Luke 8:4-8,11-15
4 When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. 7 Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’…
11 ‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. 14 As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
Vs. 4-8 are Jesus’ parable about the Sower, and vs. 11-15 are the explanation Jesus offers to the disciples. I want to focus on the attitude of the Sower. As Jesus makes clear the story is not so much about farming as it is about how people grow spiritually, grow in their faith in God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Sower, the farmer, is casting seed everywhere. Some of it never germinates, some grows quickly but rocks and weeds stop it from maturing. But all of that takes time for the farmer to know. The weeds are not immediately visible – they too are growing hidden in the soil. So the farmer has to be patient waiting to see if there are weeds or not. When there are weeds the farmer knows what will happen.
But some seed produces a crop. But the Sower, the farmer, again has to wait and trust. The farmer cannot be digging up the seed each day to see how it is doing. No, the farmer has to wait patiently for the crop, trusting that a crop will be produced. Patience is the hallmark of farming – waiting, hoping, trusting, believing. Then there is a crop, the plants grew having enough depth of soil and not being choked out by the weeds.
If God the Sower gives us the chance to grow and mature and produce. If Jesus had the patience to let the disciples grow and mature. Will we have the patience to let those around us grow and mature, or will we rush and them, prod and push, somehow trying to make the seed grow faster. Will we learn the patience of farmers – waiting, hoping, trusting, believing.
PRAYER:
It takes time for a crop to grow, O Lord. But we are impatient for the crop – we want it now – we find it hard to wait for people to be changed by you. Make us patient, help us to trust that you are at work, doing your thing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Teach us to believe that having begin a good work you will bring it to completion. In Jesus’ name. Amen.