July 10, 2005 - My dad is a seed sower.  The man is passionate about planting.  He grew up on a farm, and farming is still in his blood.  So even after we moved to the city – each year in the spring and summer, the family would get up early on Saturday morning.  Mom would pack a lunch while dad and I packed up the tractor, trailer, fertilizer, and seeds.  We piled into the truck and set off toward the farm an hour away where dad grew up – the same land he had farmed for years.  Two or three acres down in a valley surrounded by a creek on three sides.  When we arrived, dad would climb onto the John Deere and start to work.   I can distinctly remember that sweet smell of diesel fuel mingled with the early morning dew.  Dad on his tractor would break up the red clay. Turning the soil with the plow.  And sometimes I would follow behind the tractor trying to keep my balance while walking on the uneven earth.  I would look for arrowheads the plow would turn up – imagining the Indians who had been here before me - just like my dad had done with his dad before him.

Then dad put the drag on the back of the tractor, and he smoothed out all the soil.  At the end of the day, he would jump down from the tractor seat and look out over all that he had done.  I have rarely seen him both more tired and content than at that moment.  He would point at the field and call out to me.  “Look at that son, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”  Well, no.  I had to admit - it was beautiful.  No rocks.  No weeds.  Smooth, freshly tilled soil. 

We would come back the next Saturday to sow the seeds.  We would plant the whole field with corn.  A little extravagant maybe.  Not really logical.  What does a family of four really need with two or three acres of corn?  But the planting gave my dad so much joy.  We would drive back to the field from time to time during the summer.  I think it was just an excuse for dad to watch things grow.  At the end of the summer when the corn was over head-high – my dad would call out to me again.  “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”  Well, no.  I had to admit - it was beautiful.  A miracle – all of our seeds now ready for harvest. 

My dad’s favorite poet has always been Robert Frost, but I am going to introduce him to poet and farmer Wendell Berry.  Berry writes, “The grower of trees, the gardener, the man born to farming, whose hands reach into the ground and sprout, to him the soil is a divine drug.” [See Wendell Berry, “The Man Born to Farming,” in Farming: A Handbook, 1970.]  My dad doesn’t drink, or smoke, or gamble.  He is addicted to planting.      

Each year we would also plant a small garden for an older friend.  There my dad taught me as a young boy how to sow seed.  Each furrow hoed in a straight line.  The seeds placed carefully in each row.  I knew exactly how many seeds went into each hill.  Five squash.  Four zucchini.  When my dad let me sow the seeds on my own, my little hands wrapped tightly around them so not one would fall out.  I would count each seed out loud, with my tongue to the side, to make sure each seed was in its proper place. 

Compare my story of planting to the sower in Jesus’ parable.  The sower is sowing seed willy-nilly with no regard for where it would land.  He didn’t bother to first plow the sandy soil or remove the rocks and weeds before sowing his wheat.  The sower had no clue what would turn out to be good soil. So the sower held on to his seed loosely, scattering it with an open hand, and with a wide sweep of his arm.  Sowing extravagantly, some would even say wastefully – lavishing seeds everywhere.

This sower seems an odd sort of farmer – sowing seeds on paths and rocks.  Who is this sower and what are we to make of this parable?  Well, it appears that Jesus just might be the sower himself.  At first glance, what could be more familiar to Jesus’ listeners than a story about a farmer sowing his seeds?  But sowing seeds on rocks, and roads, and weeds?   

Many commentators have taken this parable to focus exclusively on examining these four different types of soil over against the character of the sower.  Maybe this parable can then help to answer the question why some people seem to take to religion – to faith - and others don’t?  It is a question that has fascinated scientists and philosophers of the last century.  William James popularized the question with his book the Varieties of Religious Experience a century ago and the debate has raged ever since.  Could spirituality be influenced by nature or nurture?  In other words, could a propensity towards faith be genetic or cultivated through one’s environment?  One scientist, Dean Hamer, has recently entered the fray with a remarkable claim.  His book is entitled: The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into Our Genes.  He boldly implies that spirituality is a matter controlled by one’s biology.  Either you have it or you don’t.  His research has made quite a stir.  Before you get nervous, most geneticists and religious leaders have questioned such an implied language of genetic determinism. [See Alan Verhey’s review of Hamer’s book at www.genome.duke.edu/genomelife/ glarchive/issue16/pdf_version.]

But beyond this debate, all of us still want to know, how do we as individuals measure up?  “Which soil am I?  Which soil is she?  Can you move people from being one soil to another?”  But this parable is not only about us as individuals.  It is not a personality test – giving us categories to label ourselves.  [Good soil – ENFJ; rocky ground – ISTP].  Instead, it is a parable about the kingdom – the kingdom of God.  

In the parable, Jesus is describing to us what we already know.  This is how people are.  Some people just let the Word be snatched away – they give up on life or faith too easily.  Others have no foundation – and fall away when tough times come.  Then others don’t fall away but they live life dispassionately, as neutralized believers.  Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once said, “The world is filled with half-unbelieving believers and with half-believing unbelievers.”  They yield no fruit.  But then some hear the word and understand it and we know because they passionately bear fruit (passion fruit if you will).  We have seen all these people – in the church and out.  Better yet, each of us has been all of these people, at different times and at different places.                        

If we take Jesus’ parable as a progress report, then what is the good news?  One-fourth of the sower’s seeds fall on good soil.  That is not a good success rate.  My dad would not be happy if only a quarter of his corn came up.  The odds seemed to be stacked against us.  And this is a parable of what the kingdom will look like?

Let’s forget the soil tests, and let’s return to focus on the sower.  The sower is still not anxious.  Oblivious to the risks, the sower sows seed extravagantly just as Christ scatters grace and lavishes mercy upon all of us.  Despite knowing who we are and all of our weaknesses, Christ patiently sows the Word among us.  Why?  For he knows that he is not to worry that his effort is in vain.  For things are happening that we cannot see.  God is at work, and God will bring the harvest, and it will be abundant.              

As faithful followers, we must also remember that we are a part of God’s kingdom and we must look towards the harvest.  We are not just seed recipients but we also must bear fruit.  And why do plants bear fruit?  To produce next year’s seeds.  We are called to be sowers as well.

What kind of sower are you?  Are you extravagant?  I was raised to believe extravagance was a bad word.  I saved my allowance.  I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu.  I waited until it went on sale.  Instead of extravagance, I strived for efficiency, effectiveness, moderation.  Often we use these same words as a model for the church: effective evangelism, an efficient use of resources, moderate Baptists.  To a certain point this is good.  I assure you this church carefully considers how to be a responsible steward of the resources to which it has been entrusted.

But at our core, we cannot deny that we as Christians are called to extravagance.  How else can we explain the Sabbath?  Taking an entire productive day and claiming it for rest and worship.  How else can we explain our call to tithe-to give money away with no certain financial return on our investment? The Old Testament may have started out with 10%, but Jesus calls us to give even more sacrificially.  How else can we explain Christ’s command to love others as you love yourself?  We are called to lavish love on everyone unconditionally.          

As Christians, we must admit that we too must be extravagant sowers.  We cannot simply sow the few seeds that we have clinched tightly in our hands.  Like Christ taught us, we are to sow lavishly with an open hand and a large sweep of the arm. 

Sowing extravagantly doesn’t mean merely throwing out words to anyone who might hear it – dropping tracts from the sky.  Neither does it mean simply throwing money at a problem.  We as the church have been guilty of both.

Sowing extravagantly is what our KidsHeart Mission Team will be doing as they head down to the Rio Grande Valley next week.  Partnering with 20 other CBF churches, our Wilshire members will minister with the people they meet.  They will sow seeds by repairing houses.  Bringing running water and indoor plumbing to families.  They will sow seeds by sharing the passion of art, dance, drama, and music to eager children.  They will sow seeds by giving school supplies and toiletries to families that cannot afford them.  They will sow seeds by telling everyone they meet through their actions and their words that Jesus loves them.  Chances are they will never know what God will do with all the seeds they planted.  Still, they will sow lavishly.

Let’s be honest.  We know sometimes our words and actions fall on deaf ears.  Often our work is met with discouragement.  This past week my wife Lauren was telling me the story of one teenager she had met while she worked for a local homeless shelter.  His name was Ivan.  Seventeen and homeless, Ivan came off the street with no place to go and no direction in life.  But with help, encouraging words and resources, Ivan got his life back on track.  He finished high school.  He graduated from college at North Texas as an engineer.  Now he volunteers at the same shelter where his life was turned around while he is working on his Masters degree.  But for every Ivan, there are 10 other kids who leave the shelter to head back to the streets, homeless, out of school, involved in gangs and drugs.  We can hear a similar story from anywhere else in Dallas.  Talk to school teachers or coaches or parents or friends.  

Sometimes it’s hard to see we are making a difference.  If our sowing is based on receiving something in return, then we’ll always be disappointed.  We must remember that we are not the lone sower in the field.  And we are not sowing from our own stash of seed.  In all of our efforts, we are dependent on Christ.  We lavish the seed of the gospel because God lavishes it on us. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if we knew exactly where the good soil was?  We could sow our seeds there and know we would have a bumper crop.  Tempting.  But I am sure Jesus had a reason for sowing seeds in every corner of the field.  We don’t know what’s underneath the surface.  And imagine even if we did, we would find excuses to hoard our seed supply.  What if something better comes along?  What if all they need is just a little bit?  That soil usually doesn’t work.  Let’s try something a little more conducive to our tastes.  Thank heavens, Christ calls us to scatter grace generously and to let God be in charge of the harvest. 

So lavish love on someone who cannot repay you.  Spend time  listening to someone else’s life.  Volunteer to reach out and minister to someone who needs your help.  Think about teaching children in Sunday school or Wednesday night.  Give more time than you really think you have to give.  Give more money than you really think you have to give.  Welcome people that you meet.  Help a child learn how to read, how to play, how to love.  Smile.  Tell your friends and family about your faith.  Open up.  Share life.  Invite someone to church. 

Sow extravagantly.  It’s quite freeing, really.  To realize we are sowers with a plentiful supply of seed and a confidence that God will take care of the harvest.  That is our life as Christians – bearing fruit – sowing seeds.  And don’t be surprised if the harvest comes.  Why?  Because God does not work as the world works.  Because God lavishes grace and mercy on you and asks you to extend those same gifts to others.  Because God is not done working yet.  And as you sow your seeds extravagantly in every corner of your life, step back and ask yourself – “have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”   AMEN