I wonder how much of a seed sower you are?
Over the past week my daughters have started growing some green beans from some seeds they bought at the shops. They carefully placed the seeds on some cotton wool, in a paper cup and placed it on the window sill in their bedroom to daily get some sunshine. Each day they water it and wait for it to start growing. They wait to see the what will happen to the seed they have sown.
As Christians we are to be people who are in the business of scattering the seed, of sowing the seed of Jesus and his life-giving word into the lives of those around us.
Last week at our Salt & Light night I was greatly encouraged and challenged by Glen Scrivener’s talk on how we can be sharing our faith. The main idea he put before us was the idea that evangelism, sharing our love of Jesus, is all about scattering the seed of Jesus and his words widely and unceasingly.
Glen unpacked Matthew 13:1-23 with us where we see Jesus’ strategy, or if you like ‘scattergy’, for reaching the lost in this world. And Jesus’ only strategy for reaching the lost is far less focused on success and far more focused on supply — on supplying gospel words and leaving the results up to God.
We see in Matthew 13 that there will be a mixed response as we seek to scatter the words of eternal life with those in our lives.
Some will be hardened to the word (v. 19), some will be shallow and not take root (vv. 20–21), some will be choked by worries and consumerism (v. 22), but some will welcome the word enduringly and fruitfully (v. 23).
Our concern as Jesus’ followers is with the supply of the word, not the success. If this soil won’t hear, we sow on another. And another. And another. If this hearer is hard, we don’t get out the crowbar. We don’t beat them into submission. We don’t cry foul because they’ve sneered at us. Sneerers gonna sneer (as Taylor Swift almost said). We sow into the next heart, and the next, and the next. We’re to be in the business of sowing the seed and leaving the results up to God.
Jesus says earlier in Matthew 9:37: the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few - there is good soil out there ready to welcome his life giving word. So let me ask you, how are you going at scattering the seed? At sowing the seed into the lives of the people in your life and waiting to see what God might do?
The upcoming Easter services provide a great opportunity to scatter some seed, to invite someone to church, to the Life Course or to share with others what you love about Jesus.
If you’re interested in digging into sharing your faith further or exploring the 3-2-1 Course that Glen mentioned please let me know as I’d love to get together with others and keep thinking about it.
Let’s be a church that’s in the harvest field, scattering and sowing the seed widely and unceasingly.
Grace and peace,
Paul