Luke 8:5-15
The Lord said this parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, 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 with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.”
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; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. 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 temptation fall away. 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 as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
As he said these things, he cried out “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Gospel reading today relates to us the well-known parable of the sower. The sower is, of course, our Lord; and the seed He sows is His saving Word. Concerning this and how people receive His Word, the Church Fathers tell us that it breaks down people into two categories: those who hear the Word and bear fruit; and those who hear it and do not.
With regard to those who do not, our Lord lays out three different kinds of people, and the various kinds of temptations that lead them away from the Word and the salvation that it brings. Those, I think, essentially fall within the parameters of that well worn phrase, ‘the world, the flesh, and the devil.’
First, our Lord speak of the devil. For this, in the parable, the sower sows his seed, ‘and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it.’ Jesus explains this section in this way: ‘The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved.’
I will draw attention to two points here in particular. The first is that the devil is actively seeking our downfall. As St Peter tells us in his letter, ‘the devil, as a roaring lion, seeks to devour us.’ The second is that our Lord is very clear if we are not careful and allow the devil to succeed in his wicked plan – we will not believe and, as a result, we will not be saved.
Next, our Lord looks to the world. In the parable He states: ‘And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.’ By this He means that ‘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 temptation fall away.’ The Fathers tell us that these temptations are the adversities we will face, the ones that try to tempt us to deny our faith. In the days of the early Church these were the persecutions thrown up by the world; and many, indeed, abandoned the faith so as to have a more comfortable life. In many parts of the world, such persecutions continue to be common, where the choice between being a Christian or not is often a literal choice between life and death.
And even in the West, where seldom indeed will aa person face having to die for their faith, other challenges exist. Faith, we are told, must be a personal matter. By all means believe what you want, they are kind enough to say but keep those beliefs to yourself when it comes to public debate or voting. The interesting result of that kind of pressure, that less than lethal persecution, is that, if it is succumbed to, Christians end up supporting the positions of those who oppose Chistian views and supporting policies that are contrary to Christian beliefs. This, it must be said, is a deception; and a demonic one at that.
And then our Lord deals with the flesh. ‘And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it,’ he says. These, he tells us, ‘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.’ Wine and song are gifts from God; but if we allow them to become a distraction from our duties to God, they can destroy us. The love between a man and a woman are part of God’s good creation. But if we take it outside the bounds of lawful marriage, or even if we allow to become an obsession within it, it can drag us down into damnation. And even the duties we have in life, doing an honest day’s work, caring for our children, playing our part in keeping society well ordered, even these if we let them consume us to the point there is no room in our lives for God, even these can cost us our very souls.
So, there are many warnings in this parable. But there is also a promise, a promise to those who are as the good soil, into whom the seed fell and yielded much fruit. For these are ‘they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.’ By ‘patience, the Fathers tell us, we are to understand endurance, standing fast against all the temptations that try to lead a person away from the faith, against all that the world, the flesh, and the devil might throw at them. And here we may well recall the words of our Lord recorded in the chapter 24 of Saint Matthew’s Gospel: ‘he who endures to the end shall be saved.’ Not might be saved, not is likely to be saved, but shall be saved.
So, we must endure. Failing to live up to our calling on occasions, but never despairing and always repenting. Striving always to be the good soil that brings forth much fruit. Keeping in mind always our Lord’s promise that those who do so shall be saved. Amen.
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