Jesus Sows His Reckless Love
Message from God’s Word: Matthew 13: 1-9
13That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Jesus Sows His Reckless Love
Pastor sings:
The sower sows; his reckless love
Scatters abroad the goodly seed,
Intent alone that there may be
The wholesome loaves that people need.
Look at this verse: sower sows his reckless love. This is based on the parable before us today. This weekend, we are looking at “Jesus sowing his reckless love.” The parable before us provides an interesting insight into God’s love. The sower is the Father. The seed is the Gospel – the message of love and forgiveness in Christ. The parable has several points to it. I think that most often, we look at this parable from the standpoint of the different types of “soil”, in other words, the different types of reactions to the Gospel. That is a valid point to discuss. However, today, let us look at this parable from a different perspective – let us look at the actions of the sower – the farmer. Notice – this farmer goes out and sows his seed but notice – he is reckless, wasteful and in a hurry to sow His love wherever he can – on the path, the thorns, the rocky ground, the good soil – it doesn’t matter. So we can say God’s love is reckless. What do we mean by that?
Part 1: What is Reckless Love?
The Meaning of Reckless: adjective (of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action. In other words, it refers to the fact that a person will act and not worry about the consequences. God’s love is this way. God has loved you in a “reckless”way. The question is:
How has God acted towards you without caring about consequences?
The nature of God is to sow love everywhere! God isn’t cautious, strategic and calculated when it comes to sowing His love. Because He loves when we don’t love back. He blesses when we don’t say thanks. He sows when we’re surrounded by thorns. And that is what Jesus is saying about God – that He loves the rebellious and the religious as if they were the same. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done, whether you’re a regular or a visitor, whether you’re on top of the world or stuck in the pit – black/white, rich/poor, old/young, sober/addicted, popular/alone – none of that matters to this indiscriminate and reckless God. He is in a hurry to invest in you.
I often ask people: “why did God decided to love you?” He did so because he wanted to. We turn to that great passage:
John 3: 16 16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God decided to the love the world – but his love was reckless in that he didn’t care about the consequence of that love – for the consequence of that love would mean that he would have to die for the world. Yet, he was willing even when we were unwilling to love him. To our wonderful Savior we sing:
Hymn: #366 “O Jesus So Sweet, O Jesus So Mild”
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
For sinners you became a child.
You came from heaven to fulfill
Your Father's just and holy will.
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
With God we now are reconciled.
You have for all the ransom paid,
Your Father's righteous anger stayed.
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
Joy fills the world which sin defiled.
Whate'er we have belongs to you;
Oh, keep us faithful, strong, and true.
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
Part 2: Jesus Sows His Reckless Love in Forgiveness
Pastor sings:
The sower sows; his reckless love
Scatters abroad the goodly seed,
Intent alone that there may be
The wholesome loaves that people need.
Our Savior sows his reckless love every week in our hearts. Almost every worship service, we begin with the confession of our sins. Without hesitation, Jesus immediately sows again his love and forgiveness in your hearts – how reckless because it would cost him dearly. It would cost him more than just death – it would cost him one of the most horrific deaths of all. Seven hundred years before he came to this world, God spoke of that love in Jesus as he described Jesus on Good Friday.
Isaiah 53: 5-6 5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was pierced – we think of the nail marks, the spear in his side. He was crushed – he fell under the weight of the cross. The punishment – we remember that crucifixion was the worst form of capital punishment. His wounds – we think of his back laid open by the many whippings, the crown of thorns, the nail marks. Yet, we left him. Humanity turned its back on the gracious God. But God would not hold you guilty. No, he took our sins and put them on Jesus.
So, every Sunday, when we come to worship, we received Jesus’ reckless love in his forgiveness for you. In the confession of sins that we use in Baptism, let us turn to our gracious God to receive his love.
Confession of Sins
Pastor: Our Savior Jesus Christ commanded baptism when he said: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” All of us are born into this world with a deep need for baptism.
From our parents we inherit a sinful nature; we are without true fear of God and true faith in God and are condemned to eternal death. But Jesus took away our sin by giving his life on the cross. At our baptism he clothes us with the robe of his righteousness and gives us a new life. Our sinful nature need not control us any longer. We recall what baptism means for our daily lives as we speak these words:
Congregation: Baptism means that the sinful nature in us should be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance, and that all its evil deeds and desires be put to death. It also means that a new person should daily arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Pastor: As baptized children of God we confess our sins:
Congregation: Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful, and that I have disobeyed you in my thoughts, words, and actions. I have done what is evil and failed to do what is good. For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity. But I am truly sorry for my sins, and trusting in my Savior Jesus Christ, I pray: Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.
So, once again, God sows his reckless love in your hearts…..
Absolution
M: God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Hymn: #283: “Speak, O Savior; I Am Listening”
2.Oh, what blessing to be near you
And to listen to your voice!
Let me ever love and fear you;
Let your Word still be my choice.
Many hardened sinners, Lord,
Flee in terror at your Word,
But to all who feel sin's burden
You give peace and words of pardon.
3.Lord, your words are waters living
Where I quench my thirsty needs.
Lord, your words are bread life-giving;
On your words my spirit feeds.
Lord, your words will be my light
Through death's cold and dreary night;
Yes, they are my sword prevailing
And my cup of joy unfailing.
Part 3: Jesus Sows His Reckless Love in Baptism
Pastor sings:
The sower sows; his reckless love
Scatters abroad the goodly seed,
Intent alone that there may be
The wholesome loaves that people need.
Titus 3: 4-7 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Paul wrote these words. Did Paul deserve to be a child of God? No. He had persecuted the church of God. Yet, God wanted him to be his child – to receive his love. He called him into his family. Paul says: “he saved us”…He saved us because he wanted to. How reckless – the consequence meant he would have to save us even though we couldn’t do any righteous thing. This gift of baptism is our God “generously” pouring out his love into our hearts. In abundance, overflowing, more than we can handle – that’s how generous. We have been justified – declared not guilty. There it is – the picture of a courtroom and God the Father as the judge slams down his gavel and says of you: “I declare you not guilty.”
This happened at your baptism. It is possible that when you were brought to the font of Holy Baptism, the pastor said something like this…..
To Parents: Pastor: In obedience to the command of our Lord and trusting in his promise, you have brought this child to be baptized. Jesus told us: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” It is in baptism that God grants the new life of forgiveness, joy, and peace to little children. By the power of God’s Word, this gracious water of life washes away sin, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe.
In your baptism, God sowed his love into your heart. The Pastor may have said: “Receive the sign of the cross both on your heart and on your head to mark you as a redeemed child of God.” The signing of the cross is a symbolical act that reminds us that this sacrament finds its power in the sacrifice of Christ. He saves us in baptism because of the grace of Christ in his sacrifice on the cross.
At our baptism, we confess our faith – faith not in our own works, but faith in the work of our God.
Confession of Faith
Let us confess the faith of the Church, the faith into which this child/you will be, baptized, the Apostles' Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Baptism
______, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Almighty God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-has forgiven all your sins, By your baptism, you are born again and made a dear child of your Father in heaven.
May God strengthen you to live in your baptismal grace all the days of your life. Peace be with you.
For most of you, when you were a child, you were brought to the font of Holy Baptism and the pastor poured some water on your head and said:
With this simple water and these words of the Gospel, Jesus sowed his love – his reckless love in your heart.
May 6, 1962, that is when God poured out his love into my heart. When did he do this for you? Whatever day that was, it truly was a wonder – a miracle. Of this miracle of love we sing….
Hymn: #300 “See this Wonder in the Making”
1.See this wonder in the making:
God himself this child is taking
As a lamb safe in his keeping,
His to be, awake or sleeping.
2.Miracle each time it happens
As the door of heaven opens
And the Father beams, "Beloved,
Heir of gifts a king would covet!"
3.Far more tender than a mother,
Far more caring than a father,
God, into your arms we place him,
With your love and peace embrace him.
4.Here we bring a child of nature;
Home we take a newborn creature,
Now God's precious son or daughter,
Born again by Word and water.
Part 4: Jesus Sows His Reckless Love in Communion
Jesus sowed his reckless love in your heart at your baptism. He continues to sow his love in your hearts every week – yes every time we come to him in his Word. But he is not finished. He wants to provide another way to share his love through the gift of the Lord’s Supper. Why does he give us the Lord’s Supper when we already have received his love in Baptism and continue to receive his love in his Word? Like the sower and the seed, our God wants to sow his love into your heart. So, our Lord Jesus, the night before he was crucified…..
Matthew 26: 26-28
26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
When you are privileged to come to the Lord’s table, Jesus proves his love to you. When he said, “Take and eat, this is my body” it meant that he would have to give his body. If this is going to be a sacrament with all the power and blessings, he would have to give his body. If he said that this is his blood, he would have to shed his blood on the cross to make this sacrament effective for forgiveness.
When you come here, it is just you and your Savior. He is giving you his very body that was placed on the cross, he is giving you his very blood that poured from his whipped back, that ran from his thorn-pierced head and his nail-pierced hands. He is giving himself to you and taking your sins. What love –what reckless love! Of this special gift of love, let us be reminded as we read responsively….
Pastor: Many years ago Christ gathered with his disciples in the upper room.
Cong.: And ate with the one who would betray him.
Christ took the towel and washed his disciples’ feet saying:
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Christ gave us His Holy Supper
That we who eat this bread and drink this cup may proclaim his death, receive his
his body and blood, and on the last day share in his resurrection.
Christ, the Lamb of God gave himself into the hands of those who would slay him,
C: And was abandoned by those who followed him.
Pastor: The Sacrifice is here! “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, Take and eat, this is my body.” (Matthew 26: 27)
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, “Drink from it all of you. This is my blood which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt. 26: 28)
“I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom...but you eat and drink often in remembrance of me.”
(Matthew 26: 28 & I Corinthians 11: 24 & 25)