1 SERMON: SOW SEEDS! SCRIPTURE: MATTHEW 13:1-9 DATE: OCTOBER 19, 2014 Matthew 13:1-9 (NIV) That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear. Lonely old Thomas had outlived all his friends. Very few people knew him when he died. The minister didn t really expect to see anyone at the funeral home. He didn t. As he helped carry the casket to the graveside in the wind and rain, the minister expected to be there with only the cemetery staff. But, there at the grave, stood a soldier, waiting. The soldier was an officer but his raincoat covered his rank. After the committal, the soldier stepped up to the grave and saluted as if he was honouring a king. The minister and soldier walked away together and the wind blew the soldier s raincoat open revealing him to be a general. The general said to the minister, You will perhaps be wondering what I am doing here. Well, years ago Thomas was my Sunday School
2 teacher. I was a wild one back then and a real trial to him. Thomas never knew what he had done for me but I owe everything I am or ever will be to him. Today, I came to salute him at the end. Old Thomas didn t know it but he had sown some very special seeds in the life of someone others had given up on. Many times seeds are sown in people s lives that influence greatly but the sowers are completely unaware of what they ve begun. Our Scripture lesson this morning is the parable of the sower. It s an important parable for many reasons. Matthew, Mark and Luke all include it in their Gospels. It speaks beautifully of the condition of people who hear and respond to Christ s Gospel of love and forgiveness. Different people. Different conditions. Different responses. Most times sermons on this passage focus around the different soils and the different responses of the seeds. Rocky soil. Soil with thorns. Good soil. Responses that are quick but don t endure. Responses that are choked by cares and worries. Responses that are strong and productive. Different conditions. Different responses to the Gospel.
3 This morning I want to look at this parable from a different perspective. I d like to study---not the soil---not the growth of the seed---but I d like to study the farmer. I d like to look at two things. First, what the farmer did. And second, how he did it. First, what the farmer did. It s simple really---the farmer sowed seeds. He sowed seeds. Sowing seeds is what a farmer does, isn t it? It s his work. It s what he is called to do. If he didn t sow seeds, nothing would grow. If he didn t sow seeds, he wouldn t be a farmer. The future harvesting and selling are dependent upon the sowing. And so, by what he did, the farmer in the parable was like all farmers. What he did defined who he was and placed him, by definition, in a group of people who all do the same thing. The farmer sowed seeds. The second thing about the farmer is how he sowed his seeds. How? By what method? What technique did he use?
4 In the technique used the farmer was unlike any other farmer. He didn t till the soil ahead of time. He didn t plant rows in a precise fashion. He didn t even limit the area where he sowed. Instead, the farmer sowed his seeds by scattering them---here, there and everywhere. As he tossed them about, some landed on the pathway. Some on the rocks. Some in amongst thorns. And some even made it to soil. There aren t a lot of farmers who would have been, seemingly, so careless---so lacking in deliberation. It was as if the farmer wasn t interested in deciding where the seeds had the best chance of growth. His job wasn t to decide that. His job was to scatter the seeds. He wasn t interested in the quality of the soil. His seed went everywhere. He was called to sow and so he sowed! If we look at the farmer in the parable we see two great truths for us today. The truths are related to what the farmer did and how he did it. First, the farmer, by definition, was called to sow seeds. As Christians we, by definition, are called to sow the seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are called to sow the seeds by the witness that we present in and through our words and actions. Sowing seeds for Christ---witnessing to our faith is part of what defines us. Just by living we witness to others about what our priorities are, what concerns us, what interests us. People see these things in the way we act and react. In the things we say and how we say them.
5 In the ways we spend our time. It's, therefore, so very important to make a conscious effort to reflect our faith in the way we live our lives. There's an old question that is always relevant: "If you were accused in court of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" By witnessing in word and deed, we provide important evidence to those around us who are seeking---those around us who are wondering about Christianity. We may be the only ones to provide them with the information they need to meet and know Jesus Christ. It is, by definition, part of what we are about. The second truth from our parable comes out of the farmer's method. This stands out because it's so unusual. The farmer's method of scattering seed indiscriminately is a lesson for us rather than a recommended agricultural technique. The lesson is this: as we witness---as we sow seeds of faith, we are to sow everywhere. Rather than wait and decide if this or that person or this or that situation is ready, we are to sow boldly and trust God to grow the seeds. Like old Thomas, at the beginning of the sermon, our sowing is to be natural and consistent so that the seeds are sown in all situations for all types of people. God has a way of making the most hopeless situations bear the most fruit. Often it is the least likely people--- people we wouldn t recognize as good soil, but they are the ones who are seeking the love, forgiveness and acceptance the Gospel has to offer.
6 The Re-imagining the Church workshop, put on by our Presbytery, made this point very strongly. The concept driven home was to meet people where they were at, not expect them to come to us. Meet people where they are at---in the midst of their struggles and needs---go to where they are---accept them, love them, serve them and, in doing all this---scatter seeds. Ministry, by individuals and by a congregation, doesn't only have to be done within the confines of the Church building. Indeed, ministry needs to be done wherever people are---especially people who would never think to darken the door of a Church and more and more and more people are in that category. They won't come to us. We need to go to them and sow seeds---scatter seeds. Scatter seeds---on the roadways---on the rocks---in the thorns-- -in the good soil. Scatter the seeds and trust that God will bring the harvest---maybe not right away but in God's time. Perhaps we, who scatter and sow, won't be the ones to see the growth or enjoy the harvest. That's all up to God. Our task is to sow. God's task is to grow---grow the faith, prepare the harvest in God's own good time. We sow. God grows. Many years ago twelve thousand people marched in a great demonstration in New York City. Amongst the crowd was a Judge from
7 the Court of Appeal as well as various business people, labourers, homemakers, immigrants, street kids and the homeless. The thing that unified this incredibly diverse group was expressed in a sign that many of them held up high as they marched. On the sign were these words: "I was saved by a New York City fireman!" As Christians we are called, like the farmer in our parable, to scatter seeds everywhere. We are also like firemen---called to reach out to care for and serve all kinds of people in all kinds of situations. We are to be indiscriminate opportunists---sowing the love of Christ wherever we go---wherever opportunities arise. As we do so, God is sure to bless what we have done. Seeds will germinate and grow where we never imagined. Lives will be changed--- some quickly, some slowly. Our Church will be enriched by more farmers---some we will meet, some who will come after us we will never know. All we are asked to do is sow. Sow wherever we are. Sow wherever we find a need. We sow. God grows. What an amazing combination!! (1483) The Rev. Dennis Cook, St. Timothy s Presbyterian Church, Ajax, ON, Canada