A Gospel for All Nations

Grace to you and peace in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

Last week we learned about the Sower casting seeds, trusting God’s Word to take root in us. We walked alongside the farmer, scattering the Good News even when we could not always see the sprouts. Today we continue with The Patience of the Sower.

Moments ago we heard guests speaking John 3:16-17 in different languages. Voices with the same living Word of God. It’s a living glimpse of God’s great design: that His Word would reach every language, every people, every nation.

Just like seeds are scattered across fields by farmers we may never meet, the Word is spoken into hearts we may never see, but the Lord knows them all. It reminds us that the seeds of the Gospel are not confined to neat furrows and familiar faces. The Master Sower, the Master Gardener, God, plants His seeds far and wide. Today, we see how God, like a patient farmer, plants and waits, while growth is hidden and unseen beneath the soil.

King David trusted God while hiding in caves and waiting for deliverance. He prayed in Psalm 57:

In the shadow of Your wings
I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by¹

We too trust God’s patient work in our hearts, even when the soil looks bare.

The Patient Work of God

In Acts 9², we meet Saul, before He met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was breathing threats and murder against the Lord’s disciples. If ever there was a hardened field of rock and stone, it was Saul’s heart. Yet notice what the Master Gardener does. Jesus meets Saul on the hard dusty road, where nothing can grow, where birds devour the seeds that land. Jesus meets him not with fire and fury, but with a call to faith and service. A Word that plants itself deep. He says, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.³”

Saul is blinded. Led by the hand. Humbled. He is scared and scarred. The weeds have been pulled out of his heart by the roots. The seeds of faith have been planted, but growth does not happen instantly.

Days pass before Ananias is sent to lay hands on him. Baptismal waters wash over Saul, the scales fall from his eyes, and the Holy Spirit rushes in. With that work started, it would take years of shaping before Saul, now Paul, would be sent as a planter among the nations.

Paul spent three years learning more about Jesus before he went out telling others. Growth takes time. The hard, cracked soil of Saul’s heart was broken open by grace, and the tender roots of faith began to push down deep where once there was only stone. God’s work is rarely rushed. Seeds do not sprout overnight. Roots must grow down before shoots can grow up.

We demand instant results. “Lord, where are You?” or “Why isn’t this working?” or “Why is this happening?” We are restless farmers, staring at the bare dirt and wondering if the seeds have failed. The Gospel whispers, “Be still and know I am God.⁴” The Master Sower, the Master Farmer has not forgotten His field. His Word is living and active.⁵ His Holy Spirit works beneath the surface, often out of sight, but never gone.

Peter and the Sower’s Care

Now picture the disciples. After Jesus’ death they are discouraged, disoriented, depressed. They return to what they know: fishing. They head out. They fish all night, hauling empty nets in the dark. No fish. No future. No hope.

Then, at dawn, a man on the shore cries out, “Children, do you have any fish?⁶” He already knows the answer. With patience and grace, Jesus directs them: “Cast the net on the other side of the boat.” They capture a haul so large they cannot pull it in. John recognizes Him first: “It is the Lord!” Peter plunges into the sea to get to Him.

There by a fire, that might have resembled the fire where Peter warmed himself when he denied knowing Jesus, by this fire Jesus prepares breakfast. Bread and fish. No rebuke. No retribution. No scolding or reprimand. Only an invitation to come and eat.⁷

How often do we miss the blessings of God because of our fear or worry about what we’ll find in ourselves if we get too close to Him. How often do we return to what we think will be comfortable, our old nets, our old job? How often do we wander blind in the dark, frustrated and fruitless?

Through it all Jesus, with the patience of a patient farmer, tends to us, care for us. He feeds us with His Holy Word, waters us with His Holy Baptism, sustaining us with His Holy Supper, caring for us through the Holy Spirit.

He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.⁸

The Small Catechism teaches:

He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.⁹

Friedrich Wyneken and the Gospel Sower

We see the same patient sowing in the life of Friedrich Wyneken,¹⁰ whose commemoration is today. Born in Germany, he crossed the Atlantic to serve scattered German immigrants in America, especially in the then very rugged Midwest.

Imagine what it was like, riding horseback across untamed land. Facing storms, loneliness, disease. Families isolated without pastors, without Baptism or the Lord’s Supper, or even regular worship. Wyneken didn’t despair. He sowed the Word tirelessly, preaching, baptizing, providing the Lord’s Supper. He wrote passionate letters back to Germany, pleading for more workers for the harvest.

Think about pastor Shilling who very well could have know Wyneken, who may have been here in the Americas because of Wyneken’s request, who road that rail that now sits silent, from Marshfield to Medford, stopping at each small town. Spreading the seeds of faith. He stopped here in Colby and this congregation gathered for the very first time to hear that very first sermon. Now, nearly 140 years later, we ar still spreading those seeds of faith.

These men, like a faithful farmer, planted and watered, trusting God to give the growth.¹¹ The patient work laid the foundation for what would become strong Lutheran congregations across this country, including this church. We are the fruit of their patient work. It is a reminder that Gospel sowing, even when slow and challenging, yields a harvest in God’s good time.

A Harvest for All Nations

The second reading, Revelation 5, points our attention to the end of the age. A vision of the Lamb, Jesus, standing victorious, worthy to open the scroll of salvation. Gathered around Him are saints from:

every tribe and language and people and nation.¹²

It is no accident we heard John 3:16–17 today in a number of languages. The Word is alive, still reaching ears and hearts far beyond our own town. We scatter the seed with confidence, not seeing all the sprouts, but knowing the harvest will come.

The Augsburg Confession, a document in the Book of Concord, reminds us:

The Church is the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the Sacraments are administered rightly.¹³

That mission of bringing God’s Law which shows us how much we need Him and God’s Gospel which shows us how much we are worth to Him is not confined by culture or country. It is planted throughout the world. The Law reveals the truth: We grow impatient. We hoard the seed. We doubt the soil. We fail to trust the slow, sure work of God’s Word. It is the Gospel that brings comfort: Jesus Himself is the faithful Master Farmer. His Word will not return empty.¹⁴ His patience never runs dry. His Spirit waters every seed planted in His name.

Tending the Soil

Still, planting is only the beginning. Even after seeds are planted, the soil must be tended carefully. Weeds must be pulled. Roots must be nurtured. Next week, we will learn how to “Tend the Soil” of our hearts so that the Word of God may grow strong and sure.

Conclusion: Trust the Patient Sower

Today I want you to remember: The Sower never abandons His field. The seeds you plant, a kind word, a prayer, an invitation to church are never wasted. Like Friedrich Wyneken. Like Peter. Like Paul. We sow and we wait, trusting the Patient Sower, Jesus Christ our Lord, who watches over every seed, and who promises a harvest that no storm or drought can steal.

Maybe you have planted seeds in prayer and still wait for the first sprout. Maybe you have scattered kindness that seems forgotten. Take heart. The Sower knows. He sees what we cannot. Trust His timing, and trust His heart.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

=======

NOTES