MATTHEW 13:3-9
Then [Jesus] told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”

What should church be about? Well, the Christian Church should be about Christ, of course. But practically speaking, how do we make it about Jesus Christ? Should we gather corporately to sit and think about Jesus one day each week, and do the same thing individually on other days?

The story above shows us what church is about. It’s called the Parable of the Sower. My spell-checker doesn’t know the word, but a sower is one who sows seed – a planter, a farmer. In many churches, on July 10, you will hear a sermon based on this portion of Scripture. While some of Jesus’ teaching parables are harder to understand, in this case Jesus gives his first disciples – and us – a full explanation a few verses later.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us this story. They leave no question about the identity of the seed: It’s the message about the kingdom, the Word of God, the gospel. God is the sower. The sower sows seed. Receptivity of the human heart to the seed is variable, as shown by the seed’s growth patterns in different types of soil. But the seed itself is always good – always powerful! God plants the seed of his Word in us and it becomes the source of our spiritual life. The Word gives life because Jesus Christ is in it. The always-good seed is the Word about Christ.

So what is church about? In order for church to truly be about Christ, it has to be about the Word. That means the Word, the Scripture, is central to our worship. If the Word is not heard clearly in the sermon and clearly in the music, we are missing the point of why we come together as a church. This must be true in all of our church life, including the “business” side of the church.

This goes beyond the church building and beyond corporate church gatherings. If we who are members of the Church, that is the body of Christ on earth, are not individually people of the Word, then we are also missing the point. The Word must be the focus of our spiritual lives, if indeed the spiritual life of Christ is in us.

When, in our churches and as individuals, we are truly about the Word, then something else will happen: The seed of the Word will come out of us. We call it evangelism or missions. We become the planters, as God uses us to sow his seed. And when we do this, motivated by the love of Christ that we know from his Word, some of the seed will grow – just as it has in us, for the glory of Christ.

God’s seed is always good, so… let the seed fall!

“But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matthew 13:23).

By Brent Juliot

Rev. Brent Juliot is Editor of Faith & Fellowship Magazine, teaches math at Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, and serves as senior pastor at Stavanger Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls, MN.