First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

Theme: The Good Samaritan

Text: Luke 10:25–37

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

1. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 25 to 37 serves as our sermon
text for this morning, which reads as follows:

(25) And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying,
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

(26) He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

(27) And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your
mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

(28) And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you
will live.”

(29) But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my
neighbor?”

(30) Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving
him half dead.

(31) Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him
he passed by on the other side.

(32) So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed
by on the other side.

(33) But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he
saw him, he had compassion.

(34) He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then
he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

(35) And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will
repay you when I come back.’

(36) Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the
man who fell among the robbers?”

(37) He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You
go, and do likewise.”

1. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

1. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

1. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:

852 O God of Mercy, God of Might

1

O God of mercy, God of might,

In love and pity infinite,

Teach us, as ever in Thy sight,

To live our lives in Thee.

3

Teach us the lesson Thou hast taught:

To feel for those Thy blood hath bought,

That ev’ry word and deed and thought

May work a work for Thee.

Introduction

1. In an illustration titled “EVER BEEN BOTHERED BY PEOPLE?”, Pastor
John Hermann writes:

1. Sometimes church and worship can keep us from the living water people
need and that we need.
1. People can actually hide behind church, the machinery of church
and worship.

1. Recently I attended a Wednesday Lenten service with my wife in my
former church.
1. A stranger – a shabby and homeless man, walked in from the cold
and driving rain, smelling of feces and urine, but not alcohol,
and took a
seat way, way in the back.
2. I found it most annoying.
3. The smell drifted a third of a way into the large sanctuary.
4. Meanwhile the service just went on as usual; formal, classically
difficult Lenten Lutheran hymns, readings back and forth and so on.
5. The usual “let’s shorten this up a bit” kind of service.
6. Not wanting to visit much after the service, since we’d been
earlier to the soup supper, my wife and I left right away at the end.
7. But I couldn’t get the homeless man out of my mind.

1. Arriving home, I called the usher and asked what happened to the man,
but it went into voice mail.
1. An hour later, not because I was the pastor there, but because I
was compulsive, I returned to the church with some of the left over soup
I’d earlier made, wondering if the man might still be there somehow.
2. Sure enough, there he was, sleeping in his sleeping bag on the
concrete walkway right next to the side door we’d left from.
3. He smiled as I offered him the soup, though he’d been earlier
given a cup by the ushers, along with an umbrella when he was
first spotted
in church.
4. I asked if there were anything else.
5. He said something about needing some gloves and some socks.
6. I drove the two miles home in the dark returning with those, as
well as a banana and a breakfast bar and a long piece of foam I
had laying
around for him to sleep on.
7. Keep it, I said.

1. No, he shouldn’t have been there, but what are you going to do?
1. I found out the next morning, the church administrator had called
the sheriff to have him removed since the church had their Christian
elementary and pre-school right there on campus, and “you just can’t have
these kind of people around.”
2. He’d gone to church to hear the Gospel, even if it was just to get
out of the weather, and now he got the Law.
3. I immediately felt guilty I hadn’t spared the secretary, the cops,
and the man himself the trouble by not arriving an hour earlier before
anyone got there and take him to a shelter a dozen miles away,
in spite of
the smell.
4. I sort of felt like the Good Samaritan who didn’t quite finish the
job.
5. At the same time, I felt annoyed there were people like this guy
in this world disturbing my own comfortable world and my time in God’s
house.
6. Part of me wished I’d not even gone to church that night and I
wouldn’t have had to deal with my obsessive-compulsive side and
to have so
much to think about and bother with.

1. But aren’t we supposed to be “bothered” with people?
1. Isn’t that in the end what church and worship is?
2. Should we be surprised if God sometimes upsets the little patterns
we fall into — even that pattern of church as we know it?
3. Isn’t it about the living water that we and a tired and thirsty
world needs?
4. Isn’t it that as Jesus was “bothered” about this woman and
“bothered” to visit with her, so he bothered to come to this earth as a
human being, for the moment, letting go of his divine position in the
universe, and join us, offering us through his life, death and
resurrection
true soul refreshment?

1. From <
www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/78440/unconditional-love-by-john-herrmann>

1. (Oops) Yes, I do try to justify myself.

1. Ah, the stunts lawyers pull!
1. Right out of the gate, he’s sinning.
2. Jesus told Satan in the wilderness, “Don’t put God to the test.”
3. And even though the lawyer didn’t know he was talking to God in
person, the Second Person of the Trinity to be exact, he was
still putting
God to the test by looking for a loophole in the Law.

1. Jesus asked: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” (verse
26).
1. If you always love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your
neighbor as yourself, you will live.
2. “And [Jesus] said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this,
and you will live’ ” (verse 28).
3. It’s all true.
4. The Law promises eternal life.
5. All you have to do is keep it.
6. Jesus held that mirror up to the lawyer.
7. The lawyer should have looked in that mirror long and hard.

1. But he didn’t want to look in that mirror, not really.
1. He didn’t want to ask:
1. How could he be loving the Lord with all of his heart and not
know in his heart he whom he was testing?
2. How could an expert in the Law love God with all his soul and
think that there was anything he could do to inherit eternal life?
3. How could he love the Lord with all his strength and resist the
Lord with all his strength at the same time?
4. How could he be loving God with all his mind and play mind
games with God’s commands?
2. How could he quote Deuteronomy 6:5 in order to test God and ignore
Deuteronomy 6:16, which says “Don’t test God,” at the same time?

1. Some test God by teaching “self-esteem” from “love your neighbor as
yourself”
1. They say: “You can’t love anyone else unless you first love
yourself,”
2. Talk about mind games.
3. Too bad the word love before yourself is not an imperative.
4. Jesus means to love others as if they were your dearest love,
yourself.
5. Make believe your neighbor is you, then do your magic.
6. But people were looking for a proof text to justify their
self-centered existence and self-centered theology.
7. Yes, I do that.
8. You do that as well.

2. (Ugh) We’re all lawyers in that sense—and the Law shames our hollow
attempts to justify ourselves.

1. Just like this lawyer: “But he, desiring to justify himself . . .”
(verse 29a).
1. He’s a lawyer in the infamous sense of the word, too.
2. This conversation should have ended when Jesus said, “Do this, and
you will live,” but the lawyer wants a continuance.
3. He was hunting for a proof text.
4. He wanted just enough of God’s Law to justify his conduct.
5. We’re all lawyers in that sense.

1. Except that as Lutherans we don’t generally pull stunts with the Law.
1. We fear God’s Law because we’ve been taught that we can’t keep it.
2. So we awkwardly walk right past Mount Sinai and let the Law
thunder away.
3. We save our stunts for Mount Calvary, where there is only welcome
and no thunder, at least none aimed at us.
4. We wait for the Tender Mystery Crucified to unfold like a flower
in front of our eyes.
5. Then we say:
1. “I won’t be in church, because that would take all my strength,
and am I not saved by grace alone?
2. I won’t learn your Word, because that would take all my mind,
and don’t I live by faith alone?”
6. And we actually use the Gospel to justify our stone-cold hearts.
7. We lawyers got Jesus on a technicality.
8. Or so we think.

1. This lawyer thought he’d try his luck with the Law, so he said to
Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (verse 29b).
1. He was looking for a proof text to justify his definition of
“neighbor.”
2. What was that?
3. Well, has anyone here ever planned a wedding?
4. No doubt you’ve learned, maybe the hard way, that when you send
out invitations, no matter what size the party, you have to tear paper
towels on the lines.
5. You can’t invite some close friends and not others, some immediate
family and not others, some extended relatives and not others, some
acquaintances, etcetera.
6. Unless you want to make a statement . . . and you’d better know
they’ll hear it!
7. You’d better know you can live with the consequences!
8. Well, for lawyers, for Pharisee types, every day was like planning
a wedding.
9. Think of a “who do I have to love” dartboard with a bull’s-eye,
the inner circle, and then another, and another, until the outer circles,
and the outcasts.
10. Anybody got darts they want to throw?

1. Now as you might have guessed, other lawyers were the bull’s-eye.
1. Then, working from the center outward, Pharisees, Levites, scribes
populated the next ring.
2. Just outside of them, of course, other Jews.
3. Next, Gentile God-fearers, like the Roman centurion who built them
a synagogue.
4. Next, other Gentile undesirables, like you and me.
5. Then, further out, “tax collectors and sinners,” traitors and
prostitutes to be exact.
6. Still further, out on the edge, the lepers, and thank goodness for
plenty of stones to throw.
7. Finally, off the dartboard entirely, the complete outcasts: Jesus’
enemies said, “Are we not right in saying that you are a
Samaritan and have
a demon?” (John 8:48).
8. That was the worst insult they could come up with.
9. As the woman at the well said, the Jews had no dealings with
Samaritans.

1. Think of today’s Israelis and Palestinians, and you get the picture.
1. The northern ten tribes went into exile by the Assyrians first,
and they intermarried with the foreigners the Assyrians shipped in and
repopulated the region of Samaria as half-Jews.
2. Therefore not real Jews.
3. So it had been a hate-fest for centuries, and Jesus knew it.
1. “Now, teacher, who do I have to love?”

1. Jesus could have said:
1. “You say you love the Lord and your neighbor as yourself, so have
you not read the next few verses of what you quoted?”
1. “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns [resides] with you as the
native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, you were strangers
[aliens] in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34).
1. But the lawyer didn’t lack information.

1. So Jesus engaged him and said:
1. “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among
robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him
half dead.
Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he
passed by on the other side” (verses 30–31).
1. He blew it off.
2. Didn’t want to get involved.
3. No reason except the obvious: he didn’t love his neighbor as
himself.
1. “Likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by
on the other side” (verse 32).

1. Now the punch line: Who will be the hero of the story?
1. The priest and the Levite came up empty.
2. Perhaps a “lawyer,” one of us?
3. Yeah, it has to be one of us.
1. “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was” (verse 33).
1. Is this a joke? Worse.
2. Jesus made him admit who the hero of the story was.
3. Can you see the lawyer boiling in his own jealous rage against an
imaginary Samaritan?
4. Jesus leans into him:
1. “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to
the man who fell among the robbers?” (verse 36).
5. The lawyer couldn’t even say the word: “The Samaritan.”
6. He just said, “The one who showed him mercy.”
7. He has the answer to his question, “Who do I have to love?”
8. Of all people, the Samaritan.
9. When you ask your Lord, “Who do I have to love?” just begin with,
“Of all people,” and you’ll have your answer.

1. Jesus used the Law on this man with what we call the “second use.”
1. The lawyer’s cold, hollow theories of love were shamed by the
Samaritan’s real love.
2. There were no boundaries, no limits, but:
1. “he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and
wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an
inn and took
care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii”—that’s
two days’
wages—“and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and
whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back’ ”
(verses 34–35).
3. He didn’t “do his part.”
4. He did everything.
5. He wasn’t keeping commands; he was fulfilling the Law with love.

1. Real love forgets that the victim, a Jew, would rather die than
accept his, a Samaritan’s, help.
1. Real love forgets that he could get mugged and beaten too.
2. He forgets himself.
3. The Gospel says a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came upon him,
and—literally in the Greek—his heart broke.
4. The original Greek is esplagchnisthe.
5. It means his guts fell out, or, in more polite language: “his
heart broke:” . . . and that sounds awfully familiar.
6. St. Luke used it to describe Jesus when he saw the widow of Nain
burying her only-begotten son and to tell what happened to the
father when
he saw the prodigal son coming home: his heart broke . . .

3. (Aha) But Jesus didn’t tell the story with the Samaritan as victim and
the lawyer walking by on the other side.

1. . . . the way Jesus’ heart broke over this lawyer.

1. When Jesus began the parable, you saw him holding a mirror up to the
lawyer’s face to reflect his own hypocrisy, but he could have made the
Samaritan the victim in the story and let the lawyer walk by on the other
side.

1. That certainly would have accomplished that mirror of the second use
of the Law too.

1. But that’s not how Jesus told the story.
1. The Greek text suggests that “a certain lawyer stood up putting
him to the test,” and the story begins, “a certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves,” the lawyer wasn’t the hero
in the story; he was the victim!
2. And when the story ends, you see Jesus heartbroken and holding the
mirror to a certain lawyer’s mouth to see if he was even breathing.
3. The lawyer was beaten and left for dead.

1. Not by Jesus.
1. Robbers, thieves did that.
2. Thieves stole his soul and told him he could keep God’s Holy Law
with his sin nature.
3. But when his own sin beat down his strength, those thieves
wouldn’t lift a finger to help carry the load; they walked by on
the other
side.
4. Jesus’ parable showed the lawyer his own condition:
1. stripped of his pride,
2. sore with mortal wounds—heart, soul, strength, and mind
3. left for dead,
4. and desperately in need . . . of a neighbor.

4. (Wow) Jesus ignores that the lawyer, as the real victim, would rather
die than accept his help.

1. Jesus ignores that the lawyer would rather die than accept his help.
1. He ignores that he could get mugged and beaten too.
2. He forgets himself.
3. He set his face on a dangerous road.
4. Nobody on that road to Jerusalem came from his inner circle.
5. In the very center is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
6. And outside are nothing but thieves and outcasts!
7. No widening circles of family, friendship, and acquaintances.
1. “There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God” (Romans 3:22c–23),
2. “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3),
3. enemies of God who have tested him since Adam and Eve.
4. The only neighbors God had . . . were enemies.

1. But that didn’t stop Christ from being our neighbor.

1. God Loved His Outcast Neighbors by Becoming a Human Outcast.

1. When Jesus saw this lawyer mugged by a code of hypocrisy and his own
sin, he engaged him.
1. And the closer he got to Jerusalem, the closer a neighbor he
became.
2. And when he reached his goal, to get mugged:
1. crucified and left dead
2. even a thief on a cross had a neighbor close by, a blood
neighbor!
3. Jesus Christ was willing to be an outcast from his own inner
circle:
1. forsaken by his Father,
2. handing over the Spirit,
3. in order to be our neighbor.

5. (Yeah) What must you do to inherit eternal life? Just inherit.

1. You must take charity from Christ.
1. You must let this Neighbor pay the price for the Law you couldn’t
keep.
2. This Neighbor will take care of everything.

1. Jesus tells the famous parable of the Good Samaritan to clarify that
He expects His followers to do good to ALL people.
1. However, His concluding exhortation, “Go and do likewise,” reminds
us just how far away we are from the loving, self-sacrificing
behaviors the
Lord expects of us.
2. So it was that Jesus became the Good Samaritan for us:
1. He laid down his life,
2. befriended us while we were yet His enemies.
3. He promises us full restoration and life everlasting.

Conclusion

1. What about “Go and do likewise”?

1. You’ll have your chance, once the oil and the wine have done their
work,
1. “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for
all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11) . . . here at the
inn. Amen.

1. Let us pray:

5

In sickness, sorrow, want, or care,

May we each other’s burdens share;

May we, where help is needed, there

Give help as unto Thee!

6

And may Thy Holy Spirit move

All those who live to live in love

Till Thou shalt greet in heav’n above

All those who live in Thee.

Text: Public domain

1. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Text: Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43

Theme: Zizahnia

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

1. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 serves as our sermon text for this morning,
which reads as follows:

1. [Jesus] put another parable before them, saying,

(24) He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven
may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,

(25) but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among
the wheat and went away.

(26) So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared
also.

(27) And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have
weeds?’

(28) He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to
him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’

(29) But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat
along with them.

(30) Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will
tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be
burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

(36) Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples
came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

(37) He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

(38) The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom.
The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

(39) and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of
the age, and the reapers are angels.

(40) Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at
the end of the age.

(41) The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his
kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,

(42) and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(43) Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

C. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

D. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.

E. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:

– O God, help us to accept the fact that in this world good and evil
will grow side by side. Lead us also to count on Your wise timing and
judgment. Amen.

Introduction

1. Once upon a time, there was a girl named Zizahnia.
1. She was so beautiful on the outside, and those who didn’t know her
put her on a pedestal and thought she would be married off in a hurry.
2. But those who knew her didn’t consider her to be as beautiful on
the inside.
3. She is more like poison to a relationship.
4. If she ever got married, she would need to be rescued by a prince
of a man, that’s for sure.
5. Ah, Zizahnia.
6. More about Zizahnia in a moment.

1. Today’s sermon text is the second in a group of seven parables, and,
like the first, the parable of the reckless sower, Jesus tells this second
parable to the crowds but then privately explains the meaning to his
disciples.
1. So again, we have one setting and audience for the parable and
another setting and audience for the explanation.

1. The “kingdom of heaven” is the Jewish way of saying “the kingdom of
God,” which means the rule, the reign, of God in and through Jesus.
1. The crowd needed to hear the parable, because they didn’t
understand how Jesus’ rejection by many of the people, and especially by
the religious rulers, could possibly be the reign of God.

1. (Oops) Vindication of God and all things good is a feel-good happy
ending . . . unless you are a sinner.

1. Ironically, when we sinners, either here and now or in the time when
Jesus told this parable, think of God’s kingdom, the words that come to
mind are justice, fairness, and spectacular vindication of God and all
things good—which is a feel-good happy ending . . . unless you are a
sinner.

1. And ironically, the kind of unspectacular reign that Jesus offered
was very unsatisfying to those who were quite oblivious to the fact that
the last thing they needed was justice!

1. The last thing that the guilty need is fairness and the vindication
of God and all things good.

2. (Ugh) And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will
go down to hell.

1. So, you have Jesus telling the people of his Galilean headquarters:
1. “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will
go down to hell. If the miracles that were performed in you had been
performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day” (cf
Matthew 11:23).

1. And even in his hometown, after teaching in his own neighborhood,
those who knew Jesus asked
1. “That’s the carpenter’s son, isn’t it?”
2. There were adults there that grew up with Jesus, whom he always
loved and never sinned against, and they say something as cold and
derogatory as:
1. “Whence to this guy such wisdom and powers?” (cf Matthew
13:54).

1. Finally, in the capital city, his city, this King who would reign
over them is thrown away like yesterday’s trash.
1. “Give us Barabbas, and crucify this one!” “We have no king but
Caesar!” (cf John 19:15).
1. How can Jesus be reigning if so many are rejecting him, turning him
down, blowing him off?
1. “And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have
weeds?’ ”(verse 27).

1. This is not just happening in the world.
1. But among the wheat.
2. Planted on top of the wheat.
3. The real fruit of Jesus’ reign was underneath the poison passed
off as religion, passed off as the Church.

1. That’s what the word translated “weeds” or “tares” is, by the way.
1. It’s sometimes translated “darnel,” or “cheat,” which is a
poisonous weed that looks like the wheat.
2. Isn’t that scary!
3. But can you guess what the Greek word is? Yes, you guessed it . .
. zizahnia.
4. So, in the parable, they say,
1. “ ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said,
‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along
with them’ ”
(verses 28–29).
5. It was a bad idea.

1. So can you imagine how dangerous it would be to pass ourselves off as
experts in harvesting the righteous.
1. Well, I guess we don’t have to imagine, do we?
2. Look at all the periods of Church history that are ugly because
people were doing just that!
3. And how many nonbelievers have cited the Crusades as one of their
many excuses for avoiding the hypocrisy of organized religion—and thus
preserving their pure-as-the-driven-snow view of themselves!

1. Look at ourselves, our pietism, and how we can look down on other
Christians because we deem they haven’t yet arrived at exactly where we are
or that they are not like us!
1. And exactly when and where is that?
2. In the judge’s seat, apparently.
3. This parable teaches that that’s not our job.

1. And it’s a good thing that it’s not our job, because we’re not very
good at it.
1. Remember, the weeds look like the wheat to those who are not
experts like the harvesters, the angels.

3. (Aha) Therefore, repent toward the very good Man who is waiting with
wounds and welcome!

1. But the most dangerous and frightening thing of all this is that we
know that the weeds look like the wheat when we look in the mirror too.
2. It’s good that the mirror is terrifying!
3. That is the work of God.
4. That is his second use of the Law to drive us away from our pride and
our posing and to repent toward the very good Man who is waiting with
wounds and welcome!

4. (Whee) Jesus told us the truth from underneath the world that rejected
him and crucified him, imagining they got rid of him.

1. This Parable Teaches Us to Trust Jesus That Under Is Okay for Now.

1. The Holy Spirit calls us to follow Jesus, who saved our lives from
underneath the canopy of liars who tried to poison us.
1. Jesus told us the truth from underneath the world that rejected
him and crucified him, imagining they got rid of him.
2. But Christ is risen!
3. And that crucifixion, that lowly, meek love, absorbs all the
poison and turns the weeds into wheat!
4. That very good Man rescues Zizahnia!
5. She married a prince of a Man after all!

1. And remaining in him does bear fruit, even under the canopy of this
lying culture of weeds that’s so afraid to know the truth that it hopes the
wheat will stay hidden forever—and it fights to keep us under.
1. Jesus promises that under is only temporary.

1. Besides, when you’re underneath, you’re in a great position to do
some heavy lifting, like Jesus.

1. This parable teaches a general truth that a lot of Jesus’ parables
teach:
1. “The Lord knows all about it.”
2. Jesus knew what they were thinking, and therefore he knows what
we’re thinking:
3. “Yes, I know, you don’t understand why things are the way they
are, but I do, and I’m in control, and I’ll take care of it, and
I’ll take
care of you.”

1. He told this parable outside to the crowds who were judging him, but
he gave the explanation in the house to his disciples who followed him.
1. So to the crowds, Jesus said, “Someday, on the Last Day, my day,
everything will be made right.
2. But for the sake of the wheat, let them grow together with the
weeds.
3. Because when it’s all grown, and the wheat bears fruit and the
weeds don’t, that day will make it plain.”
4. In the same way with the two parables that follow, what an
insignificant mustard seed really is, that day will make it plain,
when it’s the biggest shrub in the garden;
5. And once the tiny bit of leaven works its way through forty
gallons of dough, that day will make it plain and there’ll be enough
bread for an army.
6. To the crowds, it was a warning.

1. We may ask, “What possible good does it do the wheat to have weeds
growing along with them?”
1. We think of persecution versus prosperity,
2. or the fact that we don’t know who will end up being wheat, but in
the end, it’s all speculation, not faith.
3. Faith is content that Jesus knows.

1. Maybe instead we should ask:
1. “What good might it do the weeds to have the wheat growing along
with them?”
2. Who will rescue Zizahnia, if not a very good Man?

1. “Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples
came to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field’ ”
(verse 36).
1. See? Away from the openness and light of the outdoors, and the
excitement of the crowds in the sun, now in the darkness of the
house, just
with his disciples, probably just the Twelve and the women.
2. Obscure, hidden, under the canopy of weeds, Jesus tells us how it
really is.

1. What an honor!
1. How is it that we are called into the house to have the Lord
himself whisper his plans into our ears?
2. Think of it!
3. The world does not fear him, and we come into this little
sanctuary, way beneath the poison canopy of what this world deems
important, to receive his Word.
4. What an honor!
5. What a joy to know him!
6. And what hope we have!
7. Because he explained the parable to the disciples, not as a
warning as to the crowds, but as comfort, as a sure and certain hope.

1. First, because the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
1. That we’re here, bearing fruit, is all his doing.
2. That’s a real comfort, because if it was Jesus that got us here,
then it’s Jesus who gets us home.
3. If redeeming us was all God’s doing, then keeping us in the faith
is his doing too!

1. But then doesn’t it say the man fell asleep, and the enemy came and
sowed weeds?
1. Why would the Lord fall asleep?
2. No, it says, while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed
on top weeds among the wheat and went away.

1. His men have fallen asleep when they weren’t supposed to:
1. Whether at the transfiguration,
2. Or at Gethsemane, to be sure.
1. But nobody can be awake all the time, except he who
1. “will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).
2. And his enemy, our enemy, fights dirty, but does nothing that
the Lord doesn’t both know about and use for our good.
3. Is it easy? No.

5. (Yeah) But that will all come to an end. On the day of the harvest, the
wheat is no longer tangled up with the weeds.

1. But that will all come to an end.
1. On the day of the harvest, the wheat is no longer tangled up with
the weeds, and those who belong to Christ will no longer be:
1. second-class citizens,
2. Will no longer struggle,
3. Will no longer operate under the radar to survive,
4. Will no longer bearing fruit in the dark under the poison
canopy of weeds who thought they owned it all.
1. “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father” (verse 43).

1. In the meantime, the weeds and the wheat look so much alike that it’s
hard for amateurs like us to tell if it’s wheat or just a weed that hasn’t
woken up yet—which is to say, Zizahnia, who hasn’t been rescued yet.
1. Although this is covered in other parables, the planting consists
of rescuing and baptizing into that rescue!
2. And it’s hard to tell whether today is just another day under the
poison canopy or it’s the day of harvest that still has only a
little over
twelve hours to go.

Conclusion

1. What we do know is that we can trust the very good Man who planted
us.
1. Jesus is God with wounds, for Zizahnia and for all of us who were
Zizahnia until we were rescued.

1. Those who have ears, let them hear. Amen.

1. Let us pray:
– Bless us, Jesus, with believing hearts, that we may remain children
of Your kingdom. Amen.

1. The peace of God, which transcends all human understanding, guard
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Text: Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23

Theme: The Reckless Sower

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

1. Matthew 13, verses 1-9 and 18-23 serves as our sermon text for this
morning, which reads as follows:

(1) That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

(2) And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and
sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.

(3) And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to
sow.

(4) And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came
and devoured them.

(5) Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil,
and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,

(6) but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root,
they withered away.

(7) Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

(8) Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty.

(9) He who has ears, let him hear.”

(18) “Hear then the parable of the sower:

(19) When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it,
the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This
is what was sown along the path.

(20) As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the
word and immediately receives it with joy,

(21) yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when
tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he
falls away.

(22) As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the
word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the
word, and it proves unfruitful.

(23) As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word
and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a
hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

1. Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the Father through our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
– Give us patience, dear Lord, when the tasks of this life seem hard
and unending. Amen.

Introduction

1. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And
great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down.
And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in
parable, saying: “A sower went out to sow.” (verse 1-3)

1. During a portion of this Pentecost season, we are going to take a
break from hearing a message on one of the assigned readings of the day and
instead have a topical series called “Parables for Pentecost”. First up:
the parable of the sower.

1. Why did Jesus tell the parable of the sower, and what’s the point of
it?
1. Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them
in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the
secrets [mysteries] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been
given.” (verses 10–11)

1. So Jesus’ parables are like the pillar of fire that lit the night for
the Israelites fleeing from Egypt that at the same time cast darkness on
Pharaoh and his armies chasing them.

1. “The kingdom of heaven” means the same thing as “the kingdom of God.”
1. It’s just that before Mark and Luke, Matthew was written when more
of the Church was comprised of converted Jews, who have a hard
time reading
too many mentions of the name of God.
2. So thus, the “kingdom of heaven” is mentioned.
3. And what does “kingdom” mean?

1. Well, when we say kingdom in our day and age, we probably conjure up
the idea of a place, a realm.
1. The Kingdom of Great Britain, or the Magic Kingdom.
2. Look! There it is.
3. But when the Bible talks about God’s kingdom, it’s not talking
about so many square miles.
1. Jesus said, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom and then return” (Luke 19:12).
1. Now the man didn’t haul a thousand square miles of land back with
him.
2. Receiving a kingdom means to be made king.
3. To be given royal rank.
4. To reign, as in, “Jesus Christ, . . . who lives and reigns with
You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”

1. So when Jesus talks about the “secrets [or mysteries] of the
kingdom,” he’s teaching us about how God reigns, specifically and
exclusively through himself.
1. And he told this particular parable because there was a question
about it—an elephant in the room.
2. Just prior to this passage, the religious rulers were already
looking for a way to eliminate Jesus, for healing a man on the sabbath,
among other things.
3. They accused him of being an agent of Satan.

1. It was then that Jesus quoted our sixteenth president, Abe Lincoln,
saying, “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (cf Matthew 12:25).
1. The rulers demanded signs, after condemning him for performing
signs!
2. The crowds were divided.

1. So all this opposition begged the question:
1. “Hey, how come this isn’t working?
2. Why don’t people just believe and follow Jesus?
3. What are we doing wrong?
4. What is he doing wrong?
5. Is this how the rule and reign of God is supposed to work?”
6. It’s not effective.
7. It’s not efficient!

1. It wasn’t just followers in general but some well-known Bible
characters who questioned God’s methods.
1. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Nathanael; John 1:46).
2. “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
(John the Baptist; Luke 7:19).
3. “Many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him”
(the crowd; John 6:66).
4. “They watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the
Sabbath, so that they might accuse him” (Pharisees; Mark 3:2).
5. “They all left him and fled” (the disciples; Mark 14:50).

1. “Lord, this business of You offering heaven for free to anyone and
everyone, and in return getting rejected, and persecuted on top of it,
can’t be the way this is supposed to go!” Is it?

1. And so comes this parable, and six more after it, explaining the secrets,
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

1. If you want to travel with Jesus, this is the travel brochure.

1. But this parable for today is different than the others because this
one is the foundation for the other six.

1. They’re all strung together like verses of a hymn, which is really
not a bad idea!
1. As we explore what this parable is all about, we do so by taking
the time to examine a series of “moments” crucial to our understanding of
the parable.
2. First up: the “oops” moment.

1. (Oops) The word understand carries the sense of bothering to understand.

1. We have the parable itself, and the explanation.

1. But the parable itself tells us more about the sower, Jesus.
1. The explanation tells us more about the soils, the ones who hear
Jesus.
2. What does the explanation say about you and me?
3. “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand
it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.
This is what was sown along the path” (verse 19).
4. Again, the word understand carries with it the sense of bothering
to understand.

2. (Ugh) The problem is not with the word of the kingdom, but us.

1. Listen to the familiar words of the Collect for the Word:
1. “Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written
for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark,
learn, and inwardly
digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may
embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through
Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

1. Jesus is saying to us in the parable for today:
1. “I know that many people are going to let my words go in one ear
and out the other.
2. They are not interested in understanding.”
3. They don’t want to be bothered in order to understand.

1. It’s true.
1. A lot of people like Jesus’ style, his courage, his spunk; they
like his style on Palm Sunday with the parade on the donkey; but when
it comes to Friday of Holy Week, it was easier to yell “Crucify!” than to
take in what Palm Sunday was about.
2. The problem is with the hearer, not with the word of the kingdom.
3. This is one huge reason Jesus told this parable.

1. Why did Jesus tell the parable?
1. It’s part of the brochure that tells you how things are so that
when it happens, you will recognize it and continue doing God’s will
instead of panicking, saying “This can’t be right,” and changing the
seed or—let’s come right out and say it—changing the Word, changing the
Gospel to fit the dirt.
2. Marketing the dirt so we’ll know what kind of seed to use.
3. Notice, there’s no mention of the sower looking at the negative
results and changing the “seed.”

1. Did you notice that Jesus did not say:
1. “The sower threw seed on the path but didn’t use the right kind of
seed. Therefore the birds came and devoured them.”
2. He said they did not take it in, so the evil one comes and
snatches away what has been sown in his heart.
3. This is what was sown along the path

1. You’ve sown there too, haven’t you?
1. Sure you have.
2. And what happened? You got nothing. No response.
3. And you thought, “What am I doing wrong?”
4. Hey, sure, we all could be better at sharing the Gospel, showing
Jesus more clearly, more accurately.

1. But tell the truth.
1. It’s Jesus they didn’t want to take in.
2. It may be exactly because you showed them Jesus clearly that you
got no response.
3. You didn’t do anything wrong.
4. And neither did the Lord by sending you, or Isaiah, or Paul.
5. The evil one that comes and snatches away what has been sown would
be just as happy for results-orientated Christians to change the seed
altogether.
6. That would actually save the devil the trouble of snatching it
away!

1. Or maybe we’ve been that soil that says “No!”
1. And we’re so afraid the seed will take root that we let the evil
one snatch it away.
2. How?
3. Just by hearing the Word once in a while.
4. That way, we can manage the germination and still run our own life.
1. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the
word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself,
but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on
account of the word, immediately he falls away. (verses 20–21)

1. Rocky ground.
1. How sad it must have been for Jesus telling all this to Simon ,
and the other disciples.
2. Jesus would very soon name Simon to be known also as
“Peter”—literally, “Rocky”—who thought he had root in himself.
3. Peter swore he did, but he fell away when tribulation or
persecution arose on account of the Word.
4. Scary, isn’t it, when we realize we have no root in ourselves?
5. Maybe that’s because we have our eyes on ourselves.
6. “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the
word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches
choke the
word, and it proves unfruitful” (verse 22).

1. The deceitfulness of riches—wow!
1. What riches are we talking about back then?
2. A camel of your own?
3. A deeper cistern in your backyard?
4. Maybe three extra tunics instead of two?
5. If these are the distractions they let choke the Word out of their
lives, how would they do in today’s amusement park we call everyday life?
6. How did we even have a fighting chance—let alone turn ourselves
into good dirt!

3.(Aha) You bear fruit not because you turned yourself into good dirt but
because he’s been waiting for you before you were conceived.

1. We did not or cannot figure out the secrets or mysteries of the
kingdom on our own.
1. Jesus declares: “To you it has been given to know.”
2. He said the same thing earlier in chapter 11:
1. “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have
hidden these things from the wise and understanding and
revealed them to
little children” (verse 25).
3. And later in chapter 16:
1. “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (verse 17).
4. What is Jesus saying?

1. You are here, the one who hears the Word and understands it.
1. You indeed bear fruit and yield, “in one case a hundredfold, in
another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:23).
2. This happened not because you turned yourself into good dirt, but
because he’s been waiting for you before you were conceived.

1. How the seed took root in us is why it’s called the secret, the
mystery of the kingdom!

1. By God’s grace—finally!—we took it in and our hearts broke, he
overtook us and distractions melted away, and our gaze was transferred from
the thorns that choked our devotion to the thorns that pierced his brow . .
. and we came alive!

4. (Wow) You have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry,
“Abba! Father!”

1. You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry,
“Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we
are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow
heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be
glorified with him.” (Romans 8:15–17)

1. It was the seed that did all that! It was the Sower’s work.

1. And of course, our inquiring minds still want to know: Why us and not
so-and-so?
1. This is the “problem of theology”.
2. We don’t know who finally comprises “us”—not yet.
3. It’s not like Jesus is holding back.

1. Jesus can say, “Hey, this ground is kind of rocky but I’m sowing
there anyway.”
1. He knows what he’s getting into.
2. He knows how much work we will be, what a challenge it will be.
3. Look how carelessly and lavishly he sows!
4. He indiscriminately throws seed everywhere!
5. On the one hand, if rocky, hard hearts or shallow, worldly hearts
say no, it’s not because they didn’t see their ship come in.
6. On the other hand, We’re Safe in His Arms Because the Sower Was So
Reckless with the Seed for All Our Sakes.

1. But why so reckless with the seed?
1. Isn’t that too precious a message to squander on those who don’t
have a clue and don’t want to?
2. Oh, dear redeemed children of God, his recklessness concerning you
is much bigger than seed.
3. He was reckless with his blood!
4. He shall sprinkle many nations!
5. He was reckless with his dignity!
6. High and lifted up!
7. He earned the right to scatter seed in such a lavish way when he
set his face toward Jerusalem and our cross!

1. As the Good Friday hymn says:
1. “O sorrow dread! Our God is dead.”
2. This is a big purchase!
3. There is plenty of seed!
4. We’re Safe in His Arms Because the Sower Was So Reckless with the
Seed for All Our Sakes.

5. (Yeah) This seed is powerful indeed!

1. How powerful is this seed?
1. “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not
return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I
purpose, and shall
succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

Conclusion

1. The success is his business and not ours , and he alone shall define
success, and not us.

1. Our happy business is to take in the Word, keep bearing fruit, and
joyfully and recklessly sow seed with him, saying: “All is forgiven.”

1. Jesus says to all of us: “Come home!” Amen.

1. Let us pray:
– Jesus, you are the Divine Sower. Keep us from becoming discouraged
as we entrust our lives to Your Word and seek to share Your message of
salvation with others. Amen.

1. The peace of God, which transcends all human understanding, guard
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.