The Lesson of the Sower

 

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:3-9

Charles Spurgeon’s take on the parable.

“The preacher of the gospel is like the sower. He does not make his seed; it is given him by his divine Master. No man could create the smallest grain that ever grew upon the earth, much less the celestial seed of eternal life. The minister goes to his Master in secret, and asks him to teach him his gospel, and thus he fills his basket with the good seed of the kingdom. He then goes forth in his Master’s name and scatters precious truth. If he knew where the best soil was to be found, perhaps he might limit himself to that which had been prepared by the plough of conviction; but not knowing men’s hearts, it is his business to preach the gospel to every creature—to throw a handful on the hardened heart, and another on the mind which is overgrown with the cares and pleasures of the world. He has to leave the seed in the care of the Lord who gave it to him, for he is not responsible for the harvest, he is only accountable for the care and industry with which he does his work. If no single ear should ever make glad the reaper, the sower will be rewarded by His Master if he had planted the right seed with careful hand.” — Charles Spurgeon

For the record, I do not disagree with Charles Spurgeon. He likens the sower (in Jesus’ parable) to a preacher; one who is specifically called to teach the Word of God. I suppose Spurgeon would further liken the preacher’s congregation as the field (the soil) to which he broadly casts God’s celestial seed. I suspect any pastor would acknowledge that within his very flock there are some with harden hearts and others whose minds are preoccupied with the cares and pleasures of the world. As the parable reminds us, the seed that falls in these unfortunate places are devoured by birds, withered by the sun, or choked out by thorns.  That leaves me with a few questions for Pastor Spurgeon, and also for those who ‘fully’ embrace that interpretation.

1. Is this parable for preachers exclusively or for the church generally?
2. Is that the end of the lesson; is that all that Jesus intended us to glean from the parable?
3. Is there an additional (and incredibly obvious) message we’re all missing?

As you might surmise from my questions, I believe the parable was intended for the entire Christian audience (pastors included), that there is much more to be gleaned, and that we might be glossing over a critical aspect of Christ’s teaching. What is that critical aspect? In two words: soil preparation.

Can soil prepare itself? Let’s consider the sower (aka, the farmer; husbandman) and his duties. If all he had to do was broadcast seed, I suspect farming would be an easy livelihood, but there is much more to it than merely casting seed. By definition he is a person who cultivates the land.  He is a nurturer and a promoter, he fosters growth by preparing and tending the soil. He breaks the hardened earth with the till, thus exposing the rocks for removal while simultaneously plowing the weeds under for nutriment. As he turns over soil, he’s aerating, effectively breathing life-giving air into it. It brings to mind this Genesis passage:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)

I noted He did not broadcast His breath upon the earth (although He certainly could have); He took a portion and formed it for the sole purpose of breathing into it. Arguably (in this) we see the first mention of cultivation in the Bible. In that act, coupled with the lesson of Christ’s parable, I’m seeing a picture of the ‘born again’ experience; that moment when life is poured into a soul by the Word of God, giving new life. Of course this all begs the question, “As sowers of God’s seed, are we also called to be cultivators of His soil?  Cain would ask another way, “Lord, am I my brother’s keeper?”

Instead of speculating, it would be better to turn to the Bible to see if there are any good examples of sowers cultivating the ground before actually depositing the seed.  Naturally the best example of goodness is Jesus, so let’s see what He has done in this regard.

The Woman at the Well

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. John 4:16-18

I don’t see any broadcasting in Christ’s encounter with this woman, at least not initially. What I do see is Jesus breaking up some hardened soil and addressing a mind that has been preoccupied with the cares and pleasures of the world. This cultivating act ultimately leads to Holy Spirit conviction. The Apostle Paul would later say, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Having received the word (after having been appropriately prepared), the woman leaves the well rightfully proclaiming, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29) all because the Messenger took the time and effort to remove some stones, turn under the thorns, and aerate the soil.

The Woman Caught in Adultery

Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:6-12

Take note that nowhere in this account does Jesus condone the sin of adultery or this woman’s involvement in it. Without using so many words, Jesus effectively gives us what the Apostle Paul would give us in Romans 3:23, that is, “”For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” When it comes to preparing soil for seed (or the soul for God’s word) addressing sin; putting the spade into the earth and exposing sin for what it is and what it does, it arguably the first step. God only knows what Jesus wrote in the soil, but what we do know is that it was very convicting. Perhaps in some way it revealed the second step in the Roman’s Road to salvation, “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23). Either way, Jesus is doing a lot of groundwork. At the right time Jesus plants the seed essentially saying to her, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1).  We also notice that Jesus [the multitasker] was working in the field of many souls this day.

Jesus and His Disciples

Is not everything Jesus said and did before His disciple preparatory? These same men who walked and worked side-by-side with the Messiah had little or no understanding of His earthly mission, let alone the suffering and death He was going to endure, or His glorious resurrection.  What we do see in Jesus’ interaction with His disciples is the same love and patience we might witness in a dedicated farmer.

For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Matthew 13:17

We’re Not Jesus

That’s an incredibly important tenet to remember, but at the same time Jesus is our example. If Jesus takes the time to prepare a soul to receive the Word, should we not do the same? The question now is what does that look like for the disciple of Christ? I believe it begins with being a good listener. As Mark Cahill would say, “Sharing the Gospel message should be a conversation, not a presentation.”

Now that may not be the case for the preacher (in Charles Spurgeon’s analysis), for a preacher’s sermon is a presentation of Bible Scripture; it’s a teaching without class participation, but I’m not a preacher. I’m just a guy saved by grace with a burden on my heart to share God’s grace with others and to do it in the most loving way possible. To me a presentation says, “Here’s some seed for everybody,” but a conversation says, “Tell me about yourself and when we’ve dug around a bit, I have a good word for you.” There is nothing presumptive about that kind of approach, while the broadcasting approach supposes much.

For my money, Ray Comfort does it well. Instead of hopping up on a soapbox and broadcasting seed, he engages folks one-on-one (often in populated environments) and determines where they are in their earth-bound life. It’s not uncommon (for one example) for Ray to discover a person who falsely believes they’re going to Heaven [because] they think they’re good. Comfort is quick to turn over a portion of soil, exposing their true sin-nature by the Ten Commandments, quite often bringing revelation to the person that they are sinners in need of saving. In contrast, if Ray did not take the time to cultivate the soil, I suspect very few would even listen to a broadly cast, Gospel message. Even then what would the result be without cultivation? Would not some seed be eaten by the birds, dried up in the sun, or choked by the thorns? Is not [at least] one lesson from the parable of the sower that this does not have to be the case, but rather with just a smidgen of preparation, the yield could be greater (not for pride’s sake, but for God’s sake)?

I believe it is and for that reason I will take the time to prepare the soil whenever it is possible, and not because I believe I can ‘save’ a person with my efforts, but because I believe it is of godly counsel and good stewardship to do so. I see it as a compassionate and loving way to deliver the Word of God, partly because it demonstrates to the hearer that you care, taking the time to listen and go deeper. It’s not the only thing, but it’s an important thing that Christ revealed in His parable of the sower and prescribed in Paul’s letter to Timothy. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with patience (and truth) are the sower’s tools.

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away * their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2 Timothy 4:2-4

Read Full Post »

Dying Foolishly

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

David is about to be anointed king, but in chapter four of second Samuel we witness an ugly little turn of events. Abner, the former commander of King Saul’s army is murdered by David’s nephew Joab.

Abner had just negotiated a peace accord with David paving the way for him to become ruler over all of Israel, but this didn’t sit well with Joab. We would recall that Abner had killed Joab’s brother Asahel in the civil war that preceded this episode.

However, he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear, so that the spear came out of his back; and he fell down there and died on the spot. 2 Samuel 2:23

So working behind his Uncle David’s back, Joab lures Abner back to Hebron. Abner likely thinks nothing of it since he had made peace with King David, so he meets Joab outside the city gate. It was there we are told that Joab took him aside privately and killed him so that he would die for the blood of Asahel.

King David is enraged by Joab’s deed, but he is also grieved by Abner’s death, so much so he composes a funeral dirge for him. Odd as it may seem, in the lament King David implies that Abner, this man he loved, honored, and respected, died as a fool dies. Why would David insinuate such a thing? I submit to you that David did so as a warning for us!

“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge…And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ” Joshua 20:2a, 4-6

Why was Abner a fool? He was a fool because Hebron was a city of refuge and the moment he left the confines of the city wall, he was fair game to any avenger of blood; in this case Joab. David’s hands were tied: Joab had the right to avenge and Abner forfeited his protection. In that respect, Abner was indeed a fool.

The Question is, “Are You a Fool?”

What we need to know is that in typology these cities of refuge illustrate the safety and security that is afforded the Christian when they abide in Christ Jesus. When we choose to step outside of this sphere of protection, we run the risk of subjecting ourselves to satan’s fury. Clearly stated, Christian’s who step out-of-bounds are fools.

C. H. Spurgeon wrote,

“By nature I am in myself, and in sin and I am, therefore, condemned; but when the grace of God awakens me up to know my ruined state, then I fly to Christ. I trust alone in His blood and righteousness, and He becomes to me the cleft of the rock, whereas I hide myself from the storm of vengeance justly due to me for my many offences. The Lord Jesus is typified by the city of refuge.”

The question that often arises is, “If a Christian steps outside Christ’s loving arms and dies as a result, is that foolish person now doomed?”

We can only answer that question by first proclaiming that only God know if a person was or is truly saved. However, if a true born-again believer wanders beyond Christ’s refuge, and dies, his or her salvation is not necessarily lost. I will tell you what does occur—that person now becomes an example for the rest of us of what not to do. In essence, dying a fool becomes that person’s ministry and we can all thank them when we get to Heaven.

Read Full Post »

What To Do When God Does Not Show Up

Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. And Samuel said, “What have you done?…You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.” 1 Samuel 13:8-11a, 13

The title of the blog is fairly erroneous since God is always with us, but suffice it to say, not infrequently the Lord sets us in a position of expectancy so that He might determine our performance. This is what He did with Saul and when panic set in, Saul blew it; he grabbed the reins and took matters into his own hands. From the story we can glean that our loving Father allows us to wallow in expectation occasionally that we might advance and mature spiritually.

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

God is not toying with us; He’s training us! God knows it’s our tendency to panic, which is precisely the reason why He has provided one example after another in the Bible so that we might learn from somebody else’s experience. Experience is the best teacher, but nowhere is it written that bad experiences must be personal experiences. Our Father loves us, therefore He warns us.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “By perseverance the snail reached the ark,” And God might add, “And please take notice that the ark did not sail without them.”

If I were in Noah’s sandals (recognizing my tendency to panic), I suspect I would have been the one standing in the doorway staring at my watch muttering, “Where are those stupid gastropods!” However I am slowly learning that God’s timing is absolutely perfect.

But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand… Psalm 31:14-15a

Patience has a perfect work towards an abundant existence. The question that remains is do we take God at His word; do we believe the Creator of the universe when He speaks to us? Can we hold out long enough for God to reveal to us that which He has promised? I am certainly no hero, but I appreciate the sentiment from this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote:

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.

If we have prayed for God to restore, reform, and reshape us, then it is implied that we have deemed it reasonable to stand in one spot long enough (spiritually speaking) for Him to complete the task. Saul’s selfish error was that he desired all of God’s blessings, but he was not submitted to the sanctification process. Am I? Are you?

It was not God’s plan to set Saul up for failure; that notion is inane. Therefore it stands to reason that it is not His plan for us to fail either. The reality is that God wants us to shine because in so doing it is a wonderful reflection on Him and His work in us. In like fashion, Ford does not put a new vehicle on the test track to have it fail, but to shine for the company, and yes, to work out the kinks.

The car has no choice in the matter. We do. We should choose wisely.

• What does the passage say about God?
• About us?
• Accordingly, how should we pray?

Read Full Post »