I will always associate the spring season with sowing seeds. Lord willing, in a few days I will enjoy some seasonal therapy on the tractor, helping my parents put the crop in the ground. Every good farmer knows that the work doesn’t end with cultivation; seeds must be sown into the soil order for life to erupt from the ground.
Likewise, the parable of the soils reminds us that God is tending to his field like a wise farmer (1 Cor. 3:9) by using labourers in his field to sow his imperishable Word near and far. The point is simple: The Word of God must be planted in order to yield the harvest of eternal life. It may not seem like the most effective method, but I propose that we stick with God’s agricultural wisdom over our own devices.
God is Sowing His Word
The German reformer, Martin Luther, famously summarized his ministry this way:
“Take myself as an example. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philipp and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything. Had I desired to foment trouble, I could have brought great bloodshed upon Germany; indeed, I could have started such a game that even the emperor would not have been safe. But what would it have been? Mere fool’s play. I did nothing; I let the Word do its work. What do you suppose is Satan’s thought when one tries to do the thing by kicking up a row? He sits back in hell and thinks: Oh, what a fine game the poor fools are up to now! But when we spread the Word alone and let it alone do the work, that distresses him. For it is almighty, and takes captive the hearts, and when the hearts are captured the work will fall of itself”
The Reformation of the early 16th Century was fundamentally a “back to the Bible” movement (ie. Sola Scriptura). The Reformers like Luther believed that God accomplishes his purposes – both in weakening the enemy and awakening his church – through the regular proclamation of his Word (cf. Isaiah 55:10-11). The Word of God is unlike any other seed. It never perishes when it is sown. Instead, it brings about eternal life from eternal life just as the Apostle Peter writes,
“…since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass And all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls, But the word of the Lord endures forever’” (1 Peter 1:23-25)
The “Fools Play” of Modern Evangelicals
I am alarmed at how many professing evangelicals – and pastors in particular – have a hard time accepting that the most effective and honouring method for ministry is the repetitious work of broadcasting the Word of God, starting from the pulpit on Sunday mornings. Many are busy in ministry, but they occupy their time with futile “fool’s play”, looking to successfully make disciples while neglecting the timeless work and wisdom of sowing the imperishable Word of life from the pulpit, in the classroom, at the dinner table, on the street, and from the counsellor’s chair.
I recently heard a report from a friend about a veteran pastor in my region who explicitly stated his hesitancy to preach the Bible from the pulpit. When he was rebuked and summoned by his co-pastor to “preach the Word” (2 Tim 4:2), he responded with the chilling words, “I can’t; that doesn’t work anymore”. To be clear, he is not part of a liberal, mainline denomination. Nor is he alone in his wayward conviction that sowing the Word is an archaic and unproductive practice for churches to rely on moving forward.
The primacy of preaching – as Lloyd-Jones called it – is being substituted for doctrinally muted messages, flashy images, and pragmatic tactics to entice people to buy a therapeutic, sentimental kind of Christianity. But what use is a nice pair of overalls and a shiny new tractor if you make passes in the field without any seed in the tank? Is it not foolish presumption – indeed, “fools play” – to work contrary to nature and God’s design and expect a good crop without planting good seed? Pastors and churches who are tempted to go another way, I ask: do you honestly believe that you have a better seed supply than the imperishable seed that the Lord himself has given to you in his Word in your own language?
I fear that Satan sits back and thinks, “Oh, what a fine game the poor fools are up to now!” when he sees this kind of “ministry” approach among so called Canadian evangelicals.
Sow the Seed
We need to repent and accept God’s farming methods as the best and most effective, even if it seems unimpressive. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul states that he had a special ministry of “planting” (v. 6) the gospel as an Apostle; pastors also have a unique privilege and responsibility to plant, grabbing seed from the same “gospel bag” as Paul. But the Apostle certainly includes all believers – the Church – within the category of “co-worker in God’s service”. Putting everything together then, the logic is as follows: The Great Commission is given to the church; making disciples happens through sowing the Word; therefore the whole church is called to actively sow the Word, near and far, though not all in the same way.
We sow the Word near every time we study and meditate on the Word of God for ourselves. And we scatter the seed far whenever the Word of God is preached from the pulpit by pastors, taught in Sunday School, opened up in one-to-one discipleship and counseling sessions, and explained and defended in apologetics and evangelism.
I am immensely thankful for my parents, other family members, and pastors who did not dodge the wisdom of God’s ways. Albeit imperfectly, they sowed the imperishable Word when I was a young boy, and even now throughout my adult life.
Churches need to stay on track – or get back on it – with God’s wise and timeless agricultural plan to save souls by sowing his Word. As James insists, it is “…the implanted word which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Nothing else is sufficient to cause eternal life to erupt from the barren soil. Awakening, salvation, revival, reformation – the Word of God does everything. Honour Christ and distress the Devil by sowing the Word near and far.
Whatever else God is up to in the world in these uncertain times, He continues to awaken, save, and transform people by using labourers like us to broadcast His imperishable Word near and far.
I end with the words of Southern Seminary’s hymn, “Soldiers of Christ, in Truth Arrayed”. I have these lyrics hanging in my home office because it reminds me to submit to God’s wise and timeless farming practices, and then to wait patiently for God to use his implanted Word to work eternal wonders.
Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed A world in ruin needs your aid; A world by sin, destroyed and dead A world for which the Savior bled His Gospel to the lost proclaim, Good news for all in Jesus’ name; Let light shine upon the darkness break, That sinners from their death may wake. Morning and evening sow the seed, God’s grace the effort shall succeed, Seed times of tears have oft been found, With sheaves of joy and plenty crowned We meet to part and part to meet When earthly labours are complete; To join in yet more blest employ, In an eternal world of joy Until that day, keep your hand to the plow and sow the good seed, friends!
The Second Sermon, March 10, 1522, Monday after Invocavit. [Luther, M. (1999, c1959). Vol. 51: Luther’s works, vol. 51: Sermons I. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther’s Works (51:III-78). Philadelphia: Fortress Press].