Sexagesima January 31, 2016
Sexagesima
Luke 8:4-15
January 31, 2016
“Keep on Hearing”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
We have a small little area out there in the parsonage yard where we’ve been doing a little garden. Larry Finck has been kind enough to come and till it up the last few years for us. Now most of what we’ve planted in there has come up alright so we’re going to call that the “good soil”. That’s the good soil in the parable, alright? The soil where the seed comes up and produces, right?
So then the parable would be like this. This Spring we go out and buy the seeds for the garden. And we start chucking them everywhere outside. You know those seeds aren’t exactly cheap when you start adding ‘em up, right? So this is a bit wasteful from our standpoint. But we take those seeds and start throwing them everywhere. Some fall on the driveway. Of course, those are done for. As Jesus says, the birds will come and get ‘em. Then some fall on the rock landscaping around the church and the parsonage. Those might spring up a bit but they’re never going to get any root. So they’ll wither away. Or they’ll get sprayed with roundup. Then we get so crazy with the seed that some gets thrown all the way across the highway over there into the ditch with all the weeds. It might come up but it’ll never produce anything. Finally, some falls on the garden there and it comes up and produces.
Now Jesus says that seed is the Word of God, the good news of Jesus Christ that God has scattered all across the world. Jesus has died for the sins of the entire world. Everyone. And God has proclaimed that good news all across the earth. Scattered it everywhere. But what happens? Does everyone believe? Jesus says only a quarter of it comes up and produces anything. Only a quarter gets heard with good soil.
Now here’s where we easily go astray a bit with the parable. We say, “Oh, Lord, thank you that I’m the good soil.” Right? Isn’t that what we would all think? “Oh, I’m the good soil. I have faith. I believe in Jesus. I’m not like all those other people that don’t believe.” “Whew! Thank God for that. Now I can move on. Next parable.” But if that’s the case, then what’s the point of the parable at all? Jesus specifically says that parables are meant to convey secrets of God’s kingdoms. I think we can all safely say that the secret of God’s kingdom isn’t this, “Hey, you guys are great soil. Thanks for being so good.” No, there’s much more here. The secret is going to be that seed and how it works. Not how good we are.
So let’s consider this for a minute, “Maybe I’m not always the good soil.” Let’s think about that. Maybe you and I aren’t always the good soil. Maybe sometimes we’re the driveway out here that doesn’t listen at all to the Word. Maybe sometimes there are rocks in our ears. Maybe sometimes thorns that choke out what we hear in God’s Word. Maybe, just maybe, we’re not always the good soil.
And if that’s true, then you’re in good company. Guess who else wasn’t always good soil? The apostle Paul. That’s pretty much what the whole Epistle today is about. Paul says, “Look, I’m not gonna boast about being good soil! That’s ridiculous,” he says. “No, I’m not good soil. I’ve been through it all. I’m gonna boast about my weaknesses.” He boasts about the birds and rocks and thorns that have come after him.
Remember what Jesus said about the parable. He said that the seed would get attacked by birds, which is the devil. Then by rocks which are the testing and trials. Then by thorns which are the cares and riches and pleasures of life. Now look at what Paul says he went through.
Did he have some testing? Some trials? Did the devil attack him? He was put in prison, more than once. Beaten more than once. Often near death, he says. He received the forty lashes minus one. That would have been brutal. Beaten with rods. Stoned. Three times shipwrecked. Dangers everywhere—from rivers, from robbers, from his own people, from Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness. In toil and hardship with many sleepless nights. Hungry. Thirsty. Cold. And constantly anxious and pressured for all the churches who were counting on him.
Sound like good soil to you? Sounds like flowers and sunshine? All things bright and beautiful? No, Paul was rocky soil at times. There were birds and thorns. And towards the end of that Epistle he gets even more specific. He says that God gave him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass him. Three times he begged God to take it away. But God answer, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
So the devil was after Paul. After him hard, trying to choke out that Word of God. Trying to take away his faith. It was trial after trial. Thorns in his flesh. He was tempted, tried, and tested. But that seed persevered. That Word had been planted in Paul’s heart. God’s grace was sufficient. It was enough. It brought Paul through the birds and the rocks and the thorns so that he produced fruit and God’s kingdom grew.
You see what it’s really like? It’s not that we’re all just good soil that’s gonna grow and never have any trouble. We’re going to face it all at times. Birds, rocks, and thorns. And what this parable is—is a serious warning about very serious dangers to your faith. It’s a warning of very real things that will try to take away the Word of God from you.
Sometimes it’s called the “unholy trinity”. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. This parable gives us a chance to recognize those three dangers because each of them pertains to one of those kinds of soil. The seed that gets sown on the pathway, the driveway, gets snatched away immediately by the devil.
See, that’s how the devil wants to work on you. He doesn’t want God’s Word to even get into your ears at all. He wants to just snatch it away immediately. So the devil convinces you that you’re too busy. Too busy for Church. Too busy for devotions. Too busy for prayer. And he snatches the seed away. The devil whispers a thousand excuses in your ear, “Church is boring. God’s Word is boring. I never get anything out of it. I can’t ever understand it when I read it.” And he snatches the seed away from you. Just look around us. The devil is working very hard in our country which is why no one hardly even cares anymore what God’s Word says at all. He is snatching it away from us.
Then there’s the world. That’s the rocky soil. That’s the testing. Jesus says that sometimes we receive God’s Word with joy and we’re all excited. But then the world tests us. And we don’t have enough root to stand strong. This can be a lot of different testing. It can be illness. It can be pain. It can be people questioning our faith. People claiming that science disproves the Bible. It can be trouble in the family. Trouble at work. But it causes us to doubt God’s Word.
And then there’s our sinful flesh. This is the seed that gets choked by the thorns. Jesus says the thorns are the care and pleasures and riches of life. Oh, how our sinful flesh loves those pleasures of life. And oh, how quickly those pleasures can choke out God’s Word. We get all wrapped up in things. Having things. Having money. Having shiny, fancy toys. We get wrapped up in feeling good. Then comes the lusting, the gambling, the drinking, the binging. And God’s Word, that precious seed, gets lost in the mix.
Jesus is giving you a heartfelt warning. The dangers to your faith are very real. And you have struggled with them. Just as Paul struggled with them. You haven’t cherished God’s Word as you should. We aren’t always the good soil.
But He’s also giving you in this parable the secret of His kingdom. It’s not that you’re good soil. That’s not the secret. The secret is that seed. That Word of God. The secret is that it works. The secret is that if you keep on hearing that Word, it will work in your heart. It will work. That’s why Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him keep on hearing.”
The seed will work. It always works. It’s God’s seed. It’s powerful seed. The Holy Spirit works through that seed. You hear of Jesus and how He came down to earth to save you. How He gave His life on the cross for your sins. How He rose from the dead on Easter morning to give you eternal life. That seed works. Just keep on hearing it. The devil will try to snatch it away from you. The world will test you with all it’s got. Your sinful flesh will try to pull you away from it. But just keep on hearing it. Keep on hearing it. That seed will grow.
Jesus says the good soil is the one that produces fruit and has patience. Isn’t that what we all want? To produce good fruit? You know that fruit of the Spirit? Faith in Christ? And love? And joy? Peace? Kindness? Don’t you want to produce that fruit? Then keep on hearing. Jesus will work that fruit in you. And don’t we all want patience? To not get tossed into the whirlwind and tornado of this world, but to have patience and trust the Lord? Then keep on hearing.
God is very gracious. You heard the parable. He throws His seed all over the place. He will never stop giving you His Word. Never stop sowing. He wants you to have it. He wants you to have Jesus. To have forgiveness. Eternal life. You’re here in Church hearing His Word. That’s great. Keep on doing that. There are other places you can hear His Word also. Come to Bible Study or Sunday School. Teach Sunday School—that’s a great way to make sure you keep on hearing God’s Word. Do family devotions or personal devotions. Make sure your kids or grandkids are hearing God’s Word.
Memorize Scripture verses so that they are part of your heart and soul. Pray throughout the day. Keep on hearing that Word of God. Come to the Lord’s Supper where we hear His Word and receive it in body and blood. Keep on hearing.
Today we don’t just say, “Thank you, Lord, that I’m good soil.” We say, “Thank you, Lord, for that awesome, powerful seed of Your Word.” Thank you that you have given me Jesus and worked faith in my heart.” And we pray that we would keep on hearing it. Always. That the devil wouldn’t snatch it away. That we’d stand strong in testing and trials. And that the cares and pleasures of the world would never choke it out. That we would keep on hearing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.