Luke 8: 4When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to [Jesus], he said in a parable: 5“A sower went out to sow his seed.
15As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast (hold it tight, cling to it, retain it, keep it, seize the Word and hold on to it no matter what) in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”
Listening to a sermon is hard work.
You really have a lot to do, if you’re going to do it right.
It really can be exhausting.
No wonder so many Christians throughout the ages have fallen asleep in sermons – it’s a lot of work, it’s exhausting.
No Christians here have ever fallen asleep – but I’ve seen it in some other churches, and it’s happened to many, many pastors throughout the ages.
…side note…”I started preparing this on Monday and I was at home on the computer and Henry asked what I was writing, and I said, ‘I think I’m writing a sermon on listening to a sermon.’ And he said, ‘ha!”
Anyway, back to work for you listening to this sermon:
So, what’s some of the work that you have if you’re going to do it right?
First, you have to listen. And that’s no easy task.
You know this, right? You even been listening to someone and then realize you weren’t actually listening.
“Can you say that again? Sorry.”
Second, you’re asked to think. Think about what God is saying. Think about if the pastor is saying what God is saying in His Word. Think about what implications there are for you in your life from what God is saying.
And there is a ton of obstacles to those things that we are thinking about.
God’s Word is clear, but to our sin infected minds, it’s sometimes not always clear to us.
Not all pastors preach God’s Word faithfully. So you have to be thinking about comparing what the pastor says with what God says.
And even if the implications from God’s Word are clear to us, we sometimes just don’t want to do it, just don’t want to believe it.
“That’s kinda inconvenient for me God, so I’ll just ignore that You said that and pretend I didn’t hear it. Mmm, k?”
Every Sunday we’re called to do these things, and there’s more to it:
There are active forces against your soul to listen and to think to God’s Word.
Jesus warns us about the devil’s active work against His Word.
Jesus warns us that sometimes we are really distracted by other things, the world and our own sinful flesh push against God’s Word.
The pushing, the pulling, the fight inside and the fight outside is truly exhausting.
But here you are again at work.
So, do your job well:
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Who here has ears to hear?
Then you are doing exactly what God intended those ears to do – hear Him who loves you.
He created your ears and all the aspects of your hearing so that He could speak to you and tell you about how much He loves you.
You are to hear that, ponder that, cling to that, hold on to that no matter what, you’re to think about all the time.
Even what He calls His Word today is invitation to think.
He says He’s talking to us in parables, which is kind of like a riddle.
When hear a riddle, you have to think about it.
You can’t just hear it and be done, you have to think about it, think about what the words mean, unless of course you don’t care about the answer.
But these riddles provide the most important answers you will have hear.
So think about what these words mean.
Like riddles, when Jesus preaches in parables, He is often presenting a problem that needs to be solved.
So, today, here’s the problem.
If God’s Word is powerful, and it is,
If God’s Word is saving and enlightening and precious and full of wisdom and life and it is active – and it is…
Lord to whom shall we go, you have the Words of eternal life.
These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.
God’s Word is like a seed that produces true fruit, yielding even a hundred times more than was planted.
God’s Word is like a mustard seed – teeny tiny, and yet it produces a huge plant.
God’s Word is like the rain and snow – causing plants to spring up. His Word will accomplish all that He wants it to.
God’s Word is Spirit and life and bring with it all the fruits of the Spirit….
And yet, not all receive the Holy Spirit through His Word, but they reject Him,
not all believe in Jesus,
not all of our hearts fully completely believe in Jesus.
Love God with all our heart…I wish.
I wouldn’t have any other fears, no other anxieties, I’d love my wife and my children and you with the perfect love you all deserve to be loved with.
But…
Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.
That’s a problem.
And Jesus wants us to think about that.
So, here’s some more work for you to do:
How often do you not care to even listen to God’s Word?
Don’t want to come to church, don’t want to read your Bibles, or even if we’re in Church, we don’t want to listen.
Sometimes, if we’re angry or sad or in despair and we know that God’s Word will make it better, and we’re not really wanting to be better.
God’s precious, powerful, beautiful Word then becomes like a seed that’s scattered on hard ground.
We’re playing with the devil there, not really giving any attention to God’s Word or even beginning to consider how His commandments and promises affect our lives.
Here’s a couple of other problem we encounter in our lives:
we believe and receive God’s Word, but them something competes against it and wins.
Chokes God’s Word out or burn up its fruit.
Do things ever get too bad for you that you don’t want God or think God can help?
“I give up, God. I give up, on You and Your Word and I give up on myself and I give up on them.”
Things get too bad.
Do things ever get too good and you’re afraid God’s going to ruin all your fun.
“You’re asking too much of me now. I want a little more time with sin, come back in 15 minutes or so, or maybe a year or two.”
You want a little more time with your sin.
You think you like it too much, more than God’s Word.
You’ve got some work to do – you gotta answer this yourself.
Spiritual warfare is very personal.
It’s true that we all have many common temptations, but it’s also true that no man is in your heart and in your head.
Spiritual warfare happens strongest there.
When it’s just you and God and the demons who hate you and oppress you.
It happens often when you’re alone.
It happens often when you’re in a place you shouldn’t be, or doing thing or thinking things you know you shouldn’t be doing or thinking.
Those are problems.
The devil, the world temptations, your sinful flesh that swings from despair to pride.
Those are problems.
Think about that, Jesus is tell you today.
And that’s why Jesus also invites you to think deeply about His Word.
His Word first tells you that no matter how hard you work, it won’t be enough, but He goes to work for you, and His work is enough.
His cross is enough.
His perfect life, He does everything right for, and perfect death, He answers for everything wrong,
it all is enough and it’s yours.
His Word and Sacraments that deliver everything to you today is enough.
He went to work for you against sin, death, and the devil and He goes to work on you again today.
And here’s how He works on you, He changes your hearts to hear His Word.
His very Word invites you to delight in God’s Word, to meditate on God’s Word, to love, rejoice in, thank God for, pray, sing, speak out loud, hear out loud, consider,
repeat, repeat, repeat,
listen to preaching,
preach to yourself,
treasure God’s promises,
squeeze out every promise,
they are so juicy,
be led by His commands,
they are so wise.
Delight yourself in God’s Word.
We studied this past week that beautiful invitation to delight in God’s Word – take pleasure in God’s Word – like it, love it, be happy you have it!
Deuteronomy 6 –
Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
When you eat, when you drink, when we’re falling asleep, when you’re waking up, when you’re working, when you’re resting –
it’s a lot of work –
but it’s also the only real way of true rest. Amen.