Matthew 13:3, “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;”
As the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, I believe that God has called me to be a sower, and also to get the members of my church to be sowers. I am unashamed that I heavily emphasize the subject of spreading the Gospel in my preaching. Plenty of other pastors focus on “hobby horses” that may or may not be central in God’s Word, but I believe it is important to keep the Great Commission as our top priority. This upcoming year, 2016, is going to be a great year for Calvary Baptist Church. We are stepping out in faith and are planning an unprecedented year of outreach with Love Works Month, Friend Day, door knocking goals, Thursday and Saturday visitation, as well as several other events and programs. The members of Calvary Baptist Church will know (if they do not already) that we are meant to be a lighthouse for the lost, sowing the seed of the Gospel wherever we are able to. With that vision in mind, I was reading the parable of the sower and I made a few observations about this character that will help us in our service for the Lord:
1. The Sower Sowed the Seed
This may sound like an incredibly obvious point, but sadly it is overlooked. The seed, in this passage, is the Word of God. It is the job of the sower to sow the Word of God. Notice, the seed was the only thing that the sower sowed, nothing else. We live in a world that is becoming increasingly socially conscious, which is not bad thing. I fear though that in this consciousness, we (as the church) have lost track of being spiritually conscious. Let me give an example: A few weeks ago I received a pamphlet in the mail at church. It was about churches giving special love offerings to these agencies in order to help people in 3rd world countries get livestock, such as cows, water buffalo, chickens, etc. I believe that it is a good thing to give livestock to third world countries, but I believe that giving the Gospel is better. If I am going to give time, energy, and resources to something, it ought to be to the spreading of the Gospel. Why? Because a cow or a chicken is not going to save a soul from Hell, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will. In this Christmas season, there will be a lot of causes vying for your attention and your donations, all of which are noble and good, but do not get sidetracked and forget that the Gospel is the most important. Giving to the missions program at your church, give of your time to go door knocking and telling people about Jesus. If you are a sower, you must sow the seed. A sower that does not sow the seed is a worthless sower.
2. The Sower Didn’t Focus on the Ground
My wife and I have tried gardening for two years now, one year was a great success whereas this last year was an utter failure. I am not good at making straight lines, but my wife assured me that it was important to plant the seed in straight lines. Not only that, but it was important that the ground be tilled so that it was nice and loamy enough for a plant to grow. I am by no means an expert in gardening, and it confuses me when gardening experts talk about “PH balance” and “full sun”. We are meticulous about how seed gets planted these days. In the story of the sower though, we do not see that. In fact, by the way the story looks, it would seem as if the sower is just tossing the seed wherever with little to no regard as to where the seed landed. And that is the whole point. The sower did not inspect the ground and say, “Well, this ground is good, but this ground is thorny” instead he threw the seed wherever he could. As sowers for Christ, we cannot be picky and choosy over who we spread the Gospel to. When my dad was a young pastor, he was standing outside the door of his church with a member. A young couple pulled up in their car, they were visitors, and they began to walk into the church. My dad and the member greeted them and they went inside. The member looked at my dad and said, “They look like our kind of people!” Dad asked him, “What do you mean?” and the member said, “They are breathing!” The truth is, if they are breathing it is our job to reach them with the Gospel. Too often churches get focused on reaching a certain type of person, maybe someone of your own race or economic status or age; maybe someone who looks like a “church person” instead of just a random person from off the street. That is not how it should be. Often times I am guilty of this and the Holy Spirit has pricked my heart. I will tell myself, “That person doesn’t want to hear what I have to say!” And the Holy Spirit will say to me, “Tough! Tell them anyway! They need to hear the Good News!” Some churches will focus on getting the rich people to church at the expense of the poor, but the true sower does not care whether a person is rich or poor. The master told the servant (in another parable) to go to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. Where was the servant supposed to go? EVERYWHERE! Jesus told his disciples to go to Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. Where did Jesus tell them to go? EVERYWHERE! Who did he tell them to witness to? EVERYONE! Stop focusing on the ground and focus on the seed and getting it out to as many people as you possibly can.
3. The Sower has No Name
I understand that one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ parables is that none of the characters ever have a name (the rich man and Lazarus is not a parable). But I feel it is especially significant in this story. We call this parable “The Parable of the Sower”, but interestingly enough, the sower only appears in one verse, and all that it says about him is that he went forth to sow. Really, I believe that it would be more accurate to call this parable “The Parable of the Seed and Ground” because the sower plays a minor role, at best, in this story. What is the point? The sower got no attention, he just did what he needed to do. Too many Christians seek the praise of men instead of seeking the glory of God. They want their name in the bulletin or they want the pastor to mention them from the pulpit for a job well done or maybe even they want a thank you. But this sower was not thanked for his work, he was not named, he did not receive any attention at all, he simply did what he was supposed to do. I have found that Christians who constantly seek attention for their service are miserable people, reason being is that they lost their focus. The happiest people on earth are the Christians who learned that this life is not about them, but it is about giving glory to God and spreading the Good News of the Gospel. When a Christian loses focus of the importance of the Gospel he becomes caustic, bitter, and more prone to get his feelings hurt. That can be combatted with focusing on what God wants us to focus on: The salvation of the lost. My challenge to you: Put your nose to the grind and get to work for Jesus. Do not care about attention or praise, do not make sure people see what you are doing. God sees, and He is the only one who matters! Focus on spreading the seed.
I hope you are doing your part in spreading the Gospel. As we enter into a new year, make it a point to commit to God to be a better soul winner in the year 2016. Be a sower.
