The parable of the sower and the seed is not about them - about people who never bother to hear the Word of God - no, it's about us. About people who gather to hear the Word of God all the time. And it is about HEARING the Word, not about reading it. Don't get me wrong - would to God that every one of you opened your Bible every day and spent time reading it and taking it to heart. We publish a schedule of Bible readings each week to encourage you to do just that. And each day you choose NOT to open your Bible and read it, you are telling God very clearly that what He has to say to you is not important to you. That is indeed to be a despiser of God's Word, and that's a huge problem. That's a whole sermon in itself, but it's not about reading the Bible that today's gospel is concerned. It's about HEARING the Word.
Four times Jesus says it: "those who have heard" (vs. 12) "when they hear"
(vs. 13) "those who hear" (vs. 14) "those who, hearing the Word" (vs. 15). So what he's after today is ears, not eyes. Hearing, not reading. It's about what happens in this assembly where Sunday after Sunday the Lord Jesus comes as the Sower to sow the seed of His Word. It's about the fate of what He tells us here.
Jesus shows us that four things can happen to the Word that He tries to sow here. First thing is that it can go in one ear and out then other. Oh, yes, it is very possible to sit here and hear and yet not to listen. You think I don't know that? You forget that for years I sat out where you sit? And the devil does a real clever trick here. He snatches the Word that is sown away from your heart by planting in you this idea: "He sure was boring today, wasn't he?" See, that way he gets you to focus on whether or not your ears got tickled today, focusing you on HOW something is said, rather than on what is said. And so before you know it, Satan has swooped in and stolen that Word our from your heart before it can even begin to grow and do its work within you. Luther describes this in his Large Catechism in unforgettable words: "This commandment is also violated by that other crowd who listen to God's Word as they would to any other entertainment, who only from force of habit go to hear the sermon and leave again with as little knowledge at the end of the year as at the beginning."
(LC I:96) Each of us needs to examine his heart today and ask: "Is it I, Lord?"
The next thing that can happen to the Word is that when you hear it, it can bring you joy. And God wants it to bring you joy, but there's more to it than joy! These hearers hold the Word in their hearts after they leave the Divine Service, BUT when God throws their way a time of testing - as in, when that nasty grumpy person at the office is nasty and grumpy to you again, when the same old temptation comes along and snares you again, when things at home are still no better - well, then the emotion, the feeling, evaporates. Then the temptation is to let go the Word and assume that what you heard isn't true after all. We keep it from sinking deep roots into our being that way. This is a huge problem for us who live in a culture that assumes that emotions validate the authenticity of everything. Well, emotions can't see you through the time of testing. You're either going to believe what God's Word says or what your emotions say. God designs the times of testing precisely to strengthen your trust in what He SAYS to you and not what you FEEL. If you're looking for the Word of God to be a constant "upper" for you, a constant "feel good" you will always be this kind of hearer that in the end never benefits from what you hear. Each of us needs to examine his heart to ask: "Is it I, Lord?"
The third thing that can happen to the Word is that it gets squeezed out. Again, like the second kind of hearer, this one carries the Word with them out the door of the gathering, but when they get back to their every day life, what happens? Jesus says that what they heard is literally drowned in them. It is choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. All the distractions that Satan and the world throw our way to keep the Word that we heard from bearing any fruit in our life. These folks aren't like the inattentive ones, or the emotion seeking ones. These folk are the busy people. A mind going a mile a minute and thinking of all that needs to get done or that they want to do. No time left for heeding the command of God: "Be still, and know that I am God." Each of us needs to examine his heart today and ask: "Is it I, Lord?"
And that brings us to the fourth thing that can happen to the Word we hear. Not only can we hear it, we can HOLD IT FAST. Holding tight to what we hear. Not letting Satan, our emotions or our busyness get in the way of keeping in our hearts what God would say to us. When that happens a wonderful miracle takes place. Luther describes it like this: "When we seriously ponder the Word, hear it, and put it to use, such is its power that it never departs without fruit. It always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devotion, and it constantly creates clean hearts and minds. For the Word of God is not idle or dead, but living and effective." Which is what we also heard in our first and second readings. Each of us needs to pray today: "Let this be me, Lord!"
So much for what happens to the Word. The question that is before us is WHAT is that Word which when heard and held onto tightly brings about this wondrous cleansing of the heart and mind? For God has two words that He speaks: a Word of Law and a Word of Gospel. Which one was Jesus referring to in this parable? Well, He tells you: the Word that reveals the the Secrets of the Kingdom (Luke 8:10). That's the Gospel Word! It alone can change you from the inside out when you hear it and hold it. This Gospel Word is the "I love you" that your God whispered to you from a cross, where He bore your sin and its punishment to death - including your sin of not hearing and treasuring His Word - and rose from the dead for your justification! This Word is the "I love you and you' will always be mine" that He spoke over your life in the font. Its the "I love you and here I give myself to you in my body and blood. Your sins are forgiven and you are free!" that He speaks to you in the Eucharist.
You just hold tight to that Word this week, not letting Satan hijack it, or your emotions deny it, or the craziness of your schedule this week drive it from your mind and heart - you hold it tight, believe it, and live from it, and you will see what fruit it will bear in your life to the glory of your Savior, Jesus Christ, who with His Father and all-holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God forever!
Amen.
