How Does Your Garden Grow?Mark 4:26-29 4th Sunday after Pent June 17, 2018

As Jesus tells the first parable we have in our reading today, you can tell He’s picked up on another parable he told just a little earlier. This is the other one that involves a sower and seed. The parable speaks of four different kinds of soil, four different surfaces. One is a rocky path, as good as being an asphalt road; another is ground that is mostly rocks, another is in a bunch of weeds, and finally the last is where it needs to be, on good ground.

After Wednesday, I thought about another surface where those seeds could have fallen. About midday, I walked out to my car. It looked like it was snowing. The cottonwood trees were really cranking out the seeds. They were flying everywhere and finding their way into everything, including the slightly cracked windows of a car. Yes, if you were one of those lucky people to be in that snowfall, you found cottonwood seeds on the seat of your car. In the parable, seeds may have fallen on the road, in the rocks, and in the weeds, and none of them were going to see much action or growth, but I was pretty sure those seeds sitting on the seat of my car weren’t going to do much either.

But today, we’re not talking about seeds on the road, in the rocks, in the weeds, or even on car seats. Rather, today’s parable is talking about the ones that fell in the good soil. But now Jesus gives us a close up of the farmer. And we see all the work he did to make the plants grow. It says, he went to bed and got up regularly, and the plants grew, but he didn’t know how.

This isn’t just talking about plants. Jesus was using this to show this about His kingdom, His gracious reign and rule in the world. He’s talking about faith, and the Church. About how in individual lives, something makes a person a Christian and something going into that Christian produces the evidence in their lives that they are a Christian.

It’s the Word. Paul says it in Rom 10 Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The Word does all the work. It’s all the Word, and it’s not just teaching about what needs to be done.

The Word goes into your ears and does its work. The Word goes into your mouth and does its work. It’s the same Word and the same work.

Obviously, it’s not just a mental activity. It’s not just convincing you this is what you ought to do and giving you the tips on how to do it. The Word that goes into your mouth, which is the Lord’s body and blood in the sacrament, bypasses your brain. It’s not saying, “Listen to me. Doesn’t this make sense?” It’s not speaking actual words, because it is the Word itself, Jesus the Word, and when you receive it in faith, you are being forgiven. His body and blood speak forgiveness, but you don’t hear it with your ears.

By the same token, the Word going into your ears is not just simply saying, “Now listen to this. It makes sense. You can do these things.” No, the Holy Spirit is in that Word, and His presence in that Word makes it powerful and makes it heard.

You will speak that powerful Word yourself. Your lips and tongues will form the words that confess what God has said about you—I am a sinner. I have sinned against God and deserved His wrath and punishment.

He’s not trying to convince you. He wants you to simply state this truth. This is a powerful word on its own. It’s a word that kills. It strips us of our dreams that we are good enough. It knocks out the props that say, “If I work hard enough I can make myself acceptable to God.”

No, it says, you are a damned sinner. I’m not cursing, breaking the second commandment. I’m saying what God has said. That’s what we are—damned sinners headed for hell if not for Jesus.

But then comes the sweet Word that lifts you to life. It raises you up again. It pulls you out of the grave that this other word just pushed you into. It’s not just trying to convince you. It’s stating a fact, the truth. Yet, it’s not just describing a condition. It’s not just saying, “You are forgiven.”

This is still true. You are forgiven. As a baptized child of God, you can say with confidence, “I am forgiven.” But this is more. God is actively saying at that moment, “I forgive you. I—with the emphasis on the I—I, forgive you.”

You see, the sin that we do we see is against our children, our husband or wife, our brother or sister, our parents, other authorities, against friends, against fellow church members, against strangers, whatever. Sometimes we actually hurt their bodies, and it is done out of something less than love. Oftentimes its decisions we make that wind up hurting them in some way. But all of these come from hearts and minds that are incredibly corrupt, turned in on themselves. And out of these hearts come these terrible things; all offenses against a holy God.

It’s our hearts that are so offensive to God. Their very existence is a reminder of the loss of His perfect creation. But He knows we can’t do a single thing about it.

Now we bring Jesus in. He suffered, died and rose again because we couldn’t do anything about it. He has to pay the price. God. God pays the price for our failures, whether we could help it or not. His love says, “If we are to ever enjoy being with each other, I must make it happen.”

Jesus comes and does all He does. And then when we hear the absolution, we are hearing God take that purchase price, slap it in front of us, and say, “Paid in full.” He says, “I forgive you.”

Not, “I’ve already forgiven you,” or “You are forgiven,” but “I forgive you.” I forgive you now. For all these sins that you’ve done this week, I myself forgive you now because of what Jesus, the sinless, eternal Son of God has done.” You hear His words as I speak them to you. This is God actively speaking to you.

Now, if anything is to happen it’s this word that is going to make it happen. This Word that will produce fruit. This doesn’t mean God doesn’t say, “Now, stop hurting your children, your husband, your wife,” and so on. He does. He wants to see you doing what you are supposed to do. But you don’t do these things so He will forgive you. You do it because He has forgiven you.

We as a congregation are not going to come up with fancy plans so we can live Christian lives. We’re not going to dwell on strategies to make all of us better people. We’re not going to urge each of us to pursue a righteous life without giving you the very juice you need to do it, the Gospel of Christ’s death in your place.

Yet, that Gospel message so easily gets bypassed. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know all that. Get to the part that tells me what I need to do.” No! No, not until you hear this Word. When you hear this Word, then you are ready to move on to what you can do, because then you won’t be as likely to misunderstand what you are doing and why you are doing it.

It’s this Word that does it. And it’s only the Word. It’s the Word that is powerful. It’s the Word that created the universe. As Ps 33:6 says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.”

How does the plant grow? How does it produce fruit? The Word. Luther reflected on what was happening in the Christian church 5 years after nailing the 95 theses on the Wittenberg Church door. He saw what was happening and was hopeful that the Church would actually clean itself up. He was hoping the Christian leadership would stop resisting, see that he was simply presenting what God had said, and repent.

But he says it didn’t happen because he took it upon himself to do something about it. It was the Word. As he says, “I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept [cf. Mark 4:26-29], or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.

The Word of the Lord created the heavens. The Word of the Lord declares us holy and forgiven. The Word of the Lord produces the results we want to see.

We may want some kind of comfort or assurance when it looks like the Christian Church in America is struggling. We can’t deny it. It is. The numbers are declining. We see our own children abandoning the faith. Sometimes the children see the parents doing it. What do we do? Preach the Word. Hear the Word.

When we see our congregations struggling to meet budget or to survive, we are inclined to ask, “What can we do?” Nothing from what we are already doing. Preach the Word, continue preaching the Word, and make sure all who can hear it, do. Trust that Word to do what it is commissioned to do. The Word at work in us will lead us to trust God to work through it.

What other results do we expect to see from preaching this Word? On Father’s Day, we have a special set. Fathers. Fathers, and men in general, have been getting a bad rap for quite a while now. We probably have all heard the word, misogyny. It means hatred of women. That’s always being called out, and when its deserved to be called out, it ought to be.

What is rarely called out is “misandry.” Ever heard the word? I didn’t think so. It’s the hatred of men. It’s not men specifically, but masculinity and what makes a man a man that is hated and feared. We’ve been seeing well-organized campaigns of misandry for decades now, and its creating huge disruption and disorder in our society—as I believe it was intended to do. Young boys don’t know what it is like to be a man, and made to feel guilty if they behave like one. Men are told the only place they can act like a man is in the bedroom, and it is never restricted to just their wife.

The Lutheran Witness this month does a great job of talking about what it is to be a man and a man of God. One article is called “The End of Fatherhood.” The title grabs your attention because it sounds like it’s talking about the destruction of Fatherhood. No, it’s talking about the end result, the goal, the purpose of fatherhood, and its summed up by saying a father aims for his children to be right with God and right with the world.

The article refers to the Large Catechism on the 4th commandment and the Large Catechism pulls no punches. That means it strikes with full force in saying what is obligated of fathers. That’s means being a father is serious business.

Now, I could harangue about how fathers ought to be sure their children know about the forgiveness that comes in Christ and how they should train them so they will serve their neighbor, and go on and on about it, but that would be of limited value. I will say it, but expecting a father to do his duty because he gets guilted into it, is an abuse. “Yeah, I know I should do more than just hope my children will stay in the faith and be good Christians,” with this tone of resignation and guilt is not good for a father’s own soul.

Instead take your failures and reluctance to do what is right for the sake of your children into your confession of sins, and then hear that Word of forgiveness given in the absolution. Receive the forgiveness for the same, reapplied again in His Supper, and then with renewed vigor do what is right.

And this isn’t just for fathers. To all of us, take your failures and reluctance to do what is right, confess it as a sinner and then believe the word of forgiveness as it is spoken and delivered to you in this miraculous bread and wine, by which God gives His very flesh and blood. Then with that Word in your heart, go out and produce the fruit, whatever it looks like in your life. AMEN

It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to praise His name. And so we come to You, kind Father, with our prayers and petitions for all who are in need.

Brief silence

God of grace and mercy, we praise You for establishing Your Church through Your Son and for calling us to faith and life as Your people. Ever plant the seed of Your Word among us and feed us at Your table, that what You have begun in us may be brought to completion in the day of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace and mercy, we praise You for all the faithful pastors and church workers who have served Your people in Your name. Bless Matthew, the president of our Synod; ______________, our district president; ______________, our pastor; and all missionaries and church workers, that through their service to You, many may be brought to Christian life and faith through the work of Your Spirit. Send laborers into Your harvest fields, and sustain those You have sent. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace and mercy, we bless You for all earthly fathers through whom You have given us the gift of life. Make them examples to us of Your fatherly love, and help them to proclaim to their children Your mighty deeds in Christ, bringing them up in the nurture and instruction of the Lord. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace and mercy, let Christ’s love so control us that we might no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died and rose again for us, nor regard anyone according to the old way, but learn to see each other as new creations in Christ. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace and mercy, bless our nation and all nations with faithful leaders who will act with justice to protect the weak, promote virtue and seek peace. Be with the members of our armed forces, protecting them and upholding them in honor. Bless the police, firefighters, emergency and medical personnel, and all through whom we experience Your protection and care. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace and mercy, at times in this body Your children groan under the burdens and troubles of life. We remember before You today the troubled, the hurting, the despairing, the anxious and the grieving. Bless them and all who suffer in body, mind or heart [especially ______________ and those whom we name before You now…]. Give them Your peace, comfort in their troubles and whatever relief You know to be best for them. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace and mercy, we are not worthy in ourselves to stand before You, let alone to come to the table of our Lord to eat Christ’s body and drink His blood. Still, at His invitation, we come. Give us Your Spirit, that we may receive His gifts in faith for our benefit. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace and mercy, You bestow upon us the riches of this good earth and all its resources for the blessing of Your people and to answer our need. Grant rain to the crops, that Your earth

may yield a rich harvest for the good of all. Remind us that nothing good exists apart from Your will and purpose, that we may give You due thanks and return to You the tithes and offerings of people filled with gratitude for Your undeserved kindnesses. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace and mercy, we offer You praise not as we ought, but as we are able. Hear the humble prayers of Your people, and grant us all such things as are good and wholesome for us. For into Your loving arms, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Questions from the Sermon1. What did Pastor see on Wednesday that made it look like it was snowing?

2. Which one shows God as being active in the D.S.? “You are forgiven” or “I forgive you?”

3. What did Martin Luther say did all the work of the Reformation?

4. Who was the special group we looked at to consider what is their fruit? (Hint: Think today)

5. The end result of fatherhood is: To be right with G_______ and the w____________.

Questions from the Sermon1. What did Pastor see on Wednesday that made it look like it was snowing?

2. Which one shows God as being active in the D.S.? “You are forgiven” or “I forgive you?”

3. What did Martin Luther say did all the work of the Reformation?

4. Who was the special group we looked at to consider what is their fruit? (Hint: Think today)

5. The end result of fatherhood is: To be right with G_______ and the w____________.

Questions from the Sermon1. What did Pastor see on Wednesday that made it look like it was snowing?

2. Which one shows God as being active in the D.S.? “You are forgiven” or “I forgive you?”

3. What did Martin Luther say did all the work of the Reformation?

4. Who was the special group we looked at to consider what is their fruit? (Hint: Think today)

5. The end result of fatherhood is: To be right with G_______ and the w____________.

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. Cottonwood seeds flying all over

2. “I forgive you” because God is actually saying it to us at that moment through the pastor.

3. The Word

4. fathers

5. to be right with God and the world

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. Cottonwood seeds flying all over

2. “I forgive you” because God is actually saying it to us at that moment through the pastor.

3. The Word

4. fathers

5. to be right with God and the world

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. Cottonwood seeds flying all over

2. “I forgive you” because God is actually saying it to us at that moment through the pastor.

3. The Word

4. fathers

5. to be right with God and the world

We are still in the first year of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. It started last Oct 31 on Reformation Day, but the celebration really goes on. In fact, we can mark special events of the Reformation, almost in real time. Several months after Luther nailed the 95 theses he got the debate he wanted to have with the scholars of the age. It wasn’t on the same topic, but it was clearly a response. That happened in April about 6-7 months later. Other events are coming and we can mark them when they come, because they are all part of the Reformation. But Luther talked about what made the Reformation happen. Amsdorf and I drank Wittenberg beer, and the Word did all the work.

Same here. That’s what we need to hear, especially those of us in leadership positions of the Church. We fret over the church. We don’t have enough people to sustain our budget. What do we do? We need to grow the church. In the name of missions, we reach out with the effect that it makes our budgets bigger. We start to take on bigger projects and then we say, “What can we do, we can’t sustain the budget.” Growing the church becomes an end in itself.

I’ve seen reports and strategies, and although I don’t spend much time reading them, I’m aware of them. These are the churches that are growing numerically, I can’t deny it, but usually they are in suburban areas, and in areas where the population itself is growing. They jump into competition with other churches. How can we grow? What can we do to grow? And then they will be given endless strategies on they can make it happen. Most of them involve compromising and appealing to those in the world, by trying to erase the lines of identification between the church and the world. we are trying to be like them.

The unbelievers they are reaching out to are seen as What can they do for us? To put it simply, they are to be used. On the other hand, these are people who need us to serve them. They don’t have what we need. We don’t need their money. No, we don’t. Our churches are where the God who has the cattle on a thousand hills comes to His people. He doesn’t need money. He already has all of it. Rather, we have what they need. So, really, what we do is ask, how do we make sure they hear the good news? How do we help them know there is hope in Christ’s cross? And that’s not usually in fancy plans. That’s just talking about what we have. We know Jesus crucified and risen from the dead. He has done this for us. The second person of the Trinity became a man who lived a perfect life that satisfied what was expected of me, and then who died to pay the price because of my failures. There’s a lot of sensational things that become almost distractions. In fact, they are distractions. Paul had said, “While I was with you, I resolved…”

If Christ and the cross are not central in our understanding and if we seek to give anything less, then we tell ourselves we intend to bait and switch, but we never actually get to the switch, luring people in with what tantalizes and finding we have to keep giving this to keep them.

Look at the parable again. What did Jesus say? The man sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. It doesn’t say the man studied the plants. He charted their growth. He talked to his plants because he had heard that made them grow. They just grew. It’s that simple.

What does this mean? Throw the seed. We have a message for the world. Oh man, do we have a message for the world! But be sure to see its for us first. The seminary in Ft. Wayne has a little motto. Teaching the faithful, reaching the lost, and caring for all.

It starts with the faithful. You who come to be fed so you can grow or even simply stay alive. I can’t tell you to get out there and sow seed if you don’t see any value for yourself, and if you don’t see Christ crucified for you a sinner as being the main thing, then don’t invite anyone. I’m dead serious. Don’t invite anyone. You don’t understand the most basic point of Christianity. We’re not simply trying to explain how the world ought to run. Or how we make our lives better. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about coming into the holy presence of God, and doing so without fear because we know we are seen as holy because of Christ’s work.

I suppose you could say, “come to my church. We have great people. We have these programs,” and so on, but that’s not what people really need. They may need the socialization. They may need what the programs offer, but what they really need is to know the work Christ has done for them.

On Wednesday about midday if you came outside, in certain areas it looked like it was snowing. Those cottonwood trees were sending out all their seeds. If you left your window down so you wouldn’t jump in your car and singe your legs, even with pants on, you would have found they found their way onto the seats.