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Sexagesima - 2005
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the parable of the Sower from Luke chapter 8.
When we talk about the office of the holy ministry and the work of the church, we usually talk about shepherds and sheep. The word pastor itself means shepherd. But here, Jesus uses a different picture. His image is that of the pastor as a farmer, a sower of seeds throughout the world.
Now my father tells me that I have farmer blood in me, but I’m not sure if I believe him. I remember vividly going to visit my grandparents in Julesburg, Colorado when I was a kid. One of the things that I remember quite clearly was the conversations in Julesburg. They weren’t like the conversations where I grew up, outside of St. Louis. The conversations centered around one topic, always: the weather. It amazed me how much people can talk about the weather. Hot, cold, windy, dry, clear, cloudy, it didn’t matter. They were always talking about the weather. Why was it? Of all the things to talk about all the time, you would think there would be something more important to talk about than the weather! But for them, their lives revolved around the weather. If everything went well, the crops grew and their livelihood was assured. But if the weather was poor, too wet or too dry, then their whole lives could be dangerously affected. They may not be able to even eat.
Now we can understand that. That’s easy, even for us city folk. The two things that drive the farmer are his own work ethic, and the fickleness of the weather. Nobody likes to talk about their own laziness, so every farmer talks about the weather. It’s a part of the job description.
We can understand that. But what is hard to understand is our parable. What is it that drives this crazy sower? He sows the seeds like there is no tomorrow. He sows the seed in places that just don’t make sense. It’s a poor use of resources, to pass out the Word of God upon places and people that will never hear it. Sow it where it will matter, we might say. Sow the seed of the Word where there are good hearts and a fertile soil for growth. Did Jesus even talk about not throwing peals before swine?
If you and I were the master of the sower, if we were his boss, that’s what we would tell him to do. Use a machine, for crying out loud! Get a little scientific in your sowing. Taking sowing surveys and get everything nice and carefully tied up into neat little rows. That makes sense to us. That, to follow the theme from last week, would be fair. But that is not how the parable goes. In this parable, the sower tosses the seed out like it’s free, like there is no tomorrow and he’s going to pass this out like water, indiscriminately.
Now this is what really makes us uncomfortable about this parable. When you hear this parable, your natural response is going to be something along the lines of “thank God that I am good ground, and not a thorny mess like everyone else.” Basically we are all Pharisees when it comes to spirituality. Oh Lord, I thank you that I am not like other dirt, rocky, thorny, or sun-burned. I’m dark and messy, full of nutrients from lots of, uh, fertilizer being spread all over me. The folly of our Phariseeism is overwhelming.
If that is what you believe, you have missed the point of this parable. The point of this parable is that God’s Word goes out into the whole world. God’s Word goes out to all, just like God’s mercy is for call. No one is excluded from the great work of God in bringing salvation and eternal life to the world.
But there is even more in this gift that God gives to us. For Christ Himself is the seed in this parable. Jesus once said of Himself, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." Jesus is the Seed, promised to Eve so many years ago. “I will put enmity between your seed and her seed...” so God said to Satan in the Garden.
Christ Jesus is the Seed who was crucified on the hard and rocky soil of Golgotha. He is the one who bore the heat of the day, the heat of God’s wrath for our sin. He is the one who bore the insults, the derision, the constant scurrying about of those who sought to destroy him, like ravens swooping down upon their prey when it is injured. This is Jesus, dear friends, who bears all things for you.
You cannot save yourself. You cannot escape the cares of this day, the distractions of this hour, the folly of your own heart. You cannot do it, and any thought that you are so much better is just foolishness on your part and mine.
But our God is one who grows the most miraculous crops in the most unusual of places. He has grown a crop of salvation in your heart, stony, hard, distracted and bird-plucked as it is. God, who can create all things by the Word of His mouth, has created faith in you. Now here is a miracle that is worth remembering. And God has watered that seed of faith, that seed-which-is-Christ, in you. He has watered it with Baptism, and He gives it the finest of nutrients in His own body and blood. But if even that were not enough for you, He gives you sunlight, the bright lamp of suffering, so that you may grow in faith. But He knows, as a master gardener, how much heat of suffering you can bear, and He gives you no more than you are able to receive so that you may grow.
Trust the Seed of His Word. Cling to HIs Holy Promises for you. For they will see you through, and you will bear fruit a hundredfold! More than you could ever even imagine. This is His holy work in you. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
This page was created on 01/15/2007 and last edited on: 01/15/2007