One night a woman dreamed that she walked into a brand new shop. Much to her surprise, she found God working behind the counter. She asked God, "What do you sell here?"
"Everything your heart desires," God replied.
It was incredible. She was talking face to face with God. God just told her she could have anything she desired. "I want peace of mind and love and happiness and wisdom and freedom from fear," she told God. Then almost as an afterthought she added, "not just for me, but for everyone on earth."
God smiled, "I think you've got me wrong, my dear. We don't sell fruits here. Only seeds."
Jesus told a parable about a sower who went forth to sow seed. Not all the seed would germinate. Some would soon be eaten by the birds. Some would fall among thorns which eventually would choke it out. But some seed would fall on good soil and it would produce an unbelievable harvest, "some a hundredfold, some 60, some 30."
I can just imagine the people listening carefully to Jesus' words. "What in the world is he talking about?" they murmured. They expected to hear something profound, something that would add meaning to their lives. Instead Jesus talked about sowing seeds.
Jesus knew his listeners' hearts, though. He knew that some would walk away shaking their heads thinking that "he couldn't possibly be the messiah." Others would follow him for awhile until they found someone else more interesting or worldly concerns choked them out. But there were a few--only a few--who would make a choice that would change their lives forever.
Let's begin here.
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER CALLS US TO MAKE A CHOICE.
Mother Teresa once made such a choice. And it wasn't as long ago as you might think. Mother Teresa did not set out to help the poor. For over 20 years she taught the wealthiest children in Calcutta, India. Everyday she overlooked the impoverished slums and the people living in the streets that surrounded the well-to-do neighborhood in which she worked. She was perfectly content with her life.
Until one night she was walking home and heard a woman crying out for help. Realizing the seriousness of the woman's condition, Mother Teresa rushed her to the nearest hospital. At the hospital she was told to sit and wait. She knew the woman would die without immediate medical attention so she took the woman to another hospital. Again medical treatment was denied. The woman belonged to the wrong social caste. In desperation, Mother Teresa took the woman to her home. Later that night, the woman died in the comfort of Mother Teresa's loving arms.
That night Mother Teresa resolved that this would never happen again to anyone within her reach. She decided that she would devote her life to easing the pain of those who suffered around her. Whether they lived or died, they would do so with dignity. She would personally do everything in her power to see that they would be treated better than they had ever been treated in their entire lives, with the love and respect that all people deserve.
Mother Teresa made a choice. Do you think she ever dreamed that by making that choice her name would one day be a household word? Do you imagine that she even dreamed how many lives she would eventually touch? Obviously not. We never know when we are sowing seed what the result might be.
That brings us to the 2nd thing to be noted from Jesus' parable.
SEED THAT IS SOWN ON GOOD GROUND PRODUCES BOUNTIFULLY.
David McCullough, in his book, THE UNEXPECTED HARRY TRUMAN, tells us that former President Harry Truman's parents revered the great Confederate general, Robert E. Lee. At one point young Truman gave his mother a little portrait of Lee and she hung it beside her dresser. Harry's favorite biographical essay was on Robert E. Lee. It included a letter that Lee wrote to his son in 1860. Listen to these words and just imagine the impact they must have had on young Harry Truman:
Lee writes: "You must be frank with the world. Frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Just say what you mean to do on every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right...." Robert E. Lee could not know when he wrote those words to his son that a century later they would be lived out by a President of the United States. We never know what a harvest may come from seed we sow.
The late Fred Herman used to begin his speeches by asking audiences: Who was Jim Thorpe's coach, who taught Einstein arithmetic in the 2nd grade, who was Paderewski's piano teacher in the 6th grade? We might ask, who was Billy Graham's Junior High Sunday School teacher? God promises us a bountiful harvest from tiny seed. Sometimes that seed is sown close to home.
Bill Havens was to represent the United States at the first canoeing event in the 1924 Olympics. But Bill faced a dilemma: his first child was due to be born the day of the race. Bill's wife encouraged him to go, but Bill decided to stay with her. The team won; Bill missed his chance for a medal. To make matters worse, the baby didn't even come on schedule. It was 3 weeks overdue. 28 years later, that baby boy, named Frank, phoned Bill from Helsinki. Frank had taken up canoeing, too, and he was calling to tell his dad he had won for him the Olympic medal which Bill had passed up long ago.
There are many parents who have heard God's call, but for one reason or another the seed has been choked out by other concerns. But always in their hearts they know they could have done more. It's interesting how often their children respond to the message mom and dad ignored.
"For what was sown on good soil," Jesus told the disciples, is like the person who hears the word and understands it, "who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another 60, and in another 30."
A farmer using the methods Jesus described in this parable would normally expect a yield anywhere from 7 1/2 to 10. Jesus spoke of a tremendous harvest in spite of the fact that some seed was lost along the way. This is to say that we might not ever know the fruit we are bearing. The seed we sow may seem so tiny, but at harvest time the yield will be fantastic--beyond our expectation.
Perhaps you know a story about Benjamin Franklin. One day he received a gift of a whisk broom from India. He noticed a few seeds fastened to the wisps of the broom. Franklin planted them. When the first crop came up he distributed the seeds among his friends and neighbors. Their crops flourished. In this way Franklin was responsible for introducing broom corn into the American colonies, and starting the American broom manufacturing industry. From tiny seeds sometimes come great harvests.
THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO BE FAITHFUL.
Pauline Hord is a remarkable woman well into her 80's. Pauline is always willing to pray for other people and their needs. Pauline's passion is literacy and prison ministry. There are thousands of people in her home state of Tennessee who can't read and write well enough to function in an adequate way in society. Pauline gives of her time to work with teachers in public schools, training them in a new literacy method. She gives 3 days a week, 4 or 5 hours a day, to teach this new method of literacy in model programs.
Once a week Pauline also drives over a hundred miles one way to Parchman State Prison in Mississippi to teach prisoners how to read and write. Pauline does more for these prisoners than teach them how to read and write. She shares her faith with them. She speaks of her love and her faith and witnesses to the power of the Gospel.
A few years ago President George Bush started a program called "Points of Light." President Bush wanted citizens to exercise positive and creative influence and service in the areas where they lived. In cities and communities across America, people have been recognized for being "points of light." It is no surprise that Pauline Hord was chosen as a point of light. An article was written about her in the local newspaper describing her work.
A few months later, President Bush came to Memphis. He wanted to honor the 7 most outstanding "points of light" in that area. Pauline Hord was invited along with 6 other "points of light" to have lunch with President Bush. But the President made a mistake. The luncheon was scheduled on a Wednesday. That's the day Pauline spends at Parchman Prison in Mississippi, teaching prisoners to read and write and witnessing to them of the love of Christ. She would not give that up to have lunch with the President.
Do you think Pauline Hord has been able to see all the fruit she is bearing? I doubt it. Sometimes it takes generations to see the results of our labors, but the fruit will come if we will be faithful. God will use the seed we sow to accomplish great things in this world, if we will only do our part.
A Western reporter interviewed Boris Yeltsin several months ago. When asked what gave him the courage to stand firm and help insure the fall of Communism in the former U.S.S.R., Yeltsin credited the story he had read of Lech Walesa, the electrician who helped bring democracy to Poland several years ago.
Similarly, Walesa has stated that he was inspired by reading accounts of the civil rights movement in this country, led by the late Dr. Martin Luther King.
Dr. King has indicated that he was spurred to action when he learned of the courage of one woman, Rosa Parks, who simply refused to sit in the back of the bus.
We seldom know the potential of the seed we sow, but is it possible that the fall of Communism was brought about by one black woman who refused a seat in the back of the bus?
We never know, do we? God gives us seeds. It's up to us how we are going to use the seeds we are given. If we water and nurture the seed, however, at harvest time the yield will be fantastic, beyond belief.
