“And He said, ‘To you has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. And the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are the ones who hear, then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they believe and be saved.” (St. Luke 8:4-15)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. In the Gospel for Sexagesima Sunday, Jesus describes all sorts of ground upon which seeds fall. Which type are you?
Are you the road? Does the Word of God get snatched out of your ears by the devil? Are you the rock that hears the Word and rejoices then later turns away? Are you thorns that receive the Word with joy but then give into the cares and lusts of the world? Or are you the good ground, where the seed grew and yielded a crop a hundredfold?
These questions are the reason the Lord Jesus gifts us with the “Gesima” weeks. Pre-Lent prepares and warms us up to what we are specifically given to do in Lent: turn from our sins and hear the Word of the Lord.
This parable is not about us and what kind of ground we are. It is the parable of the Sower. The parable is all about the Sower, our Lord Jesus, who sowing seeds! He spreads His Word. Faith, which is nothing more than receiving His gifts, flows from the Word He sows and we are saved.
He who has ears let Him hear! In Pre-Lent, our ears are cleared of all the things which get in the way of hearing all that our Lord will do for us during the season of Lent. Our ears are taken off of us and what kind of ground we are, and His Word puts them with His Word.
The warnings are clear: without watering, the Word sown in us will wither and die. Run to the Word of God – preached and read – as if your life and salvation depend upon it. It does! Live in the waters of your Baptism, turn from the sins of the flesh that will strangle off the Word put into your ears. Feed often on our Lord’s Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the remission of your sins. The Lord's Supper will keep you in the One True Faith, keep you as good ground, unto life everlasting.
The Good News that saves us is that the Son of Man not only was crucified for you and me on the Cross made by our sins, but He also sowed His seed even amongst us. The certainty of His saving rests on His sowing!
Turn from your sins while there is still time. Don’t let them choke off or drown out His Word. Then, plead to God for mercy. Hear the Word of the God and rejoice for the Son of Man, the Sower of the Seed, was crucified for you.
That’s what we’ll hear about in Lent, isn’t it? It's a good thing we have a bit of time to prepare of our ears to hear about Jesus’ suffering and death for us. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
"Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off forever. Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face; and forgettest our affliction? Our soul is bowed down to the dust; arise for our help and redeem us. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what work Thou didst in their days." (The Introit for Sexagesima - Ps. 44:23-26; 44:1)
Other readings this week
Isaiah 55:10-13
2 Corinthians 11:19-33 - 12:9
St. Luke 8:4-15
Higher Things Reflections are written by Rev. George F. Borghardt III, Assistant Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX.