The Sower Keeps
Sowing
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
There is a dark
side to the Gospel: not everyone believes. The Lord will not force Himself on
anyone. Some reject His Word and gifts; they are damned. Some hear for a moment
but give up when tempted. Some are choked out by worry and greed. There will be
a sifting process, a judgment on the last day. God gave us ears so that we sinners
would hear His Word and be changed.
Every Christian
endures the attack of demons, the temptations of the flesh, and daily trials of
the world. No one gets out unscathed. This parable is a warning. The attacks
you suffer are dangerous; if you does not abide in the Word of God, you will
lose your faith and suffer the fate prepared for Satan and his angels on the
last day. Repent. None of us fears God’s punishments as we should. All of us
have sinned thoughtlessly.
But there is also
good news. The Sower keeps on sowing. He does not look for good and noble
hearts. He simply looks for hearts: corrupted, weary, fearful hearts. He sows
His Word without regard to how likely it is to take root and grow, for He knows
the power is in the seed and not in the soil. He seems reckless, wasteful, to
the eyes of men. He simply throws His seed without tilling the soil. He sends
out His Word to those who need it, who cannot save themselves, the ones demons
would claim for themselves.
The disciples are
models of faith here. While they did not immediately understand the parable,
they were hearing. They were seeking God. The parable hid God from unbelievers
and even damned them; it drew the disciples to listen more closely, to ask
Jesus what it meant. They were seeing and hearing what the prophets longed to
see and hear. The mysteries of the Kingdom
of God were given to them, and through
them the mysteries of the Kingdom
of God are given to you.
Faith on this side
of glory always wants more. The disciples want answers from Jesus. The
Christian widow might piously assert that she is at peace because her husband no
longer suffers and is at rest; at the same time she longs to join him, eager
for the culmination of her faith and the end of her sorrow. We confess that
Jesus lives. We are confident that our sins are forgiven. We trust that Jesus
is present for us in bread and wine. Even so, we are still being snatched at,
tempted, and choked with worry.
The will of God is
sometimes hidden from us. The same is true of His Word. We do not understand
all that we are given, all that we are promised. Still, we trust by grace that
His Word is true. We trust that His is will good and that it is best for us. We
will be snatched at, tempted, and threatened by choking worries until we are
brought home. The only antidote to that snatching and worry is more: more Word,
more Jesus. So God provides a constant and ongoing application of the Word. We
cannot stand against God’s enemies. We are weak; they are strong. But He gives
us a promise: His Word does not return void; it will accomplish what He sent it
to do.
The Word was sent
by the Father to become flesh and dwell among us. His Word bore all the
accusations against you, all the false names, all the slander. His Word was
sent to go to the slaughter, to accept your guilty verdict, to be killed for
crimes that you committed. God cannot die. Yet on the cross, God died, and that
sacrifice set you free and gave you life. He rose, opening heaven to you. He
speaks you righteous. He declares you innocent. Instead of thorns, up comes the cypress. The Lord bears a hundredfold harvest of faith in you. It is a miracle. For
to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God,
including the mystery of Holy Supper, where He comes in that human body and
blood to join you to Himself. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The
peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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