Jul 12, 2020  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, AMEN

The text for our meditation today is the Gospel Lesson for this 6th Sunday After Pentecost, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. There we read these words:

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”.........18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

We begin in the name of Jesus, AMEN

Dear friends, of all the parables of our Lord, the Parable of the Sower is probably the most familiar one of all. In fact, you probably remember it from Sunday School "all those years ago." It seems so easy to understand. And yet, dear friends, I believe that this Parable is the most often misunderstood of all Jesus parables.

One thing that is clear from the Parable: The Word of God is preached with reckless abandon, scattered to the four winds with no partiality or prejudice. What I mean is this. Our Lord is not stingy with His Word. For just as Christ was crucified for the free forgiveness and salvation of all people, so does His Word go out for all people without exception. . .

But of course, our Parable is chiefly concerned with what happens to this Word in the hearts and lives of those who hear it. And that is where the difficulty starts in "understanding" this profound story of our Lord.

So many people want to make the success or failure of the crop depend upon the condition of the soil; which is to say, they want to make the success or failure (so to speak) of God's Word depend upon the qualities and actions of those who hear the Word. . . .

On the surface, that might seem like an obvious interpretation. And yet, it is simply one more example of those who hear the Word without "understanding." To "understand" the Word of God is to hear it as the Gospel of Jesus Christ from start to finish. In other words, everything in the bible finally points to Jesus Christ and what He has done, for you and for all people; and what He continues to do for His Church through His Word.

Hearing His Word with "understanding" means hearing that Word, not as instruction for living, not as a guide book of do’s and don’ts, not as a history lesson, but as His Word of forgiveness and mercy for you; knowing and believing that Jesus has done all things for you, and that He continues to love and forgive you, and not because of who you are, nor anything that you have done, but only by the gracious mercy of His Love.

But thanks be to God that He is constantly at work to open our hearts and minds, and to give us the ears of faith. That is why Jesus says to His Disciples: "Blessed are your ears, because they hear!"

There is nothing you can do to make yourselves (or anyone else) believe the Gospel. For yourselves, you can only listen to the Word, and then allow the Word to do its work within you. Likewise, for others; you can only sow the Word before them, and then entrust their hearing of it to the Holy Spirit.

Of the great crowds that gathered around Jesus so much so that He had to preach from a boat there would be many who would hear His saving Word and yet produce no fruit. Likewise among those who heard the preaching of Saint Matthew and the other Apostles.

Just so, there are no doubt some here today, who will hear from me and from the Divine Service the Gospel Word of Christ, but who will in time let go of that Word and allow themselves to whither and die.

In this Parable, do not wonder that so much Seed is "wasted" and lost. Rather, praise God that anything grows at all! For in spite of the soil and its enemies; in spite of the rockiness of your hearts, and the ravenous birds of Satan, and the weeds of the world, the Lord still calls forth a harvest from the Seed that is sown

In the first place, there are those who never hear the Word of the Gospel at all, and dear friends, you may not want to admit it, but many of these people are probably closer than you think to your own church and homes. There are those who do hear the Word, but for whom the message is twisted and distorted. For these people, the Seed is contaminated to the point of being gone altogether

In other cases, the Gospel is preached as it should be, but those who hear are scandalized by the simplicity of the message; or by the Cross of Christ, which is so contrary to the "wisdom" of this world. It doesn't make sense; it doesn't sink in; and so it is rejected

In the second place, it is an unfortunate irony of life in this sinful world, that regardless of whether things are going well or going badly, people are pulled away from the Word of God. Thus, Jesus says, the thorns that choke the growing Seed are both the anxieties of this age and the deceitful appeal of riches.

Dear friends, have the anxieties of your life ever piled up on you; have you ever faced a time when everything is going wrong, have you ever felt the weight of the world on your shoulders, have you ever reached the point where it felt as though that God had abandoned you. It is so easy at times like that to feel that His Word and Gospel are powerless to help you, and the challenges before you seem so demanding.

In much the same way, when everything seems to be going right; when you are blessed with food and drink and all that you need to support this body and life; when family and friends and possessions are secure, one can easily begin to lose one’s interest in God

In the third place, it is easy to see how the world and your flesh cooperate to strip the Seed of Christ from your hearts. All people are by nature so shallow, so petty and superficial. Going to church, hearing the Gospel, living the Christian life, it's all fine and good at first. Indeed, many Christians are especially active and excited about their faith for a while.

But even the simple passage of time can wear you down. You become bored and overconfident: "I've heard it all before, and I can get along just fine without it now and then.

And what happens when the real heat begins? What happens when it falls on you to bear the Cross of Christ in a world that would eagerly crucify you? What happens when you must stand up for the truth of the Gospel, no matter how unpopular it might be? It is tempting and oh, so easy, to throw up your hands and give up: "I don't need this hassle! It's one more headache on top of everything else, and I can live without it!"

What will make the difference, then, from one type of soil to the next, seeing that none of you are immune to the enemies of the Word? The Disciples were themselves attacked (and sometimes overcome) by these enemies. And so was Christ Himself attacked, as we hear so vividly in the story of His temptation. But how did Christ fight back and resist temptation? By relying solely on the Word of God Itself. . . .

Dear friends, take this stand of Christ against temptation by taking every opportunity to hear the Word of God; to hear the preaching of His Gospel, to eat and drink the Body and Blood of His Son, and to receive His forgiveness of our sin.

Seek within your homes and in your families to fill your days and nights with the Word of the Gospel, in prayer and meditation. In the vivid words of Deuteronomy, bind it to your foreheads and nail it to your doorposts; speak it to your children when you rise in the morning, as you travel through your days, and again when we you down to sleep. In this way you can hold on to the Seed.

For regardless of what the soil is like, there is no produce whatsoever apart from the Seed. It is the Seed alone which grows and produces fruit. All the soil can do is hinder or destroy what the Seed would otherwise do.

That tiny Seed of the Gospel, buried underground (as though it were dead and gone), will accomplish the purpose of God and His good and gracious will for us. "My Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty," He says. "It will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Sprouting, and growing, and digging down roots deeper and deeper into your heart, the mustard seed becomes a mighty tree! The grain of wheat becomes a bushel. And then, at the last, the Sower and Lord of the Harvest will gather His sheaves, and because of His Seed, He will gather you, into the harvest home of heaven. God is faithful, and His Seed will do it.

Remember, Christ is risen.