go futher, I want us to reflect on the seed itself. Why is it so important that God’s Word be broadcast throughout the world? Quite simply, it is the Word that brings spiritual life to the fallow hearts of men. There is no spiritual life in our hearts until God roots His word in them by the power of His Spirit.
Peter says in I Peter, 1:23-25, speaking of believers:
“23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” Then he quotes Isaiah 40, “24: For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. 25: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” He ends by saying: “And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
The faith that brings the virtue of the work of Jesus Christ into our lives is not faith in faith, but faith in the Word of God. It is something that responds to what God says in His Word. That is why the Word has to be proclaimed, either verbally or in print. People must hear what God says about His Son and what He has done for us so that they may respond to this story in faith; placing the trust for their eternal welfare in the story, and the promises that go with it, as being true. Paul asks in Romans 10:14, “…how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” The Word must come to a person, so they may know about Jesus and then believe in Him.
Thus the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God, the Scriptures, to implant spiritual life in us, just like a seed brings forth life in the ground.
This makes the Word of God absolutely imperative for Christian ministry, for both clergy and lay members of the Church. Our religious ideas, slogans, opinions, and moral advice do not bring people life. It is the Word of God that brings them life – a new birth. This is God’s appointed means of salvation.
Thus, if people are to hear it, it must be broadcasted, it must be preached. Peter said that the Word of God, by the gospel, was preached to us. It was proclaimed as good news. Picking back up on my quote from Paul earlier, in Romans 10, after he says, “…how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” he then says, “And how shall they hear without a preacher?” How shall they hear unless it is proclaimed to them?
So it is that, in order for the world to be saved by the life-giving Word of God, it has got to be proclaimed to the world. And, as I have already stated, this proclamation is, generally speaking, to be done like we were sowing grass seed. We are to broadcast it freely, copiously, wherever we walk, letting it fall wherever it will, in God’s providence, with the hope that some will take root.
Too often, we spend agonizing time in prayer wondering if we should say anything to this person or that. The answer is, absolutely! I know of only one place in the New Testament where caution is prescribed, and that is in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says that we are not to cast our pearls before swine. He means that we are to use common sense and not try to give our religious treasures to people who we know, from our acquaintance with them, are only going to use it as an occasion to persecute us. But that’s the only reservation I know of. Otherwise, we are to be like the sower who went out scattering his seed wherever he could.
Paul tells Timothy in II Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season….” In other words, use every opportunity to plant the seed of God’s word in the hearts of people, whether it seems like the best time to do it or not. Of course, we are never to throw away a decent tactfulness. I Cor. 13 says love has good manners. But what we must guard against is this attitude of being overly careful. We should be liberal with the Word and let God decide whether the seed will take root or not.
Ecclesiastes 11 is enlightening on this attitude I am describing. Let me read a few verses for you:
4: He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
In other words, if you are always waiting for the perfect opportunity, you’ll never get anything planted and you’ll never reap anything either.
5: As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
6: In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
We cannot tell what God is going to do or not going to do with His Word. It is not for us to pick the soil. We are to be the scatterers. If we are afraid we might scatter the seed in the wrong place, we are not being good sowers of this kind of seed for this kind of crop. God’s way is to use the general broadcasting of His Word to call His sheep to Himself. We are to cast the seed about and let God handle the growth. He is the One who brings the increase.
Paul says in I Cor. 3:5-9:
5: Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6: I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7: So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
9: For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry.
These things being so, let us not withhold the Word of God from people, but get it to them, plant the seed in their lives, by every available means.
Be always quoting Scripture to people. If you need to, or have occasion, use a Nave’s Topical Bible or some other tool to pick a passage if you are planning to speak to someone about something. Of course, use tact – your quotations should fit the natural conversation, just like anyone might quote something in the couse of discussion or when writing a card or letter. I’m not asking us to throw good manners away. But we must be aggressive in our attitude. We must get the Word out, somehow. It must be scattered. And we never know what passage God might use. Just sow. God purposes a crop! He will give the increase, in His time and way. Let us sow and pray for the rain and warmth of the Holy Spirit to bring forth new life into the hearts of our friends and acqaintances. And if we do so, we shall reap a crop for the glory of God.
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