This sower went out to sow his seed, and he threw it everywhere. He didn't care where the seed went. He didn't seem to care whether it fell on the road or in the rocky places or in the briar patches -- he just threw it to the winds and let it fall where it may. A farmer has to have a lot of seed to be that extravagant.
We flash back to Genesis where God created an entire universe and put one man in it. Sun, stars, moon, seas, vegetation, fish, birds, mammals -- a cosmic system created so that one man may live. And that is extravagant, too.
The Genesis story reminds us that the parable, too, is about God. God is the Sower. He sows his seed, which is his Word. And the characteristic of his sowing is his extravagant, if not wasteful, generosity. Seed everywhere. God's Word spoken incessantly. The words, acts, intentions, creative happenings of God falling all over the place.
Is that the way the world looks to you? Well, whether it does or not, says Luke's parable, that's the way it is. We live in a world that's dominated by a Farmer-God striding through nations, civilizations, societies, communities, continents, countries, families, and private minds; through war, through peace, through taverns, through restaurants, through theaters, through offices, while people are typing, sewing, eating, sleeping, driving, singing, weeping, talking, watching, playing, cursing, blessing, arguing, making love, studying, striving, escaping, running; in Bangladesh and Baltimore, in Calcutta and Chicago.
God is present in the world sowing his seed, the seed thrown into every person's life, into every situation, into every heart, into every nook and cranny of the universe.
Isn't that great? That "in private minds" reminds me that God speaks to everyone. Even those who have convinced themselves that He doesn't exist. He is speaking and revealing His love to everyone. He is working. No one can keep Him out. I am so very glad of that!