Sermon for Sexagesima, 2021
Sermon for Sexagesima Sunday, 2021
Luke 8:4-15
Dcn. Bill Johnston
Christians have observed Lent for centuries. It was first mentioned in the Canons of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.[i] Saints Chrysostom, Augustine, and Cyril of Alexandria all wrote about it.[ii] You may be relatively new to Christian life in the Anglican Way, and asking yourself how you can make the best use of Lent. Others, after observing countless Lenten seasons, may be wondering how this one will be different from all the others. These are exactly the kinds of questions we should be asking this morning. This is the reason the Church has provided these three Pre-Lent Sundays as a time to prepare for Lent.
Today’s Gospel, Luke 8:4-15, is about preparation. It is a well-known parable, and recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels. It is often referred to as "The Parable of the Sower," but this is something of a misnomer. The sower is referred to only one time. The parable is not about the sower, or even the seed - the word of God. No, the parable is about the soil - that which receives the word of God. The parable is about us. The setting of the parable is quite ordinary. A farmer is sowing seed by hand into a field that has a path running through it or beside it. The structure of the parable is very clear. In verses 4-8, Jesus tells the parable. Verse nine is a transition – His disciples ask Him the meaning of the parable. In the remainder of the passage, verses 10-15, Jesus tells them what the parable means. Just three parts. Here is a parable. What does it mean? Here is what it means.
Jesus begins by saying that the seed is the Word of God, and this seed falls on four types of soil. First, some of the seed falls on a path. The seed is trampled and eaten by birds. In the later interpretation, Jesus says there are those who allow the devil to take the Word away from them. Second, some of the seed falls on rock. The seed begins to grow but then withers because there is no moisture. Jesus says that in times of testing, some people will fall away. Third, some of the seed falls among thorns and is choked. The cares, pleasures, and riches of life can prevent the Word from bearing fruit. Only the fourth kind of soil is described as “good ground.” The seed springs up, grows, and yields fruit a hundredfold. The entire parable could neatly be summed up this way: “There are many ways of being bad soil, but only one way of being good soil.”
It could be that simple, if it wasn’t for the last verse – Luke 8:15. Listen for three characteristics: “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” This verse is key to understanding the entire parable, and has direct application for our preparation for Lent.
The “good ground” - the only one of the four which brought forth fruit - has three traits. First, the good soil represents those with an honest and good heart. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, and we will pray the Collect for that day every day for 40 days. We might expect that this Collect would concern a Lenten discipline, but that is not what we find. Instead, we will pray every day for God to “give us a new and contrite heart.” Before He can give us a new heart, however, the old one must be torn. This is the reason that the Opening Sentence for Morning Prayer during Lent begins “Rend your heart, and not your garments…”[iii] This phrase - “rend your heart” - comes from Joel 2:13. As an aside, this is another one of those countless examples that when you pray from the Prayer Book, you are praying Scripture. Here is the full context of the verse: "Yet even now," says the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”[iv] Rending one’s heart is a sign of grief – grief for one’s sins. During Lent, we are called to return to God in contrition, which is sorrow for sin, and repentance, which is turning from sin. Lent is about all the prodigal sons and daughters saying, “Enough with these empty husks of the world! My father is gracious and merciful, abounding is steadfast love. I will return in contrition and repentance, and He will welcome me home.” When we rend our hearts this way, we allow Him to give us a new one - one that is honest and good.
The second trait of those represented by the good soil is that they hear and keep the Word. There is no shortage of books and sermons about obedience. Most Christians are aware of their duties. How often we fall short, though. We can identify with the Apostle Paul in Romans 7: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”[v] So why aren’t we as devoted as we would like to be? The 18th century Anglican priest and author William Law provides a blunt answer: “…Your own heart will tell you that is it neither through ignorance nor inability but purely because you never thoroughly intended it.”[vi] Think about your past resolutions. They begin when you get a new understanding of something you should begin doing, or stop doing. You want to hear and keep the Word. Later, though, an exception is made here and there. “Maybe now is not the time. Well, I do have a lot of things going on right now.” And all this sounds very reasonable. But let us go back to that moment of decision. Did I fully intend to hear and keep the Word? Regardless of any future adjustments, inconveniences, or costs, was my intention firm, or did I leave some back door? However we decide to observe Lent, whatever changes we want to make, we should ask for the grace of a firm intention to be completely obedient. So far, we have seen that the good soil represents those who have been given an honest and good heart, and hear the Word and keep it.
The third characteristic of the good soil in verse 15 is that it “brings forth fruit with patience.” The word we translate “patience” here has nothing to do with passivity. It means steadfastness, constancy, endurance. We’re talking about one of the four cardinal virtues – fortitude. Without fortitude, we wouldn’t stick long with anything worth doing. How many times have we given up on something worthwhile simply because we didn’t see results soon enough. In the parable, the good soil brings forth fruit with patience – with fortitude. Saints have always known this. And here is a connection with today’s Epistle. To bear fruit, the Apostle to the Gentiles needed fortitude. Do you remember the list from 2 Corinthians 11? Imprisonments, beatings, lashings, stonings, shipwrecks, and hunger and thirst. In one verse alone, “perils” (that is, “danger”) is used eight times. Our fortitude may not be tested in such life-threatening circumstances, but it will be tested. By the second week of Lent, you may get distracted or have some set-backs. Even good soil does not bring forth fruit immediately. However you decide to keep Lent, fortitude will be needed.
We see now that the good soil wasn’t simply the absence of devouring birds, arid rock, or choking thorns. No, the good soil possessed some things the bad soil did not. If we are to be the good soil, we’ll need to rend our old heart through contrition and repentance to be replaced by God with an honest and good heart. We’ll need to develop the intention of obedience that we will hear the word and keep it. Finally, we’ll need patience – fortitude, steadfastness - in order to bring forth fruit a hundredfold.
Let’s come back to where we started. How will you observe Lent this year? Will this Lent be different from past Lents? Christians typically give up something for Lent - “meat and sweets.” This can be useful. To avoid pharaseesim, however, each giving up must sincerely express one’s desire to walk closer to God. When done properly, each small act of self-denial can remind me of that greater truth: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”[vii] And this is the whole point, isn’t it? After all, Lent is not a time-limited self-improvement project. Giving up something for 40 days only requires a modicum of self-will. But to have an honest and good heart, to hear and keep His Word, and to bear fruit in our lives? That will take His grace.
[i] The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, pg. 966.
[ii] Project Canterbury, http://anglicanhistory.org/sparrow/rationale/lent.html, accessed Jan. 4, 2016.
[iii] The Book of Common Prayer, pg. 4.
[iv] Joel 2:12-13b, RSV.
[v] Rom. 7:15, RSV.
[vi] William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1728), chapter II.
[vii] Matt. 16:24.