Dear Baptized, To listen to the sermon preached for Sexagesima Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church of Layton, Utah, click on this MP3 link. http://lcmssermons.com/images/aut52/CY2009/Sexagesima.2010.SeedfortheSoil.mp3
The audio includes the Hymn of the Day, "Preach You the Word." The sermon begins at the 2:50 mark. Have a blessed week as the seed takes root and bears fruit in your life according to God's purpose. Rev. Kurt Hering, Pastor Trinity Lutheran Church Layton, Utah Here is the preaching manuscript. TEXT: 9And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.' 11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12The 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. 13And 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. 14And 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. 15As 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." Luke 8:9-15 Dear people of Trinity, One Sunday, a pastor decided to preach a sermon about the patience of God using the OT lesson for the day, Genesis 18. This is the text wherein the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know." [v.20-21] Well, if you recall, Abraham took it upon himself to intercede and beg the Lord to have mercy and spare the city for the sake of the righteous who might be found there. So the pastor comes to the part of the text where Abraham comes before the Lord with fear and trepidation to bargain for the sake of the 50 righteous, or the 50 less 5 and he reads: Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes. . . .Before the pastor got to finish that sentence, a very serious little girl who was listening intently leaned over to her mother and asked quite audibly in her shrill little four year old girl voice, "Mom, what is butt dust?" Like Abraham, we are indeed all but dust. Our Lord formed us from the dust of the earth, and to dust we will return. And that is something to remember as we look at today's Gospel Lesson in which Jesus speaks of the Word of God as a seed, and those who hear it as the soil into which the seed is planted. Now the various kinds of soil of which our Lord speaks are the four different types of disciples within the church on earth, which is the kingdom of God. "2. The first class of disciples are those who hear the Word but neither understand nor esteem it. And these are not the mean people in the world, but the greatest, wisest and the most saintly, in short they are the greatest part of mankind; for Christ does not speak here of those who persecute the Word nor of those who fail to give their ear to it, but of those who hear it and are students of it, who also wish to be called true Christians and to live in Christian fellowship with Christians and are partakers of baptism and the Lord's Supper. But they are of a carnal heart, and remain so, failing to appropriate the Word of God to themselves, it goes in one ear and out the other. Just like the seed along the wayside did not fall into the earth, but remained lying on the ground in the wayside, because the road was tramped hard by the feet of man and beast and it could not take root." . . . . "4. Thus all heretics, fanatics and sects belong to this number, who understand the Gospel in a carnal way and explain it as they please, to suit their own ideas, all of whom hear the Gospel and yet they bear no fruit, yea, more, they are governed by Satan and are harder oppressed by human institutions than they were before they heard the Word." "5. The second class of hearers are those who receive the Word with joy, but they do not persevere. These are also a large multitude who understand the Word correctly and lay hold of it in its purity without any spirit of sect, division or fanaticism, they rejoice also in that they know the real truth, and are able to know how they may be saved without works through faith. "They also know that they are free from the bondage of the law, of their conscience and of human teachings; but when it comes to the test that they must suffer harm, disgrace and loss of life or property, then they fall and deny it; for they have not root enough, and are not planted deep enough in the soil. . . . So these do; in times of persecution they deny or keep silence about the Word, and work, speak and suffer all that their persecutors mention or wish, who formerly went forth and spoke, and confessed with a fresh and joyful spirit the same, while there was still peace and no heat, so that there was hope they would bear much fruit and serve the people. For these fruits are not only the works, but more the confession, preaching and spreading of the Word, so that many others may thereby be converted and the kingdom of God be developed. " "6. The third class are those who hear and understand the Word, but still it falls on the other side of the road, among the pleasures and cares of this life, so that they also do nothing with the Word. And there is quite a large multitude of these; for although they do not start heresies, like the first, but always possess the absolutely pure Word, they are also not attacked on the left as the others with opposition and persecution; yet they fall on the right side, and it is their ruin that they enjoy peace and good days. . . . Thus these have all in the Word that is needed for their salvation, but they do not make any use of it, and they rot in this life in carnal pleasures. To these belong those who hear the Word but do not bring under subjection their flesh. They know their duty but do it not, they teach but do not practice what they teach, and are this year as they were last. " "7. The fourth class are those who lay hold of and keep the Word in a good and honest heart, and bring forth fruit with patience, those who hear the Word and steadfastly retain it, meditate upon it and act in harmony with it. " But why does our Lord tell this parable to the masses and explain it only to the disciples, and thus to all who hear the Word in His one holy Christian and apostolic church? To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.' This is about faith in Christ Jesus, the Son of the living God. The secrets of the kingdom of heaven are forever hidden from those who do not know Jesus for Who He is and revealed to those who know and believe that He came to save them. So this parable is a warning. And what do warnings do? · They break into the world of those who are in trouble. · They provide advance notice to the prudent so they will be prepared. And that brings us back to the fact that we are but dust, soil, dirt, ground that needs to be cultivated by our Lord. This was even true in What is good ground? Is it not ground that has been tilled, i.e. dug into and turned over, loosened up. Is it not ground that has had the rocks picked out? Any farm boy or girl, or child of a gardener has had that experience. Is it not ground that has been and continues to be weeded? IOW, ground that has been opened up and emptied-THEN seeded, and fertilized, and watered, and hoed, and weeded until the harvest. And in all that what does the soil do? Whether the soil of the garden or the soil formed by God into man to receive His very breath? The soil receives and responds in the only way it can. Good soil produces good crops without even trying-but it does produce good crops. But it is not that we try to form or change the soil of men. The Holy Spirit does that. All we can do is sow the seed of God's Word-all of it, as it has first been sown in us. And here we need to remember that a parable is not meant to convey ALL of God's truth. Parables have limitations. One of the limitations of this parable is that while the Word is like a seed, it is also much, much more. The Word is also the tool by which the Holy Spirit tills the ground and makes the soil good, the very thing that creates the good soil of faith. preach the Law properly so that the ground is indeed prepared to be seeded, fertilized, and watered with Gospel that we also preach. The truth is, just as the Law needs to prepare the soil of the unbaptized unbeliever that is naturally hardpan, full of noxious weeds and surrounded by predators, so too does the Law need to be spoken to the three kinds of baptized unbeliever (so to speak)-we of little faith who can and sometimes do become hardpan, beset by weeds, and attacked by predators. So this parable speaks comfort, consolation, and exhortation to Jesus' disciples--as well as the preacher and teacher and parent, etc. that is faithful to his Christian vocation to spread the Word but sees precious little in the way of visible results and even experiences challenge and persecution for his faithfulness. Scarcity of numbers or stagnation is not necessarily indicative of a lack of winsome preaching and practice. Neither is it reason to soften the Law or pour Gospel upon unrepentance--or to withhold the proper measure of Gospel and heap Law upon the believer simply because there is so much bad soil around. It is, however, one more reason to continue hearing, praying, confessing, and living the Word of God. IOW, we proclaim all of God's Word to all people and trust the Holy Spirit to till the bad soil and harvest the good. And we always remember that, as Pr. Johann Gerhard wrote, "It is not sufficient for any of us to merely receive the Seed of the Word: rather, one has to also be cultivated and sustained by it." This too is part of your baptism, what it means to be baptized, as we have learned form the Catechism. What does such baptizing with water signify?--Answer. It signifies that the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts, and, again, a new man daily come forth and arise; who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Where is this written?--Answer. St. Paul says Romans, chapter 6: We are buried with Christ by Baptism into death, that, like as He was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Dear baptized people of Trinity, we are but soil. And what does soil do to make things grow? It receives. And so do the baptized children of God. They are the ones who receive the Word of Christ and His forgiveness over and over and over again-- forever-- in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen ____________________________________________________________ Home Improvement Projects Improve your home. Click for products, services, and project ideas. http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2241/c?cp=zsF8kRLV4uV59JKDjgtCsQAAJ1Eta3nV55KFmsSNzPEXRdIvAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAShAAAAAA=
