Epiphany Lutheran Church

Sermon for February 12, 2012
Sexagesima
Luke 8:4-15

"Ears to Hear"

        As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."   (Luke 8:8 ESV)

Dear Fellow Redeemed,

    Jesus says, “The Seed is the Word of God.” God says through Isaiah that “as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,  11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Is. 55:10-11). And so it does. God’s Word does what it says. Yet, it doesn’t always look that way, does it? Too often, it appears that God’s Word is weak, ineffective, impotent. It doesn’t seem to work. It doesn’t seem to bear fruit.

    And when that happens, finger pointing ensues. Usually, it’s pointed at the sower, the preacher of the Word. Yet, that finger ultimately is pointed not to the man who sows, but to the One Who sent the sower. It’s God’s fault that the Seed doesn’t grow a hundredfold everywhere it’s sown. The sower isn’t doing enough for the Seed.

    But that isn’t what Jesus says. Instead, He talks about the kinds of soil upon which the seed falls and indicates that’s what determines if the Seed bears fruit. That’s why it’s good for us to hear our Lord and examine ourselves to see what kind of soil the Word finds in us.

    After all, it’s not God’s fault that the Seed often falls on deaf ears and hardened hearts. After all, that’s our natural condition. And yet, we contribute to it when we despise preaching and God’s Word and don’t hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. Thus the very Word of God which shows our sin and our Savior falls on the rock hard path and is trampled. Likewise, Satan certainly does everything he can to make that happen and he’s all too eager to snatch that Word away from you. He desires that the Law lead you to self-righteousness or despair instead of repentance. He snatches the Gospel away before it is implanted in the heart so there is no faith, no comfort, no peace. He leads you to despise the visible Word of the Holy Sacraments and think of them as next to worthless. He preaches that good feelings and positive thinking are much more important and valuable than water, bread, wine, and Word.

    It is not God’s fault that the Seed withers. Christ’s forgiveness and joy is poured out on you in overflowing measure. Yet, that gladness is quickly turned to sadness and rage when you face the trials of the Church Militant. It’s not fair that people die. It’s not fair that things don’t always turn out as you think they should. All those disappointments build up over time. The joy that springs up quickly is withered by stony bitterness. God didn’t come through for me like He ought. Faith withers and doesn’t produce fruit.

    It is not God’s fault that the Seed is choked. The Word and the world cannot coexist when each demands your all. The world barges into the Church and chokes the Word to a mere pious opinion. Pretty soon God’s Truth becomes like modeling clay, formed and shaped to be whatever each individual wants it to be.

    It is not God’s fault that the Seed does not produce fruit. After all, God is the author of all good things. The soils will not receive Him because the devil, the world, and our sinful human nature want center stage. The eyes of unbelief look at the Seed and want nothing to do with Him.

    So it’s little wonder that so many pastors, the modern day sowers of the Seed, start sowing another kind of seed, another gospel (which is no gospel at all), or they quit preaching altogether and do other things. Every time they open their mouths the results of their sowing looks like a failure. It’s enough to drive anyone to despair. So what? Pastors keep sowing.

Preach you the Word and plant it home
To men who like or like it not,
The Word that shall endure and stand
When flow’rs and men shall be forgot. (LSB 586.1)

    Saint Paul will hear no cries of despair. Consider his litany in Second Corinthians chapter eleven. This is what every preacher should expect to happen when he sows the Word of God. Yet through it all, Saint Paul will not boast of himself. It doesn’t matter. He sows, another waters, and God gives the increase. So what? Paul keeps sowing.

    Luke eight is God’s seminary, or seed bed,  for the first pastors of the Church. Jesus prepares Peter, James, John, and the other nine for what will happen when He ascends into heaven and sends the Holy Spirit. They will go out into the world and sow the seed of the Word made flesh. Most who hear it will do nothing. They will not repent and believe the Gospel. And the disciples will be persecuted, arrested, even killed for proclaiming Christ. So what? The apostles keep sowing.

    The apostles, Saint Paul, and pastors all sow the same Seed: Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. The Word from the angel’s mouth traveled into Mary’s ear and planted in her womb. The Seed grew in stature and knowledge among men. The Seed gave His life in your place that you should not die but live. The Seed was planted in a tomb, but the tomb could not hold Him. The Seed burst forth living, growing, and going into the world through His called and sent sowers who saw Him alive.

    Sowers of Jesus Christ do not sow Seed one at a time. They sow liberally, scattering the Seed over the whole earth. What happens to the Seed is in God’s hands. Most will reject it. Some will receive it, grow strong in His mercy, and show the world what Christ has done for them through the fruit they bear.

    The Lord God promises the seed will not return to Him void, but it shall accomplish what He  pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing for which He sent it. A seed must be planted and die before it grows and produces fruit (John 12:24). Beloved, you are planted into Christ and have died with Him through Holy Baptism and you have been nurtured through the preached Word and Holy Communion. One day your mortal remains will be planted in the ground. When the Lord Christ returns He will call you up from the ground and give you a new body and a new life with Him forever. The Seed shall prosper in paradise forever with the Lord.

    This promise is yours through Jesus Christ. The Seed is sown here again today. Only by God’s grace in Christ will it fall on honest and good hearts and you will know and believe that the Lord is the Most High over all the earth. He Who has begun this good work of sowing, planting, growing, and sustaining the Seed of the Word among you and in you shall bring it to completion in the day of His Son, Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calls you, and He alone shall do it.    Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.


    -- Pastor Timothy J. Landskroener