Think about how you hear God’s word

Sermon for Sexagesima

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

According to Jesus, God’s word is like seed. And your ears are the soil in which it’s planted. Are you ready? I ask, because Jesus indicates in today’s Gospel that most people aren’t. They aren’t ready to hear God’s word, really hear it and ponder it and consider it. Or if they hear it, they allow other things to keep it from growing up into the glorious plant it’s intended to be. So as you hear God’s word this morning, think not only about what you hear, but how you hear.

Whether some in the crowd who first heard Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed understood it or not, we don’t know. For the most part, Jesus’ spoke in parables that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. That’s a reference to the commission that God gave long ago to the prophet Isaiah, who was sent to speak the word of God to a people of Judah who were already almost ripe for judgment. Isaiah spoke the truth, but he spoke it in prophecies and riddles, in symbols and in visions, so that only those who really cared to hear what their God said to them would pause to ponder the meaning of what he said. So, too, with Jesus. The people of Israel were almost ripe for judgment again, so until His crucifixion and resurrection, it was still time to speak in parables, so that only those who had ears to hear, who really cared to listen, would actually learn.

That group certainly included Jesus’ twelve apostles. They didn’t understand this parable, but they wanted to. So they asked! And Jesus revealed its meaning to them, and now to us and to all who have ears to hear.

The seed is the word of God. Which word of God? It’s the whole counsel of God, everything God has said and inspired to be recorded in Holy Scripture. But that “everything” centers on the Gospel of Christ Jesus, like spokes on a bicycle wheel pointing to the center, or radiating out from the center, either way you look at it. Christ Jesus, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is one God, one Lord. Christ Jesus, through whom all things were made in the beginning. Christ Jesus, who gathered the people of Israel and redeemed them from slavery and brought them under the covenant of the Law. Christ Jesus, who cultivated the people of Israel and bore with them with great patience until it was time for Him to be born into the world. Christ Jesus, true God and true Man, incarnate—made flesh—in order to redeem all men from our sins by His righteous life and innocent death in our place. Christ Jesus, risen from the dead, who sends His Spirit into the world to work through the preaching of His word and the administration of His Sacraments in order to gather His Church here in humility until He returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. That basically summarizes the whole Bible and the whole of human history. All of it together, and all of its many parts which zero in on Christ Jesus, is the seed that is sown whenever that word is preached.

The word is sown liberally, generously. It goes out into the world like a farmer who takes a handful of seed and simply scatters it abroad. For the preacher and for the members of the Church who observe the preaching, this parable is very useful, because it helps us to understand why so many hear the word and don’t believe, or if they believe, don’t become fruitful members of the Church or remain steadfast to the end. But we’re not here today to think about how God’s word grows or doesn’t grow in other people. We’re here so that I can sow the word in your ears, and so that you can hear it, and, as you hear it, you need to be aware of the many obstacles you’ll face when you hear it, and you’ll need to overcome them, by God’s grace, so that you receive the word with a noble and good heart.

This is what happens, Jesus says, when the word is sown: Some of it falls like seed on a path or a wayside. Two things happen. It’s trampled down, and the birds of the air devour it. These are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. How have you done so far this morning, during the whole service up to this point, with all the prayers, chants, hymns, Scripture lessons? Have you been distracted by your phone? Thinking about lunch? Or school? Or a dozen things that happened this week, or another dozen things you have to do this coming week? Are you sitting in judgment of your fellow members or of your pastor’s quirkiness? Are you listening to the words but not pausing to consider what they mean or how they apply to you? These are some of the things that trample all over the seed that’s being sown, and the devil happily snatches the word away so that it does you no good. It produces no repentance, or faith, or awe in the presence of God, or appreciation for His goodness, or thankfulness for His benefits. This is one thing that happens when the word is sown. Don’t let it happen to you!

This, too, is what happens, Jesus says, when the word is sown: Some of it falls on rocky soil. It penetrates a little, but not very far. It sprouts up quickly, but the tender shoot soon withers and dies for lack of a root system, for lack of moisture. These, Jesus says, are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. You hear the word of God. You believe it. You rejoice in what you hear. For example, “God is love! God loves you!” But then you’re satisfied. No need to study any further, dig any deeper. Why spend time reading through the Bible, reviewing the Small Catechism, much less the rest of the Confessions of the Church? Leave the theology to the theologians! Leave the deeper doctrines to other people! So you’re left with a superficial faith. Then along come the temptations, as they always do, especially the temptation to cave in the face of persecution. As you know there’s an increasing amount of persecution against those in our country who simply hold to the most basic doctrines of Christianity—former foundations of our society, like, the only true God is the God of the Bible, all other gods are false gods and idols; sinners are justified by faith alone in Christ Jesus; there are only two genders; marriage is between one man and one woman and is supposed to last until death; sex is supposed to be reserved for marriage, and children should be raised by a father and a mother, and certainly never killed in their mothers’ womb. Simple things. Basic things. But saying them in public anymore will get you called every name in the book and shouted down. So if the seed has only sprouted shallowly in rocky soil, persecution and the troubles that come with confessing Christ will cause the plant to wither and die. This is another thing that happens when the word is sown. Don’t let it happen to you!

This, too, is what happens, Jesus says, when the word is sown: Some of it falls among thorns. It starts to grow, but its growth is stunted as it’s choked by the weeds, a pathetic little plant that doesn’t produce any fruit. These, Jesus says, are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. You hear the word here in church. But then “life” takes control of your thoughts and your decisions and your heart. Cares, like relationships you want to focus on, or societal issues that consume your thoughts; riches, like making money and saving money and spending money and all the things that have to do with a career; pleasures, like enjoying retirement, vacations, movies, food, drink, etc. All fine things by themselves, but how can God’s Spirit produce His fruit in your heart and life if those things have taken over your heart, if they’re choking His word? This is another thing that happens when the word is sown. Don’t let it happen to you!

But there is another thing that happens when the word of God is sown: Some of it falls on good soil where it springs up and yields a hundredfold crop. These, Jesus says, those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. Now, there is nothing inherently noble or good about any human heart. As Jeremiah says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? That applies to all of our hearts. But since the Holy Spirit is always working when His word is preached, to soften hearts and to open ears, that means He’s enabling you to hear, to listen with a noble and good heart, to ponder the word that’s preached. And when we’re talking about Christians, those who have already been brought to faith in Christ and born again by water and the Spirit, then guess what? You have a New Man who can cooperate, though weakly, with God’s Spirit to listen to the word with a noble and good heart, right here, right now. If you’re choosing to focus on other things right now, if you’re choosing to let the seed sit at the surface of your heart without any effort to deepen your faith and understanding, if you’re choosing to make the word nothing more than your Sunday morning routine so that it doesn’t affect your thoughts and words and actions throughout the week, that’s not the seed’s fault. The seed is powerful to work in you, to change you, to give you a faith that can move mountains, to make you abound in works of love, to give you strength to face whatever comes, to keep Christ crucified always before your eyes.

Some of the seed of God’s word falls on good ground and produces much fruit. Let that happen to you, and not just today. We won’t hear this parable again for another year, so let its message stay with you, so that every Sunday and throughout the week you’re thinking about how you hear God’s Word, so that it may have its intended effect in you. Amen.