Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10A)

July 16, 2023

Text: Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23

            The Seed is God’s Word.  It is Jesus who sows it.  Through His own preaching, and that of His Apostles and Prophets.  Through the Old and New Testament Scriptures.  Through His called and ordained servants.  And through you, through your Christian confession, your daily speaking and living in and by His Word. 

            Look how recklessly He sows.  Here, there, and everywhere He scatters His Seed, He preaches His Word.  He does not stop to ask whether the soil is the right kind of soil, whether the people to whom He preaches are the right kind of people.  He knows that much of the Seed will be wasted, that many will reject His Word.  “Who has believed what he has heard from us?” complains Isaiah (53:1 ESV), voicing the perennial lament of prophet, preacher, and Christian practitioner, of Sunday School teacher and sermonator from time immemorial.  Still, “The sower sows; his reckless love Scatters abroad the goodly seed, Intent alone that all may have The wholesome loaves that all men need” (LSB 586:3). 

            You know the various types of soil on which the Seed is thrown.  The path, hard and impenetrable.  The birds come and pick off the Seeds.  These are they who hear the Word, but do not understand it.  They can’t comprehend it.  That is, they never even begin to believe.  The Seed just bounces off the firm and unbelieving soil of their hearts, and it is easy pickin’s for the demons.  You’ve seen this when you try to explain Christianity to someone who doesn’t want to hear it.  What a waste of breath!  Yet in His great mercy, the Sower sows even here.  “Oh, what of that, and what of that?” (LSB 586:4).

            Then there is the rocky ground.  There is a thin layer of soil, but not enough for the roots to grow deep.  Here the Seed immediately springs up.  The person receives the Word with joy… Which is good!  That is how we should all receive the Word.  But due to some hardness of heart, he doesn’t let the roots penetrate the depths.  It is a shallow faith.  The sun rises, and the seedling is scorched.  That is, the heat is on.  God’s grace is free, but it is not cheap.  There is a cost to discipleship.  There is mockery, hatred, and rejection.  Even persecution.  And God says things in His Word that we don’t like, that we’d rather reject.  The Gospel of God’s love, of forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus, and eternal life… that’s all great.  But all this preaching against my politics, or my favorite sins, or those of my family members, and all this exclusivity of salvation in Christ alone… I don’t like it.  So… never mind.  You’ve probably witnessed this.  Pastors suffer it all the time.  Someone new comes through the door, and a great connection is made.  There is apparent enthusiasm on the part of the visitor.  They even come back a few times.  The pastor gets his hopes up.  But suddenly, the person disappears.  They won’t answer phone calls.  They’re never home when the pastor comes knocking.  Perhaps something was said, and the visitor took offense.  Or maybe being a Christian just got too hard.  Another defeat.  Yet there is the Sower, recklessly, prodigally sowing His Seed, even here on this soil.  Intentionally.  Ah, what of that, and what of that?!

            Some Seed falls among thorns.  Thorns and thistles, the Curse (Gen. 3:18).  Here a person hears the Word, and receives it.  There is faith.  Even faith that bears fruit.  But the thorns grow up and choke it.  That is, the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.  Notice, this is not just the bad stuff.  It is the bad stuff, the cares of the world, our worries, our sorrows, our sufferings.  But it is also the good things, when those things become idols.  It isn’t riches per se, but the deceitfulness of riches, when riches promise things they cannot deliver, like health, satisfaction, fulfillment, salvation.  As a matter of fact, not just money, but any gift from God that takes the place of God in your life can choke out faith.  Your spouse.  Family.  Your job.  All good things, but not God!  Beware, beloved.  The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches plague even the most faithful Christians.  And some do fall victim.  We must constantly combat the thorns with the Round-Up of repentance.  And more Seed… the faithful hearing of God’s Word.  But, of course… good news!  There is the Sower, in mercy, in love, scattering the Seed on the soil of our hearts.  Ah, what of that?!  And what of that!? 

            We have all, each and every one of us, been one or more of these three soils at one time or another.  And we are all, always and ever, in this fallen flesh, fighting against reversion to one or more of these three soils.  It is a constant danger.  There is a hardness and a thorniness in every one of us.  That is why the Sower constantly, and unrelentingly, sows His Seed upon all three types.  Because the fact is, He never comes upon soil that is already good.  There is no human heart that is good by nature.  We are all rocky, thorny, and matted flat.  And the scorching sun beats down, and the demons circle and dive.  What of that, Lord?  What of that?! 

            What of it?  The Lord sows.  And in the sowing, the soil is changed.  The Seed does all the work.  He prepares the soil by the preaching of His Law, and by the gift of suffering.  He plows.  He rototills (that has to hurt!).  He piles on the manure.  He casts the Gospel Seed upon the soil, and faith grows.  It takes deep root, to withstand the scorching sun and the arid heat of the day.  As it grows, the Lord prunes (the cross and suffering).  And He weeds (repentance).  And He protects from pests, from disease, and the demonic birds (the Holy Things: the Word, the Sacraments, prayer, and the Communion of Saints… all the work of His Holy Spirit).  And so, faith bears fruit: works of love, self-sacrifice, Christian witness.  What of that, eh!!  What of that!!!  By grace, that is you.  The Lord’s Word has taken root, and it is growing, as the Lord protects you from becoming once again one of the three unfruitful soils.

            As any farmer can tell you, all of this is quite miraculous.  One doesn’t typically scatter seed anyplace other than a cultivated field, prepared for planting.  Good soil.  That is what farmers and backyard gardeners crave.  But in the Father’s harvest field, the field doesn’t make the Seed, the Seed makes the field.  The Seed of the Word.  It has the power within it to do this.  It gives you ears, that you may hear. 

            For the Seed is not just words spoken or written down (though it very much is that).  The Seed is the Word that was in the beginning with God, and who is God (John 1:1)… the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us (v. 14).  He is the Kernel of Wheat that falls into the earth and dies, and in dying, He bears much fruit (John 12:24).  It is our Lord Jesus Christ, who trod the path to Golgotha, cross firmly planted on the rock, grinding the thorns, lifted up, defying the birds.  Crucified, dead… and planted in the rocky tomb.  And then, what?  Casting away the stone, bursting the rocks asunder, doing the thorn-ed Curse to death, He springs up alive, risen, living and life-giving, never to die again. 

            The Seed that is the Lord Jesus Himself does that to you.  He is planted in you.  Whatever the soil, He buries Himself in you, to break through every hard and thorny surface, to enliven you, and grow in you to the glory of His heavenly Father.  Now you bear His fruit, and scatter His Seed.

            He gives you to sow it recklessly, prodigally, unrelentingly, never asking if it is the right kind of soil, the right kind of person.  After all, you weren’t.  Yet, here you are.  It is true that much of the Seed is wasted.  Not every soil receives the Word and becomes good.  Not everyone comes to faith in Christ.  But when you least expect it, the Seed takes root.  Faith grows, bearing fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 

            In any case, none of that is up to you.  Every farmer wishes he could dictate to his crops how successful they will be.  It doesn’t happen.  He has to live at the will and mercy of the Lord.  So you, with the Seed of the Word.  What of that?  Keep sowing.  Keep scattering.  “Preach you the Word and plant it home And never faint,” for “the Harvest Lord Who gave the sower seed to sow Will watch and tend His planted Word” (LSB 586:6).

            Speak the Word.  Confess it.  Live in it.  Trust it.  Believe in it.  Pray for the Word’s success.  And leave it in the hands of our gracious God.  He is the Lord of the harvest.  And we have the Promise: His Word does not return to Him empty, but accomplishes that which He purposes and succeeds in the thing for which He sent it.  Anyway, so it is with you.  God’s mighty Word bespeaks you righteous, bright with His own holiness.  Thus, glorious now, you press toward Glory, and your lives your hopes confess (LSB 578:3).  The Sower sows His Seed in you.  The Sower sows His Seed through you.  Blessed be the Sower, our Lord Jesus Christ.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.