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       SUMMARY THOUGHTS ON THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
                  Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
                     July 20, 1997
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"Listen to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone 
hears the message about the kingdom ...."  Fruitfulness is 
not about being religious, it is about the Kingdom of God! 
As I have prepared these lessons, more and more God stirs 
in me a zeal for his Kingdom, his Reign in my life, his 
Reign in your lives and in his world.

This parable gives us perspective that we Christians 
desperately need. We share with our friends about the Lord, 
and the next day it seems like we said nothing at all. 
"Like water off a duck's back" is our expression for it. 
Jesus compared it to birds picking the seeds of the hard-
packed soil of the paths between the fields.

Then we see new converts begin with great enthusiasm. In 
Palestine, the huge slabs of limestone lie in some places 
just beneath the soil. In the spring this yields quick 
growth. The limestone holds the heat of the sun, and seeds 
germinating above the limestone have the growing advantage 
of warmth both day and night. They flourish until ....  
Until they hit a tough time in their lives -- persecution, 
temptation, you name it -- and then they wither away and we 
wonder what happened. The root never penetrated deeply 
enough in them to withstand the searing summer heat. Self-
deception, the emotion of the moment, lack of deep 
repentance can all cause this. And we've seen it and wept. 
Jesus said to expect it, not to be surprised when people 
who begin well wither suddenly. It breaks our heart, but 
Jesus told us ahead of time.

Not all who begin in his kingdom are good soil for 
sustained growth. Until we understand this, we are ripe for 
disillusionment ourselves. And when we are disillusioned we 
quit sowing the seed. We become worthless as laborers in 
the fields. When we do understand it, we concentrate our 
efforts on the good soil.

We have "star thistle" on our country property which seems 
to thrive in the hot summer months. And is it wicked! Long 
thorns which scratch bare legs and wedge their way into 
sandals and sneakers. One spring, soon after we moved here, 
I decided I would defeat the evil star thistle. I took a 
bag of 10 or 20 pounds of grass seed, and seeded one of the 
bare areas. It didn't do a bit of good. That summer the 
star thistle seemed to hit that area with a vengeance. The 
domestic grass seed had no chance against the vigorous star 
thistle. I'm told, though, that persistent watering makes 
it difficult for the star thistle to thrive, and then other 
vegetation will out-compete it. Hmmm.

Thorns compete with the farmer's intended harvest crop. 
They divert resources from the planted seeds, so that any 
which grow must grow in the shadow of the thorns. And what 
farmer wants to wade through thorns to harvest a few 
scraggly ears of wheat when harvest time comes around?

When I look at my own life, I can see how my busyness about 
good things has often distracted me from the vital things. 
Each of us has only so much energy -- emotional, spiritual, 
physical. When we allow competing desires and pursuits to 
remain, then God's Kingdom harvest in our lives is stunted, 
truncated, and at worst is unharvestable because of the 
dominant clutter which surrounds us. Of course, Jesus' 
point here was not: Root out the thorns and weeds, but: Be 
aware that thorns and weeds in people's lives will prevent 
fruitfulness. Don't be surprised or taken aback at this.

Finally, the fruitful soil is explained. People in whom was 
planted a single grain early in the season, now have 
flourished and have much to give. Some more than others, of 
course, that is the obvious intent of his 30-fold, 60-fold, 
100-fold observation. But he doesn’t fault the less 
fruitful, he rejoices in it, just as he didn't fault the 
servant who received fewer talents for a smaller return. He 
rejoiced. Jesus is preparing his disciples for the 
unfruitful as well as the somewhat fruitful and very 
fruitful.

I doubt that most farmers spend a great deal of mental 
energy anguishing over the unproductive portions of their 
fields. They put their energy into cultivating and sowing 
the land which IS producing a good crop. They don't let the 
unproductive land discourage them from sowing. Sure, some 
of our efforts will be wasted, but we WILL find good soil 
where the word of the Kingdom will take root and reproduce 
itself many, many fold.

I come back to the seed -- the word or message of the 
Kingdom. It is the message first and foremost of the King 
himself, and then of the blessings of His glorious reign in 
our lives. This is not our message to share secretly, 
tentatively with a precious few, hoping that they might be 
good soil. It is the FARMER's seed that we are assigned to 
broadcast wholesale in expectation of a fruitful harvest, 
in hope of expanding the realm and reign of the King whom 
we serve.

The Kingdom. The Kingdom of God. We can extend it by sowing 
the Word, or we can restrict it be withholding the seed out 
of fear or busyness or insecurity or disillusionment. But 
it is ROYAL seed we are entrusted with. Cast it, disperse 
it into the soil of hearts. And though you see some who 
reject, or start well, or get bogged down, you will see for 
your persistent efforts many who will bear fruit for the 
Kingdom to be planted in yet other hearts. Forever and 
ever. And then the end will come when the harvester bares 
his sickle and brings the crop home. Amen.