New York UBF – NY University Bible Fellowship (NYUBF)

Luke Lesson 25 (2009)
GOOD LISTENERS

Luke 8:4-21
Key Verse: 8:18

“Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be
given more, whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has
will be taken from him.”

A pastor was about to perform the sacrament of infant baptism. The proud parents came forward and presented their daughter to the pastor, who took the child in his arms, turned toward the front, and suddenly realized he didn’t know the child’s name. He turned to the father and whispered, ‘What is the child’s name?” The father replied in a whisper, “Spindonna.” The pastor thought this was a rather unusual name, but went ahead with the ritual anyway, saying “Spindonna, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” But the father became furious and the mother burst into tears. They took their baby back and stormed out of the sanctuary. After the service, the couple was waiting in the pastor’s office. The father glared at the pastor, saying, “How could you give our child such a ridiculous name?” The pastor looked at the man in disbelief. “I didn’t make it up. You did. I asked you what her name is and you said ‘Spindonna.’” The father said, “Are you insane? I told you that it’s pinned on her!” The father then showed the pastor a small note with the name Elizabeth pinned on the baby’s baptism dress.

People often work on only their speaking ability believing that good speaking equals good communication. But this story tells us that good listening is as important as good speech. In fact, in order to communicate effectively we have to be able to hear what the other person is saying. Most people prefer talking to listening. Some people even stop listening altogether. Listening to our friends and families and, most importantly, to God is essential to any healthy relationship. Developing good listening habits and skills is also essential to the growth of our faith in Jesus. In today’s passage, Jesus repeatedly mentions the importance of listening. He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (8a) “Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.” (18) “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” (21)

There are four different kinds of soils mentioned in the parable. Among them only one type of soil produced fruit and the rest remained fruitless. The sower and the seed were the same. But the soil in which the seed fell is what made the difference. That difference depends on our ability to listen to what God is saying. Let’s think about how we can be fruitful disciples of Jesus. we can also examine our ability to listen to the word of God.

Look at verse 4. “While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable.” Since the beginning of Jesus’ Galilean ministry, many people had followed him mainly because they were fascinated by the miracles he had performed. Yet, Jesus was never impressed by the great number of the crowds because he was aware that most of them were not really listening to what he wanted them to hear. In fact, in the previous passage, Jesus compared the people in his generation to the children sitting in the marketplace and calling out each other, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.” (Lk 7:31-32) One of the main spiritual problems of the people in Jesus’ time was that they were not willing to listen to God’s messages.

What did Jesus do for those who were not willing to listen to God? He still told them a parable. In fact, he told them many parables concerning the kingdom of God. (Mt 13; Mk 4) Look at verses 5-8. “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. Some fell on rock, 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.” Primarily, the farmer in the parable refers to Jesus Christ. But it can also be anyone who shares the word of God. The seed refers to the word of God, because the word of God, like the seed, has life and power in it (Heb 4:12) and can produce spiritual fruit. Yet, the seed can do nothing until it is planted in our minds.

The parable also teaches that the human mind is like soil; if it is well cultivated, it can receive the word of God and the kingdom of God can grow, bearing spiritual harvest in our lives. This parable is very simple. However, the meaning of the parable is not shallow. However, without offering any further explanation, Jesus concluded his parable by saying “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (8) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” It was an open invitation for the deeper and further understanding of God’s truth. According to Mark’s account, most people left him.

Look at verses 9-10. “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.”’” These verses give us the impression that Jesus told the parable to the crowd because he didn’t want them to understand the secrets of the kingdom of God. That’s not true. The parable of “A Lamp on a Stand” in verses 16-18 makes this clear to us. It says, “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts 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.” Here, we learn that God does not want His words, including the parables, to remain hidden but to be disclosed and brought out into the open so that His children may be blessed by having fuller understanding. (16-17)

The secrets of the kingdom of God are spoken in parables to the crowd because of the characteristics of God’s kingdom. The knowledge of the kingdom of God is a secret, a mystery, a hidden treasure, which has to be searched and found by us again and again. For example, when Jesus declared the grace of forgiveness of sins and that he has authority to forgive man’s sins on earth, he was proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God, that is, the salvation by faith through grace alone. This gospel truth seems to be very simple. But it is not shallow as many people might think. It is very deep and profound so that it has to be constantly searched, discovered and rediscovered by us. That’s why Jesus kept repeating the importance of listening. (8, 10, 18, 21) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”, (8) and “Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.” (18) Jesus explained the meaning of the parable in verses 12-15. In these verses, Jesus basically focuses on the response of each soil toward the seed.

Look at verse 12. “Those along the path are those who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” Their problem is the hardness of their hearts which prevents the word of God from taking any place in them. Some people’s hearts are like the path soil. They just don’t want to hear God’s words. We don’t know exactly what the reason is. Perhaps, they are bitter toward God because of their horrible experience in their lives. Maybe some had fixed idea about Christianity.
No matter what the reason may be, the result of their rejection is tragic.

In verses 13 and 14 we see two different kinds of heart soils, the rocky soil and thorny soil. “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. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by like’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” People of both of these heart soils had some positive initial faith in the word of God. But their problem is that they could not keep their faith to the end.
We cannot say that these people are all unsaved people simply because they fail to bear good fruits, especially acknowledging the fact that we all fall into unbelief at some point in our lives. We know that the disciples of Jesus weren’t perfect either. Simon Peter confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ of God. Then he denied Jesus three times because of fear. We all make mistakes and fall either by the shallowness of our hearts, like rocky soil, or because of worries, anxieties, even pleasures of this life, like thorny soil. The list of what hardens us may go on and on. We often fail to bear fruit because we fail to retain God’s words because of the unwholesomeness in us. Look at verse 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.” According to verse 8, the good soil can yield a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.

Then who has a noble and good heart by nature that can bear good and abundant fruit? Nobody does. Although we are created in the image of God and have by nature some goodness in our minds and hearts, we cannot bear good fruits naturally because of the contamination of our hearts by sin and unbelief. Obviously, his followers were not all good soil at that time. Some of them were pretty emotional about following Jesus. They didn’t have deep roots in the grace of Jesus. Their spiritual condition fluctuated depending their mood and situation. Some of them were not free from worries, anxieties, fear, selfish ambition and pride. They were more like thorny soils.

Then how can we have good heart soil? What if I have the path like soil? Am I hopeless? What if I have rocky soil? Am I too emotional to bear good fruit? What if I have too many worries and anxieties? Am I hopeless? Of course not. From Jesus’ point of view, no matter what kind of heart soil we may have, our heart soil has to be cultivated because no one is good enough by nature. A good farmer would cultivate the field before scattering the seed. In order to develop and cultivate the wholeness in us, God sometimes breaks the hardness of our hearts and removes the rocks, thorns and thistles by allowing painful and drastic events to occur in our lives. Hebrews 12:5 and 6 reads, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

Of course, repentance is an essential part in the process of cultivating the wholeness in us. As we have studied, repentance is a lifelong process and a Christian lifestyle. The spiritual revival starts when our minds are renewed and cultivated through sincere repentance based on the word of God. Saint Paul said in Romans 12:2, which reads, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The first and most important step of the renewing of our minds is training to be good and careful listeners of God’s word. That’s why Jesus kept saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (8) “Therefore consider carefully how you listen…” (18) Throughout history, God always spoke to His people, sometimes directly, sometimes through His angels or other messengers. Hebrews 1:1-2 reads, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, who He appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” Jesus the Son of God is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God. Now, we know that God speaks through the Bible and through the Holy Spirit.

So the problem is not that God does not speak to us but that we are not able to listen to His words correctly and profoundly. Some of us might not have studied the Bible much and others might have studied the Bible for many years. We must all, however, hear God’s word freshly from heaven and deeply from our minds and hearts. Even though we may study the same word of God over and over, we need to hear God’s voice in our specific location in the context of the changing world. In that way, God’s message is very fresh and clear to us. And we can continue to challenge ourselves and grow spiritually and serve his ministry. The grace of God, which is the secrets of God’s kingdom, is simple but never shallow. It’s so deep and profound that it requires our special attention to search, discover and rediscover its meaning throughout our lifetime.

We must not also forget that our faith and cognitive minds cannot be separated. Although faith requires absolute trust in God’s power, wisdom and love, God does not want us to be a blind follower without proper understanding. Jesus our Messiah is not just a sacrificial Lamb of God. He is the greatest teacher, the greatest thinker and the most intelligent person who ever lived on earth. To grow like Jesus includes much more than blind obedience. It requires from us profound listening and critical reasoning. We need to broaden and sharpen our minds through constantly learning. But we cannot bear good fruit just by listening and reasoning. It requires obedience in our day to day life.

Look at verses 18-21. One day Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” Jesus replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” By saying this, Jesus wasn’t dishonoring his family members but honoring those who obey God’s words.
We often feel close to God and inspired when we read the Scripture and understand the deeper meaning of God’s truth. But obedience to God’s words brings us into an even closer and more intimate relationship with God our Father.
All these can start with good listening. Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (8) “Therefore be careful how you listen.”

Listening is hard work. It requires concentration, patience and humility. Our minds are filled with certain knowledge, beliefs and opinions which can lead us to prejudgment. We can stop listening carefully or even listening at all. When we do not listen it reveals the reality that our minds are closed. When you are not listening for any reason, there is nothing new for you. If we wish to live life to the fullest, then listening is vital. We also need to learn how to listen to each other. May God help us to have discernment to locate the rocks, thorns and thistles and have the courage to remove them from our hearts. May God bless us with the virtue of obedience that completes our understanding and brings us into intimate fellowship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. May God help us to listen profoundly, think critically and live faithfully as Jesus’ disciples and God’s children.