"You who have been given ears to hear, listen!" Sexagesima 2025

23. February 2025

Sexagesima

Luke 8:4-15

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it... The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved."

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. God’s Word is preached to all—every nation, tribe, and language. Its effectiveness depends on God the Spirit working trust in the hearts of those hearing. Without the Spirit, it does not accomplish faith, hope, and love in Jesus. No eloquence, creativity, insight, or even the tongue of angels will make it “work better.”

But within the mystery of divine election, the Word that gives faith without your doing can be rejected, abandoned, and taken away. The world’s enticements towards creature comforts, financial gain, and hedonist pleasure can strangle faith. Temptations to reject God’s good gifts of marriage, family, and congregation come from every side. And the Deceiver, with his lies, takes the Word from you so that you do not believe in Jesus for salvation. When the devil comes and takes away God's Word, the world becomes hell-bent.

Satan steals God's Word from us and creates a prison on earth. His words bring misery, decay, and death. He subverts the natural order of things. He tells you to deny God’s Word to be fruitful and multiply. He tells you God won’t provide for you. He deceives you, thinking that violating God’s holy commands will have no consequences. And he does it through worldly means. And all eight billion of us walk around knowing this is true, that something really satanic is occurring but are too afraid to speak up or fight back.

When Satan comes and takes away God's Word, he forcefully clamps us down with inorganic institutions that say they will do one thing and then do the opposite. He also takes away your natural God-given right to barter and trade, buy, and sell from each other without interest. His agents create debt out of thin air, control the markets, and burr goes the money printers. Satanic forces rob you of the value of your time and effort, forcing you into a rat race of slavery leading to death.

Satan disfigures and deforms everything God gives to us for our health and well-being. They rob us of our health by removing information about natural remedies and outlawing many holistic practices between people. They shame and outlaw the healers of old whom God called to help, comfort, and heal us. He puts refined, processed, and synthetic poisons into almost every food that is easily accessible to us.

His servants take over our lives, control our interpersonal relationships, and shove them all into a digital network of deception. He sows fear, doubt, and hatred among us, putting enmity between us and God and our neighbors. He takes great delight in making us hate ourselves. His servants create laws to control us and govern how we behave while we watch them break them every day. He rigs our institutions of governance and puts hollow people in phony suits. He stacks all the courts and offices, pulpits and board rooms with his so-called experts who are really just useful idiots meant to control us. Then, he overlays the whole thing with a theater of the absurd, so we never know what is actually going on. Have you been watching the latest show in D.C.?

So, we bury the truth with our favorite drug of choice—coffee, liquor, nicotine, cannabis, or junk food. And we drug our brains with infinite scrolling to try to hold back the tidal wave of pain and suffering that keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger inside of each of us because Satan rules seemingly unchecked. Don’t be deceived thinking that the new regime is going make anything great again, not as long as the world is held in satanic sway. When the devil comes and takes away God's Word, the world becomes hell-bent.

But all is not lost yet. For you, the Light of Christ, the Holy Spirit, sits inside of you, calling and gathering you to Savior-Jesus, and enlightening you with his Word. He sends you a preacher to plant his Word in your heart. He causes hope to blossom and produce the fruits of faith in Christ Jesus, who will be your hope at times like now when the world grows dim and dark.

We believe that we are witnessing Satan's attempt to build it here on earth. Jesus told us it is happening. “The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved… and in time of temptation fall away… and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

But do not lose hope. Even if it seems like it, we aren't living in hell; we know we aren’t going there. You’re here, gathered around Jesus and His Word, called, enlightened, and sanctified by the Spirit. Thank God that you are planted in good soil, hearing God's Word, holding steadfast to it with an honest and good heart, and bearing fruit with patience.

God is bending heaven and earth by His Word for your good. He’s taking from you the cares, riches, and pleasures that have choked His Word. He’s tearing down, uprooting, and tilling your hearts to receive His Word, Jesus. God is putting the old world to death, along with Satan and his servants, so that a new creation may emerge and thrive forever with Jesus Christ.

And how do you know this? How can you trust that God is at work, keeping his promises to you despite the days being dim and dark? Simple. He sends you a preacher who forgives you in Jesus' Name and feeds you Jesus' body and blood, which gives you a new life and hope for eternal salvation.

The days are very dim and very dark. Satan is attempting to build hell on earth. His servants significantly outnumber God's children. They have all the world's money, power, and influence at their command. Many are even disguised as angels of light. But what of that? Oh, what of that! You have Christ, the One who has defeated sin, death, and hell. He has overcome the world.

So, you who have been given ears to hear, listen. Only when the devil comes and takes away God's Word does the world become hell-bent. But you are safe in Christ today and always. He has overcome the world. He has defeated Satan, his servants, and all his useful idiots.

[You] are “are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” A new creation is being built today in your hearing, in the power of Jesus' resurrection, and nothing and nobody can stop it. That's the power of God Almighty. That's the power Jesus commands. That's the power of the Gospel that inspires and enlightens, strengthens and encourages, and gives you true faith and hope today and always.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin