Sow What?

F

rom September of 1983 through June of 1984, I lived and studied in the city of Montpellier, located in southern France about three hours east of the Spanish border.  My college strongly encouraged its language majors to study abroad in order to master the language and to understand better the culture and the customs of the people in other countries.  

My time abroad provided many opportunities to see things I might not other wise have seen and to experience life in a completely different way.  I also learned many lessons from the people I encountered on a day-to-day basis in Montpellier.  I became well acquainted with several pastry shop owners as well as with the man who delivered the mail and the proprietors of several small cafes in the neighborhood.  All of these people played an integral role in my understanding of French culture and daily living.

However, one of the best experiences I had throughout the year was my weekly visit to the open air market.  Although France is a modern country, some customs still linger.  Visiting the market on a daily basis is one of them.  Due to my study schedule, I could only visit the market on Saturday mornings.  In order to have the best selection of items, I had to arrive early, just as the market opened.  The same vendors faithfully opened their booths and sold everything from fresh flowers to fresh spices.  Everywhere, you could hear merchants calling out prices and advertisements for their goods.  The marketplace filled with people shopping for the perfect ingredients to prepare a scrumptious meal.

In the middle of the market place, occupying a strategic corner, was a lady dressed completely in black.  Every day she came to market, and every day she stood in the same place.  Instead of a variety of items, this woman sold only one thing, garlic!  Each morning, she opened her stand and instantly began calling out to the crowd to come buy her garlic.  "My garlic is fresh and beautiful," she would cry out.  Her voice would carry over the entire place and could be heard by everyone.  It would not have been market without her.  Who knows how many people were touched by this woman's garlic?  How many meals was she part of?  Just how far did her influence go?  All she did was sell garlic, not very important by the world's standards but very important if you are preparing a French meal.

The book of Mark records a similar story.  In one of his most famous parables, Jesus talks about the importance of being faithful to our calling.  In Mark 4:3, Jesus says, “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow."  Most of us will recognize this as the opening line of the parable of the soils.  In this parable Jesus describes the different kinds of soil on which seed falls.  According to the kind of soil, the seed either survives, is carried away, starts to grow but withers, or never takes root.  Indeed, the thrust of the parable addresses the responsibility of the individual believer to prepare his or her heart to receive the seed of God's word.

But there is also something else in this parable, I believe, which merits attention.  Notice how Jesus begins his parable.  The sower went out to sow!  That is all he did.  His job was to sow the seed, to make sure it had every opportunity to take root and produce a crop.  This farmer would have broadcast the seed, throwing it by the handful in every direction to ensure a crop. He would sow a large amount of seed, knowing that some of it would never produce.  However, because he believed that a crop would be produced, he sowed his seed.

This farmer didn't have the latest technological marvel to ensure all his seed would yield a harvest.  He just sowed his seed.  He had no guarantee that any of the seed would mature; but he sowed his seed.  He did not count the number of seeds he had and calculate an exact amount of return for his labor.  He just sowed his seed.  This farmer had no assurance of financial gain from this crop.  He just sowed his seed.  Lastly, he could not know how many people, if any, would benefit from his actions that day.  Still, he sowed his seed.

Is there a better picture of faithfulness than this farmer?  Without exact figures, without an economic forecast, without any soil analysis, without any guarantee of success, this farmer just did what he knew to do, sow seed.  When Jesus calls us to work along side him, he calls us to sow seed.  Like this farmer, we are to sow the seed of God's word in every direction.  We are to use all our strength and industry to plant his word in the fields around us, trusting and believing it will produce a harvest, even though we may never see it. 

As Jesus told this parable, I believe he observed a farmer in the distance.  He used that example to teach a simple but all important truth to those listening to him.  The farmer is not responsible for making the seed grow, that is God's responsibility.  When the farmer does his job of sowing, there is every possibility the seed will take root and grow.  However, if the farmer shirks his responsibility, the chances of a successful crop are zero.  The only action required of the farmer in this process is to sow his seed, trusting God to produce the harvest.  Are you sowing your seed today?  Are you trusting God to produce a harvest? Are you being faithful in the place where God has called you?