HEARING, FAITH, AND OBEDIENCE
Everyone has faith! Every person who lives or has ever lived has exercised faith in some measure. You say, “Well, what about the person who doesn’t know Christ?” They have faith, just not the kind of faith that brings them to salvation (at least not yet).
The difference between Christians and non-Christians is not faith: it is the object of faith. In other words, a Christian’s faith is in the person and work of Christ alone. The non-Christian’s faith is in something other than Christ. The faith of Christians is built upon the work of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. The non-Christian faith is built on a different, less eternal foundation.
Luke chapter eight begins with the Parable of the Sower. Jesus uses this parable to teach his audience and us about the nature and application of faith.
In Luke 8:1-18 the word hear appears 8 or 9 times (depending on your chosen translation). Why? Because Jesus’s teaching implies that hearing is a critical first step toward living out a life of faith. If you outline Luke eight based on the idea of hearing it would look like this:
Hear and receive the word (Luke 8:4-15)
Hear and share the word (Luke 8:16-18)
At this point in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is traveling “from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God” (Luke 8:1). He is accompanied by The Twelve and women who’ve been delivered from evil spirits: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and more (Luke 8:1b-2). These women are “helping to support […] out of their own means” (Luke 8:3). A large crowd gathers to hear Jesus and we pick up the story in Luke 8:4.
HEAR AND RECEIVE THE WORD
(Luke 8:4-15) While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “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 ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 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, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 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.’ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 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. Those on the rocky ground 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. 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. 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.
What I love about this parable is that Jesus gives us the specific meaning. We are not left to wonder what point Jesus was trying to get across. Every part of this parable shows us the importance of hearing and receiving the Word of God. You see, there is a difference between hearing someone and receiving what they say. I can hear a lot of words, but I am not always receiving those them into my heart (which is not necessarily a bad thing).
Jesus plainly tells us that faith comes by hearing and receiving the word of God (Romans 10:17). The word of God is a seed that has life and power (Hebrews 4:12). The word of God can produce spiritual fruit in the believer’s life (Galatians 5:22-23). However, seed can nothing unless it is first planted! A Bible on the coffee table does not make a faith-filled Christian. The word of God muse be planted: received into the heart.
Planting seed requires soil, but not all soil is the same. Luke eight says there are four types of soil but only one kind of seed. Jesus, teaching in parables, uses the idea of soil to refer to the condition of someone’s heart and their readiness to hear.
Hard Soil (vv. 5, 12)
This is the person who hears the word but allows the devil to immediately steal it away. But how does someone’s heart become hard. A callous develops because repeated rubbing or irritation to the skin. A person’s heart becomes callous when they fail to exercise discernment concerning what they let into their heart. It is said the eye is the window to the soul. A heart constantly barraged with the irritant of unholy images and ideas from media will soon grow hard.
I currently live in Bujumbura, Burundi. Five days a week I walk 2-3 miles for exercise on mostly dirt roads. The constant human and vehicle traffic on these roads compacts the dirt to an almost cement-like surface. Allowing a constant stream of darkness to tread into and on our hearts leads to hardness.
Shallow Soil (vv. 6, 13)
This is the emotional hearer. They hear the word of God, and they are emotionally stirred. In the moment, this person makes promises. He or she negotiates deals with God. The swear allegiance and faithfulness and, at that time, are sincere. Then Sunday comes and they cannot get out of bed. Or someone at work jokes about them being a Christian and they fall into a funk.
Jesus uses the scorching power of the Sun as a metaphor for the difficulties and hardships of life. All human beings, even those who profess Christ, walk through seasons of struggle. But the same Sun that causes one seed to die also causes another to grow. How? Well, it’s about roots. Hard times and trouble reveal a person’s depth of commitment to Jesus.
Crowded Soil (vv. 7, 14)
This soil is about a person who refuses to repent of sin. They feel the Holy Spirit’s conviction, but they let the cares, concerns, riches, or pleasures of this life push God away. If I had a dollar for every time someone said, “Pastor, I will live for God when _______________ (fill in the blank with the stuff of this life),” I would be a wealthy man. They allow the circumstances of life take up so much room, that no available space for God exists.
Good Soil (vv. 8, 15)
This soil, this heart, doesn’t just hear the word they do the word. They permit the seed take root in their lives, more importantly, they let the seed produce in them the character of God. They bring others to Christ (Romans 1:13). They live generously and give to the work of God (Romans 15:25-28). They are ready to do God’s good works (Colossians 1:10), They continue to grow in godly character (Galatians 5: 22-23). They live a life of praise to the Lord (Hebrews 13:15).
You see folks, the proof of whether the seed (the word of God) is taking root is the fruit of righteousness. Jesus knew that most of the people following Him that day were not truly hearing Him. Sure, it was going in their ears but for many the word stopped there. It was not being allowed into their hearts.
Faith requires us to listen. Most people in this world can listen to spoken, but this is not the idea or picture of faith. Faith begins with hearing but is demonstrated in obedience. A faith-filled heart receives the words of the Scripture and Jesus then acts upon them. Faith is in the action!
If hearing is not followed up by obedience, then our faith is dead (see James 2). Jesus explains this truth with another parable:
HEAR AND SHARE THE WORD
(Luke 8:16-21) “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”
Jesus offers us an image of what happens when we hear and receive God’s word: we share it. Now, I am not just talking about preaching or witnessing. These are both vital parts of how we share God’s word. But I am thinking more about the idea of fruit. When our faith is put into action, God produces good fruit in us. When good fruit is produced people notice!
When people notice the fruit, they can see how God is working in our lives. This is something we should never try to hide. You and I must let God’s light shine through us as He transforms our lives into the image of His Son.
Notice the warning in Luke 8:18, “consider carefully how you listen.” Jesus is pointing back to the Parable of the Sower urging us to constantly check the condition of our hearts (the soil). Have we allowed some rocks? Have we let the friction of living in a fallen world cause callouses? Have the cares and circumstances of life overtaken our trust in God?
Faith grows when we continually do a heart check allowing God to reveal truth about the darkness’s of our life. This is not the act of a vindictive God! He loves us. He wants the best for us. Therefore, He reveals to us those barriers keeping us from the abundant life promised in John 10:10. As we repent and turn from our own wickedness, we learn to take bigger and bolder steps of faith for the mission of God.
