Summary of my sermon, based on Luke 8:1-15. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto on August 4, 2024.
I recently came across an intriguing HBO documentary titled “Koran By Heart,” which delves into an international competition held annually in Cairo. This competition is not just about reciting the Koran but singing it. For those who have lived in Muslim-majority countries, you might be familiar with this concept, akin to the Islamic call to prayer that begins with “Allahu Akbar.” This form of worship isn’t entirely foreign to Christians. If you grew up Roman Catholic, you might recall the responsorial psalm, where a cantor sings lines from the psalm of the day, and the congregation responds in song. During my time as a chapel organist at seminary, one of my duties was to accompany the responsorial psalm, much like the contestants in this competition who memorize the entire Quran and sing it without prepared music, adhering to the complex “Rules of Tajweed.”
The Quran, written in Arabic, is about 80,000 words long, roughly the same length as the four Gospels combined. It’s divided into chapters called Suras and verses known as Ayahs. Contestants receive a prompt, perhaps part of an Ayah, and must continue reciting the rest of the Sura from memory. They must improvise the melody on the spot while following precise rules governing rhythm, pronunciation, and even where syllables should originate within the mouth. This daunting task is performed before a panel of experts who score their performance.
The documentary follows three young contestants: nine-year-old Djamil from Senegal, seventeen-year-old Rifdha from the Maldives, and ten-year-old Nabiollah from Tajikistan. Each comes from a Muslim-majority country but none from an Arabic-speaking nation. Remarkably, these children have memorized their religion’s holy book without understanding the language it’s written in. Nabiollah received much attention for his beautiful voice during the preliminary round, while Rifdha achieved the highest mark, ultimately securing second place in the final competition, with Nabiollah taking third. Unfortunately, Djamil recited the wrong Sura due to a prompt that appears multiple times in the Quran.
This scenario, both amazing and tragic, mirrors something within Christianity. It’s possible to engage deeply with the scriptures—attending church regularly, even memorizing passages—without truly understanding or living out their message. This is the heart of our passage today.
In Luke 8, Jesus shares the parable of the sower, which we read together earlier. On the surface, it might be challenging to grasp the parable’s meaning without further explanation. Some seasoned churchgoers might intuit that the parable is about how people respond to God’s Word, particularly the preaching of the Gospel. But before explaining the parable, Jesus delivers a difficult teaching about why He uses parables in the first place.
In Luke 8:9-10, Jesus explains, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'” This teaching is challenging because it implies that, for some, the words of life will be hidden as a form of judgment on their unbelief. John MacArthur sheds light on this, stating, “A judgment falls at this point on Israel, the major turning point. Those who would not believe could not.” The parable without explanation is like a riddle, meaningless without the one who gave it.
Reflecting on the last few sermons from the Gospel of Luke, it becomes evident why this judgment befalls some Israelites, particularly the religious leaders like the Pharisees. They were not genuinely interested in God’s truth, as evidenced by their criticism of both John the Baptist and Jesus. Despite their differences, they found reasons to reject both, demonstrating that no amount of evidence or teaching would satisfy them. As a result, God gives them what they want—a skewed understanding that aligns with their desires rather than the truth.
In my own life, I recall a trip to the Philippines with my family during university. Unfamiliar with the local cuisine, I asked to try a particular barbecue dish. My cousins, with a smirk, ordered it for me. After tasting it, I learned it was “isaw”—barbecued chicken intestines. When I got upset, my cousin responded, “Ginusto mo yan”—”You wanted it!” This phrase encapsulates Jesus’ message in Luke 8:9-10. The Pharisees wanted to control God’s truth, so God allowed them to interpret it as they wished, even if it led to their spiritual downfall.
Jesus then explains the parable of the sower, illustrating how people hear the Gospel. In Luke 8:11-15, He describes four types of hearers: those on the path where the devil quickly snatches the word away, those on rocky ground who believe for a time but fall away during trials, those among thorns who are choked by life’s worries and riches, and finally, those on good soil who hear the word, hold it fast, and bear fruit with patience.
This parable reminds us that not everyone who hears the Word of God will come to saving faith. The crowds that gathered around Jesus, like those filling churches today, are not necessarily a sign of spiritual success. Some churches draw large crowds with a shallow, prosperity-driven message, but even in faithful churches, not everyone who hears the Gospel will respond with true, lasting faith. Our role is to sow the seed faithfully, trusting that God will give the growth.
As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
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