Sexagesima - The Baptism of Chloe Ryanne Wright - 02-15-09

The Church Season of Epiphany,
Sexagesima, The Baptism of Chloe Ryanne Wright
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (February 15, 2008)
One Year Series

“Seeing and hearing”

Readings:
Psalm 85
Is. 55:1-10
1 Cor. 11:19 – 12:9
Luke 8:4-15

Sermon Form: Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 8th chapter of St. Luke, especially the following verses.

Luke 8:4-15 (NIV)

"4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

A large crowd gathers to see and hear Jesus speak. And so, to this gathered crowd, Jesus tells a parable about a farmer who goes out to sow some seeds. Now apparently this farmer is not all that careful of a farmer. Because, there’s no talk of cultivating, or preparation, just a farmer who casts seeds in what we would say is a most reckless way. He’s not putting that seed carefully in the ground, he scatters it here and there, some on a path, some in rocks, some in thorns, and then some seeds land on good soil. And the results that this farmer gets from throwing the seeds willy nilly every direction? Well that’s pretty predictable too, only a quarter of those seeds fall in the good soil and produce a good crop. So from all this information we know that the parable is not a story about how to be a good farmer. Because, a good farmer wouldn’t intentionally sow seventy-five percent of his seeds in the wrong place. And an even greater twist is the explanation of the parable which Jesus gives, “the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’”(v. 10) So now we know, the farmer is like no farmer we know, there are some who see, who may not see and some who hear who are not able to understand. So in this parable Christ is obviously talking about a totally different way of,

“SEEING AND HEARING”

Well that is totally confusing, and not very understandable, why would somebody talk like that? Well, things are not always as they seem. For instance, later in the service today, in fact in just a very few moments, we will have the great honor and blessing of baptizing one of God’s littlest children, her name is Chloe Ryanne Wright. And here today are a lot of visitor’s and guests, family members and friends, gathered together with others who have been attending this church for a longer time even many years. Some who are here today may see and hear the baptism of Chloe and know the significance of what baptism means. Just like some may hear the parable which Christ spoke and know the significance of what it means. Some may see and hear all that happens today, yet they may not understand anything about the baptism or the parable of Christ.

Some may wonder about the baptism, the water and the words while others may wonder what Christ meant by the casting of all those seeds and different soils. Some here may think they know what kind of soil they are. Some may they think that by just looking around they know what kind of soil some of the other people are in this church may be too. But truthfully if anyone tries to comprehend anything of what I just said, they will not have heard, nor will they see much of anything.

Upon hearing the parable of the sower, do not wonder what kind of soil you are. Because if you start to think of yourself as the good soil or the bad soil, then you will see yourself as the good or bad soil. If you know that God is that sower and the Word of God is the seed, and if you see yourself as bad soil then you have not seen or heard correctly. And not only that if you see yourself as the good soil then again you have not seen or heard correctly. So now your saying to yourself, this guy is telling me that no matter what I think I see and no matter what I think I hear I’m wrong. And to that I would say congratulations, now you’ve got it and you say I’ve got what?

God is a farmer who does not care where He sows the seed which is His Word. He sows the seed by proclaiming His Word to us. Whether you see of yourself as good soil or bad does not matter, God proclaims His Holy Word to everyone. The person that hears God Word does not make it good, God’s Word does. God’s Word is what makes you good, His incarnate Word Jesus Christ transforms the bad soil into good.

Still confused. Well look at it this way. When Chloe Ryanne Wright is brought forward in a few moments, what you will see is a baby, and a group of people. You will hear a bunch of words and see a bit of water splashed onto her tiny head. The words will come from a common man no better or worse than you, and the water came from a spigot just like you may have drunk from earlier today. But if that is what you see and that is what you hear, then you too are, “seeing, but you do not see; you are hearing, but you do not understand.”(v.10)

For in Baptism it is, “Certainly not just the water, but the Word of God in and with water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this Word of God in the water. For without God’s Word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the Word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, Chapter three:“He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying.”(SC)

So it is God’s Word combined with the water which makes the Baptism. It is God’s Word sown into your ears which gives you faith and that is what makes the soil bear His fruit. To human eyes it appears that God does not sow wisely because He sows His Word of salvation to everyone regardless of whether they see themselves as good or bad. In human terms God would not be considered a wise farmer for He sends His only Son to die on the cross to insure that the harvest is successful.

There is good soil and bad soil in the church, and there is good and bad soil in all of the world. But what you see or what hear about this soil does not tell the whole story, for man does not make himself into good or bad soil. Rather it is God’s Word combined with water in baptism applied to soiled mankind that, “yields a crop, a hundred times more than (what) was sown.”(v.8) God said, “My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”(Is. 55:11) Today the Word comes out of Gods mouth and declares to Chloe, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;”(Is 43:1) When you were baptized God said the same thing to you, in baptism you are His.

So whether you recall your baptism or not or today in the baptism of Chloe Wright whether you hear and do not understand or whether you able to see the baptism or not, know that God’s Word is doing just as He has said it would for “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.”(SC) Blessed are the people of God, who are the soil of this earth who like Chloe have been transformed by the waters of Holy Baptism. The eyes and ears of mankind may not be able see or to understand preachers, parables, or baptisms. But through God’s Word all who believe and have been baptized will not only see and hear, but they will one day understand, for from what He has sown they will understand that they will hear and see His face for all time.

AMEN
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