Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Luke 8,4-15. Sexagesima Sunday

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Luke 8,4-15 1215

Sexagesimä 21

Solomon, King of Israel 1000 BC ✠

8. Februar 2015

1. O Jesus Christ, the Father’s Word, You call into existence all that is. You call us too, and we live. Speak to us today, surround us Your Voice, comfort us, free us and give us Your Peace. We pray: Lord, have mercy. (VELKD, Prayer for the Sexagesimä § 1). Amen.

2. »And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to Jesus, He said in a parable: „A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.“ As He said these things, Jesus called out: „He who has ears to hear, let him hear.“ And when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, He said: „To you it has been given to know the secrets of the reign of God, but for others they are in parables, so that »seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. [Isaiah 6,9] Now the parable is this: The Seed is the Word of God. 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 believe and be saved. 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 fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 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.“«

3. In this morning’s parable, Jesus teaches us about the Word of God and how that Word is treated in the world. He sends forth His Word to many diverse places with the result to bring in a harvest of believers. Then Jesus cryptically tells His disciples that the reason He teaches in parables is to confound the average hearer. Only the disciples are given the mysterious secrets of the reign of God, thus the reason why Jesus interprets this, and other parables, to the disciples in private.

4. The secret taught in the Parable of the Sower is that grace is passively received or it is actively rejected. This is shown by the types of soil upon which the gospel is cast.

5. The first type of soil had »some seed fall along the path but was trampled underfoot and the birds of the air devoured it.« These are people who hear the gospel, but it never has a chance to create faith because straightaway the devil arrives and snatches the gospel from them so that they do not believe and remain unsaved. The devil has many ploys to accomplish this in these people. He might send along someone who proclaims another religion or philosophy so that the person forgets about the gospel that had been preached to him or her. The devil may use a person’s cultural heritage to sweep the gospel aside. How difficult it is for a Jew or a Muslim to believe the gospel, because that person’s culture is already hostile to that very gospel and thereby lends itself as easy pickings by the devil to snatch the gospel away before it can do anything.

6. The second type of soil had »some seed fall on the rock, and as it grew up it withered away because it had no moisture.« These are people who hear the gospel, receive it with joy, but when trials or testings arise on account of the faith they reject the gospel because their faith has not yet taken root. We know people like this. Many will hear the gospel, receive it with great joy and believe, but the moment something bad happens to them or the moment a severe trial afflicts them they quickly blame God and reject Him and His gospel. The world is full of challenges to the Christian faith. Those who expect that once they become Christians that now their life will be one of happiness and ease are trusting in a fantasy dream that does not exist. Many times, Christians are the most troubled and vexed people in the world. A Middle Eastern Christian often lives in a country that is hostile to the Christian faith, and such Christians live knowing that they could be persecuted, tortured and executed on account of their faith. The Christian faith does not automatically ease family tensions or conflicts, but often times such tribulations become worse. The Christian faith is not a life of peace and ease, but one of hardship and trials. Jesus teaches that some who believe will lose their faith when hardship and tribulation arise.

7. The third type of soil had »some seed fall among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.« These are people who believe, but the riches and pleasures of this world entice them to forsake their Christian faith. Compared to the treasures of the world, the sacrifices that Christians endure and the offerings that Christians put in the collection plate seems like an unfair trade. Some calculate the costs and decide to abandon the faith and give up the eternal treasures of the heavenly reign for the short-lived riches of this world. Their neighbors encourage them to eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die (Ecclesiastes 8,15; Isaiah 22,13) and that is what they do.

8. Finally there is the good soil where »some seed fell and grew and yielded a hundredfold.« These, by Jesus’ Providence, have not been snatched away by the devil, they have been tested with fire and passed through purified and they have not been drawn away by the wealth of the world. On the last day, when Jesus returns for the harvest of His Church, the true and faithful Christians stand tall and yield a bountiful harvest of their steadfast faith in Christ Jesus their Savior from sin, death and the devil. Their life was difficult and beset by many dangers. Many of their fellow believers had fallen away due to tribulations and wealth, but we endure unto the very end.

9. The Parable of the Sower teaches that grace is passively received. You didn’t go out seeking for Jesus. You didn’t make a decision for Him. Rather, someone brought the gospel to you. Jesus Himself went looking for you, found you and sowed the gospel upon your heart. You heard the gospel, and the Holy Spirit created faith in your heart. God has done it all, and we have merely received the gospel as the gift that it is.

10. The parable also teaches that grace is actively rejected. The gospel is not a popular message in the world, and people strive against it. Earlier in the Gospel according to St. Luke Jesus taught that during His public ministry the gospel is preached but everyone tries to force their way into the reign of God apart from the gospel (Luke 16,16). Furthermore, the generation in which Jesus lived mocked the gospel. They accused John the Baptizer of having a demon because he fasted and refrained from alcohol. Then they accused Jesus of being a glutton and a drunkard because He ate, drank and befriended tax collectors and sinners (Luke 7,31-35). Many today reject or ridicule the gospel and those who proclaim it. Our modern culture is enamored with spirituality and tolerance. All roads lead to Rome is the modern understanding of spirituality; all spiritual paths will lead to the same God. Furthermore, we are told to uphold every spiritual belief as equal to all others. So the world views the gospel as just another spiritual message among many other spiritual messages.

11. Jesus teaches that the gospel is the absolute truth: »I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one draws near to God the Father except through Me« (John 14,6). Jesus says there is only one path to God, and that Path is Jesus. He is the Only-begotten Son of God and the Only Word of God. Jesus alone speaks for His Father. The path to God is the path of of the gospel which says Jesus died and rose again for the world so that they are now saved, forgiven and redeemed. No other spiritual path or religion teaches this nor leads to God. The Apostle Paul proclaims: »For by grace we have been saved through faith, and this is not from ourselves, for faith is the gift of God« (Ephesians 2,8). Faith is the gift that Jesus graciously sows among the world. Many will reject the gospel for one reason or another, but some, like us and other Christians, will receive the gospel as a gift and it will germinate in us first as faith and then the fruit of good works will grow on our tree of faith.

12. The Holy Spirit has elected us to eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, who is our Savior and Redeemer, who was crucified and resurrected for our forgiveness and thus gives us the gift of eternal life. Faith clings to this Glorious Savior and believes that in Christ and on account of Christ we are elected and saved. Election, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life are all gifts given to us through Christ, for great is our Heavenly Father’s love toward us and abundant is the Holy Spirit’s preservation in the Christian faith so that we endure unto the last day and receive the inheritance given to all who are God’s children through Christ Jesus alone. „May our dear Lord Jesus Christ grant us His grace so that we may diligently hear His Word, retain it in a pure heart, and bring forth fruit in patience“ (Luther 293). Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, Thou Voice of God the Father, send Forth the Holy Spirit so that we do not harden our hearts but believe Your gospel. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, February 9, 2015

Luke 8,4-15. Sexagesima Sunday

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