Today's Reading: Luke 8:4-15
Daily Lectionary: Job 4:1-21; John 2:1-12
"But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:15)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. So when the Word is planted it will bear fruit if it falls on a good and noble heart! If that's the case, then it's a wonder anyone bears any fruit, that the Word does anything at all, that anyone becomes and remains a Christian. If it were up to us to prepare our hearts and make them ready for God's Word, then sure, it would be impossible!
Do you have a good heart? Most people think they do. They think that they're not as bad as most people and that they live a good life. That's not the heart that Jesus means. He means a good and noble heart as one which truly fears, loves, and trusts in God and loves to receive His Word. That's you, right? Except on Sunday morning during the sermon when you are squirming for church to be over with, because you have plans later in the day. Or when it's time for bed and ten more minutes is not time for ending your day in prayer, but checking your Facebook or MySpace page one more time.
No, we don't have noble and good hearts. But Jesus does. That's why He tells this parable. He tells this parable to teach us that the only way we will bear fruit is if we have HIS heart. This is not immediately evident from the story itself which is why He says to His hearers, “Let he who has ears to hear, hear!”
It is Christ who has a noble and good heart which bears the fruit of the cross for us, pierced and showering blood and water into the font and the cup to deliver to us the forgiveness of sins and rescues us from birds, thistles and the hot sun of the Devil, the world and our flesh.
By this parable, the Holy Spirit stirs us up to repentance, lest any of those things snatch or destroy the Word of Christ among us and we perish. Instead, by repentance and faith the Spirit turns us into receptive soil that hears the Word of God and receives it and bears fruit, faith in Christ and good works for our neighbor. After all, the Word that does the work. We just receive it and its blessings. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
O God, because You know that we dare not put our trust in anything that we do, mercifully grant that by Your power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Sexagesima)