Luke 8:5-6

SOWERS FOR THE KINGDOM

‘Some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.’

Luke 8:5-Joshua :

What we all need is greater depth of conviction. We need to be convinced of the truth that we are all sent into this world to be sowers of the good, the beautiful, and the true. To be quite certain that we cannot stand idle in the market-place, but with every moment of our waking time we are actually sowing for God or for the Devil.

I. The choice of the seed.—We need to know that the choice of seed is largely in our own hand. Do we wish to sow Christ’s word, which is faith in the Heavenly Father and love to the brethren, or the Devil’s word, which is love for ourselves and no belief in anything that is greater? Are we convinced that the real world is the world of spiritual thought and aspiration, and the only world worth living in, the only world worth sowing for, the only world that has the promise of this life and the life to come, or are we content with the world of touch and taste and handling—of the visible and the present? Shall we sow to this latter world of the flesh and reap corruption, or be sowers in the world of spirit and see God everlastingly? You answer, we need some one to help us to our conviction; to whom shall we go to strengthen us as we go forth to the fields till eventide ere the night comes when no more work can be done? I reply, go to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, join the multitude there that is listening to the Speaker of a wondrous parable, and first be convinced of the truth that

‘The husbandman went forth in good heart, and beneath the form of this brave going forth to sow in such unpromising-looking ground is a lesson which Christ the Master Sower emphasised when He came forth to cast His seed not only into good ground, but on rocky heart—in shallow mind and lives preoccupied with this world’s caring—as lovingly as the heavenly Father sent His sun on the just and unjust alike, and having done His work left the fruit of it to be carried far and wide by successive generations of heavenly-hearted husbandmen, and bids us go forth in His undaunted way to scatter our seed in spite of all the world, the flesh, and the devil can do to thwart us, in hard as well as soft ground, on well tilled and on waste alike. That figure of Christ as Sower has helped all true hearts all the ages up. “We be but sowers,” said St. Francis. “We are at the best only sowers,” said Edward Thring, and he never tired of telling his pupils to look upon themselves as going forth to sow seeds of light in dark places, and trusting to God for the increase in His own good time.

Heralds of the light are we,

Sowers of the world to be

With a seed-light pure and free.

Heralds of the morn we stand,

Foot to foot and hand in hand,

Flinging morning o’er the land.’