When I was a little boy, my father had a unique way of getting my attention. He would reach over and tug on my ear. For example, if we were eating at the table and I misbehaved in some way, or during the family devotion I wasn't paying very good attention, he would reach across the table and grab my ear very firmly. Being the youngest I was placed strategically, seated immediately to his right. So, it was easy for him to get a hold of my ear. I have to confess that sometimes these ears got a pretty good workout. But it was never to my harm. My father did that to train me for life.
In a similar way you could say that the heavenly Father tugs upon our ears to train us for life in Him. Indeed, He seeks to do more than merely train us for life. He means to save us and take us to heaven by means of our ears. How?
The Bible says that in order to be saved, one must believe in Christ. And then it goes on to say that such faith “comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” To be saved one must believe. And to believe one must hear the word of Christ. Hearing and faith go hand in hand. Normally, they are essential to each other if one is to be saved. So you see, dear friends, how it is that God means to take you to heaven by means of your ears.
But, sad to say, so many abuse their ears. We abuse them when we don't use them for the purpose for which He gave them. He gave them to us to hear, to listen, and to really listen to what He has to tell us.
Listening is an art that we are not always good at. So often we are good at talking, but not so good at listening. Yet, as Christians we are to be good listeners – listeners of God's Word. In our text He encouraged, “He who has ears, let him hear.” How has your listening been?
May God the Holy Spirit guide us in the study of our text today so that we might evaluate for ourselves our hearing ability. As His redeemed we pray Lord, Keep Us Good Hearers of Your Word that we may listen to what You have to say I. openly; II. deeply; and III. trustingly.
I. Openly.
As Jesus taught the people on this particular day, He used a parable, a word picture in which He developed a gallery of portraits that described human hearts and how they receive the Word of God. His purpose was to get us, each of us to take a good look at ourselves and our responsibilities as hearers of the Word.
Some people are eager to hear it and to learn from it about the Kingdom of God. Others are only curious about it, and over time their curiosity wears off. Some like to find fault with it. And still others shut their hearts to it completely. All of these are described in Jesus' word picture. He began: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.”
In a time long before tractors, a farmer would hook up his wooden plow to a pair of oxen and cut furrows through the field. Then he would walk through the freshly cut field carrying his seed in a bag or a large apron at his waist. Reaching into the bag he would pull out a fist full of seed and fling it into the air. And the seed, sailing in the wind, would fall into a variety of places.
Some of it fell on the pathways that ran along the edge of the field. There, the ground, trampled down by the constant tread of countless feet, was so hard that the seed could not penetrate. It couldn't get into the soil but remained outside of it. That seed never had a chance to grow. It remained exposed until the birds of the air swooped down and devoured it. With this picture, what kind of a hearer of God's Word does Jesus describe?
Let's call such a one a hard-hearted hearer. His heart is not open to what his ears hear. What could cause such hard hearted soil within us?
Ambition, pride, selfishness, worldly pleasures, a self-righteous spirit and more can so easily dance and parade and stomp across the sinful human heart so that it becomes as hard as rock. The Word of God is sown. It approaches the ear, but sadly it never really gets in and it bounces of the heart, having no effect upon it.
You know, dear friends, in our sin we can harden our heart against God's revelation. We can shut our eyes to what He has done. We can prevent His Word from penetrating our lives where it might change and quicken and convert us. And this can happen to us even in church.
Would it surprise you to know that Satan attends church regularly along with us? In fact, he never misses a Sunday. And he
is quite willing to help those who particularly don't want to be there. He is there to help those who aren't particularly concerned about their sin and need for the Savior. He wants to make sure that the seed doesn't remain very long in the hearer – that it goes in one ear and out the other, never penetrating the heart. Such a hearer won't be getting anything out of church.
So, if the singing of our hymns ever leaves you cold, if you stifle a yawn when the gospel is read, if you walk out of church no different from what you were when you came in, if you are glad to get out the door because you have more important things to do, beware. It's the hard-hearted syndrome in which the Word gets no farther than the eardrum. It leaves us weaker than it finds us for we imagine that we have received the seed, but it remains outside of us and the birds of the air will soon devour it.
Let us be quick to pray: “ Lord, Keep us Good Hearers of Your Word that we may openly listen, really listen to what You have to say.”
II. Deeply.
As the farmer continues to sow his seed, “Some fell on rocky places” where there's a thin layer of dirt over a bed of rock. Such seed can germinate and sprout quickly in the spring and the plants can give the appearance of doing well early on. But just as quickly, in the heat of summer, they wither and die because their root system is feeble. With this picture, what kind of a hearer of God's Word does Jesus describe?
Let's call such a one a faint-hearted hearer with a shallow and superficial heart. Jesus says that such a person hears God's Word and initially receives it with joy. He's enthusiastic about coming into God's kingdom and into membership in a congregation. The gospel at first appears to become a vital force in his life, and he appears to be a thriving believer. And he does believe (Lk.8:13) for a time, but only for a while. His faith is shallow and he never really becomes rooted in Christ.
Then the realities of this world strike – sickness, financial reverses, ridicule for being a believer and not joining in sinful activity. He's passed by for a promoting in his job because he refused to compromise the faith. And he allows all of these things to hurt him, saying, “I never knew that it would be like this. Maybe the faith isn't worth it.” And just as quickly as he came to Christ, so quickly he falls away.
It's a striking warning of the fair-weather Christian that Jesus gives us. Jesus told us that hard times would come, especially as we confessed His saving name. He said, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (Jn.15:20). The Bible also says, “We must go through many hardships in order to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Ac.14:22). But such things, dear friends, the Lord allows to take place in order to drive us closer to Him and deeper into the loving arms of our Good Shepherd. There He will fold us close to his heart so that nothing can pluck us away. That will happen if we dig deeply into His Word and listen to, really listen to the precious promises He gives.
So, dear friends God help us to “pull on the full armor of God” so that we are well protected against anything that might threaten to destroy our faith. And let us be quick to pray: Lord, Keep Us Good Hearer of Your Word that we may listen deeply to all that You say.
III. Trustingly.
The farmer continued to sow his seed and some of it fell among thorns. Any farmer and home gardener understands this picture well. It's a constant battle to keep out those weeds, isn't it?
Perhaps it would be better to picture this soil not as ground in which thorns and briars had grown large and strong, but rather as soil which has not been cleaned before the seed was introduced. When things begin to grow, not only do the plants poke their heads above the surface but also the weeds. And if you don't get at those weeds right away, or you become lazy at it or just too tired to keep up with it as I become at home, soon the weeds can take over and choke out the rest. With this picture what kind of a hearer of God's Word does Jesus' describe?
Let's describe it as the stubble-filled heart, or perhaps, the half-hearted hearer. What happens to such a one is that the “weeds” of worry about life keep growing. We “worry” that we won't have enough “stuff” to survive. Concerned we strive after food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, money to pay for it all, and the like, even though what has Jesus promised? – “I will provide for all your needs.” If we don't tear up those weeds of worry they will suffocate us. We can't lead double lives; we “can't serve both God and mammon.” Of this the Bible tells us, “Cast all your anxiety on (Christ) because He cares for you” (1Pt.5:7). And again it says, “Do not fret…. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will do this” (Ps.37). How are we to hear this and all other parts of God's Word? Trustingly.
That's the kind of faith and the kind of hearing that the good soil in the parable represents. Jesus said, “What was sown on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
God-willing every Sunday we bring such fertile hearts to church for the sowing of the Gospel - hearts that hear and trust the Word. This is the Savior's who is talking to us, the Savior who not only created us, but the Savior who loved us and gave His life for us to take away our sin. He did that out of His great love so that we might always be His own now and in eternity. He gives forgiveness, He gives salvation, He gives eternal life out of His grace, and He won't let us down in any other way.
So don't believe the devil's lies; trust in Christ and the seed of God's Word, which “cannot return to Him empty-handed but will always accomplish the purposes for which He sent it,” will grow and flourish in your heart, not only saving you for time and eternity but also helping to produce happy and productive lives in whatever you do for Him now.
Lord, Keep Us Good Hearers of Your Word with hearts that trustingly hold fast to You. God grant it in our lives for Jesus' sake. Amen