A farmer went out to sow his seed.
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path … some fell on rocky places …
Other seed fell among thorns …Still other seed fell on good soil.
Mark 4:3-8
There is probably no parable more familiar than the parable of the sower. Much has been written, taught, and preached on from this passage of scripture – and its parallel passages in Matthew 13 and Luke 8.
Often the focus is on the types of soils that point to the types of human hearts– the hardened heart, the shallow heart, the crowded heart, and the fruitful heart.
In addition to studying the soils, there is also truth to be gleaned by studying the sower himself. If asked to describe his character, words like faithful, hard-working, and diligent might come to mind.
Perhaps one more should be added to the list: non-judgmental.
The scripture indicates he is non-discriminatory as he scatters the seed. He doesn’t try to judge and analyze the soil. He just does his job– scatters the seed and trusts God with the results. No bending over to examine each plot of soil to discern its worthiness to receive the seed. He just scatters.
There are four types of soil mentioned – three are not so great. The three poor soils show little to no growth and no harvest. Only one in four results in success. Not really great odds by our standards.
We don’t think much of 1 in 4 odds:
- You and I wouldn’t get on a plane if we knew there was only a 1 in 4 likelihood it would arrive at its intended destination.
- We wouldn’t buy a can of beans if we were told only 1 in 4 was safe.
- And we wouldn’t have much confidence in a swim coach for our children who shared that 1 in 4 of her students could swim after taking her classes.
This farmer has some pretty dismal, miserable land to work with. It’s hard, shallow, rocky, thorny – not great for growing plants. But that’s not an excuse to not sow. As followers of Christ, we are to sow the seed – the Word of God. We are to share Jesus, the Living Word of God.
The people in our lives include some who are hard…others who are thorny …some who are shallow…but our job is to sow the seed.
We need not worry about judging or labeling the soil or being choosey about who is or is not worthy of receiving the seed. Because, the reality is …none of us are worthy.
Like the farmer in Mark 4, our job is to scatter the seed – generously, liberally, non-discriminatingly. We are to be faithful, hard-working, diligent…and non-judgmental.
We are sowers of the Word. We have been entrusted with precious seed to sow. This is our privilege. Our assignment is to scatter the seed–without judgment–and trust God with the results.
Are you ready to do some scattering today?
{ If you are studying through Mark with us, please read Mark 4:3-9, 13-20 this week. Here is the recorded teaching lecture on this passage: http://fbcsiloam.podbean.com/2013/10/17/ladies-bible-study-mark-lesson-8-laura-macfarlan-10-17-13/ }
