Sermon

July 6, 2008
Pentecost 8a
Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23
Pastor Ben Berger

Understand the Seed of God’s Word

One day at Vacation Bible School this year we learned about Brazil nuts. I never knew how much trouble God went through just to give us Brazil nuts. I learned that Brazil nuts fall from a tree inside of a fruit that is about the size of a softball and as hard as iron. Apparently there is only one animal that is able to open this hard fruit, the agouti (like a guinea pig). The agouti gnaws at the fruit until he cracks it open. He eats some of the nuts and buries others. When he forgets where he buried some of the nuts, they grow into trees. On top of that, the trees only blossom when pollinated by the bees. And the female bees will only help pollinate if the male bees attracts them with the scent of orchid. Whew – all that for Brazil nuts. Today, through the parable of the sower, we learn that God has taken just as much trouble to plant the seed of his word in our hearts. And since God has gone through so much trouble to plant the seed of his word in our hearts, we want to Understand the Seed of God’s Word. When it comes to understanding the seed of God’s word, some have no understanding. Some have little understanding. Some have some understanding and some have ongoing understanding. I will challenge you to figure out what level of understanding you currently have and to deepen it.

Some of you have hearts like the path. The seed that was sown on the path was not buried in the soil. It had no chance to form roots and no chance to grow. Sometimes God’s word is sown on top of your heart. It is never buried and it doesn’t have a chance to grow. You hear God’s word but have no understanding of it. You may hear God’s word often, but you don’t take the time to understand who God is or what he says or what he’s done for you. You hear but you have no understanding.

As a result, Satan snatches away from you all the blessings of God’s word just as the birds eat the seed off of the path. Satan’s goal is to keep God’s word from creating any faith in you. Without faith Satan steals God’s love from you. He robs you of the forgiveness of sins Jesus earned for you. He hides the eternal life prepared for you. He even snatches away comfort and guidance and support and strength for this short life.

If the path describes your heart, confess that you have rejected God’s word. Confess that even if you have been hearing, you have not been understanding or believing. Confess that you have despised God and his word. Then, believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. In spite of all the times you did not hear or understand or believe, God still loves you. He still forgives you and he still offers you eternal life. All this he gives in his word, which he continues to sow in your heart. Take time then to hear again those old Sunday School stories that tell how God brought forth a Savior. Take time to think about all that God says and all that God has done for you. Decide today to review your catechism or to come to the New Life in Christ review class this September. Ask God to change your heart from a path to good soil.

Some of you have hearts like the rocky ground. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. Oh, when you hear the word, you understand that God has forgiven your sins. You understand that Jesus has earned salvation for you. And you are excited. You are full of enthusiasm. You sing loudly. You pray loudly. You smile at everyone. And then you go home. Slowly the excitement and the enthusiasm begin to wane. You just don’t feel the same as when you first heard God’s word.

If your heart is like the rocky ground, it’s shallow. Roots want to grow but have no where to go. Without depth you have no roots; without roots your faith dies quickly. You have only little understanding. As a result, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, you quickly fall away. You have the immature faith of youth. Your sinful nature still rules so that you give into peer pressure. You are afraid of being criticized for your faith. You say nothing when others criticize God or his word or his will. Eventually, your sinful nature squeezes out the shallow faith you had. Like an old friend from high school, you lose contact with God.

Stop now and confess that you have not deepened your relationship with God. Confess that you do not spend as much time in God’s word as you could. Confess that when you do spend time, you don’t give the effort to deepen your understanding. Then believe that Jesus has forgiven your sins too. Trust that God still wants a deeper relationship with you. Know that God will continue to sow his word in your heart and continue to send his Spirit to give you understanding. Pray that as God gives you understanding, his Spirit would begin to rule your heart rather than your sinful nature. Finally, give the Spirit opportunity to do his work. Whenever you hear God’s word, put in the extra time and effort to think about it. Ask the Spirit to help you understand and apply God’s word to your life. And as you hear and understand God’s word, ask him to change your heart from rocky soil to good soil.

Some of you have hearts with thorns. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. You are on the right track. You regularly and faithfully hear God’s word. You come to Bible studies. You think about God’s word at home. You give generous offerings. You serve God’s people in many different ways. You are a living stone in God’s church. Not only do you hear and understand, you produce fruit.

Yet you are in danger. The thorns of life threaten your fruitful faith. The worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth, in other words the world, threaten to make you unfruitful. The world is constantly vying for your attention. The world wants you to work more…to make more money…to pursue its many pleasures. The world wants to keep you busy with this life so that you don’t give much thought to the life you cannot yet see. And if the world can’t convince you to pursue its pleasures, then the world wants to distract you with worries. How will you pay your bills? How will you keep your family safe? How will you avoid sickness and disaster? Slowly the world pulls you away from your God and his people. You don’t have time to serve any longer. You don’t have dollars to offer. You don’t have energy to worship. You don’t have faith.

You don’t have to let that happen. Confess to God all the times that you have worried rather than trusting him to care for you. Confess all the times you pursued earthly blessings before spiritual ones. Confess the times you lost your focus and attention. Then trust that Jesus has forgiven all these sins. Remember how Jesus gave his full time, attention and energy to God’s will. Remember how Jesus lived and died and rose again to assure you of eternal life and eternal blessings. Stay connected to God’s word. Keep producing fruit. Ask God to remove the thorns and to turn your heart into good soil.

That’s all God really wants to do is to turn your hearts into good soil. As we look at hearts that are like the path, the rocky ground and the thorny places, we can all see ourselves. Some days we give no attention to God’s word. Other days we’re excited but it’s temporary. Yet other days we are easily distracted by this life.

Regardless of the type of heart we have today, God has forgiven our sins. He has sent Jesus to perfectly hear, understand and carry out his word. He sent Jesus to die on the cross and pay for our failure to hear, understand and carry out his word. And God has sent his Spirit to bury his word in our hearts. To give us understanding of his love and forgiveness. And to produce fruits of faith in our lives.

The Holy Spirits cultivates our hearts into good soil. The good soil represents the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. It’s important to remember that changing our hearts is God’s work. Our only responsibility is to stay connected to the seed, the word, and to give God opportunity to do his work. As he promised in Isaiah, he word will not return to him empty, but will accomplish what he desires and achieve the purpose for which he sent it. God’s word works; don’t underestimate its power. It will give you understanding and a deeper relationship. It will produce fruit to serve God and neighbor.

© 2007 Mount Olive Ev. Lutheran Church and School - All Rights Reserved