“Ears Are Made for Hearing, and Hearts for Receiving”
by Pastor Edwin Lehmann on February 10, 2023 in Luke 8:4-15
Sexagesima Sunday February 12, 2023
Text: Luke 8:4-15 Historic Series 23:2365
Theme: Ears Are Made for Hearing and Hearts for Good Receiving.
When I was a boy, my father had a peculiar way of grabbing my attention. He would tug on my ears. If I was not paying attention at the dinner table or my manners were lacking, he reached across the table and grabbed my ear. Sometimes my ears got a pretty good workout. It was his way of training me for life.
In a similar way, our heavenly Father tugs on our ears. He seeks to do more than train us for the present; He means to take us to heaven by means of our ears. It is the way He saves you for “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the words of Christ” (Ro.10:17). God did all and will do all to bring you to heaven. But you can prevent Him by abusing your ears and not using them for the purpose for which He gave them.
We are to be good listeners of His Word. Jesus said, “Whoever has ears let him hear.” Again He said, “Whoever belongs to God listens to what God says. The reason you do not listen is that you do not belong to God” (Jn.8:47). So, it is legitimate to ask, “If a person isn’t listening to God’s Word, is that person of God?” Ears Are Made for Hearing and Hearts for Good Receiving.
I. The Hardhearted.
I think that you are familiar with this text. It is the most well-known of the parables Jesus spoke. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning for our lives. By using things around us with which we are familiar, Jesus helps us understand spiritual truths critical for salvation. This one is often called “The Parable of the Sower and the Seed.” But from Jesus’ explanation the important point of comparison is not the Sower or the seed. It is the different kinds of soil which produce different results when the seed is cast on it. It might better be called “The Parable of the Soil and the Seed.” Jesus compares the soil to our ears and hearts as we hear His Word.
Peoples’ hearts are like soil in a field. By itself a field produces only weeds if good seed is not sown in it. In like manner nothing but weeds of sin grow in a person’s heart if the seed of the divine Word is not planted and cultivated there. Most people will not be saved because they do not want to read or hear God’s Word. So many have no time for it or reject it as foolishness. They don’t want to listen. They aren’t the kind of people here for Christ does not speak of those who persecute the Word or refuse to hear it, but of those who do hear and wish to be called true Christians. All of these hear God’s Word.
Those who hear, read, and receive God’s Word in their hearts may be saved. But what happens? If seed is to be useful, it is not enough that it is only scattered. It must fall into good ground and sprout there. If it falls on a well-trampled path so that it cannot get into the soil, the birds of the air will quickly come and devour it.
It is the same with God’s Word. A person must hear it to receive any good from it. But a person must do more than hear the Scriptures with his ears. It must be received within and take root in the heart in order to work true faith with its divine power. Remember, the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates and does not return to God empty unless people let that Word merely lie on the surface and don’t let it penetrate deeper. Failing to appropriate God’s Word to themselves, it goes in one ear and out the other. Some desire to understand it in a carnal way and explain it away to meet their own ideas, not God’s. False teachers trample it under foot with doctrines of men. Soon Satan comes to rip it away that they may not believe. God’s grace and the Word of salvation are not extended indefinitely. The result? The hard-hearted one is not saved but lost forever.
God has given us His Word so that it may produce a great change in our hearts. Its purpose is to enlighten us, revealing our great misery in sin so that we sorrow over it. Then, hearing further, the Holy Spirit teaches us to know Jesus as our Savior and believe in Him with all our hearts. If the heavenly fire of the Word does not set our hearts ablaze for Christ and the salvation from sin that He alone gives, then the Word has been preached in vain. Instead, it condemns one before God for the hard-hearted one has allowed this means of grace to be fruitless in him. The fault lies not in the Word but in the person failing to hear and receive it as it is – God’s saving Word.
If you want to be saved, hear attentively. Don’t prevent its divine message from filling your heart with living faith in Christ. Those who don’t want this are hard-hearted and give up all hope of salvation for “unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
II. The Faint-hearted and Half-hearted hearers.
The next 2 pictures are those of the faint-hearted and half-hearted hearers. Maybe it’s more accurate to call them the shallow, superficial hearers and the distracted, materialistic hearers.
The Sower scatters good seed but some of it falls where only a thin covering of soil lies over bedrock. Still, there is soil there and the seed springs up quickly when winter is over for the rock warms the soil at first. But then what happens in the scorching heat and drought of summer? The plants begin to dry up as quickly as they grew because they could not send their roots downward to secure them.
Here the apathy and indifference of the hard-hearted hearer of the Word is missing. Instead, there is enthusiasm, early enthusiasm and intense feeling. Jesus said, “They receive the word with joy.”
Sometimes, it reminds me of those who are newly confirmed, whether young or old – seemingly gung-ho in faith at first. As they hear the Word and receive it, they come to understand that they are poor sinners who must be saved, and they respond. They are filled with joy over Christ and grace. But the eagerness lasts only a while and soon is lost as they lose heart and fail to continue in the Word.
Maybe they are haunted by sins of the past and succumb to them again. Maybe they associate with unbelievers and find themselves beginning to doubt. Maybe they are enticed by people of the world to take part in sinful activity and then are ridiculed for their faith if they don’t. Gradually they become ashamed of the Savior. Tempted to laziness in prayer and reading God’s Word, they fail to set their roots deeply in Christ and Christ alone. Soon one becomes “Christian” only in name. Who can count all the ways that the devil tempts us to grow faint-hearted and lose faith? Why does it happen? Again, the fault lies not in the Word, but in the hearer who fails to continue in it.
A similar thing happens to the half-hearted hearer, but for different reasons.
A farmer wants his plants to have deep roots. But he knows that even if the roots are deep, unless he gets rid of the weeds, thorns, and thistles that shoot up right next to his good plants, he has no hope of a fruitful harvest for the bad grows faster and chokes out the good.
Two types of weeds threaten the Christian’s heart to make him half-hearted. Jesus says that one is the cares and concerns of this world, the other is the riches and pleasures of this life. Maybe faint-heartedness, ridicule, persecution, or flattery of the world won’t get you. However, many strong heroes of faith have fallen because their concerns over health, sickness, money, and the desire to enjoy worldly life to the fullest choked the Word from their hearts.
The Apostle Paul had a good friend, a companion in faith, a fellow missionary by the name of Demas who forsook him “because he loved this present world” (2Tm.4:10). So, Paul warned, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin…Some have wandered from the faith” (1Tm.6:9).
It’s hard to lead a double life, wanting to be followers of Jesus, but at the same time wanting to follow the ways of the world. Dividing the heart in two, we try to satisfy both desires and it simply can’t be done. “No one can serve two masters,” Jesus said. The way of Christ demands self-denial and commitment, not sometimes when one feels like it, but fulltime to the Savior’s cause. Half-heartedness will not do. Again, the fault lies not in the Word, but in the hearer who wants more of this life and fails to continue in the Word.
IV. The True-hearted.
Finally, there is “the seed that falls into good soil. They are the ones who hear the word with honest and good hearts, hold on to it tightly, and produce fruit as they patiently endure.”
It is indeed a miracle that a tiny seed placed into the ground can sprout, grow, and produce abundant fruit. But that is no more remarkable than the miracle of faith that takes place in the hearts of those in whom the seed of God’s Word is planted. What a beautiful thing when through the message of the crucified and risen Lord, faith is born, grows, and develops in the heart of a child of God who uses his ears on every occasion to hear and receive in his heart God’s Word. It works with its saving power within the true-hearted and produces heavenly fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It leads to a life of good works in love to God and in love to all others, mirroring God’s redeeming love to us in Christ who alone saves us from our sin. Such a heart will live forever in Him.
The seed of the Word is sown upon the human heart. In some cases, it takes root; in others it takes no root at all; in still others it grows but then stagnates until it withers away. What causes the difference? It’s not in the seed for the Gospel remains the same, divinely powerful and effective. It’s not in the messenger for, like Christ, he comes bearing the same message to all. The difference lies in the hearts of those who hear – hard-hearted, faint-hearted, half-hearted, or true-hearted. What kind of soil will we bring to Christ this week? Ears Are Made for Hearing and Hearts for Good Receiving. God grant it to us in our lives of faith, for Jesus’ sake.
Sexagesima Sunday – Pre-Lent 2 February 12, 2023
Welcome in our Savior’s name. His strength is made perfect in our weakness and enables us in everything. May the Word that is sown upon our hearts today bring forth rich fruits of righteousness in our lives of faith.
Last Sunday we began to turn our attention forward towards the Lenten Season. The lessons impressed upon us the great fact that we are saved by grace alone, through God’s love and kindness. Because of our sin, all is undeserved. Forgiveness, salvation, and life are gifts of His merciful generosity, for which we dare not try to bargain else grace be lost.
Today’s lessons add the thought that we are saved by the Word alone and through faith in that Word, for in our weakness and sin we can do nothing without God’s strength behind us. The Word is the power that works faith and its fruit in our lives. It is important for our salvation, comfort, and encouragement to know that though we are weak in ourselves, God’s strength is made perfect in us through the Word. But the Word can only produce fruit within our hearts and lives if we listen to it and receive it in true hearts.
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God’s Strength Made Perfect through the Word
The Preparation
Opening Thoughts on the Service
The Entrance Hymn: “Speak, O Savior, I Am Listening” #631
Order of Worship: Service: Setting One without Communion: pages 154-160
Prayer of the Day
The Ministry of the Word
(The Lessons for the Day are taken from the Historic Pericope Series of the Christian Church.)
The Responses following each lesson are on page 160
8:11-12 The Prophet Amos warns of God sending a terrible famine of the hearing of His Word. It is a result of the people’s complacency and rejection of the Word.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 65 “The Seed that Falls”
2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9 Through hardships, persecutions, and a “thorn in the flesh” God enabled Paul to see God’s grace at work. His grace is sufficient. It taught Paul reliance on the Lord and enabled him to endure all things for Christ.
Hymn Response: “Thy Strong Word” #630
The Gospel Acclamation using God’s Word as the Seasonal Verse page 161
Luke 8:4-15 In the Parable of the Sower and the Seed Jesus pictures the power that is in the Word of God. When not rejected the seed of the Word is effective in bringing forth life and abundant fruit. However, the way the heart receives the Word produces different results.
The Sermon Hymn: “Preach You the Word” #895
The Sermon: “Ears Are Made for Hearing, and Hearts for Receiving” Luke 8:4-15
Our Response to the Word
The Confession of Faith: The Apostles’ Creed page 163
Prayer of the Church page 164
The Offering
The Lord Blesses Us
The Closing Prayer and Blessing page 171
Closing Hymn: “On What Has Now Been Sown” #925
Silent Prayer
* * *
The Organist: Jane Rips
The Preacher: Pastor Edwin Lehmann
Point to Ponder: “When Christ said, ‘Preach, teach the Word!’ He aimed at your ears. To be sure, the Word is also written by inspiration and the writing is aimed at the eyes; also, we are told to search the Scriptures. Yet, to read requires an effort, while to hear requires nothing. The divine Word falls right into our ears and ought thus, through this ever open channel, fall in blessing into our hearts. But there are many dangers that beset our ears (that we must avoid)….Through the ears the Word kindles faith and keeps making it stronger, and thus by faith salvation drops as a free gift into our poor hearts. Bless God for your ears! But use them as God intends, for you are saved by faith alone.” — R.C.H. Lenski on “Ears: By Faith Alone”
Sexagesima Sunday – Historic Series
Old Testament Lesson: Amos 8:11-12 A Famine of the Lord’s Word
11 Look, the days are coming, declares the Lord God, when I will send a famine into the land—not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but rather a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 People will stumble from sea to sea and from north to east. They will roam back and forth seeking the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
Epistle Lesson: 2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9 Boasting in Human Weakness
19 You gladly put up with fools, since you are just so wise! 20 In fact, you put up with it if anyone makes you his slave, robs you, takes advantage of you, looks down on you, or strikes you in the face! 21 I am ashamed to say that we were too weak for that!
However bold anyone might be (I am speaking in a foolish way), I am going to be bold too. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s seed? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I am speaking in a crazy way.) I am even more. I’ve done more hard work, been in prisons more often, been whipped far more, and I’ve been close to death many times. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. One time I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day on the open sea. 26 I have often been on journeys, in danger from rivers, in danger from robbers, in danger from my own people, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger on the sea, in danger among false brothers. 27 I have worked hard and struggled. I’ve spent many sleepless nights. I’ve been hungry and thirsty. I’ve gone without food many times. I’ve been cold and lacked clothing.
28 Besides those external matters, there is the daily pressure on me of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my being weak? Who falls into sin without my being distressed?
30 If it is necessary that I boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is eternally blessed, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept the city of Damascus on alert to arrest me, 33 but I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.
12 I must go on boasting, although there is nothing to be gained. So I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who, fourteen years ago, was carried up to the third heaven (whether in the body, I do not know, or out of the body, I do not know—God knows). 3 And I know that such a man (whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know—God knows) 4 was carried up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words that a man cannot possibly speak. 5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except about my weaknesses. 6 Indeed, if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from doing this, so that no one will think more highly of me than what he sees in me or hears from me.
7 Therefore, to keep me from becoming arrogant due to the extraordinary nature of these revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, so that I would not become arrogant. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that he would take it away from me. 9 And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me.
Gospel Lesson: Luke 8:4-15 Parable of the Sower and the Seed
4 As a large crowd was gathering and people from one town after another were making their way to him, he spoke using a parable. 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the path. It was trampled, and the birds of the sky devoured it. 6 Other seed fell on rocky ground. As soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 Other seed fell into good soil. It grew and produced fruit—one hundred times as much as was sown.” As he said these things, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!”
9 His disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”
10 He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest I speak in parables so that ‘even though they see, they may not see, and even though they hear, they may not understand. 11 This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear it, but then the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts to keep them from believing and being saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root. So they believe for a while, but then fall away in a time of testing. 14 The seeds that fell into the thorns are the ones who hear the word, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of life, so they do not mature. 15 And the seeds in the good ground are the ones who hear the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it tightly, and produce fruit as they patiently endure.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2019
We Preach Christ Crucified
Our overall theme for the midweek Lenten services this year is: We Preach Christ Crucified. Each week our sermon text is taken from one of the New Testament Epistles. Often midweek Lenten series are based on Gospel readings taken from the Passion History, and occasionally from Old Testament pictures of Christ. This year our lessons will be taken from the Epistles. Even though our lessons will be taken from the Epistles, the events and people involved in Jesus’ Passion will be woven into them as examples of the truths taught in the lesson. May God help us gain insights into our lives in Him and strengthen our faith so that as we go in life…
We Preach Christ Crucified
# 1: The Foolish Wisdom of the Cross – 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
# 2: Justified by Grace Alone through Faith Alone – Romans 3:21-26
# 3: More Precious than Life – Philippians.3:7-11
# 4: The Reason to Endure – Hebrews 12:1-3
# 5: Peace with God through Our Lord Jesus Christ – Romans 5:1-11
# 6: No Longer Dead, but Alive – Colossians 2:13-15
Calendar & Announcements for Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
A member congregation of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
4717 S Farm Rd 135 (Golden Avenue), Springfield, MO 65810
Church phone: 417.887.0886 www.zionluthchurch.com
Pastor’s cell phone: 417.693.3244 email: revelehmann@gmail.com
You can also find us on Facebook
| Today
Feb.12 |
Monday
Feb.13 |
Tuesday
Feb.14 |
Wednesday
Feb.15 |
Thursday
Feb.16 |
Friday
Feb.17 |
Sat.
Feb.18 |
Next Sun.
Feb.19 |
| 9:00 am
Divine Worship Service online -Facebook 10:15 am Fellowship & Bible Study
Sexagesima (60) |
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4 pm
Confirmation
6 pm Elders/Trustees 7 pm Church Council
|
11 am
Midweek Bible Class
|
9:00 am
Divine Worship Service with Holy Communion online – Facebook 10:15 am Fellowship & Bible Study
Quinquagesima (50) |
A Brief Bible Study on God’s Word for Today
How do you get people to join your church? There are lots of suggestions. Most people suggest something special for every age group. It seems that you need to provide people with all kinds of programs. You also need to tell people what they want to hear. You may get people to join your church that way, but chances are they won’t ever become a part of the Holy Christian Church. You only become a member of God’s kingdom one way: through the preaching of the gospel. But even the success of our gospel preaching doesn’t depend on us. Instead, it depends entirely upon God’s power and blessing.
The Gospel Lesson: Luke 8:4-15 (answers are found on the back side)
- What is a parable?
- What is Jesus’ point in the Parable of the Sower?
Those We Remember In Our Prayers: Greg Miller; William & Laurie Moon; Pauline Jaeger; Kirsten Jaster (Laurie Moon’s sister); Greg Pierson (the Long’s son-in-law); Libya, Jodi Milam’s granddaughter; Lucille Huston; Barbara Long; Lois Wiese; Barbara Breidel; the family of Lou Schulz whom the Lord took to Himself last week.
Forward in Christ’s issue for February has arrived. You will find copies for family and friends in the narthex. Also, the next edition of Meditation’s daily devotions, beginning the end of February may be found there.
Christian Funeral Service for Lou Schulz will be held Friday, February 24, at Zion. Presently, a visitation is scheduled for 1 pm with the worship service following at 2 pm. The arrangements are being made through Walnut Lawn Funeral Home.
Looking Ahead to Lent Lent begins this year on Wednesday, February 22. Our suppers and services at Zion are held on Thursday evenings; at Peace on Wednesday evenings. The Lenten theme this year is drawn from Paul’s words, “We Preach Christ Crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23). The events and people of the Passion History are worked into Paul’s grand theme. Nothing in all the world is more important than what God has given us in the Savior. We pray that you will be able to join us in pondering the meaning of His cross to us in this coming Lenten Season.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, February 14 – Elders, Trustees, and Church Council Meetings at 6 pm and 7 pm
Thursday, February 23 – Midweek Lenten Service 1 at 6:30 pm; a Supper will precede the service at 5:45 pm
The Week in Review
Last Sunday Worship: 37; Communed: 32; Bible Class 26; Midweek Bible Class: 6; Offerings: $4,567..
Next Sunday’s Lessons:
Quinquagesima: Jeremiah 8:4-9; 1 Corinthians 13; Luke 18:31-43 (Matthew 17:1-9 (Historic Pericope Series)
Answers to Today’s Gospel Lesson Brief Study:
- A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Jesus told many simple parables to the people of His day, using everyday events to help people better understand the kingdom of God, His rule of grace in our lives in the present.
- Jesus points out that it is our job to cast the seed of His Word into the world. That is all that we can do. Whether that seed takes root and is productive is dependent on his power and blessing and the condition of the heart’s “soil” on which it falls.
