The Parable of The Farmer and The Seeds

Each one who belongs to the people of God is duty-bound to talk and profess about God, and to teach about God. On and on and on, as a people and children of God we are to acknowledge Him who is our Creator and Father! And because He is our God! There should never be enough pride in declaring about God! And it should never matter if in so doing we are opposed!

Again as a people and children of God we are to care about speaking and witnessing to the truth, which we must let known to all! And so this shall be our ministry: to teach about our God, to follow the Lord's injunction: "Proclaim the Good News to all people, to the whole world ...." However, there is not going to be any modesty or defensiveness on behalf of the message or the truthfulness about God. Hence, a "caveat" here! Those that ignore the message of Jesus Christ, the announcement of salvation in Him, are themselves responsible to God! If they choose to be blind and apathetic to the embracing and sharing of the Good News of the Lord, that is their own lookout when judgment times come upon them! My prayers are for them; but for them we're shaking the dust off our "cyberspace walking shoes".

Worldly honors are not the believers' concern! And believers and evangelizers have been forewarned of rejections instead. The first one to announce the Lord, and his message of repentance, Saint John the Baptist lost his head in crying out loud about the truth! He knew it coming, and it did not bother him. Saint Stephens, the first Post Pentecost "Saint" from among the first community of Christians joyously endured his stoning to death by those who found him way to open about proclaiming his new found faith in the resurrected Christ! Saint Paul, who preached to all types of audience, both the Jews and the Pagans, including the mighty Roman officials, was relentless in declaring the TRUE GOD versus the localities' popular pagan gods and goddesses! He, like John the Baptist, lost his head doing the same thing. Under the world setting, both religious and secular, we have had God's honest people like Ninoy Aquino, Jose Rizal, Martin Luther King Jr, (and may I include even the brothers, John F Kennedy and Robert Kennedy), then the Salvadorenan Bishop Romero, the youths of the Tiannamen Square, Indira Ghandi, and Saint Thomas, and many many more martyred professers of the truth and the faith as recorded in the history of the Church and the world. They have become martyrs for just speaking the truth without bounds. They are secularly immortalized, and their heavenly glory shall be made known. Yet prior to their reward these people inwardly already cherished their integrity about their truthful declarations. There's nothing like the inner peace from truthful convictions. These are the people the Lord referred to when He admonished followers saying ".. Fear not those who can kill your body but not your spirit ..". We do not lift us in equal level of spiritual guts with the above individuals. But it is our consolation to be aware their path is a regular path to tread and to follow when it comes to openness about the truth, or the practice of the truth! Publicity rating is not the evangelizers' concern. Neither is a welcoming applause, nor people recognition! But to disavow allegiance to the King of Kings is a most scary act. And lest He disavows ever knowing "us" we better not be ashamed declaring Him, or about Him!

In this plight of evangelizing we may be robbed of certain 'worldly happiness'; but God's inner joy for us shall never be taken away! This is the promise and guaranty of the Lord's beatitude! Some might see devoted evangelizing 'fanaticism' or even outright 'craziness'. To suffer with such stereotyping is not on equal terms with the peace and consolation that comes from the Spirit. Unbelievers are no privy to the lofty grace inspirations of the Holy Spirit given to those who cherish the faith!

Now, a few words to "them" who by the grace of God have visited the "Balik Sa Panginoon" website. It is our belief and trust that it is by the grace of God they do experience the fervor for the word of God from whatever source they get it. But if because of human weakness they are without enough courage to publicly make known their testifying for the faith in the Lord so to them we say this admonition. They are not to get the impression the business of evangelizing for the Good News of God is a bleak exercise in futility and shame! We say it is not so! Our goal is not to be relenting in our effort and mission of making known to everyone God's Good News of salvation in Christ. They that negate themselves the opportunity to espouse and propagate the mission of spreading the word of God negate themselves. They on their own volition turn away from God's Good News. In varying ways they lose or throw away the seeds of truth. Let us take a look at the Scriptures account on the Parable of the Sowing of the Seeds. Mark 4:3-8 "... A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of the seeds fell along the road and was eaten by birds. Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil was not very deep. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots. Some other seeds fell where thorn bushes grew up and choked out the plants. So they did not produce any grain. But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants grew and produced thirty or sixty or even a hundred times as much as was scattered..." Jesus explained this parable. He said "... What the farmer is spreading is really the message about the kingdom. The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But Satan soon comes and snatches it away from them. The seeds that fell on the rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. But they don't have any roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the messsage gets them in trouble, they give up. The seeds that fell among the thorn bushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and welcome the message. They produce thirty, or even a hundred times as much as was planted." Mark 4:14-20

The three situations explained by the Lord Himself are three ways worldly people negate themselves or refuse the truth of God. In the first situation Jesus makes reference to individuals who hear the gospel of salvation but who allow Satan to snatch whatever they hear of the gospel because they have stuck themselves in sinful ways or lifestyles. Sins can not co-exist with the knowledge of truth. When people choose sins or the living in "darkness" they are giving up on knowing God, or the life of "light". People must irrevocably renounce sinfulness if they want to be freed from the darkness of lies and confusions about life. In the second situation Jesus makes reference to individuals who also hear the gospel of truth but who did not bother to make any effort at learning, studying, meditating and reflecting on the words of God. As Jesus said their understanding of the words of God does not get to grow ".. any roots, and they don't last very long.." These are people who might be attending Sunday masses or services but don't bother to listen with attention to the sermons or interpretations of the word of God. Or they don't open the Bible at all; or do not try to read any spiritual book which could help them deepen understanding of the Bible readings during Sunday masses or services. These could also be some who have professed to be indifferent to all and any postings in my site Balik Sa Panginoon whether it be for reason of communication problem or sheer personal bias. But most importantly these are the people who do not have any degree of daily prayer life. They wake up, partake of meals, do absorbing work, and attend to all kinds of hobbies, and then go back to sleep night in and night out all the time unmindful of whatever God wants to communicate to them, and forgetful even about thanking Him for all the blessings of the day, of the night, and of his life. When people give up on their freedom to communicate with God, God will not force them to turn to Him, even if He is waiting all the time for them knocking on their doors, and to let Him into their daily living. Except maybe during the time of troubles. At which time it might be too late; or at which circumstances it would have been harder for them to even pay attention to God as they are too enmeshed with their problems. In the third situation Jesus makes reference to individuals who also had the opportunity to have heard of His words but who are so consumed by their attachment to the goods of the world, which He says ".. choked out" their knowledge of the gospel. These people learned enough of the truth of God but their mind and heart are so caught up with the more materialistically absorbing interests of the world. They are so attached to all worldly promises of wealth, pleasures, and fame; these constitute their topmost objective in life. They remember themselves paying lip service to a God, and to Godly mission work but their heart is on whatever is giving them honor and prestige, as well as wealth and affluence. Evangelizers along the way that they find blocking their pursuits, or who are a nuisance to their merry-ing activities are seen as mere "idiots" or "fanatics", who do not make any sense whatsoever in their ".. politically correct" crowd and environment. Such seeming"fanatics" to them are only ".. irritants" to their notion of individual successes in the world, and social advancement or progress. In the final situation Jesus makes reference to those fortunate people who really " .. hear and welcome the message" of the truth. And so doing they produce a hundredfold out of the message they hear and accept. These are the sheep that know their "Shepherd"that they can not but walk and follow His leading them to the true pasture of eternal life and living water. As members of the flock of God, by the grace of God, they live out and reflect the very WORD the "Master" who speaks to them, and nurtures them , ie. Himself, the Word of God, teaching them the truth, and Himself, the Life come down from God, giving eternal life to them.

`And so to you, my friends and my brothers and sisters in the flock of God I commend to pray and make sure that you be like the last kind of seeds Jesus is making reference to. May you be the good ground upon which the seed of His Good News of salvation is cast on, and from which grow the hundredfold of harvest. May yours be the increase in faith and the growth in the grace of God manifested by a lifestyle of love for neighbors. Rest assured that the seed of God's salvation has an eternal promise and security. But remember to truly ".. hear" the words of God and ".. welcome" them, which is what we do and intend to do ever more in my "Balik Sa Panginoon" faith site.