Do you ever find yourself getting in silly arguments, even about spiritual things?
Do you ever feel like even though you know what's right, you still struggle to do it?
Do you ever feel like this whole following Christ thing just isn't taking root within
you?
Hey everybody this is Steve and God is after our hearts.
This week's Gospel reading is probably very familiar.
It's the Parable of the Sower, which we covered in an episode of Be the Bee.
This week's epistle reading, on the other hand, may not be familiar.
It's from Paul's letter to Titus, and it's advice to do good deeds and avoid the foolish
things that lead us into divisions.
The twist here is that, even though we're still reading Luke, this isn't the 4th Sunday
of Luke.
Instead, this Sunday and its readings are dedicated to the 7th Ecumenical Council, when
the Church condemned the assault on icons.
We'll see how these readings connect with the 7th Council in a bit.
Remember, if you need a bit more context on the readings, check out the videos we made
on Luke's Gospel and on Paul's Epistle to Titus.
Whether or not you watch those videos, you definitely need to read the passages before
we continue.
If you haven't yet, you're going to pause and read, right?
Which it totally cool, I could use a break.
Ok, let's get started.
The Gospel reading is the Parable of the Sower, where Jesus tells us about the different ways
we can receive (or fail to receive) the word of God.
Notice the words that Luke uses in this passage to describe the way the word can hit us.
He says that the seed, the Word of God, can fall *alongside* the path; or *on top of*
the rocks, or *among* the thorns.
If it does that, it's not going to take root and make good fruit.
On the other hand the seed, the Word of God, can fall *into* the good soil.
This word, *into*, is much deeper and intimate than words like *alongside* and *upon* and
*among*.
If the Word of God is really going to take root in our hearts, if we're really going
to open ourselves to the transformation that only God can work, then something has to happen
deep within us, in the very core of who we are.
Only then, as Luke writes, will any good fruit grow.
And not just good fruit, an incredible amount of good fruit.
A hundredfold, more than we could know what to do with.
But here we need to ask as well - what do we mean by fruit?
Fruit is the crop that bears more seeds of that very plant.
When a seed is planted and grows into a mature plant, it spreads new seeds to make new plants
through its fruit.
Every apple, every orange, every mango holds within it the seeds to make new apple trees,
and orange trees, and mango trees.
You may hear Church Fathers or theologians refer to Christians as, in a sense, "little
Christs."
And this saying can help us understand the Parable of the Sower in a profound way.
When we receive the seed, the Word of God, our whole lives begin to bear His fruit; which
is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
His fruit is virtue and righteousness.
And His fruit contains within it the seeds to plant the Word of God in others.
Christ is, in a sense, telling us about how He's reproducing Himself in us: calling us
to be transformed, to become little Christs as we receive, in the very core of our being,
the Word of God.
And this core of every human being is the heart.
Jesus is telling us that that the Word of God must take root, not alongside our hearts,
but *in* our hearts so that we can bear the fruit of Godliness - Christ Himself - in this
troubled and fallen world.
Jesus wants the Word of God to take root at the center of each human person, directing
everything that we do, and everything that we become.
So that we can become true human beings, made in the image and likeness of *the* true human
being.
So that, as Paul says in another Epistle of his: "it is no longer we who live, but Christ
who lives in us."
But this is easier said than done.
And you may not know where to begin.
I mean, how do we open our hearts to the seed that the sower sows?
How do we open our hearts to God's Word, so that the seed takes root in the very center
of our lives?
Well, Paul's letter can help us understand.
Paul's letter offers advice to Titus and his fellow Christians.
At the very end of the reading, we see that Paul wants to make sure that the people do
not remain *unfruitful*.
And Paul offers specific guidance on the sort of effort that leads to a fruitful Christian
life.
He says that we need to learn to apply ourselves to good deeds, and that we need to help in
cases of urgent need.
If our hearts are going to be the sort of good soil that the seed can fall into, then
we need to work on that soil.
The physical ground, the soil, can become dry as a rock; hard and unforgiving, almost
impossible for a seed to be planted in it.
In the same way, our hearts can become hard and unforgiving, the kinds of hearts that
simply will not receive the Word of God.
Indeed, it is this hardness of heart that frequently leads to the the "stupid controversies"
that Paul encourages Christians to avoid.
Paul, offering his advice to Titus and us, isn't interested simply in making sure that
Christians *know* all the right things - he's interested in making sure that Christians
bear the fruit that Christ speaks of in Luke's Gospel.
If we look at all the ways we stumble in our lives, we'll see that merely *knowing* something
isn't necessarily enough to lead to any real, substantive change.
I can *know* that anger is a sin yet still rage against the guy who cuts me off on the
highway.
I can *know* that ignoring the suffering of the needy is a sin yet still look away when
I see someone hungry or shivering in the cold.
So we need more than head knowledge.
We need a complete and total transformation of the heart.
We need to open our hearts to the seed that God is ready to plant.
And this is why good deeds are so important in your life, in my life, in the life of any
and every Christian.
Good deeds aren't about winning favor with God or somehow earning our way into the Kingdom.
No, good deeds transform our hearts: from something dry and rocky to something rich
and fertile, something that is willing to hand things over to God so the Lord can work
on us, and transform us, and create an abundant harvest of love, of joy, of gentleness in
us.
As we covered a few weeks ago for the 2nd Sunday of Luke, good deeds are how we open
ourselves up to become the living Temple of the living God.
And here's an added twist to all of this.
Paul advises Titus to not simply do what is needful, but to do that which is *urgently*
needful.
Paul's advising Titus, and us reading his words today, to be extra careful to avoid
things that may *seem* necessary but actually aren't.
To avoid things that aren't healthy or beneficial, but are actually the stupid controversies,
the unprofitable and futile quarrels that pull us apart and instead to focus on the
things that draw us into a fruitful life in Christ.
So here's the thing - this Sunday is dedicated to the 7th Ecumenical Council.
At that time, a lot of well-meaning people worried that icons were actually idolatrous,
that using icons was a way to turn away from God rather than connect with Him.
Of course, the opponents of icons weren't stupid.
They had plenty of theological head-knowledge that led to their conclusions.
But their head-knowledge also led to a deep divide in the Church.
Because theology isn't merely about the head.
Instead of seeing a God who draws near to human beings through flesh and blood, through
the matter of creation, they closed their hearts to God *as He is*.
They preferred to see God as they *imagined* He should be.
Instead of focusing on knowing the Lord, iconoclasm became about being right.
It became a stupid controversy, a thing that should have been settled through the scriptures
and prayer.
It led to the destruction of icons, the persecution of saints; it divided the Church.
Arguments about who has the right facts can become thorns that grow to keep the seed God
has planted from taking root.
Arguments can get heated and angry and prideful and become something that keeps the Word of
God *alongside* us and block its from being planted deep *into* our hearts.
Stupid controversies do not bear God's fruit--His peace, His kindness, His patience--and cannot
spread His seed in the world.
We've covered a lot of ground today--no pun intended.
And to help work through what this all means for each us, we'll end as we always do: with
3 questions.
First, have you ever become so concerned with being right, with a stupid controversy, that
it has stood in the way of loving your brother?
Have you ever been so focused on matters of the head that you have forgotten the heart?
And, if you have, what have you done to help heal that division?
Second, though the Lord wants to plant His seed in your heart, you'll find that parts
of your heart are rocky, thorny, or shallow; which gets in the way of that seed being planted
and bearing fruit.
So what worries you and chokes out the Word?
What keeps you from embracing the Word with joy?
What distracts you from even hearing the Word?
Third, what are the things you could do today to start tilling the ground of your heart?
How can you work on breaking up the stony hardness that is inside you in order to make
room for the Word of God?
We'll be back with a new episode on Monday.
And my buddy Christian will have a short response video up on Thursday as he wrestles with these
questions.
I hope you'll read the Gospels and Epistle passages we covered today.
And, whether it's with family or friends or a Bible Study group, I hope you'll talk about
what we've covered and wrestle with what God has for you, in your life.
Most importantly, I hope you'll celebrate with us this Sunday and every Sunday, to hear
the beautiful Scripture readings proclaimed during the Divine Liturgy and to learn how
you can Live the Word.
You can click on our logo to subscribe to our channel, and make sure you turn on notifications
so you never miss a video.
You can find lots more from us at our website: y2am.org.