Luke 8:5-15 October 29, 2023, Osaka Church
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Jesus compared how faith grows in people’s hearts or not to a farmer sowing seeds. At that time, seed sowing was very simple, and involved punching a small hole in a seed bag, walking it on the back of a donkey, and dropping the seeds onto the ground. Seeds fell not only on cultivated land but also in various other places.
Today, let’s think about what happens to a “hardened heart,” which can be compared to the roadside. The roadside is trampled and hardened by the traffic of people and vehicles. Before the seeds can take root, they are often trampled or eaten away by birds. The Lord Jesus says that even if the word of God is spoken to a hardened heart, the powers of this world (the devil) will take it away before it can arouse interest, and even the seeds of faith will not sprout.
Once, a friend who openly declared himself an atheist said, “Your situation is truly heartbreaking.” Although our positions were entirely opposite regarding the fruitlessness of evangelism efforts, he expressed sympathy. In reality, I almost wished he would push back a little, even resist, at least in some way. But are the people who don’t respond to the call of evangelism “bad guys”? That’s not the case. What is described here as a “stubborn heart” is not the same as being “stubborn” or “inflexible” in the usual sense. It’s often a heart that is more sensible and flexible than the hearts of many Christians. They may have a pleasant personality, impeccable behavior, and their hearts might be consistently pure. They don’t hate Christ or despise Christianity. They have a tolerant and understanding heart for various thoughts, cultures, and faiths. But when it comes to “living by a specific religion,” they simply don’t connect with it.
When the holy Apostle Paul encountered the stubborn rejection of the people of this world, he said, “The words of the cross sound like foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are partakers of salvation they are the power of God.” He said that the only way is to dig out faith from hardened hearts through tireless evangelism, which can only be described as “foolishness of evangelism,” rather than convincing people using logic and evidence. We can’t give up. Those involved in evangelism often say, “I worked hard, but only one person was baptized this year.” This should be rephrased like this. “God has blessed us and given us this fruit.” Even if it’s just one person, we must never forget that the fruits of our prayers are the result of our continued prayers and gratitude to God.
And let us remember that the Lord’s parables are not just about bad land. The Lord says that there is also a heart, which can be called a “good soil,” and that it listens to God’s words and reaps great fruit. “Good soil” is “cultivated land” that has been deeply plowed and has good aeration and water circulation.
Having accepted God’s word, we must first plow our hearts even further with the plow called “God’s word,” and let the blessings of the holy God spread throughout our hearts and bodies through Holy communion, like oxygen in the soil. , we must bring the fruit of love into our lives. The only fruit Christians should reap is love. And in turn, we will tirelessly drive the plow of loving prayer into the “hardened hearts” of our families and neighbors.
We must remember. Our own hearts, gathered here, may have been hardened at first. We may be standing here today because of someone’s prayers. It could be a parent, a wife, a husband, a sibling, a friend, the prayers of those who pray for all people in monasteries in the desert or in the forest.
We, who were like that, are now singing, “Praise the Lord.” What could this be other than a miracle!