I want to talk to you today about what Pastor Creflo Dollar has referred to as, "The Grandaddy Parable of them all." I'm referring, of course, to the parable of the sower.
This is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (that is, the Gospels that largely tell the same story, Matthew, Mark, and Luke).
Let's look at this parable in Mark's Gospel.
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Mark 4:3-9
Obviously, the disciples didn't quite understand this parable, and Jesus then informs them in verse 13 that unless they understand this parable, they will miss the point of all of the parables!
"And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” Mark 4:13-20
If you grew up in the church circles that I did, perhaps the most used application of this verse was either around offering time or in a message on giving. Repeatedly, we were told that if we sowed, God would bless us, some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold.
Sometimes, it was even taught that we could believe God for a hundredfold return on every seed we had sown. (We don't have time to go into this now, but Brother Kenneth E. Hagin has a great book that he wrote on this entitled, "The Midas Touch", and I'd encourage you to check it out - here's a link to the Kindle version as well as the Paperback from Rhema's site.)
Now, I believe that prosperity is Biblical, I believe in seed, time, and harvest, and I believe that when we give we partner with God financially.
What I am saying is that this is not the main point of the parable. Stephen Covey, author of "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" said that, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." In other words, we should be largely highlighting the portions of this parable that Jesus Himself highlighted.
Look at what Jesus said the main thing was here: The sower sows the word. This is the foundation for the entire parable. Not that the sower is sowing financially (although that is valuable) or that the sower is sowing time, or cars, or watches. No, the sower sows one thing: the word. Period. Full stop.
Now, the sower sowing the word can mean a few things: It can be referring to Jesus sowing the Word on the earth. It can be referring to you sowing the word in the life of your neighbors, family members, or friends. It could be a ministry preaching the word, being instant in season and out of season, as Peter refers to.
But as you continue on, there is a curious picture painted for us: the sower in the parable seems to sow the word indiscriminately. In fact, it might even be considered careless. You see, when a farmer is planting crops, or someone is planting flowers, they aren't just throwing the seeds around, seeing where they'll stick. They're placing them purposely in good soil, often either in a hole they've dug or a row they've hoed, so that the seed has the proper depth of earth.
Now, the reason they do this is simple: they don't want to waste their seed. For a professional farmer, wasting seed means that they are losing money. Every seed that falls on concrete, for instance, is a seed wasted.
But Jesus' perspective differs. He is indiscriminate with the seed, showing us that the supply of the seed of the word is inexhaustible. It is scattered everywhere, in the hopes that someone, somewhere, will benefit from the word being sown in their lives.
That's what this ministry is doing - we are sowing the Word, with an inexhaustible supply of seed. That's what you should be doing throughout your day, sowing kindness, sowing love, sowing peace all around you to a world in need of a Savior.
And sure, some of it will fall on the wayside ground, like seed that falls on concrete. Some people will be immediately grateful for the Word being sown in their lives and then before you know it, they're gone. I know growing up as a Pastor's kid and now as a minister myself, there are people who tell you constantly, "We're behind you, we're behind you, we're behind you," and then you turn around and they're so far behind you that you can't even see them anymore, but I digress.
Others will receive the Word, but over time, the busyness of life begins to choke the the plant out. If you've ever had a garden - either vegetable or flower - you know that weeds, unless pulled out by the roots, will continue to grow and multiply until they choke out what it is that you were endeavoring to grow.
And finally, there will be some who receive the Word that was sown and they will begin to bear fruit, eventually themselves becoming sowers.
Be a sower to those around you today. The supply is limitless. Sometimes sowing the Word looks like a helping hand, other times, it's a word of knowledge or wisdom, others it's just showing grace to those around you, and sometimes, it's actually presenting the Gospel to someone in your life.
The sowing of the word and the proclamation of the Gospel is a twofold action. It is both in our actions as well as our words, in both the proclamation and embodiment of the Gospel.
While I wanted to end with the famous quote from St. Francis of Assisi, "Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words," some research into this phrase shows that there is in fact no record of St. Francis saying it and that saying it creates an unnecessary false dichotomy, wherein we try to elevate the deed above the proclamation.
However, I find what St. Francis actually said far more compelling, "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching." In other words, when you sow the Word, it's not just enough to be empty words. We must embody the very Gospel we preach.
Selah.
By Grace,
Dave.