Sermon: Sexagesima - 2021

7 February 2021

Text: Luke 8:4-15

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Jesus teaches us about the kingdom of God by means of a story called the Parable of the Sower.  It’s a parable because it is a specific kind of story in which certain things symbolize other things.  And if you understand how the symbols in the story work (in this case, a farmer, some seed, and various kinds of soil), you can understand what is being symbolized (in this case, the Kingdom of God).

As we move farther and farther away from being an agricultural society, as children are being more poorly educated – especially about where food comes from – I do wonder how long it will be before future preachers will have to explain what a seed is.

But then again, if you have never seen a seed germinate and sprout, it may even add to the wonder of our Lord’s story.  For what if you knew nothing about seeds, and I handed one to you, and told you that if you put it in the dirt and put water on it, in a hundred years it could possibly feed an entire village of people?

You might think that this sounds like a superstition, or some kind of cruel trick.  It doesn’t sound possible, dear friends.  For how does a little seed know what to do?  Where do the stem, the roots, and the leaves come from?  And what about the fruit?  And how does it seem to work perfectly all the time – if it has the right conditions to grow?

The original listeners of our Lord’s story all knew that if you plant seeds, they will grow and become food – that is, if the seeds are placed in good soil and watered.  Everybody knew that – even merchants and fishermen.  People knew where food came from.  They didn’t just figure that it magically appeared on the shelves at Walmart or Rouse’s.

But what a wondrous thing a seed is if you’ve never seen or heard about it before!  Many of us planted sunflower seeds when we were schoolchildren.  We watched with childlike wonder as the little stem burst forth out of the dirt and started to grow leaves.  And if we stuck with it long enough, the sunflower might have grown to be taller even then our dads, with a flower bigger than a grown-up’s face – and in time, it would have a bunch of new seeds in the middle – which we could plant and start the process again – only theoretically, with no limit to the number of plants that would come from that original seed.

This sense of wonder should equally apply to the Word of God, dear friends.  For the seed in our Lord’s story symbolizes the Word of God.  Just as the little seed contains microscopic DNA instructions embedded in the cells, which start working like a computer program when water signals the seed to do its thing – so too does the Word of God contain power – true power to bear everlasting life by germinating faith in Christ.  The DNA of salvation is borne upon the preached Word of God.  How it works exactly, we don’t know any more than the original hearers of Jesus knew how seeds germinate and mature.  They didn’t know about DNA in the first century.  But they knew that the seed had some kind of hidden power: power to feed an entire nation – so long as certain conditions prevailed: water and good soil.

Dear friends, the Kingdom of God also begins with water: baptismal water that sets in motion the activation of the Word of God into faith.  It starts out small.  Its beginnings are humble.  But it grows.  And with the right conditions of soil, a seed will transform into a large plant, multiplying itself a hundredfold.

In our Lord’s story, the sower of the seed tosses it everywhere.  He doesn’t discriminate.  He doesn’t try to predict what soil will ultimately be good soil.  Likewise, preachers do not discriminate.  We cannot predict who will hear the Word and come to faith.  We cannot see into hearts.  We cannot point to any group or category of person and project who will be good soil and believe, and who will ultimately prove to be bad soil, and the Word of God will die in their hearts.  We don’t know, so we just sow our seeds everywhere, recklessly and at times desperately.  Sometimes we preach convinced that nobody is listening, that nobody cares, that our words are being wasted.  But the Word is never wasted, dear friends.  It carries out the purposes of God regardless of appearances.  And when we least expect it, sometimes in surprising ways, the Word takes root and grows in the hearts of our hearers.

Jesus speaks of a seed sown “on the path.”  It was stepped on, and carried away by birds.  This is like the devil coming and snatching the Word of God away because it never had the chance to take root.

Jesus speaks of another seed that falls amid rocks, gets no moisture, and dies.  This is like those who initially hear the word “with joy,” but are shallow, and the Word has “no root.”  And as soon as difficult times come, a person loses his faith.

Jesus speaks of another seed that does take root and sprouts, but gets choked out by thorns, and it too dies.  This is like the people who “hear” God’s Word, but they get distracted by the “cares and riches and pleasures of life,” and their faith dies before it even bears fruit.

But what happens in the good soil is truly a miracle, dear friends.  The seed falls into the dirt, the seed germinates, it sends down roots into the earth, it sends a stem up to the surface, its DNA causes cells to divide and become different functioning parts of the plant.  The plants gets water and sun and nutrients, and continues to grow.  It eventually bears fruit, which is used to feed man and beast – and in the fruit are more seeds, each replicating the DNA of the original seed – so that its descendants will bear fruit exponentially.  And this, dear friends, is what happens in the Kingdom of God when the Word is preached and it is received in the “good soil” of the believer who hears, listens, takes it to heart, and grows to be a blessing to others.

We hear this word and we “hold it fast in an honest and good heart,” and we “bear fruit with patience.”  We do not do this by working.  For the power is in the seed, the Word.  But we do receive the Word, we avoid the temptation to allow Satan to snatch the Word from our hearts.  We avoid the temptation to shallowness.  We avoid the temptation to surround ourselves with thorns that will choke out the Word of God in our lives.  For just receiving the seed of the Word without these impediments will guarantee that the Word will indeed work.  For it is God’s work, God’s design, God’s divine instructions imbedded in the Word that works, dear friends.  Our job is to get out of the way!

So if you yearn for the Lord’s blessing, receive the seed of the preached Word.  And come to where the visible Word of the sacraments are also given to you, week in and week out.  Come to the Divine Service.  Hear.  Listen.  Take the Word you’re your hearts.  Become familiar with the Holy Scriptures.  There is power there.  Allow His Word to implant into you deeply.  God’s Word knows what to do, and does it.

In the words of the great poet-preacher Martin Franzmann:

Preach you the Word and plant it home
And never faint; the Harvest Lord
Who gave the sower seed to sow
Will watch and tend His planted Word.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.