The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4:1-20

Jesus' story of the sower - perhaps the best loved of all the parables - is about hearing the word. Some barely hear the great news about Jesus at all before Satan snatches it away; this is the friend who promises to come to the outreach dinner and does not show up, or if they do they drink too much, chat through the talk, think the speaker's clothes were naff, etc.

Some hear the message we take to them and seem to rush at it like a hungry trout! They enthuse about the meeting, the message, the speaker and you think, "Yeeees!", rejoicing as ecstatically as someone who scores for Oxford United - a rare event round here! BUT, when you arrange to meet up one-to-one, they do not show up, somehow three weeks later nothing has happened and the individual is saying, "I think I got a bit carried away at the meeting." They never put down any spiritual roots.

Then there are those - so numerous in the world of sport - who know the Gospel is true, long deep down to go further with it, but are so busy with what they regard as indispensable parts of their lives, that they somehow never get round to doing anything about it - faith is strangled by the cares of this world.

But, praise God, there are some who hear, believe and go on to serve the Lord fruitfully in this life and be full of expectation for the next.

All this is familiar enough to us. Stuck in the middle of the story - between the story itself and the explanation - is a key saying of Jesus. Mark has it in verse 12 of chapter 4: "They may be seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven." Jesus is speaking into a situation of rampant unbelief. It has been graphically illustrated in the conflict passages of chapters 2 and 3. The disciples are puzzled. Why won't more people believe in Jesus when it seems so obvious to them that the Kingdom of God is breaking into the world in his person? Also, why does Jesus seem to make it harder for them to believe by his reluctance to do miracles and his apparent veiling of the message in parables?

Jesus' answer is that God wants people to start believing, and as they hear and begin to believe, the veil is removed. God wants from us a voluntary, free-willed, choice to follow Jesus trustingly. It has to be trust that is exercised, not knowledge, for it is faith that pleases God. The point is NOT that God does not want people to be forgiven, but that they can only experience that forgiveness as they begin to trust in him.

This has great significance for our personal witness to our team-mates etc. We must ensure that they hear the word (we must sow the seed). We also have to help them to begin to nurture the seed, and what Jesus says is that we must help them to start trusting him. As they see that God can make a difference, faith grows. So they need to know that we are praying for them.

We can help them to trust God for improved form perhaps: "Have you tried just sitting quietly in the changing room and asking God to help you do your best in the game?" Maybe after a drink or two they confide in us some domestic drama going on; help them to leave that particular issue in God's hands. Time and again people come back and say, "Hey, I think it really works." Help them to 'begin believing' seems to be Jesus' advice, which, of course, was exactly what was happening to the disciples and led to them producing a great harvest.

In 'post modern' Britain, rational explanations of the Christian message seem less believable to our unchurched friends than they used to. "How nice," they say; "I am so pleased that believing it makes you happy. I prefer to get drunk on Fridays, read a bit of Buddhism, and the stars in the Sun." It is no surprise to us when little fruit appears in their lives! As they begin to see that trusting Jesus works, so they may draw closer to following him wholeheartedly. The message of the parable of the sower is, 'help people to start trusting God'.

Andrew Wingfield Digby
Non-Executive Director, Christians in Sport

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