God's Word Rains

Introduction

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Beloved,

Two of our texts today deal with agricultural nuances. Our Gospel today is the parable of the sower and the soil. The sower recklessly casts his seeds onto the ground. It hits different types of soil.

Some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Notice that when there is a problem, it is not with the seed, but with the soil. The soil described here is the condition of man’s heart. Some never make it to the soil because the devil, the world, and our sinful nature refuse to receive it. Some resists the seed due to our hardness of heart. Some gets choked out because our worries and cares in this life become our God, and our eyes are fixed on them, not on God’s Word.

As we proceed through our Old Testament Text today, what is it that blocks God’s Word reaching you? What worries do you have that are bigger than the Lord who saved you? Harden up your own soil and the loving Grace of God will get blocked from entering your life, saving and forgiving you. Our arrogance often is the very thing that the Lord is trying to destroy so that you can be saved.

Any failure of growth in the Lord is on us, not Him. This parable is about the soil. The cure for this is repentance: Repentance of our sin, repentance of our resistance, Repentance that our soil is naturally evil, hard, and eager to be choked out as we let our worries and fears define our lives.

The Old Testament text today draws our attention to the seed and what God does to make it grow. God holds back His seed and His watering from no one. That souls are lost is on them.

1 Timothy 2:4 ESV

(God) desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

And so we pray, “God break my hardness. Plow my heart. Plant and water your seed that I may be saved and bear your fruit.”

God Rains from Heaven

Forgive the play on words today. Normally when we speak of the Lord “Reigning” from heaven, we are speaking of Jesus at the Right Hand of the Throne of God. But our Old Testament Lesson today speaks of God’s rain- R A I N - from heaven:

Isaiah 55:10–13 ESV

1. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

God’s Word rains down upon us. The same Word that spoke the world into being, the same word that became Flesh, the Same Word spoken upon you in your Baptism, it has come down upon each of us.

What does it do? It waters the seed. That seed of salvation that God has put into your rock hard soil. That rain that softens your heart. That same rain that washes you clean of your sin. That same rain that causes your faith to “bring forth and sprout” in such a way that makes you salt and light in the world to share that Bread of Life of Jesus with those rock-hard souls that surround you each day.

God Rains with Purpose

Isaiah 55:10–13 ESV

2. it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

That purpose is what saved you. God’s saving grace, bestowed on you by the Holy Spirit is what made you His. It is what allowed His Seed to take root in you, granting you life, faith, and salvation in Jesus.

It shows how dependent our faith has to be in Jesus Christ. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy Cross I cling. Your faith and life is a gift from God. He gave you breath. He then rebreathed His spirit into your dust to give you real and everlasting life.

It’s effect is worship and praise. It’s effect is growth in His Word. It’s effect is love for God and Neighbor. It’s effect is sharing the Word of God so that others can be saved. He accomplishes in you what He purposes. And it succeeds! That is a great Gospel reminder!

What about the unbeliever? What purpose does God have in that.

First, remember His seed goes out to all. He holds nothing back. There is no prerequisite He requires. The seed goes on the hardened soil just as it does on the good soil.

To not allow that seed to take root by resisting the Spirit of God with hard soil, is a choice that God grants. You can’t make it grow, but you can say no. So a second purpose is marking those who reject His free gift of grace. The making of a goat at the Last Judgment.

Of course, that is God’s call, not yours. As the Sower sowed his seed in the parable, we continue to follow Him and do the same. The purpose is for God, not us.

The Effect of those in Whom God’s Seed Planting and Watering Takes Root

Isaiah 55:10–13 ESV

3. “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Remember, everything Isaiah speaks about is the Lord’s Work. He plants the seed. He gives the growth. And now that growth comes alive in Him through Jesus.

We go out in joy.

Our sins have been forgiven by Jesus on the Cross, the everlasting sign that WAS cut off in your place.

Oh, it made a name for the Lord, alright. It was your name. You, with the rock hard soil, you who refuse to let His Word take root, you who let the seed wither and die because of your sin.

Jesus, that everlasting sign of God’s love, light, purity, that Word become flesh for you, went to the Cross.

But because He did, everything changes.

Through faith in Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, you are restored to the Father. He turns you into who you are supposed to be. He sends His Holy Spirit to break up the soil, give life to the seed of His Word in your life, waters you with His Word and Sacraments. and brings you forth.

It is the Lord’s incomprehensible gift to you.

Because of it we join all creation in Worshiping Him. You go out in joy. You are led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills break forth into singing because the Lord has saved you. Evil is decimated by the blood of Christ.

No longer cut off, He lives and reigns at God’s right hand and rains down His word, love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation upon you.