Ears to Hear

Luke 8:1 – 21

 

Being able to hear well is pretty important, at least so I’m told. Back in 2019 I was feeling like I had an ear infection that wouldn't go away. I didn't have any pain, but it felt like I just had fluid and pressure in my left ear for months. My hearing felt like I was underwater.

 

I complained about it for months on end until my lovely wife gently encouraged me to go get checked out by the doctor. After being referred to a specialist by my primary, the specialist referred me to a special specialist up in Sacramento.

 

Then after a series of hearing tests that doctor determined in his professional opinion that I had calcification on the tiny bones in my inner ear likely caused from countless ear infections as a kid and too loud music on ear buds. Personally, I blame the vacuum pump on the dairy, but I have no proof of that.

 

The only way to verify that those tiny bones were stiff from calcification would be to go in and perform surgery by peeling back my eardrum and then replacing the calcified bones with prosthetics, if that was indeed the problem.

 

But he asked me an important question that day, he asked me what I did for a living. At the time I was managing a dairy, so the doctor’s opinion was that I didn’t really need perfect hearing for that.

 

So, surgery was shelved. Over the years my hearing has gotten a little worse and I'll be going back to a specialist again soon enough. But that doctor’s question does provide cause for reflection.

 

What in our lives is important to hear well? Being able to hear my wife is important. Being able to hear my kids well is important. Being able to hear any of you guys when you come and talk to me is important.

 

But truly, there is nothing more important to hear and receive than God’s word. As we continue in the Gospel of Luke, we begin chapter 8, and hearing the word of God is the focus

But more important than just hearing the word, is what you do with what you hear. So, if you have your Bibles open them up to Luke chapter 8 beginning with verse one, and let's read God's Word together.

 

After having dinner at the house of Simon the Pharisee in Nain, where He declared the sinful woman forgiven and saved by her faith, Jesus moves on from the city. He goes from town to town, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Just as important as the miracles that Jesus did was his ministry of preaching the word of God.

 

We were told that with him were the 12. They haven't been mentioned since they were chosen back in chapter 6, but from here on out they're going to be increasingly mentioned. Also traveling with them though were some women, and specifically three were named: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the steward of Herod's household, and Susanna.

 

These women are the same women that we see later in the Gospel of Luke as the first witnesses to Christ's resurrection. They provided for Jesus and the rest of the disciples out of their own means. Joanna was likely wealthy because of her husband, but we don’t know about the rest.

 

Nonetheless, out of what they had—their own resources, gifts, and talents—they provided for Jesus, His followers, and His mission. They model for us today on how to serve and give in the church. You are to give sacrificially out of your means.

 

They followed Jesus as their Lord, and they provided for him and his disciples, essentially his church, sacrificially. This is not the point of our passage today, but don’t miss how the importance and the impact of women in God’s kingdom and on Christ’s mission is highlighted.

 

Now, Jesus is preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. The parable of the Sower takes up most of our passage today, and at its core, it’s about how the preaching of God's word is received, the effect it has on those who hear it, and what we’re supposed to do with it.

 

The first example Jesus gives in his parable is seed that was sown on the path, and a walking path is really no place to grow anything.

In their day, the seeding was done before they plowed so the path would have been broken up. But that takes time, and we see that on the path the seed doesn't last long. Birds come and take it away.

 

Next is shallow soil on rocky ground, and that is also no place to grow anything. There's no moisture there. The seed can't germinate and take root, so when it gets hot it withers and dies.

 

Then there's the seed scattered among the thorns. If you’ve ever gardened or farmed then you know that's not a place to grow anything either. But good soil, good ground, is where you want to plant seeds. That’s where Jesus says the seed will yield 100 times what was planted.

 

Jesus gives this parable to this massive crowd that has been following him from town to town that just grows and grows from each town along the way. When He finishes the parable, He calls out to the crowd, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

 

When Jesus says that He's calling on those hearing Him to reflect on what He said, and to use it as a mirror for their lives. Hearing Christ’s words becomes the driving force in this passage. That word is used repeatedly throughout, so don’t miss that.

 

It's at this point that the scene shifts from the crowd to the disciples. Jesus shifts from being a public teacher to a private tutor. You see the disciples themselves don't understand the parable, so they ask Jesus to explain.

 

Moses writes in Deut. 29:29 that “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed to us belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” In Jesus, the secret things become the revealed things, and lead to doing.

 

Those secrets of the Kingdom belong to His disciples, then and now, but to the rest of the people, those secrets are in parables so that they may not understand. Those outside the kingdom hear the words of Jesus without understanding their true meaning.

 

Jesus references Isaiah 6:9 – 10. Isaiah was sent to preach the good news to a calloused people who had strayed from God while still calling themselves God’s people.

Just like the people of Isaiah’s day, the people in Jesus’ day have hardened themselves to the point where they can’t understand Him. Truthfully, there are many people today who are the same.

 

These people see the paint, but they can't see the painting. They hear the notes, but not the melody of the song. They hear the good news, but they don't understand it. But their inability to perceive the truth doesn’t remove their responsibility for how they respond.

 

God gives Isaiah His message for the people and then explains to Isaiah what He means. Jesus does the same with His parables, speaking directly to the people and then privately explaining things to His disciples. Our ears must be trained to hear the word of God.

 

You see, our ears don't process what they hear unless they're trained to do so. And so, the mysteries of the Kingdom of God must be revealed to those who have been given ears that are trained to hear, those who are true disciples. Yet even they still have a hard time understanding the meaning of Christ's parables.

 

But Jesus doesn't leave them in the dark. He explains the parable. This is what he says, the seed is the word of God, the message that Christ has been proclaiming.

 

The ones along the path have heard the gospel, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. The word never penetrated their hardened hearts and grew.

 

The word had no effect on their hearts because there are indeed spiritual forces of evil set against the spread of the Kingdom of God through His word, regardless of who's sowing it—of who's planting it. Sometimes that comes from outward spiritual attacks. Often that comes from inward hard heartedness and our sinful nature.

 

Then there's the ones on the rock. They're on the rocky ground, shallow dirt. They received the word with joy and they believed. These people responded quickly to the gospel with outward motions of faith. But true faith never takes root.

 

 

You see that soil is shallow and most plants that grow have no root. It's superficial, and when the going gets tough, at the first sign of difficulty, they quit, they fall away.

 

In 1 John 2:19, the apostle John writes about those who fall away from the faith, saying, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

 

 Even though they had outward motions of faith, they never truly believed in their hearts. They had a shallow faith with no genuine roots.

 

Now about the ones among the thorns, they hear the word, but they are choked out by the worries, the riches, and the pleasures of life in this world. They don’t mature.

 

 Whether we’re talking about someone who never truly belongs to Christ or a genuine believer whose growth is being strangled by worldly distractions, Jesus’ warning is the same: the things of this world can choke out the fruitfulness of God’s Word in our lives.

 

But the ones on which the seed falls on good soil, are the ones who hear the word and hold fast to it. They grasp it with a strong grip in an honest and good heart, and they bear fruit.

 

Understand that the good soil is not necessarily special ground, rather it’s ground that has been properly prepared for producing crops.

 

I grew up farming, and one of the most vivid memories I have is of being in the tractor, dragging the three-point ripper behind me in a field that we rented for 20 years.

 

For as much as I hear folks around here talk about Delhi sand, Hilmar is also very sandy. But Hilmar also has a layer of hardpan beneath that sandy soil.

 

Hardpan is basically a compacted silt layer that is as hard as rock if not harder. If I wasn't careful, I would bust the shear bolts that held the ripper shanks in place. One time I even bent an entire shank 90 degrees because the bolt didn’t break off.

 

I would then have to stop and go get bolts and fix it. But I would get so mad, I'd get so frustrated about it as a teenager because I hated the interruption to my day. But I know that I made for a good show out in that field because the neighbor would just sit on his porch laughing, watching me get all worked up fighting the hardpan.

 

As it was, because of the sand and then the hardpan layer, corn at that end of that field never grew well. But if I didn't break up that hardpan, if I didn't cultivate that ground properly, then nothing would grow well at all.

 

But once it was cultivated well, once that soil had been prepared to receive the seed, that’s when we got a good crop. Jesus says that the seed in that soil yielded 100 times what was planted. I wish the corn I planted would’ve produced 100 times itself. That would have fed a lot of cows. But anyway.

 

A good and honest heart is good soil. Not because the heart is inherently good—none are righteous—but because God has graciously prepared that heart to receive His Word. Scripture teaches us that God must work in us before we can respond rightly to Him.

 

We cannot receive the word of God without the Spirit first working in is, and we cannot produce any fruit without the Spirit working in us. It is Christ in us from beginning to end.

 

But our response doesn’t end with hearing. Hearing the word must result in doing. In James 1:22 the half-brother of Jesus writes, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

 

So, with patience they bear fruit. These folks hear the word of God and believe, and they respond rightly and produce abundant good fruit by persevering through the forces of this world that stunt growth. The genuine believers walk of discipleship yields tremendous blessing, not for themselves, but for others.

 

In this immediate context, Jesus is the One sowing the seed that is the word of God as He proclaims the good news of the kingdom. But the principle of the Sower extends beyond Jesus’ earthly ministry. As His disciples carry His gospel into the world, we too become Sowers of the Word.

Your job, the way that you do what do the word says like the disciples that Jesus has privately explained the parable to, is to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom. And one of the mysteries of that of the Kingdom is that the responses to the word will vary.

 

But make no mistake, the word will grow and bear fruit among those who receive it well, those whose hearts that are prepared, the good soil. The seed is sown generously to anyone and everyone. Everyone is supposed to hear the gospel. But what matters, what makes all the difference, is what kind of soil it falls on.

 

Success or failure for the Sower is not measured by the harvest, that belongs to God, the Lord of the harvest. Your success as a Sower is measured by your obedience to Christ's call to go and sow seed.

 

Success for the Sower is measured by the simple obedient act of doing the sowing. The harvest, the visible results of sowing, will only come with time. We don't know when we plant seeds what kind of soil we're planting in. But be rest assured that time will reveal the truth.

 

That reality is what we see here as the Jesus shifts from away from the parable to statements about light and things hidden in vv.16 – 18. You see, until relatively recently a lamp was lit by lighting a wick fed by some kind of oil on fire.

 

Hiding a light like a lamp like that wouldn't only block the light, but it was dangerous too. Placing it under a bed was a serious fire hazard and covering it with a jar was counterproductive. Not only would that hide the light, but it also snuffs out the oxygen that’s keeping the flame lit.

 

A lamp is meant to shine, so it belongs on top of a lamp stand. No one who lights a lamp covers it or hides and snuffs out the light. What God has revealed to them is not meant to remain hidden. Those who hear the Word are to make that Word known.

 

The secrets of the Kingdom that were hidden must now be revealed through them, and over time, that which is hidden will be increasingly revealed to those who are faithful, those who are producing fruit, enabling them to shine even more light.

 

They are called to show their light rather than keep it hidden, to not keep their knowledge of the Kingdom hidden, but to share it far and wide. Jesus lit their lamp and others are meant to see its light. You were called to make the light of God’s Word visible in your life.

 

But the hearers are warned. The one who has, the one who hears well, that person will get more. The one who has listened carefully to God's Word will understand it even more clearly. But the one who has not heard well will lose even what they think they have.

 

It's not enough to just hear the Word. It's not enough to hear sound doctrine and right theology. You must pay careful attention to how you hear God's message and respond accordingly.

 

You see, personal responsibility for responding to the gospel is not taken away by God's sovereignty. You are still held accountable for how you respond to the good news of the Kingdom of God. We are held accountable for how God's Word falls on our ears, for how we hear His word, and what we do with it.

 

That's the truth of this whole passage here: from Christ’s preaching of the good news of the kingdom of God, to the parable of the Sower, and to being careful about how we hear the word and what we do with it. The truth is that God's Word falls on all ears, even those who reject it.

 

So, here's my transformative point: You must respond to God's Word with faith that hears, believes, and obeys.

 

Look at this interaction here at the end of our passage, Luke 8:19 – 21. Those who should have a claim to Jesus, his earthly family, really have no claim at all.

 

Belonging to Jesus’ family is not a matter of blood relations, but of hearing and doing God's word. Christ's family are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice in their lives, producing much fruit.

 

Many have come out to hear Jesus. He drew massive crowds, larger and larger crowds everywhere he went. Yet only some responded with faith and action. The same holds true today. How you receive the word of God matters.

Many will hear the Gospel. Many will come looking for Jesus. Many will come through those doors not knowing what they're looking for, but only some will respond to the gospel with faith and action.

 

The reality is that hearing the gospel is useless unless it is accompanied by faith. As we saw last week with the sinful woman, it is by faith that you are saved. Yet that profession of faith is meaningless, unless it is a faith that puts God's word into practice.

 

As Scripture says in James 2:17, “faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.” The gospel must be responded to in faith. But saving faith is more than just intellectual ascent.

 

True faith endures. True faith perseveres. True faith puts into practice the teachings of God’s word. We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. This faith walks hand in hand with action, expressing itself through love putting God's Word into practice.

 

So, my applications today are simple. First, dedicate time to hearing God’s word. Spend time studying it. Come listen to sermons, come to Bible study. There is so much more depth in small group Bible study than I can possibly cover here.

 

There you can ask questions; you can discuss what God’s word says so that you learn more and help your roots grow deeper and stronger. The ones who have ears to hear, let them hear.

 

Next, carry out Christ’s mission in the world. Plant the seeds of God’s word wherever you go.

 

Tell the world what you’ve heard. Learn how to share the gospel, I can teach you, pastor Rodney can teach you, a more mature believer can teach you.

 

You don’t have to give a polished gospel presentation either. You can simply tell someone what Christ has done for you and then tell them the good news of what Christ has done for sinners.

 

Don't worry about whether it produces fruit or not. That's not for you to worry about. That's God's job. Your job is to plant seeds.

 

Lastly, live by the word. Look at the women at the start of our passage. Look at how they're providing for Christ. They are living by the Word. They're following in and living out what it means to hear the Word, to be good soil, and produce fruit by serving.

 

They were giving their resources, their time, their service, and whatever God had entrusted to them to advance Christ’s mission. They were letting their light shine for the world then and now to see how they lived on mission with Christ.

 

We are supposed to give generously and cheerfully out of our own means to advance the mission, to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything we have belongs to God because it comes from Him. God gives us abundantly so that we can use what He gives us to serve Him and advance His mission.

 

How you receive the Word of God matters, so have ears to hear.

 

Don’t just hear God’s Word. Hear it. Believe it. Hold fast to it. Put it into practice. Because those who truly hear the Word of Christ will bear fruit for Christ.