“Waking Up to Hear God’s Word”
As we consider the parable the seed and the sower, of how the Word of God is attacked and how the Word of God is powerful, life giving, like a seed, we especially consider how Jesus ends the parable with, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” as well as how He ends the explanation of the parable with this promise, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”
Dear saints, wake up!
That was one of prayers today. We did in the Psalm we prayed after we confessed our sin and received God’s absolution.
We prayed to God that He wake up.
Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
For our soul is bowed down to the dust.
Rise up; come to our help! (Psalm 44:23, 25, 26)
And Jesus has answered this prayer. The Lord who neither slumbers or sleeps knows your suffering and pain and is present to help.
And He has answered back our prayer in part with a warning of His own – you wake up.
I think we might be able to summarize the parable of the sower in which Jesus tells us what happens when His Word is preached with that warning – you wake up.
You see, Jesus knows your troubles in this world.
Jesus knows your sinful flesh and the temptations you are inclined toward.
Jesus knows the devil and how he specifically attacks you.
And Jesus knows you need help and Jesus is present to give help.
And the biggest help He gives you in this world is His Word –
He gives you His Word, the Bible.
He gives you a pastor to preach and teach His Word,
He gives you musicians to help you sing His Word,
He gives you fellow Christians to keep you in His Word,
He gives liturgy and hymns and songs and apps on your phone and the Small Catechism to keep you in His Word,
so wake up, His help is here. His Word is here.
“As for [the seed that fell] in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”
What a wonderful promise.
Hear the Word. Believe the Word. Hold fast to the Word. Say Amen to the Word.
Let the Word honestly show you your sin and warn you.
Let the Word show you your good Savior and comfort you.
Let the Word guide you when you are lost.
Let the Word seek you until you know your found.
Let the comfort you that God’s grace is sufficient for you and God’s power is made perfect in weakness during suffering.
Fight with the Word, defend with the Word.
Treasure the Word.
Do not be ashamed of the Word, for it is the power of God for salvation to those who believe.
The Word is creative and active and living. The God who spoke “let there be light,” and there was light is present with a Word that actually forgives, actually comforts, actually gives you His light in the midst of darkness, actually strengthens your faith, hope, and love
The Word is good.
The Word is true.
The Word is beautiful.
Hear the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and Christ through His Word will bear fruit through you and in you with patience.
So wake up!
It’s an amazing sort of thing that we need that warning, but we certainly do need that warning.
And the reason we need that warning is because God’s Word has enemies.
Jesus summarizes the enemies as the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh.
When God’s Word is preached, the devil attacks. He seeks to devour the Word like the birds seek to devour my grass seed we just planted a few days ago.
The devil wants God’s Word to go in one ear and out the other.
The devil wants us to simply ignore it.
The devil doesn’t want you to come to a faithful church because he knows the Word is there.
Once your here, the devil wants you to not listen. To be bored.
If God can work on you enough that you’re actually listening, the devil wants to pluck the seed away to make you think this doesn’t apply to you.
It might apply to them, but it doesn’t apply to you.
So you ignore the warnings for you. And you don’t believe the promises for you.
We can ignore the truth that we need help.
Or we could be screaming out for help and looking for help in all the wrong places except God’s Word.
Jesus warning of the attacks of the devil when His Word is preached is this:
The one along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
The other two enemies are to at first receive the Word with joy, but to have no root, to believe for a while and in a time of testing fall away
And then also to hear, but as we go on our way, we are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and our fruit does not mature.
You’re at church. God surrounds you with the comforts of His Word here. Christ has won a battle in you because you’re at church.
If you open up your Bible throughout the week, that the new man or woman in Christ, that’s God working through your baptism to beat back Satan and the selfish flesh.
But, as they say, the battle is only beginning.
Because a shallow faith,
a bored heart,
or a distracted by the cares and riches and pleasures of life mind is also there to wage war against God’s Word to not believe and be saved, or to fall away in a time of testing, or for the fruit to not mature.
So wake up by hearing and believing God’s Word.
Stay awake by hearing and believing God’s Word.
Be warned about your enemies and how they work by hearing God’s Word.
Be comforted that you have a champion who fights for you and who has won the battle and what you are baptized into by hearing God’s Word.
And be reminded ultimately who is speaking to you when you hear His Word. The Word is not mere information, the Word has a source. He’s a person.
The seed is not sown by itself. There is a sower.
It’s Jesus. Jesus is speaking.
[Old tradition of confessing the creed everytime the Word is heard]
Who was born, suffered, died, buried, was raised, and is ascended for you.
Jesus compared His Word to a seed.
A seed need to be buried in the ground before it begins to bear fruit.
Jesus also compares Himself to a seed.
So the Son of Man was buried into death for you and bears fruit.
The fruit that He and His Word bear is your salvation and peace and joy. The fruit of your faith and love.
Your comfort. Your encouragements. You confession that in suffering God’s grace is sufficient for you, for His power is made perfect in weakness.
There are so many enemies, dear saints, but the One who is speaking to you through His Word has defeated them all.
The Son of Man came to destroy the works of the devil.
Christ’s suffering and death is what brings us life even as we suffer.
Christ’s crown of thorns is our joy knowing that He presents us as His crown jewel to His Father even as we are tempted to be choked by the cares and pleasures and riches of this life, so that we might treasure Him and His Word above all things.
Jesus is risen. Jesus is awake. Jesus watches us in love as one who neither slumbers nor sleeps and He gives us His Word and Spirit to help us stay awake.
The flesh is weak, but He who speaks His Word is present with a very willing Holy Spirit.