Go back to when you were a small child. Did your parents have a special way to catch your attention? Mine did, especially when we were at the table eating dinner.
In the house where I grew up, we usually ate in a little dining nook off the kitchen. My father sat at the head of the table, and the other end was against the window. My mother and oldest brother sat in chairs on the left side of the table to him; I and my middle brother sat on a bench to his right. Where I sat was in easy reach of Dad. All he had to do was put out his right hand to touch me.
After finishing dinner, we almost always had a devotion time while still at the table. If I was misbehaving or not listening, Dad would catch my attention by reaching out and grabbing my left ear, gently, but firmly tugging on it. It caught my attention alright. So, the next time I saw the hand coming, I sat up and took in what was being said. It was Dad's way of training me for life by making sure my ears were paying attention to the Word of God.
Our heavenly Father also tugs on our ears to train us for a life of paying attention to His Word. In fact, He seeks to do more than just train us for life. He wants to save us and take us to heaven by means of our ears.
In order to be saved from our sin eternally, one must believe in Christ as his Savior, the One who died to cover and pay for his sin. It doesn't matter how “good a guy” or how “nice a person” an individual is; without faith in Christ he cannot be saved. God tell us that such faith comes “by hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Normally, hearing is essential to salvation, for God means to save us by our ears.
Sad to say so many abuse their ears when it comes to God's Word by not paying attention. That's why Jesus reached out in our text to warn us, “He who has ears, let him hear.” He wants to save us by our ears . How are your ears doing in this?
I. Help us to keep them open.
Are you
keeping them open to His Word? If you close those ears to His Word or you fail to pay attention like I did at times while sitting at the dinner table, that Word will do you no good.
Jesus described that in our text when He talked about a farmer going out to sow seed in a freshly plowed field. Some of that seed fell on the pathway that ran along the edge of the field. There the ground was trampled down by countless feet that walked over that pathway daily. It was so hard that the plow hadn't touched it and the seed couldn't penetrate into it. It never had a chance to grow. When the birds saw it sitting on top of the hard soil, the quickly swooped down and ate it.
The same thing happens to ears that aren't open to the Word of God and hearts that are hardened towards it. Ambition, pride, the desire for money, and doing other things have danced and stomped so frequently on some hearts that they become as hard as rocks when God's Word enters the ear. It bounces off them and can't get in. And if it can't get in, how is it ever going to grow and do any good? Could this happen to us?
Well, consider once. Does the singing of hymns leave you cold? Do you look out the window and drift off to sleep when the Gospel is being read? Do you walk out of church no different from what you were when you came in? All could be symptoms of the hard heart, and it could happen to any of us who go to church, too.
Would it surprise you to know that every Sunday when you go to church, Satan goes too? In fact, he never misses a Sunday or a devotion time. He is there to help those who particularly don't want to be there. He is there to help those who are particularly concerned about their sin and need for a Savior. He wants to make sure that the seed of God's Word doesn't remain very long in us but that God's Word goes in one ear and out the other where he can immediately take it away.
Oh, may the precious truths of God's love and forgiveness in Christ always overcome such hard-hearted hearing. It is such a pleasure and joy to hear all that the Savior has done to make us His own. So may we always pray Lord, Save Us By Our Ears as You help us keep them open to Your Word.
II. Help us listen deeply.
As the farmer continued to sow his seed, “some fell on rocky places” where only a think layer of dirt covered the bed 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 when the summer heat and drought come, they can wither and die because their root system is feeble. The same thing happens to ears that don't listen deeply to the Word of God and hearts that are shallow towards it.
Initially a person can hear the Word of God and receive it with such joy. Oh, it's a happy thing to know that Christ has taken care of our sin and everything for us. That Gospel truth puts our minds at ease and our hearts at rest. At first it makes us enthusiastic about coming to church and being part of God's kingdom. It's the way we were when we were kids and were eager to get to church.
But as we grow older, the temptation is to lose that enthusiasm, especially after confirmation is done. There gets to be other things we could do. Sickness strikes; the economy isn't doing so well; it's not the popular thing to do with our friends. The heart is on. And so we find excuses for not going to church and hearing the Word anymore. As quickly as faith grew, so quickly it withered in the shallow heart. What to do?
Dig more deeply into the Bible. “Pull on the full armor of God…and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” as Paul says (Ep.6:11). The faithful hearer learns that the heat of opposition will come. But a crown awaits for those who remains faithful unto death. To such a one the trials and heat of life only push him deeper into the loving arms of his Good Shepherd.
So may we always prays, Lord, Save Us By Our Ears as You help us listen deeply to Your Word.
III. Help us trust Your Word forever.
The farmer continued to sow his seed and “some of it fell among thorns and weeds.” Any gardener knows it's a constant battle to keep out the weeds.
Maybe it would be better to picture this soil as ground which had not first been cleared and cleaned of the bad stuff before the seed was planted. So it was that when things began to grow, not only did the good plants poke their heads above ground, but also the weeds. And if you don't get the weeds right away, pretty soon they take over and ruin everything. The same thing happens to ears that don't get rid of the bad stuff in life and only half-heartedly listen to the Word.
Such ears only half-heartedly listen because so many other things are going on around them in life that draws their attention away. Life becomes a test of survival and people are worried and concerned about making it through. Will there be food, clothing, shelter, education for the kids; will one stay healthy? What will the economy do? Who will be the next president and what's going to happen then? So many issues to be concerned about and they all become the important thing. Such a person fails to tear up the weeds that choke out faith.
To such ears and hearts, the Lord Jesus promises, “I will provide all your needs.” “Trust in me.” “Cast all your anxiety on me, because I care for you.” “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. He will do this” (1Pt.5:7; Ps.37). “As my sheep you will lack nothing.”
That's the kind of faith the Lord desires, 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 words and understands it. He produces a crop yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” The fruits vary because the condition of the soil varies. But if the seed falls on open ground and hearts that are prepared, it will produce.
God-willing that's the kind of ears and hearts we bring to church every Sunday – ears that hear and hearts that trust the Savior forever for everything. This is the One who gave His life for us. This is the One who covered us in His own righteousness. He gave us His all that we might be His forever and He won't let us down in any other way. Of this the good hearer is confident.
To that end we pray, Lord, tug on Our Ears and Save Us by them. Help us keep them open, listening deeply, and trusting Your Word forever. God grant it in our lives of faith for Jesus' sake. Amen.