Sexagesima February 7, 2021
Luke 8:4-15
Spreading the Seed of Hope
v.11 & 15 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God...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.”
Beloved in Christ, this parable has often led me to wonder, “why is the sower so careless with his seed?” I mean, what farmer would be so absolutely foolish to scatter his seed among the pathways, the rocks, and the weeds? You certainly don’t see any farmers around today doing that sort of thing—with their seed spreader turned on and churning out their precious seed as they travel along the road between their fields. You don’t see them going to the gravel pit and scattering their seed over there because it would be so foolish and wasteful.
Nor do we carelessly spread our seed around in the grass or underneath bushes or on the sidewalk and driveway when we are planting our own gardens, do we? When Jolene and I plant our flower gardens each year, I can tell you that we are very careful about where and how we plant our seedlings. And I know that many of you share the same passion for gardening—we carefully plant, water, and nurture it so that we may watch it grow from tiny seeds to beautiful plants that lead us to marvel at God’s beautiful creation.
For, we have read the books, watched the television programs, learned from our parents and grandparents, friends and neighbours, about just exactly how to plant the seed for our gardens and care for them so they will grow. Unfortunately, we are not nearly so sure and certain of ourselves when it comes to the seed of the Word of God. Often we are unsure how to plant that Word of God home in the soil of our own hearts, let alone spreading that seed in the hearts of others.
What does Jesus tell us? For our hearts to be good soil, we are to “hold the Word fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” Unfortunately, our hearts are not honest and good, nor do they often bear good fruit with patience. For as Jesus says in Matthew 15:19, “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” So, if our hearts are by nature sinful and unclean as we regularly confess, how can they be made good to properly receive the Word of God? Not by anything that WE do.
No, indeed, the soil of our hearts is anything but good, so it must be cultivated by the Holy Spirit, harrowing deeply into our hearts with the Law so as to crush the rocks of rebellion and sin that afflict us, along with the thorny entanglements of this sinful world (the pleasures and cares of this life) which seek to choke and kill us by tearing us away from Christ. The Law of God comes to us and lays us low. It humbles us before our Almighty Creator and leads us to be ready to receive the life-giving nutrients of the Gospel in the Living Word—Jesus Christ our Saviour.
The Gospel turns our hearts from that of stone to hearts of flesh and it kills the weeds of sin that seek to entrap and entangle us at every turn. The Gospel acts as a ward to fend off the attacks of the evil one who would try to come and snatch away the faith that God has sown so deeply into our hearts, through His precious Word.
For not only has God sown the seed in the Word, but He continues to nourish and care for it through His holy church in the means of grace. He richly and daily waters our faith in Holy Baptism that we may daily repent of our sin and our hearts might constantly be made ready to receive the life-giving Word again and again. Baptism acts as a cleansing flood—washing away the rocks of rebellion and drowning the weeds of sin from the Old Adam—over and over again. Each time we make the sign of the cross, each time we hear forgiveness proclaimed in the triune name of our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are led to repentance and faith—strengthened in His rich grace and mercy whereby we have received the full forgiveness of all our sin.
Our God nourishes us with the true and holy body and blood of Jesus that is given into our mouths to eat and to drink with the bread and wine of the Holy Supper. This holy food is so strengthening and nourishing that it causes the faith in our hearts to grow and grow—becoming green and alive—not with envy, but with faith and eternal life—secure in the complete forgiveness of all our sins that have been fully paid by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. He truly is the food of life.
This is so because Christ Jesus is the Seed, the promised one from whom all blessings flow. He is the Seed that God promised Adam and Eve would come in Genesis 3:15 to “bruise/crush the head” of the serpent. But, in order to destroy Satan’s hold over us through sin and death, Jesus Himself had to first suffer and die. In John 12:24, Jesus said, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” And as Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 15:20, since “Christ has been raised from the dead, [He is] the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Beloved in Christ, what great Good News is this! For our Lord Jesus Christ is the Seed of hope in the face of death and all the cares and trials of this life. He Himself has gone first through the agony and suffering of death for our sin, in our place, so that by His victory over sin, death, and hell in His glorious resurrection, we, too, may have new and everlasting life. And we can trust this promise because His resurrection has confirmed it—He is the firstfruits, and we who have faith will certainly follow Him into His everlasting kingdom of righteousness.
And this Seed, the living Word, Jesus Christ, would have us scatter and sow His Gospel Word broadly and sweepingly into all the farthest corners of the earth. So that all may hear of His coming and rejoice in the free salvation and forgiveness for all sin that He brings to those who confess His name and believe in His work on the cross for them. Beloved, it is not our responsibility to make the seed grow into fruits of faith, but rather simply to scatter the Word far and wide.
For it is God and God alone who causes all things to grow, from the wheat in the fields, to grapes on the vines, to the faith in our hearts. It is His work from start to finish. He is the one who will accomplish the purpose for that which He sent it as He says in Isaiah 55. Also, as St. Peter writes in his first epistle 1:23, “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God.”
Jesus is the one who causes us to grow in our faith through the means that He Himself has established in His holy church: Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion. Through these blessed acts Christ comes to us and gives us everything that He won on the cross—forgiveness of all our sins, everlasting life, and salvation. These strengthen and nourish the faith that has been planted into our hearts so that come what may this side of heaven: be it sickness or injury, job loss or economic catastrophe, marital and relationship problems, death to friends and family alike, or anything else, we may rest secure in His loving embrace. Knowing, without a doubt, that He is by our side—and that He has washed us in the blood of His Son, giving to us the robe of Christ’s own righteousness and granting us a place in His heavenly family.
Dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, the Father would not have us hold onto this seed for ourselves, but would rather that we spread it liberally everywhere that we go—into any circumstance that we find ourselves—so that His Word may be heard by all people. Only His Word has the power to break through hardened hearts of sin and rebellion as He has done with ours. Let us go forth joyfully into the world with this ultimate message of peace and hope that is found nowhere else, but in Christ Jesus, remembering that wherever and whenever repentance and forgiveness are proclaimed in Jesus’ name; wherever and whenever the Sacraments of Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion are administered according to the Word of Christ—there He is—and there will be growth a hundredfold, a thousandfold, and beyond—unto life eternal. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Luke 8:4-15
Spreading the Seed of Hope
v.11 & 15 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God...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.”
Beloved in Christ, this parable has often led me to wonder, “why is the sower so careless with his seed?” I mean, what farmer would be so absolutely foolish to scatter his seed among the pathways, the rocks, and the weeds? You certainly don’t see any farmers around today doing that sort of thing—with their seed spreader turned on and churning out their precious seed as they travel along the road between their fields. You don’t see them going to the gravel pit and scattering their seed over there because it would be so foolish and wasteful.
Nor do we carelessly spread our seed around in the grass or underneath bushes or on the sidewalk and driveway when we are planting our own gardens, do we? When Jolene and I plant our flower gardens each year, I can tell you that we are very careful about where and how we plant our seedlings. And I know that many of you share the same passion for gardening—we carefully plant, water, and nurture it so that we may watch it grow from tiny seeds to beautiful plants that lead us to marvel at God’s beautiful creation.
For, we have read the books, watched the television programs, learned from our parents and grandparents, friends and neighbours, about just exactly how to plant the seed for our gardens and care for them so they will grow. Unfortunately, we are not nearly so sure and certain of ourselves when it comes to the seed of the Word of God. Often we are unsure how to plant that Word of God home in the soil of our own hearts, let alone spreading that seed in the hearts of others.
What does Jesus tell us? For our hearts to be good soil, we are to “hold the Word fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” Unfortunately, our hearts are not honest and good, nor do they often bear good fruit with patience. For as Jesus says in Matthew 15:19, “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” So, if our hearts are by nature sinful and unclean as we regularly confess, how can they be made good to properly receive the Word of God? Not by anything that WE do.
No, indeed, the soil of our hearts is anything but good, so it must be cultivated by the Holy Spirit, harrowing deeply into our hearts with the Law so as to crush the rocks of rebellion and sin that afflict us, along with the thorny entanglements of this sinful world (the pleasures and cares of this life) which seek to choke and kill us by tearing us away from Christ. The Law of God comes to us and lays us low. It humbles us before our Almighty Creator and leads us to be ready to receive the life-giving nutrients of the Gospel in the Living Word—Jesus Christ our Saviour.
The Gospel turns our hearts from that of stone to hearts of flesh and it kills the weeds of sin that seek to entrap and entangle us at every turn. The Gospel acts as a ward to fend off the attacks of the evil one who would try to come and snatch away the faith that God has sown so deeply into our hearts, through His precious Word.
For not only has God sown the seed in the Word, but He continues to nourish and care for it through His holy church in the means of grace. He richly and daily waters our faith in Holy Baptism that we may daily repent of our sin and our hearts might constantly be made ready to receive the life-giving Word again and again. Baptism acts as a cleansing flood—washing away the rocks of rebellion and drowning the weeds of sin from the Old Adam—over and over again. Each time we make the sign of the cross, each time we hear forgiveness proclaimed in the triune name of our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are led to repentance and faith—strengthened in His rich grace and mercy whereby we have received the full forgiveness of all our sin.
Our God nourishes us with the true and holy body and blood of Jesus that is given into our mouths to eat and to drink with the bread and wine of the Holy Supper. This holy food is so strengthening and nourishing that it causes the faith in our hearts to grow and grow—becoming green and alive—not with envy, but with faith and eternal life—secure in the complete forgiveness of all our sins that have been fully paid by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. He truly is the food of life.
This is so because Christ Jesus is the Seed, the promised one from whom all blessings flow. He is the Seed that God promised Adam and Eve would come in Genesis 3:15 to “bruise/crush the head” of the serpent. But, in order to destroy Satan’s hold over us through sin and death, Jesus Himself had to first suffer and die. In John 12:24, Jesus said, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” And as Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 15:20, since “Christ has been raised from the dead, [He is] the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Beloved in Christ, what great Good News is this! For our Lord Jesus Christ is the Seed of hope in the face of death and all the cares and trials of this life. He Himself has gone first through the agony and suffering of death for our sin, in our place, so that by His victory over sin, death, and hell in His glorious resurrection, we, too, may have new and everlasting life. And we can trust this promise because His resurrection has confirmed it—He is the firstfruits, and we who have faith will certainly follow Him into His everlasting kingdom of righteousness.
And this Seed, the living Word, Jesus Christ, would have us scatter and sow His Gospel Word broadly and sweepingly into all the farthest corners of the earth. So that all may hear of His coming and rejoice in the free salvation and forgiveness for all sin that He brings to those who confess His name and believe in His work on the cross for them. Beloved, it is not our responsibility to make the seed grow into fruits of faith, but rather simply to scatter the Word far and wide.
For it is God and God alone who causes all things to grow, from the wheat in the fields, to grapes on the vines, to the faith in our hearts. It is His work from start to finish. He is the one who will accomplish the purpose for that which He sent it as He says in Isaiah 55. Also, as St. Peter writes in his first epistle 1:23, “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God.”
Jesus is the one who causes us to grow in our faith through the means that He Himself has established in His holy church: Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion. Through these blessed acts Christ comes to us and gives us everything that He won on the cross—forgiveness of all our sins, everlasting life, and salvation. These strengthen and nourish the faith that has been planted into our hearts so that come what may this side of heaven: be it sickness or injury, job loss or economic catastrophe, marital and relationship problems, death to friends and family alike, or anything else, we may rest secure in His loving embrace. Knowing, without a doubt, that He is by our side—and that He has washed us in the blood of His Son, giving to us the robe of Christ’s own righteousness and granting us a place in His heavenly family.
Dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, the Father would not have us hold onto this seed for ourselves, but would rather that we spread it liberally everywhere that we go—into any circumstance that we find ourselves—so that His Word may be heard by all people. Only His Word has the power to break through hardened hearts of sin and rebellion as He has done with ours. Let us go forth joyfully into the world with this ultimate message of peace and hope that is found nowhere else, but in Christ Jesus, remembering that wherever and whenever repentance and forgiveness are proclaimed in Jesus’ name; wherever and whenever the Sacraments of Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion are administered according to the Word of Christ—there He is—and there will be growth a hundredfold, a thousandfold, and beyond—unto life eternal. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.