Sexagesima, 2003
Luke 8:4-15

A middle-aged gentleman began attending my Latino parish in Texas. His name was Heliodoro. He spoke only Spanish. A few months later hermano Heliodoro was injured at work. One thing led to another, and I invited him to move in with me. The house had a good-sized backyard, and we planted a garden that spring. Together we overturned the earth, raked out the weeds, removed the stones, and sowed the seeds ­ tomatoes and jalapenos, radishes and lettuce. The seedlings came up everywhere lush and verdant; except in one place. For some reason, nothing would grow in a ten-foot area. We tried time and again to make a plant survive there. If we put in seeds, nothing sprang up; if we transplanted vegetables from other parts of the garden, they died. I gave up. At this point my roommate got some funny ideas.

According to legends Heliodoro had learned while growing up in Southern Mexico, wherever gold is buried, it will kill off all vegetation above. Thus, he began to suspect that there might be hidden treasure below. He started digging the next day. With pick and shovel, he carefully excavated a 10' by 10' square hole; first he dug one-foot deep, then two feet, then three. The distance downward kept increasing. When he reached six feet deep I urged him to quit. He would not listen. Day after day, week after week, the digging continued unabated. The weird became the bizarre. He had dreams at night; voices assured him that just a little further down and he would hit eureka. The ten-foot opening became a frightening abyss. To descend into his chasm he acquired an extension ladder. To take out the loose earth from the bottom of the pit he tied a rope around the handle of a five-gallon bucket. When the bucket was full of dirt, he ascended the ladder and pulled it up by a rope. The contents he dumped on the mountain of earth next to his hole. It became quite an operation. Who knows how long this would have lasted. The hole must have reached 20-25 feet deep. Eventually, the neighbors became nervous, and called the police. The authorities came twice and threatened to send him to jail, so he very reluctantly gave up, and filled in his mineshaft.

Our Gospel lesson for this Sexagesima Sunday touches on seed sown in four different soils. The soils represent four different types of hearers of the Gospel. Through this parable the Lord tells us what kind of hearer we should be. Jesus says in Luke 8:5, "A sower went out to sow seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it." Let us first identify the components: the sower, the seed, and the wayside. The seed is easy to interpret. Jesus Himself tells us in verse 11, "The seed is the word of God:" the seed is the Gospel. The sower is the Lord, and all preachers of the Word. The different soils represent the souls and hearts of people who hear the Word of God.

The road, or wayside, is the first type of soil. It represents the unreceptive hearer. The soil on a roadway is packed and hard. Over the years heavy traffic has trampled it down. Because the soil is compressed, the seed that falls there merely lies on the path and is unable to sink in. The birds, the devil's workers, soon snatch it away. What is it that makes the human heart hard? There can be only one answer: sin. Sin hardens the heart, and the heart that is hardened sins even more. A quotation by C.S. Lewis may sum up the unreceptive hearer. Lewis wrote: "We are not merely imperfect creatures who need to grow up, we are rebels who need to lay down our arms."

When the unreceptive hearer listens to a sermon, he hopes the judgment falls on other people. In his mind the forgone conclusion is, "That message can't possibly refer to me. Everybody else here better pay attention, though. They need to get their act together." Pride and self-righteousness have hardened his or her heart. The question, "Lord, is it I?" never seems to enter his thinking. The unreceptive hearer simply refuses to submit to the transforming power of Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

The second type of soil looks good on the surface but underneath lurks rocky ground. Such soil stands for the unproductive hearer. When I lived in the San Joaquin Valley we had to reckon with this kind of ground. Dig a hole with a shovel, and within one foot you would encounter what we called hardpan. It was a sub-layer of rock concealed beneath the topsoil. When the seed was planted under the surface soil it sprang up quickly. However, the hardpan prevented the roots from penetrating deeply. The San Joaquin Valley gets hot. The plant faded quickly in the sun's heat. It had puny roots. Jesus describes the unproductive hearer in verse 13, "But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away."

Many people fit that description. Their shallow hearts are attracted to something new. They hear the Gospel and get excited. Christianity seems fun. They quickly pick up the God-talk. They get active and involved. Like a sapling enjoying the warmth of the sun, their emotions run high. They hear the Word, it feels good, and they bask in it.

But then something happens. A detail rubs them the wrong way. The novelty wears off. They get frustrated. If God will not meet their needs then they will go elsewhere. If they do not see a perfect Church, they will have no part of it. So they wither away. They lack perseverance. The faith of such people is shallow. At best, the unproductive hearer is a flash in the pan.

Does the shallow soil refer to enthusiasm? Possibly. The tendency among the unproductive hearers is to sustain an emotional high on which to rest their faith. Religion for them hangs on an adrenaline rush, a giddy feeling, or an emotional high. The late Bishop Stephen Neill had a relevant comment for emotionalism. He said, "There is a certain restrained and sober quality of devotion that is characteristic of the Anglican Church. The aim is not that of producing immediate emotional effects, but of gradually building up a settled resolute will to holiness, based more on the direction of the will than the stirring of the emotions."

Is Jesus Christ, in this parable, trying to dampen our fervor, and muzzle our excitement? No, absolutely not! Our Lord merely wanted to put emotions and excitement in their proper place. There is no need to stifle ardent feelings, nor check delight in the Word. Do not think that it is wrong or dangerous to have your emotions moved to tears by the hymns, the liturgy, or the Eucharist. The warning is simply this: avoid building your faith upon emotions or good feelings; build rather upon Christ and upon Him alone. Trials will come. Good feelings and excitement will evaporate. At that point you need to calmly and decidedly take up your cross, and follow Jesus.

The third type of soil stands for the underdeveloped hearer. Most of you are beyond the first two soils ­ the rebellious, self-righteousness of a hard heart, and the flash-in-the-pan emotionalism of a shallow heart. The roots of God's Word have sunk down into your soul, but that doesn't mean you are bulletproof. The danger of being strangled by things is real and ever threatening.

What are those things that could choke out your life? The Lord describes those things as thorns, and says in verse 14, "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity." The thorns and thistles rob the flora of the nourishment it needs. Some weeds have trailers or winding vines that wrap themselves around the good plants, smothering them. Also, the foliage of the weeds robs the tender plants of the light and warmth of the sun. What is the result? The plant yellows and yields little or no fruit

What are the thorns and thistles that choke out faith? Riches are common. The yearning for money can become an obsession. Granted, money is not intrinsically evil but it can sure ruin a person. Just as Gollum was destroyed by his fixation with the ring of power, so my roommate Heliodoro became consumed with buried gold. After the police forced him to fill in his pit, he moved out of my house. He shacked up with a woman, abandoned the Church and renounced the faith. He was an underdeveloped, immature hearer of God's Word, and riches choked off his faith. Beware of that kind of mania for possessions.

The last type of soil is the one to which the entire parable has been heading. It is the productive hearer. The productive hearer receives the Gospel like good soil receives seed. The seedling breaks through the soil. The sun smiles; the earth feeds it. The leaves and branches reach up and out. The roots sink down deep and wide. These are the plants that "bear fruit with patience" (v. 15). What sort of fruit does a productive hearer of God's Word bear? Surely it refers to the fruit of the Spirit ­ love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and discipline (Galatians 5). A productive hearer of the Word will abound in such works ten-fold, thirty, sixty, and one-hundredfold.

What is the only sure evidence of a genuine reception of the Word of God in a person's life? How can you be sure of your own salvation and that of others? Spiritual fruit: your hatred for sin, and love of righteousness; your love for the Lord and your neighbor. Your faith gradually produces the character of Christ. The fruit of the Spirit blossoms and yields a bountiful crop. Those who claim to be believers but never show any fruit of the Spirit can hardly be saved. On the other hand, those who bear fruit in a righteous walk do indeed enjoy a comforting assurance of salvation.

Is God's Word producing good fruit in you? Are you receptive to God's truth? Do you allow it to change your life and thinking so that it turns you away from sin, directs you to Jesus, and produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit?

The theme for Sexagesima Sunday is intended to prepare you for Lent. As Ash Wednesday draws nigh, ready the soil of your heart. You don't want to be an unreceptive hearer, nor an unproductive or underdeveloped one. Determine today to be a productive hearer. "How can I do this?" you ask. You can't, but the Lord can. Seek God's grace to change the bad habits of your heart. Ask your Heavenly Father to strengthen you against the strangling weeds of riches and the flesh. Beseech the Holy Spirit to sanctify you. Use the means of grace the Lord has placed at your disposal: prayer, fellowship, the Word of God. Come now and take advantage of the Holy Communion. Come in faith. Allow the Spirit to make the soil of your heart rich, fertile, and productive.

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