A plea to use your God-given ears

Sermon for Sexagesima

2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9  +  Luke 8:4-15

Last week we talked about the vice called Pride as Jesus attacked it in His parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Today’s parable of the Sower and the Seed also attacks Pride from yet another angle: as it gets in the way of hearing God’s Word so that it actually produces a crop in your heart.

It’s easy to picture what’s going on in the parable of the Sower and the Seed. The farmer walks through his field, tossing a handful of seed in an arc as he goes. His field lies close to the walking path, and some of the seed falls there by the wayside. The wayside is hard, compacted soil, so the seed never penetrates. Some of it gets trampled or snatched away by the birds. Some of the seed falls on rocky soil. It sprouts quickly, but the rocks keep the young plant from sending down roots to find moisture, and when the sun gets hot, it withers and dies. Some of the seed falls among the thorny weeds. It starts to grow, but it’s choked and overwhelmed by the weeds before it can produce any fruit. And finally, some of the seed falls on good soil, where it can sprout, send down roots to find moisture, sustain the heat of the day, and grow up into the plant it was meant to be, so that a single seed produces a plant that produces lots of fruit.

But what heavenly lesson does Jesus want to teach with this parable? We probably wouldn’t understand the parable at all, if Jesus’ disciples hadn’t asked Him what it meant. Imagine if their Pride had kept them from asking! They asked, because they were humble enough to know they needed Jesus’ guidance. They asked, because they cared; they wanted to understand what Jesus was teaching. Caring about the meaning of Jesus’ words and humbly seeking to understand them and put them into practice is, in fact, one of the points of the parable. The disciples asked, and Jesus did explain it to them, and through them, to us, for which we can be eternally grateful, because it means that these words of Jesus are there for us to hear and to learn from.

The multitudes who came to hear Jesus heard, but for the most part, didn’t understand, and, apparently, weren’t too eager to seek the meaning from Jesus. In that way, they were like the seed that fell along the wayside or the walking path. The seed is the word of God—everything Jesus speaks, everything recorded in Holy Scripture, everything preached by the ministers of Jesus (assuming they are preaching in line with His revealed word). It’s the word of God that tells how this universe was created in six days, how mankind sinned against God and brought sin and death into the world. It’s the word of God that tells how the nations all went their own way, but God preserved His word in Israel until the coming of the Christ. It’s the word of God that tells how Jesus Christ is true God and true Man, how He obeyed God’s Law in our place, how He allowed Himself to be rejected and crucified as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, how He rose from the dead and sends out His Spirit into the world in the Gospel to gather a holy Church to Himself, to bring sinners to faith. It’s the word of God that tells Christians how to use the Word and Sacraments that God has provided and how to live as saints in the world. It’s the word of God that tells you, repent and believe the Gospel!

But what happens sometimes? A person hears God’s Word and doesn’t understand what he hears. So what does he do about it? Nothing. Oh well, he says. I don’t understand. I’m just not smart enough, I guess. That sort of sounds like humility, but in reality, it’s a form of Pride. I don’t understand it, but I don’t want anyone else to know that I don’t understand it. I don’t understand, but that’s OK. I don’t have the time or desire or need to seek out someone—like a pastor—who might explain it to me. I don’t need to study it. I don’t need to pray for God’s help in understanding. In the end, I have all I need; I don’t need God’s Word.

At other times, the wayside-hearers are just so distracted with other things that they aren’t really listening. If I asked you who were here last Sunday to give me a general outline of the sermon, I wonder how many would be able to. If I asked the children to explain the Bible stories from the last two Sundays, I wonder if they could. If I asked you to summarize the text of the hymn we sang right before the sermon this morning, I wonder, could you? Or has the word of God that was in those hymns already been snatched away by the devil? Is God’s Word being trampled by your smartphone, or by the to-do list running through your mind, or by some bitterness or anger you’re harboring? Do you fail to think about the things you hear or read? Or if you do think about them, are you content not to understand them? He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

As for the seed that fell on the rocky soil, it’s the word of God that’s heard by people who nod their heads in agreement and in appreciation for what God is teaching. They become members of the Church. (Some even become pastors!) But when troubles or persecutions arise because of the word of Christ, they let go of God’s Word in order to avoid trouble, or in order to hold onto some earthly thing, like a possession (or like a synod). Pride says, I’ll only stay with God’s Word as long as it doesn’t hurt me. So ask yourself, is God’s Word pleasant and sweet in your ears on Sunday morning, but absent from your speech the rest of the week, because you have so many troubles to deal with, because speaking God’s Word would make you seem weird to your friends, or hated by your society, or your job could be on the line if you confess your Christian faith? He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

As for the seed that fell among the weeds, it’s the word of God that’s heard by people who come to Church, but then do nothing with it all week, because they have so many other things to take care of, so many fun things to do, people to see, money to make. Pride says, I’ll only stay with God’s Word as long as it doesn’t get in the way of all the other things I want to do. And faith is starved. Prayer and good works are choked by the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life. Is that you? He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Finally, there was the seed that fell on good soil. The ones that fell on the good ground, Jesus says, are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. If you’ve been listening to the sermon, if you’re listening now, then God’s Word has already found its way into your heart. What will you do with what you’ve heard? Your heart doesn’t have to be hard like a walking path; the devil can’t snatch God’s Word away if you’re paying attention to it and care about it. Your faith doesn’t have to be shallow; God’s Word is like a hammer that shatters the rock, and He is able to preserve you in times of trouble and persecution. Your faith doesn’t have to be choked by the cares, riches, and pleasures of life; God’s Word is even now warding off those things so that you don’t get distracted by them or caught up in them. Your heart can be noble and good. You can keep God’s Word. You can bear fruit with patience. Not because you are your own source of strength, but because the Spirit of God is present in the word you’re hearing to help you. His grace is sufficient for you. Don’t let Pride get in the way of His help!

Christ calls on us all today to get serious about hearing God’s Word and doing what it says, consciously watching out for all the obstacles He mentions in this parable. Take His warnings to heart. Because He loves you and doesn’t want to see His Word snatched away, or your faith withered or choked to death. He wants to see you grow up into the flourishing tree He means you to be, so that you can not only remain in His kingdom, but be a blessing to everyone around you. Amen.