In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Preachers, especially young preachers, are often admonished
to be less abstract and to be more concrete. This is good advice but I fear
that it is sometimes misunderstood. A word or concept is abstract when it is considered
by itself, separated from the context and ideas which naturally accompany it.[1]
To consider the quality of ‘whiteness’ would be an abstract thought because the
quality of ‘whiteness’ is being considered without reference to a subject.
The adjective ‘concrete” literally means “united in growth.”[2] A concrete thought is applied to a subject. To
consider the whiteness of snow is a concrete thought. I’ve taken the abstract
idea of ‘whiteness’ and given it a subject – snow.
It is a temptation of theologians to dive deeply into
abstract topics. It is an overstatement, but illustrative, to say that the
entire branch of dogmatic theology is abstract. If you open a dogmatics book,
you will find sections on justification, sanctification, the two natures, sin, authority,
perspicuity, and on and on. This becomes a temptation when theologians are
asked to communicate with individuals. Bringing an abstract idea to bear on
individuals necessarily requires a movement into the concrete. The abstract
idea of sin must become the concrete idea of the sinner. The
abstract idea of justification requires the concrete understanding of the
substitution of the righteous Christ for the wicked sinner. The temptation of
the preacher is to remain in the realm of the abstract and place the
responsibility for moving into the concrete solely on his hearer.
And yet this criticism is often overemphasized. Sometimes,
it is necessary to teach in the abstract before bringing this teaching into the
concrete. If you are interested in anatomy, or the study of the structure of
living things, you must begin with abstract concepts. Perhaps you start with
the skeleton. A skeleton is not a living thing. It is part of a living thing.
Once you understand the skeleton, perhaps you move onto the muscles. After
learning about the muscles by themselves, you will inevitably put your
knowledge of the muscles and skeleton together. In so doing, your knowledge
will grow together or, become concrete.
Our Lord, Himself, taught using abstract words and concepts.
Although the parables use many concrete terms, they are almost always taught in
abstraction. Today, Jesus has told us about a sower going out to sow seed. Three-quarters
of the seed is trampled, devoured, withered, and choked. One third grows in
good soil and yields a hundred-fold. This was the entirety of the teaching as
the great multitude received it. As such, this is a very abstract teaching. It
is left open ended for the hearer to interpret. Jesus even concludes this
teaching by saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”[3]
Who has ears? What is
he supposed to hear? What does agriculture have to do with Jesus? What does
seed have to do with salvation? The answers to these questions are the
necessary context to move the parable from abstract to concrete.
The seed is the Word of God. Those who are trampled,
devoured, withered, or choked are unbelievers. The circumstances of these
various groups are different, but they all belong to the category of
unbeliever. Some disregarded the Word immediately. Others receive the Word of
God with joy but fall away due to temptation. Still others endure in the faith
for a while but are choked with the cares, riches, and pleasures of life. All
abandon the Word of God. The final group in the parable are those who hear the
Word with a noble and good heart, keep it, and bear fruit with patience. He who
has ears to hear, let him hear.
The one who has faith has ears. Said faith receives the
abstract teaching of the parable and places it into the context of the Scriptures.
The one with faithful ears hears of trampling, devouring, withering, and
choking, and calls to mind the temptations of the devil, the world, and our
sinful flesh. He knows the punishment for sin. Three-quarters of the seed ends
up dead and he sees such temptation creeping into his flesh. He is aware that
sin is waiting at the door and is prepared to snatch him.
This one with faithful ears also hears of the seed and
immediately calls to mind the first promise of our merciful God, ‘The seed of
the woman shall crush the head of the serpent.’[4]
‘The Savior of the nations shall come from the seed of David.’[5]
‘Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it cannot produce much grain.’[6]
Thus the faithful ear hears that this Word of God is itself the Incarnate
Christ, the Messiah. It is this Christ, this Word of God, who has crushed the
head of the serpent.
This is an important point that you should not miss. The
phrase, “the Word of God,” is itself an abstract concept. What is “the Word of
God”? It might refer to the Bible, the written Word. It might refer to preaching,
the proclaimed Word. It might refer to the Second Person of the Trinity, as St.
John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth.”[7]
In the most fundamental sense, the Word of God must always
be referring to Jesus Christ. He is the fundamental Word of God. Without Him,
the words on the pages of the Bible and the words coming from my mouth will do
you no good. It is only because of the Son of God, Who took on flesh to die for
sin and rise again for your justification that the ink in the Bible and the
words of my mouth deliver to you live and salvation. So yes, in this parable,
the seed that is cast abroad is the Word of God, that is Jesus Christ, as read
from the Bible, proclaimed from the pulpit, showered on the Baptized, fed from
the altar, and absolved with holy words.
Now that the faithful ear has placed the abstract into
concrete context, what does this Word of God have to do for you, dear hearers,
in a concrete sense?
Firstly, there is no such thing as sinners in the abstract. Know
that whenever a sin is condemned in Scripture or when a sin is preached against
from the pulpit, the condemnation of this sin falls upon the concrete people
who commit such a sin. The phrase “hate the sin, love the sinner” has a nice
sentiment but it is wrong. The sentiment is to show love for the erring, that
they might be won with love. It is true that we should not be cruel to people
nor mean for the sake of being mean. However, to the impenitent sinner, it is
God’s Law that will convict his heart, not the sweetness of the Gospel. No sin
is committed apart from the person who does it. There is no distinguishing
between the sin and the sinner. This is a concrete truth.
What then of you, beloved of the Lord, when you find
yourself sinning? When you have uncovered a sin in your heart or in the works
of your hands? What are you to do? Do you say, ‘But I am of the good soil, so
I’m not worried about it’? No! You repent. You repent and you pray that Christ
would remove this sin from your flesh as far as the east is from the west. You
pray that while you have found stones in your soil, Christ would till the land,
removes the stones, and make your heart and mind fertile ground for the
receiving of Him once again.
No soil is prepared for agriculture by nature. It must be
prepared in one way or another. Either the soil needs to be gathered into a
tillable area, it must be cleared of stones, or invasive plants must first be
destroyed. All soil requires preparation for agriculture. The same is true of
human beings. You are not prepared to receive Christ and eternal life by
nature. You must be prepared. You must be prepared like soil. The removal of
such obstacles is painful and must necessarily disturb the soil before the soil
can be planted. This painful removal of sin is called repentance in the life of
the Christian. It is the process of taking an honest look at yourself and seeing
just what is unfit to be presented to your God and Lord.
Then, the most painful part of the process is to remove said
sins, but the frustrating part is that you cannot remove them on your own. The
soil does not willfully give up the stones. But after the farmer has churned up
the soil to reveal the stones, the soil is joyful to have them removed. Only
the Christian, the one declared and made to be good soil is willing and joyful
in the process of having stoney sins removed from his soul. The process of
breaking up the soil of your heart, of examining your conscience, is still
painful but the knowledge of relief after the removal of sin gives you the
patience to endure.
I’ll leave it up to you to understand the differences
between abstract and concrete, though I will give you a hint. I cannot describe
the concrete sins to which you are tempted, enticed, or prone to. I cannot
because I cannot see into your heart. But in the abstract, I can tell you that
any sin to which you cling will degrade the soil of your heart. Also in the
abstract, any sin which lies in your heart can also be removed by the Good
Sower, who has given Himself over to death in your place, so that all crows,
stones, and thorns would be removed forever. Come then, and receive the Good
Sower not abstractly, through some spiritual experience, but concretely, in His
Holy Body and Holy Blood.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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