Sexagesima Sermon

 

Sexagesima – February 11^th and 12^th, 2023 – Luke 8

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    Last week in our sermon, we heard of grumbling, how Satan will try to use resentment and disdain to try to make you hate God's generosity, God's grace. This week our Lord gives us another parable, and in the parable of the Sower and the Seed we see another angle of attack that Satan will use against you. Satan will strive to separate you from the Word of God. That's the Devil's goal – by hook or by crook, Satan will try to wrest away the Word or get you to ignore it.

    Consider the famous parable – the sower sows his seed, and it goes everywhere. Some falls on the road, some falls on rocky ground, some falls amongst the weeds, and some falls in the field and grows well. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Um, sure – okay. This is one of those parables that we are familiar with – we are used to the image of the Sower – every year this week I spend a lot of time pondering my class ring from Oklahoma because it has the image of a Sower on it. But it's a hard parable, it's a strange parable, because there's no clear plot, there's no moral of the story. There's no don't do this but do that. The Sower simply sows the seed. Everywhere. All over the place. Some grows, some doesn't (for a variety of reasons). And upon their first hearing, even the disciples are lost – they have to ask Jesus what it means, and Jesus notes that this is a parable that is hard, that people will see but not see and hear but not hear. The point can be missed – and so often is missed. Catastrophically so. But here it is. The parable is this: The Seed is the Word of God.

    When we consider this parable, we must be considering first the foremost the Word of God. This isn't a parable about our actions, this isn't a parable about us – it's about the Word of God. And the premise of the parable is that the Word of God goes forth throughout the world – to all people in all places. Again, this is playing off of last week – God is generous, He gives good gifts. Not just physical gifts, but His Word – the Gospel of forgiveness and life is to be spread all over. It doesn't matter who it is, where they are at, God would have His Word showered upon them. “Well, I don't know Pastor, my neighbor seems kind of rocky – should I tell him the Word?” - first off all, if you think like that just wait a few months because we'll be having a lesson about getting the log out of your own eye before you note the speck in your neighbor's eye. Second of all – in the parable the seed FALLS ON THE ROCKY GROUND. Even if we were somehow able to predict the future, which we can't, the sower still throws the seed onto the rocky ground. It goes everywhere. God is gracious and generous, even to jerks. The Seed, the Word of God, goes forth throughout the world and is proclaimed to all. God's grace and mercy, the victory that Jesus has won over sin and death by His death and resurrection, the forgiveness of sins in Christ's name is declared to all.

    “But Pastor, not everyone believes.” Correct – and this parable is teaching that. Here Jesus is dealing with His disciples, who are quite literally tasked with spreading the Gospel to the World – and they spread out a long way. We're pretty sure that Thomas made it to India and was preaching there – some even claim Japan. That was just one generation. Even today the Word is being spread, being translated into various languages – Lutheran Bible Translators has done translations in over 100 languages, and that's just one organization that's barely 60 years old. Christ Jesus has seen His Word proclaimed by His Church all over the place, and He continues to do so, and we continue to pray that the Word be spread. But this spread is not always a story of wild success – even Luther laments in a Mighty Fortress “The Word they still shall let remain, nor any thanks have for it.” I translated it into German so you could hear and understand it, but so many of you couldn't care less. Seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. Jesus is warning the disciples and us that people will ignore the Word – indeed, that Satan will by hook or by crook attack the Word of God and its preaching. So the point of this parable is to prepare us for what will happen, and also warn us of how Satan will attack us – because frankly, Satan wants you to ignore the Word of God as well.

    So how does Satan attack? Well, one way is this. The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not be saved. First and foremost, Satan will try separate you from the Word. There are people who have heard but are having the Word ripped away, the opportunity to continue on in hearing the Word snatched away. Satan wants to keep you from having the opportunity to hear the Word. We see this in totalitarian countries where oppressive governments will literally burn bibles and forcibly shut down churches. That's flat out Satanic – it's an attempt to stop people from hearing at all, stop them from being in the Word so that faith will crumble and die. We are so spoiled, so used to just having the Gospel available, having the Church right here that we can take it for granted, just assume the preaching of the Gospel will always be easily available. We can forget that Satan is active and seeking to destroy the Church, destroy the preaching of the word. It's happened before in many places, and Satan will try to see it done again.

    But Satan has more tricks up his sleeve, some that might be more common for us. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing they fall away. Maybe Satan won't get the Word completely stripped away – but Satan will try to make it uncomfortable to be a Christian, to be a hearer of the Word. This is something we see and feel keenly today. If you are older you probably remember a time when being a Christian was something that was respected in society. It's not that way any more – the vast majority of entertainment and media treat Christians as idiots and buffoons, they treat the Word of God as old fashioned, out dated, pointless. Christianity is mocked – commonly. This is what Jesus refers to as a “time of testing”. And yes, there have been times when the testing has been more intense – we just being mocked in the US, we aren't being dragged off to jails or camps (yet), but it's still a test. Satan will apply the heat, turn up the annoyance or social cost of being a Christian, of hearing the Word. Mockery, shame, ridicule, and threat – Satan will use all of these to get to you avoid the Word of God, to fall away from it. And see all this, know it for what it is Spiritually – an attack on you by Satan to get to you ignore God's Word. And these sorts of attacks are going to happen – we don't get to bury our head in the sand (or in the rocky soil in this case) and pretend it doesn't. The Devil and the World will tell you it costs too much to you personally to be a Christian. Be wary of this.

    But the old serpent is cunning, and he knows that if he can't drive you out of the church by fear, maybe he can lure you out by a misplaced love. As for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their away they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. Satan will use blessings against you. Your life can be so filled up with good things, so many things that you just have to tend to, that you have to care for and about, that you just won't have time for the Word. Just can't seem to fit it in the schedule. And again, this is a common temptation, especially for us. We're in a rather well off area, we all have a plethora of things that we could be doing – and many things that call to us. Good things, nice things. And Satan will try to elevate those things over and above hear God's Word. This is the basis of every seduction, every slight of hand or bait and switch trick in the book. Sure, that's fine, but this over here is better – and Satan will waggle so many glittering things in front of your eyes to draw you away from the Word. Be wary of this.

    Do you see? Do you understand how Satan will try his damnedest (literally) to separate you from the Word of God? We cannot and must not pretend otherwise, because if and when we do, we simply play into Satan's hands. But the premise of the parable remains – the Sower sows the seed. The Word of God continues to go out – and it even goes out today. And consider the happy ending of the parable. As for that in the good soil, they are those, who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. The Seed, the Word of God, the Gospel of Christ Jesus takes root in your heart – and it produces fruit. A grain, a seed goes into the ground, and it grows, and it bears fruit 100 fold. The Word of God goes in your ears, and it dwells within you, and it bears fruit, and the Word of God, His forgiveness and mercy springs forth from your mouth a 100 fold.

    This is one of the things that makes Classic Christian Worship different. Consider how much time during this service you are opening your mouth? You're not here just sitting silent like bumps on a log – you are least your not supposed to be, I don't care how lousy your singing voice is. You hear the Word, yes, but that Word also springs forth from your mouth here. In the responses of the liturgy. In hymns. In confessing the Creed. You spend a third of the time bearing the fruit of the Word. And this is the just start – that Word continues to go forth with patience, with endurance, the rest the week. God forgives you here in His Church by His Word, and then He uses you to proclaim that same Word of forgiveness throughout the world, even to some of the strange places you end up – even to the place you go this week that I as the pastor here wouldn't get to go. The Sower sows the Seed – God plants His Word in you and brings forth that Word to other people through you. This is what goes on.

    And will they always hear? Nope. Will they always stay faithful? Nope. But see and understand what God is doing. He is forgiving you, He is taking that forgiveness Jesus won upon the Cross and He is applying it to you by the Word – and that Word that you hear becomes the Word on your lips so that others would hear what Jesus has done for them as well. It's all what God is doing for you and through you. So do not let Satan terrify you – be wary of him, know that the old evil foe now means deadly woe – but more importantly know what Jesus has done for you and is doing for you and through you now by His Word. God is gracious, His grace goes forth, and it goes forth through the Word. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +