Beckett: The Reckless Sower

“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold…

The sower sows the Word. And these are the ones along the path, where the Word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the Word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the Word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Mark 4:3-8, 14-20

Jesus describes His own ministry, both on Earth and in His ascension as His Church continues the sowing. He is a reckless sower. A practical sower would only put seed in good soil. Jesus, however, without a care, throws the seed of His Word everywhere, for He desires all to hear it. His Word falls on four types of people: those on the path, those on rocky ground, those among thorns, and those on good soil.

The ones on the path are those who hear God’s Word and immediately reject it, for Satan comes and immediately takes it away from them. These are the atheists who pride themselves on logic and reason, and some of whom irrationally berate a people who believe in a Being they claim doesn’t exist. The ones on the rocky ground are those who hear the Word, immediately receive it with joy, but then easily fall away the moment they face suffering or persecution because they are Christian. These are ex-evangelicals who claim to have “deconstructed their faith” (no, you’re just an unbeliever), apostates who renounce Christ when they are persecuted, and moral cowards who disdain the doctrines of Christ when they suffer on account of what they believe.

The ones among thorns are those who hear the Word but abandon it for the cares of the world, such as wealth and worldly doctrines like LGBTQIA dogma, cultural and/or moral relativism, false religion, and other things. Lastly are those who remain on good soil, which are those who hear the Word and embrace it in their entire being and bear the fruit of good works as a result, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and others a hundredfold. They are possessed by the Holy Spirit, and so they cannot help but produce His fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). And these all vary from person to person. While one is able to tithe an entire 10% of their income and gives a small portion of their time and talents to the Church, another might only be able to tithe 2% of their income while giving a significant amount of their time and talents to the Church, and so forth.

The main thrust of the parable is this: Jesus has reckless grace. He does not go around deeming who’s worthy to receive His Word and who’s not. He throws it everywhere. Sure, He knows who will not receive it immediately, who will abandon it as soon as they suffer for being Christian, who will forsake it for the cares of the world, and who will be completely enveloped by it. Still, knowing all this, He spreads His Word everywhere—wherever it may be heard, for He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).