The Sower Went Forth to Sow

In Nomine Iesu!

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Sermon Text: St. Luke 8:4-15

“‘The sower went forth to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it. And other fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other fell amidst the thorns; and the thorns grew with it, and choked it. And other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold.’”

Prayer in Pulpit before Sermon:

Almighty God, merciful Father, we give Thee most hearty thanks for Thy divine Word, which Thou art pleased to sow as a heavenly seed among us, and we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst by Thy Word and Spirit make our hearts a good ground, guard us against the dangers arising from cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and keep our faith from being uprooted by the blasts of affliction, that in an honest and good heart we may bring forth abundant fruit; through + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen. 

My dear friends, the Evangelist St. Luke writes that a great multitude from every city resorted unto our Lord + Jesus. They all came to hear Him preach. They all came to hear the Sower sow the seed of the Word of the Lord God in their hearts. But as the Sower, our Lord + Jesus, went out to sow His seed, He is only reminded that the people of Israel are a wicked and rebellious generation. Many come to receive the Word of the Lord God, but it ends up in the hearts of so few. This is not the fault of the Sower—it is not our Lord’s fault—nor is it a fault in the Word being sown, either. It is the result of our spiritual enemies waging war against the seed and the Sower. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh war against the Word of the Lord God and the promised Savior which is given through that Word.

Each element of this parable of the Sower and the seed relates how our spiritual enemies attack the Word of the Lord God so that it cannot take root and grow and become a plant of faith which produces much grain. Each aspect of the parable shows how many slings and arrows are pointed at our heads every minute of every day, so that we may be drawn away from the Field of the Lord, and the planting of faith which the Sower casts into our hearts may be shattered and die. 

Our Lord + Jesus, the Sower, begins with our greatest enemy: the devil. This is represented by the seed that is cast into the wayside. This seed never even makes it into the field of the heart. As soon as the seed was cast into the heart, the devil already come and taken away the seed away so that there is not any seed left. The birds of the air, that is, the demons and false theologies and philosophies of the world, snatch the Word of the Lord God away before it is even heard. In this great multitude from every city there were probably those who had come only to mock the Lord + Jesus. They had come only to find fault with Him, to test Him, and prove to themselves that this Man was not the Messiah. They had already closed off their hearts to the preaching of the Lord + Jesus even before He opened His mouth.

The same is true today. Many refuse to hear the Word of the Lord God; they dismiss it before it is even preached. They call it a crutch of the weak, or fairy tales for children. They believe that the Word of the Lord God is only for those who are not as enlightened as they are in the ways of the world. But, my friends, if you have ears to hear, hear what our Lord + Jesus says about these individuals. The devil has stolen the seed away from them. The birds of the air have devoured the seed. They are robbed of the seed before it is even presented. The devil has these individuals firmly in his grasp. They are doomed to eternal death and destruction because the devil will not permit them to hear the Word of the Lord God. They have no opportunity to hear what good things our Lord + Jesus has done for us poor, miserable sinners. They do not recognize their sin; therefore, they cannot recognize their Savior.

Not only does the devil attack the seed which the Sower is casting into His Field, but the world, the agent of the devil, also works to destroy the seed of the Word of the Lord God. This is represented by the seed that fell among the rock. This seed reaches the earth; it reaches the heart of the one listening. But the world exhibits a force upon the seed so that it cannot take root. The soil is too rocky. There is no moisture that can nurture the seed. Temptations destroy the seed. Trial and tribulations prevent it from growing.

Many false preachers give their hearers a false sense of security. They teach that once a person becomes a Christian that their lives will become easier. All of the sins and vices that trouble them in this life will melt away and they will be filled with joy all their days. The joy that the Word of our Lord teaches is not a joy in earthly things, but it is a joy in spiritual things. It is a joy that looks not to a favorable life in this world, but to an eternal life of unutterable joys that last forever. And then, when this evil world enforces its will upon those who buy into this lie, the seed which has no true root withers and dies.

This is why we hear of the Christian life of St. Paul from his second Epistle to the Church at Corinth when this parable of the Sower and the seed is presented. St. Paul gives a picture of what he, as one of the greatest saints that ever lived, endured for his preaching of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ. The world did not welcome him with open arms. His own people Israel did not listen to his preaching. Not only did they stop their ears from hearing, but they did physical violence against him. He was stoned, scourged, shipwrecked, left for dead, and the like. He suffered in the same way that his Lord + Jesus suffered. That is the promise that we receive for being faithful Christians. As our Lord + Jesus suffered at the hands of unbelievers, so too, will we suffer many things because the devil and the world hate not only our Lord, but they hate all those who cling to Him in faith. They will seek our destruction, and the destruction of the Word of the Lord God in any way that they can so that we lose our faith, and end up as lost as they are.

Sadly, my friends, not only do we have the devil and the world waging war against us, but even our own sinful flesh wages war against us. The Old Adam keeps on popping up his ugly head, so that he must be continually drowned day in and day out. The Old Adam comes alive in us because of the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. The Old Adam takes our eyes off of our eternal prize, and focuses them on the things of this life. The Old Adam turns our eyes away from our eternal home in heaven, and has us focus on our temporal home here in this life. We lose sight of the heavenly, eternal things because we have earthly worries that we believe we must worry and stress about in this life. 

Not only do we have the cares of this world, but there are also the earthly riches that entice us away from fully trusting in the Lord God for all our needs and supports. We focus our attention on making a “good life” for us in this world. We chase after riches: a full bank account, and a generous retirement account, not considering that these things will pass away. We will not carry them into the grave. All our labor for riches will be given to somebody else when we die. But yet we still strive for them (we have bills to pay after all) and these earthly pursuits choke away the seed of faith in us. They become the thing into which we place our hope and trust. In short, they become our gods.

The same is true of the pleasures of this life. We desire a happy and joyous life. We seek the things that will give us a happy and joyous life: a good house, car, family, and the like. We want to keep up with the Joneses, and have all the enjoyable things that our neighbors have. These things become so much a part of our lives that we are not even aware that they have drawn us away from having true faith and trust in the Lord God. These things truly have choked the seed of the Word of the Lord God out of our hearts. We pursue these things more vigorously than finding time for prayer and study of the Word of the Lord God. In many cases, the cares and riches and pleasures of this life have taken up so much time in our lives that we have no devotional life outside of these walls. If our Christianity only exists when we are here in this place, then we should re-evaluate whether we are truly Christians; we should examine whether the cares and riches and pleasures of this life have choked the seed of the Word of the Lord God out of our hearts. 

For this third section of the parable is pointed at us. It is directed at all those who are in the Church, but do not live their lives as if the Church is their lifeboat. Those who are consumed with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life have let their Old Adam rule them. The world has become their lifeboat, and the Church is only a port in which they rest for an hour or two once a week. Our Lord + Jesus in this parable today warns us against these things.

But He also gives us a promise. For there is the fourth part of the parable which talks about the seed that went into good ground. This seed goes into honest and good hearts and produces much fruit. It produces hearts that desire to hear the Word of the Lord God, and to grow in faith. It desires to reach the eternal heavenly shores and spend all of eternity with their Lord and Savior. It desires to be among the saints in heaven, and join their voices to the voices of the choir of angels. It looks past the things of this world, ignores the false theologies, ignores the trials and temptations, ignores the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and only looks for and hopes for an eternal life in heaven. This is why it produces fruit hundredfold. For it is not looking to the temporal things of this world, but the heavenly, eternal things of the life in the world to come.

Therefore, my dear friends, let us strive to be in that heavenly band. Great multitudes came from every city to hear our Lord + Jesus preached. Many heard His Word, but few took it to heart. But those who took His preaching to heart had faith produced in their hearts a hundredfold. Let us then have ears to hear what the Sower has come to sow into our ears today. Let us cling to Him alone in faith. For in Him alone is our hope and salvation. In Him alone do we find entrance into that heavenly home where all tears and sighing are washed away, and where eternal joys are given to us. May the Word of the Lord God be planted into our hearts this day so that in good and honest hearts faith may grow and take root within us, and we may find ourselves in that eternal land where our Lord and Savior lives and reigns for all eternity. In the Name of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

Prayer in Pulpit after Sermon:

Almighty God, be pleased to accompany Thy Word with Thy Holy Spirit and grant that Thy Word would increase faith in us; bring into the Way of Truth all such as have erred; turn the hearts of the unrepentant; and for sake of Thy Name grant succor to all heavy hearts and those who are heavy-laden, that they may through the mercy of the Lord + Jesus Christ be relieved and preserved so that they succumb not to the temptation of despair but rather that they gain the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; through the same + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

The Votum:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!