1. He prepared the soil.  He used the plow, oxen, and fertilizer. Our prayers and service do work in preparing the hearts of those with whom we share.  But how is the soil of our own lives from which we share? How plowed is my heart soil? How fertile is it? Have I taken the time it takes to confess known sin and unknown? Do I harbor attitudes of unbelief, of self-righteousness, of self-hate? Have I quieted and stilled my heart? Am I aligned with God's kingdom purpose? These are ways we prepare our heart's soil.

2. The farmer also prepared the seed -- he had stored it in his barn and now gathered it into a sack so that he can walk the field and broadcast it.

The seed is the message of God's kingdom-- and that message is Jesus.  The message is a person not a philosophy of life. Like a close friend, Jesus is someone we personally know, speak with, spend time with and thereby can share with others.  How familiar am I with Jesus? Am I aware of all God has done in me and for me through Him? Does the kingdom of God Jesus inaugurated seem like a reality that has truly encountered my life? "You will be my witnesses," Jesus told his first disciples. We give testimony to Jesus.

To drive along in life with never a glance at the message -- at Jesus -- is like driving your car but never checking nor changing the oil.  Eventually, the car will quit running and have a bad end.  In our lives, our relationship with Jesus is kept vital by communion with Him.  If we neglect communion, we will not be able to speak about him.  Like Samson who, "didn't realize the Lord had left him" (Judges 16:20), we may have drifted further from God than we thought.

As farmers -- we need to know the soil and the seed.  This farmer went out to sow, broadcasting the seed, letting it fall as it may.  Jesus says the seed we broadcast will not always become a harvest.  But still we broadcast it.

Why? Because we know that it is not up to us to harvest the seed -- but to scatter it.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians that many are used in God's field: some plant, some water, and God causes the growth, and we can assume, some harvest (1 Corinthians 3:6).

To choose big names, what have been Luis Palau or Billy Graham's ministries? Does every person present at every crusade come forward to receive Christ? No, so in some lives Luis and Billy plant and in others, God has used them to harvest!

What about the guys who stand on the street corners in Portland preaching and preaching with no one apparently listening? Are they just quacks? No, they are broadcasting seed, and sometimes they have someone come who is harvested.

1. First, can I put it in the simplest of terms? We SHARE.

a. We share in how we encounter crises.

You are at the doctor office and the results of the exam turn up the diagnosis of cancer.  Even as fears and faith argue, God is there.  Most encounter a peace they cannot explain.  No matter what happens, seed is being broadcast through you.  God will move in that situation to bring witness to all who surround you.

b. We share in what we do.  James said, "show me your faith by what you say and I will show you mine by what I do" (James 2:18).

i. Our actions speak to a watching world, when we are not aware. "I saw you speaking to your kids in the car and it blessed me…" "A mom is doing a great job with her children, and someone notices" "A granddad is carefully showing his grandson how to hook the worm"

When we know Jesus, it is Jesus Christ in our lives coming forth even in everyday encounters.

My heart may dismiss these as evidence of witness but the Spirit of God does not.  Everything I do, wherever I am, I am a testimony for the Gospel -- a witness for Jesus.

We limit God -- but seed is broadcast through us even to those who only observe us in some everyday action.  Therefore, it is crucial we have done the preparing of our soil and the seed.

ii. Other ways we share this seed is to share with the traditional ways: cookies, meals, a cup of cold water, hugs, notes, cards, phone calls, listening.  These actions create and sustain relationships with others, and true relationships provide soil to receive that seed from our lives.

I remember not long ago, I got a solicitation call at the office.  Do you tire of those? It had been a long day for me.  This business-like voice said, "Rev. Shimmer, this is Violet with Integrity worship, how are you today?" I said, "I'm OK, Violet.  How are you? You have the hardest job in the world." And that woman on the other end melted.  We had a long conversation about her life & needs before we returned to the reason for her call.  I treated her like an individual, a real person instead of a voice. It was an act of service on my part.  Such listening then can touch a life.

How many one-time encounters we have in this world at banks, in grocery stores, at gas stations, in restaurants, where someone is serving us.  To just be aware at those moments that those people have needs just like you do, and are real people just as you are, is helpful in remembering you have seed to share just in how you treat them.

iii. What about what we do with what we value in government or society? How does our belief impact how we vote or how we take a stand with issues that are impacting state and nation: whether the lottery, medical ethics, abortion, homosexuality, or others.

2.  The second means of broadcasting seed is words we speak.

Jesus is using that means in telling this parable of a farmer.  He is sharing the good news of the kingdom.

How many stories do you tell in your life? Well, lots! All of our lives happen in story! So, how was Jesus and His Good News a part of that event? Was it a crisis in your life you are relaying? What has God done? When others say: "Well, someone has been looking out for you." To agree is one level of witness, but why not make specific what they have spoken of euphemistically.  Tell what Jesus has done in your heart and life even through crisis.

What about speaking about how you voted in an election? As you choose a candidate do you seek to select someone who represents what you value? Most people do so.  And if so, how do those values speak of what you believe?

How many times have you spoken out of anger, hurt or some emotion and said words you wish you hadn't? What you do afterwards is a powerful evidence of the seed in your life.  To ask forgiveness, to call and apologize, to simply acknowledge that you misspoke is a powerful means of allowing even what was bad and wrong to be righted.

The seed of the message of the Kingdom, the seed of the real presence of Jesus in you and me is shared and spoken to a world needing the message we bear.  It is not so much as having the perfect words or best actions, it is simply realizing that you are a farmer and no farmer would just keep seed on display, or stored hidden away, but would use that seed for its intended purpose.

We live in a world desperate for truth.  The seed of the gospel is needed.