Sexigesima – Luke 8 – February 7th and 8th, 2026
In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World+
So, last week in our sermon we pondered the terrible and evil power of resentment, how it seeks to warp us – and yet how Christ Jesus is good to us, does right by us, and gives us salvation that is totally disconnected from our works so there is no need to even bother with resentment at all. And this week, we will end up pondering yet another thing that Jesus frees us from, but before we get that we need to get a little reminder. We're dealing with Parables, and something to remember is that from our point of view, the parables always are a little off. Okay, really, some of the parable are just flat out silly.
Take last week – the Workers in the Vineyard. That's no way to run a successful vineyard. Now, what I would have done isn't that just keep hiring people thing – that's just throwing money at a problem and hoping something sticks. No, you hire a bunch of guys for a day, and you watch them closely, and you see who the good, hard workers are, and then you rehire them. You assemble a team, a solid core, and perhaps you even put them in lower management roles, foremen, and you keep them on, and that's a better, cheaper, more efficient way to run the vineyard. In fact, my management of that vineyard would be so good, I'm sure, because I mean, I just know so much about running a vineyard, that I would expand and diversify. I'd get into the wheat business too.
Picture it – I'd be able to have a vineyard and a wheat field – I could make both bread and wine for communion, and I'd certainly make a better product than CPH and Mogen David. So when I'd buy my field, the first thing I'd do is go and do a thorough survey of it – it doesn't matter that I miss that wedding feast I was invited to go to, this survey is important. And I'd do an extensive soil analysis, and then I'd properly work the field first. That hardpan in the west quadrant, either that needs to be broken up, or if that's too hard, eh, put some solar panels on it – they aren't as ugly as the windmills and are easier to replace – because I know all about renewable energy to boot. And as for that rocky soil, well, you've got to prep that ground really well, drag the stones out – hey, I could use them to give a rustic look to my boutique hotel/winetasting room I'm adding on to the vineyard. And of course, that east field with the weeds needs a heavy duty dose of Monsanto's finest. And then, with proper hiring practices and finding solid equipment on the used market, in no time we'd have a massive wheat operation going as well – and it would be so fantastic that I'd have to build bigger barns, and I'd be so satisfied and say to myself, “Man, Brown, you've got it all together, you should just retire and enjoy life,” because I was just that smart, large and in charge, But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
The parables are often problematic for us because we human beings love control. We love to focus on our choices and our decisions. And in a certain realm, in parts of our lives that is fine and appropriate. God gives us vocations, and in those vocations we are called upon to plan and make decisions, to try to exercise some modicum of control – our Farmers ought to be giving some thought to how they will handle and tend their fields, teachers have planning sessions, stores are organized, even I as a Pastor, believe it or not, need to plan and organize things to have service run smoothly. Control, in and of itself, isn't a bad thing – if we are controlling something that God has given us control over. But since the fall, instead of being content to simply control what God has given us to control, our sinful flesh wants to control everything. We want to be in charge of everything (or if not everything at least plenty of things that aren't our business). And as such, we might often stick our nose in where it doesn't belong. We will get told to mind our own business, stay in our lane, mind our place. Even in the Catechism, when Luther wants us to ponder our sins, he says “Consider your station in life”. Are we controlling the things we're supposed to control, and are we, more importantly for today's lesson, not trying to control things we were not given to control?
Because there are things that you are not to try to control, that you are never to attempt to control. And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God....” The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Heaven. The thing with all these parables that Jesus gives, these stories that seem strange and confusing, is that they all deal with the Kingdom of God. God's Kingdom. And in the Kingdom of heaven, guess who is in charge? Not you, not me, God. God is in charge, and these parables are telling how how and what God does in running His own business. The problem is that the original sin, the base and root of every temptation you face and every sin you dive into is this: Don't just listen to God – no, eat the fruit and then YOU will be like God, knowing good and evil. You will get to say what is right and wrong, you will get to make the decisions, you will get to run things. That's the root of every temptation – I want things my way right away. But that's not how the kingdom of God works. He's God, and I'm not. I don't get to be in charge.
I mean, if I had things my way, I'd never preach a sermon that fell flat. We'd never have a service that people didn't bother to attend. Everyone we ever invited to church would faithfully attend and give generously into the offerings to boot. And everyone would participate in all the things I'd want them to. But that's not how the Kingdom of God works. It doesn't hinge upon my wants – and it doesn't hinge upon your wants, and it didn't hinge upon the Disciples' wants either.
So there you have the disciples, and after Jesus' death and resurrection, they are going to be overseeing the Church. And they have a clear problem – they are all about power and control, they want to be able to call down thunder upon people. They are typical people, just like us. And so Jesus tells them this parable, He reveals the mystery of the kingdom of God to them.
A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. It's a strange story – not how we'd go about planting. Of course, we've all seen grain that bounces out of the trucks on the highway before, so maybe it's not as strange as we think. And what's the mystery that's revealed?
Well, the disciples, the church, you and I – we are given the Word of God. The message of Christ Jesus and His forgiveness – that Jesus has died and risen for you. The seed is the Word of God. And you know what – this Word of God goes forth all over the place. Week in and week out, the Word of God is proclaimed here – this is the Word of the Lord/ Thanks be to God. And you leave this place armed with the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, and you are given by God opportunities to proclaim the Gospel and forgiveness to people. This is the reality of the Church – that the Word of God goes forth!
And sometimes, as you tell others of Jesus, they just won't care. The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the Devil comes and takes away the Word from them so that they may not believe and be saved. It's not that you did something wrong, that you didn't use the right method or phrase – no, the Word of God was proclaimed... and sometimes, for reasons far beyond your control, beyond your ability to change or plan or manage, they just don't care. It will happen. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while and in time of testing fall away. And sometimes things go gangbusters, and then they slow down, and life gets a bit rough, and people fade away from the Church. We've all seen it. I'm willing to wager that most of us have been there in fact. It happens – and when you see someone's zeal go kaput, it doesn't necessarily mean that you did anything wrong or that we need to change everything. No, it's just going to happen.
And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And sometimes people just won't grow the way you want. And again, that's normal, that's just what is going to happen. And then there's the good soil, people hear the Word and bear fruit with patience. That happens too. And here is the hard, hard message – we don't get to control how things play out. It's not the Kingdom of Eric, it's the Kingdom of God. And with this parable, Jesus calls us way from our sinful desire to control everything, to order and arraign everything the precise way we'd want it to be. Nope – just preach the Word, share the Gospel, forgive people, and let the chips fall, well, the seed fall where it may.
But there is another great and wondrous mystery that we should consider with this parable. We hear the tale and account of these different soils, and we are so quick to write them off. Ope, it failed. Write them off, nothing doing, right now they are lousy and thus it is. And when we do that, we undersell the Kingdom of God and the Word of God. Consider – where are all these soils? They are all in the Kingdom of God. Jesus doesn't add a sentence at the end where He says, “And finding the good soil the Sower then ignored all the other soils because they were dumb.” No, the Sower sows. Jesus is the Light of the world, the whole world. And you know what, the Holy Spirit works when and where He wills, and His Word does not return to Him empty or void but it will accomplish what He purposes. Jesus has died for all, He has taken away the sin of the World, and the truth of His Gospel goes forth again and again. Even to the hard cases, and sometimes the Lord breaks and shatters the hard heart - And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And even when we're a bit rocky or a bit thorny, because that happens – we still remain in God's kingdom. For does not the rocky and thorny soil still not belong to the Lord – just isn't as productive as it ought to be – well, what else is new in a sinful world? The Word of God still remains; Jesus has still died for your sin, even on your bad days. Jesus still wins.
So
you don't need to control and run everything, because you know what?
That's Jesus' job, and He does a much better job of it than you
would, and He bears fruit with abounding patience, for He is the Good
soil, and this day, right now, once again He forgives you all your
sin and gives you life in His own Name. This is the Word of the Lord
– thanks be to God. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the
World +
