Sexagesima + 2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9 + Luke 8:4-15
In
the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Last
Sunday Christ taught us about the grace of God. He calls us to enter His
vineyard out of sheer grace and undeserved mercy. He promises us forgiveness of
sins, life, and eternal salvation to all who believe, solely for Christ’s sake
and not on account of any work, merit, or worthiness on our part. But He also
warned us against receiving God’s grace in vain so that we grow to despise it
and imagine that we really are worthy of the vineyard and the denarius. Christ
teaches us about His kingdom while warning us against rejecting it. Today
Christ teaches us in a similar way about
the power of His Word by comparing it to seed that is sown into the ground. He
not only teaches us about His Word and its effects in our hearts, He warns us
to careful how we hear His Word so that we don’t ignore it and let it be taken
from us, and with it, our salvation.
“A sower went out to sow his seed” and
the “the seed is the word of God,” He
explains. A seed is one of the tiniest things in this life. But in spite of its
size, the seed has a hidden, living power. Like a seed, the Word of God seems
like a small thing in this life. Preaching from a pulpit. Words on the page of
Scripture. They seem inconsequential because this world is full of all sorts of
preaching and all sorts of words. But God’s Word is different from every other
word because it, like a seed, has a hidden, living power. “The word of God is living and powerful” says the apostle in Hebrews
4:12. Jesus says in John 6:63, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” The Word of God creates faith when it is implanted in
the hearts of men. The Word of God, when heard with a good and noble heart,
that is, with the intention to listen and internalize it, makes sinners who
were once dead in their transgressions and sin spiritually alive. The Gospel is
the power of God unto salvation. It shall accomplish what God pleases. It will
bring forth a magnificent harvest in those who hear it, believe it, keep it,
and endure in it unto the end.
But
that doesn’t happen in everyone who hears the Word of God preached, taught,
spoken, and confessed, and it’s not the fault of the Seed. Nor is it the fault
of the sower. The problem is with the soil. So that we might look at ourselves
gauge how we are hearing God’s Word, Christ compares the hearts of those who
hear the Word to four different types of soil. The sower sows His seed through
preachers preaching and Christians confessing the gospel within their
vocations. Some seed “fell by the
wayside: and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.”
This soil is hard and compacted. As a seed can’t sink into such soil and grow,
so these hearts are hardened and unyielding so that they don’t hear the Word.
If they do, they don’t take it to heart. They have no intention of applying it
to themselves. We see this kind of heart
frequently. We’re very familiar with this type of soil. These are the hearts
who refuse to even darken the door of church. These hearts are also those who
claim to be Christian but never hear the Word, never honestly read it, and have
no intention to learn it. The seed condemns their sins and offers perfect
remission of sins but they won’t hear any of it, imagining they have no sin and
so they have no need of a Savior from sin. Since the Word finds no soft spot in
the soil of their heart, Satan the bird of prey swoops in and takes the Word
from their heart, lest they should believe and be saved.
Some
of that seed, from preachers preaching and Christians confessing falls on rock.
The seed springs to life quickly and then withers away just as quickly because
it lacked moisture. “They receive the
word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of
temptation fall away.” This is the heart of those who initially believe the
Gospel, repent of their sins, and enjoy Christ’s forgiveness and new life. But
when scorching heat of temptation or persecution come, their faith quietly
shrivels up. They have a good beginning but they don’t have any staying power,
for they imagine that faith in Christ will make life easier. But when they feel
the devil press upon them all the more because they belong to Christ, they
quietly abandon Him.
And
some of that seed, sown by preachers preaching and Christians confessing falls
among thorny soil. This seed sprouts into faith but the thorns, which are “cares, riches, and pleasures of life,”
grow up around faith and choke it. The Seed couldn’t become implanted in the
rocky soil and grow because it couldn’t establish roots to nourish the plant of
faith. It baked in the heat of hardships and persecutions. Among the thorns,
though, the plant of faith is strangled by cares, riches, and pleasures of
life. This is the person who hears the word and believes it, but then slowly
falls away from faith because they care too much for the things of this life
and put too much stock in the ways of the world. The false promises of riches
and wealth lure their hearts away from faith. They put their trust in their
wealth to give them every good thing rather than their Faith in heaven. Or they
are tempted by the pleasures of this life and pursue lustful thoughts or just
friendship with the world and its ways. They may still go to church. They may
still outwardly hear the Word and confess the faith, but the thorns choke their
faith so that it cannot bear the mature fruit of patience and trust in
suffering, chastity towards oneself, and selfless acts of love for one’s
neighbor.
We’re
familiar with these types of hearts. We see them see in our city, among our
friends, and sadly, even among our own families. But Christ shows us these
conditions of the human heart so that we can chiefly guard against them in
ourselves. Those whose hearts are hard and compacted, they reject the Word of
God outright. But the hearts who are rocky and thorny, they believe for a time
but slowly fall away because they did not heed Christ’s warning: take care how
you hear God’s Word. Make time for the hearing of God’s word and don’t just sit
through the service and sermon thinking about the cares of this life. Mix the
Word with faith. Hear it and apply it yourself, both the Law which condemns you
for your specific sins and the Gospel which promises the remission of all your
sins for Christ’s sake. Apply Christ’s promises to yourself, so that everything
you hear in this place you understand to be spoken for you, as if you were the
only one here to hear it. Hear the Word in humble faith and believe that the
Word is the instrument through which God the Holy Ghost promises to work in
your heart to create faith in you and strengthen your faith so that it does not
wither under the scorching heat of hardships and persecution. The Holy Ghost tells
you through the pen of St. James, “Lay aside all
filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted
word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).
That’s what it means to hear with Word with a good
and noble heart. It means to hear the Word in faith and apply it yourself. It
means to humbly the Law and repent of your sins so that you want to improve. It
means to hear the Gospel and believe that it is good news for you because it
forgives your sins, grants you everlasting life, and tells you that you have a
gracious Father in heaven. Hear the Word as often as you are able. Keep the
Word close to you heart. Treasure it because it is the power of God by which He
works in you and brings forth fruit. That fruit is faith which endures unto the
end, genuine love for others, patience and trust in suffering and every
misfortune. He has planted His Word in you and will nourish it week by week so
that will endure unto the end.
In the Name of
the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.