Göttinger Predigten
Göttinger Predigten im Internet hg. von U. Nembach
Pentecost 6, 07/16/2017
Sermon on Matthew 13:1-9;18-23, by Beth A. Schlegel
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!" 18 "Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen
What a silly thing for Jesus to say to the crowd: “Let anyone with ears listen!” Everyone there had ears!
But those ancient hearers would recognize the echo of the Shemah – “Hear O Israel…”(Dt. 6:4) – , and the words of Moses: “But you shall return, and hear/obey (shamah) the voice of the Lord thy God, and shall do all the commandments which I command you this day” (Dt. 30:8), as well as the warnings of the prophets of old like Jeremiah and Ezekiel,: 2 “Son of man, you live among rebels who have eyes but refuse to see. They have ears but refuse to hear. For they are a rebellious people. (Ezek. 12:2)
This imperative from the lips of Jesus had weight to it.
When I am engrossed in reading a good book, it is easy for me to tune out whatever else is going on around me. Who is ahead in the soccer game playing on television? I don’t know. What did my spouse or parent just ask me to do? I didn’t hear a thing.
I have ears, and I might be vaguely aware that the television is on and that people are talking, but I did not hear it, I was not listening to it, I was not paying attention, and I certainly was not obeying.
In school, a teacher might say, “Now listen up! This is going to be on the exam.” That changed the way in which we students paid attention to what was coming next. We listened in order to understand and to remember.
But Jesus says this at the end of the parable, so that it has the force of, “you who were paying attention, act accordingly.
On the surface, it comes across as bad news, since there were doubtless many left scratching their heads, who didn’t “get it”, or who hadn’t really been listening carefully.
But Jesus is actually taking the burden of proof off of the hearers.
Nowhere in this passage – not in the initial telling nor in the explanation to the disciples – does Jesus imply that the hearers themselves are in control of how they hear.
“You who have ears to hear, listen!” is not a moral imperative, as though we are capable of being good soil by sheer force of will.
Nor is it moral judgment, as though we are to infer that we are in some way responsible for being bad soil or that we are to feel guilty if we don’t understand something Jesus teaches.
Jesus is simply describing the way things are – in any group of hearers, there are some who don’t pay attention at all, some who are quick adopters but can’t follow through, some who have other priorities, and some who take it to heart and put it into action.
That’s just the way it is. The disciples who will become sowers need to know this, so they don’t expect a rapt audience or that everyone will welcome the message of Jesus.
This is also a good lesson for all preachers.
At the same time, Jesus tells this parable at the beginning of a series of seven parables in Matthew 13.
Seen in this light, “You who have ears to hear, hear!” Becomes an opportunity for those who had not been paying attention, who had been apathetic, checking their social media accounts, or talking to their neighbor about the pretty girl or cute boy across the way – to now stop and listen, really listen.
God’s word has power to accomplish what it says. As Jesus exclaims the imperative, the Spirit is actually giving hearers ears to hear and hearts of good soil.
The Spirit uses Jesus’ words to turn the hearts of some, strengthen others, and bring forth fruit from still others. For even if some had completely missed the parable of the sower, they have now been shocked awake and drawn by Jesus’ imperative to hear the rest of the parables – the ones that begin, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”
This is a Pentecost experience – in which the Spirit goes forth with the Word of Jesus so that there is not simply the registering of auditory signals, but actual understanding –-understanding that leads to obedience because of Who is speaking.
Where there is understanding – where hearers are permitted by God’s grace to recognize in Jesus the very Firstfruits of the new creation (1 Cor. 15) – then their fruit will be forthcoming just as surely as ears of corn from the stalks or peaches from the trees.
And here, too, as if to underscore, Jesus makes clear that neither the sowers nor the hearers are in control of the outcome. It is the Spirit that brings forth the fruit in those to whom God has given ears to hear – some a small harvest, some a modest harvest, and some an abundant harvest – as God has determined.
Fruit-bearing is not a competition, as though you are better because you have greater abilities than I to bear fruit. No – all of the harvest is of God, in accordance with what God has apportioned to each hearer.
Our prayer, then, is for God to give us ears to hear, to open those ears to understand, to receive the seed of God’s Word into our hearts and minds, and to put that Word into action in our everyday life.
This morning, it is easy to be the crowd at the lakeside where Jesus was teaching. There was someone standing here reading God’s Word, and someone standing here now proclaiming it for understanding.
But what about tomorrow? How will we have ears to hear each day of the week between Sundays? We do not have to wait for Jesus to come down to the lakeshore, or into the church building – we have Bibles, or smartphones with Bibles, or devotional books with scripture. And if anyone does not have a Bible, do not leave here today without one – I will give you one.
Each day as we open God’s Word, Jesus speaks to us and calls us to listen and put his teaching into action. In this way, we, like Jesus’ disciples, are hearers who are made sowers and the kingdom of God comes to our world.
In Luther’s catechisms on the Lord’s Prayer, we learn that the kingdom of God is that “God sent His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, into the world to redeem and deliver us from the power of the devil, and to bring us to Himself, and to govern us as a King of righteousness, life, and salvation against sin, death, and an evil conscience. To this end He has also bestowed His Holy Spirit, who is to bring these things home to us by God’s holy Word, and to illumine and strengthen us in the faith by Christ’s power.
Therefore we pray ..that this may become effective with us, and that Jesus’ name be so praised through the holy Word of God and a Christian life that so that we who have accepted it may abide in it and daily grow in it, and that it may gain acceptance and adherence among other people and proceed with power throughout the world. In this way, many may find entrance into the Kingdom of Grace and be made partakers of redemption, being led thereto by the Holy Spirit, in order that thus we may all together remain forever in the one kingdom now begun.”
And this kingdom comes “when our heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe his Holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and hereafter in eternity. “
The kingdom of God comes to us when the Spirit gives us ears to hear God’s Word and live by it.
“And God’s will is done among us when God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let his kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. “
God’s will is done when all the hindrances to the seed thriving and bearing fruit are removed and we are good soil for God’s Word.
This is Jesus’ greatest desire for us – it is why he shows up here week after week, and in our homes day after day .
The Sower is here – speaking, feeding, giving himself fully to us—“You who have ears to hear, pay attention!”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen