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SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY – Feb. 8, 2026 ‘The Sixtieth’ Day (Indicating the approximate time before Easter) Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto OUR OPENING HYMN: 904 “Blessed Jesus, at Your Word” From the Lutheran Service Book CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Page 184-185 THE INTROIT – Psalm 44:1-2, 7-8; antiphon: Ps. 44:23, 25a, 26a Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! For our soul is bowed down to the dust. Rise up; come to our help! O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old; you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted, you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Rise up; come to our help! KYRIE (Lord Have Mercy) Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us. Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And with thy Spirit. OUR COLLECT PRAYER – O God, the strength of all who put their trust in You, mercifully grant that by Your power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Your Son; our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. OUR BIBLE READINGS Old Testament: Isaiah 55:10-13 Psalm 84 (antiphon: v.4) Epistle: Hebrews 4:9-13 Gospel Reading: Luke 8:4-15 THE APOTELES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 823 “May God Bestow on Us His Grace” by Martin Luther https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnhQJ8m3B3o&list=RDKnhQJ8m3B3o&start_radio=1 THE SERMON – “He Who Has Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear” Last Sunday, Jesus fixed our eyes on God’s grace alone in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. The Lord’s shocking generosity overturned every human view of fairness, merit, or reward. Salvation was shown to be entirely God’s gift, freely given for Christ’s sake, apart from works. Today, the Lord points our attention to another pillar of the Christian faith: Scripture alone. The question before us this Sunday is how saving grace is delivered and received. In the Parable of the Sower, the farmer is generous to the point of appearing wasteful. Seed is scattered everywhere, even indiscriminately. That seed is the Word of God. It is living, active, powerful. And yet, the outcomes are very different. Some seed is snatched away. Some withers under trial. Competing loyalties choke off growth. While some seed bears fruit in patience and endurance. Yet this parable forces us to confront a sobering truth: the problem is never with the seed, with the Word. The problem lies with the hearers. Jesus is not teaching us how to become better farmers. This isn’t a self-help parable or a lesson in spiritual technique. Christ exposes our total dependence on God. Left to ourselves, we abandon the Word. We neglect it. Resist it. We allow it to be crowded out or stolen away. The Law here is sharp and unavoidable. As sinners, we do not naturally cling to God’s Word. We need His grace not only to be saved, but to remain in saving faith. This is why Isaiah’s promise is so crucial: “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” God’s Word doesn’t return empty. It accomplishes what He purposes. It succeeds in the thing for which He sends it. This is not a statement about human effort. It is a declaration of divine faithfulness. Where God’s Word is preached, God Himself is at work. Jesus outlines the great enemies of that Word—enemies well known to the Church and often named by Martin Luther. They are the devil, the world, and the flesh. The devil snatches the Word away before faith can take root. The world offers riches, pleasures, or cares that slowly choke the Word until it bears no fruit. The flesh retreats when the Word brings trial, discipline, or the cross. These aren't abstract dangers. They are daily realities in the Christian life. We live in a culture that is constantly distracting itself. Entertainment fills every silence. Busyness can crowd every hour. Endless information replaces wisdom, noise displaces reflection. In such a world, the Word of God can be easily pushed aside—not rejected outright, but neglected. A question is put to us today: What are the cares, riches, and pleasures that are crowding the Word of God out of our lives? What is more important than hearing, reading, studying, and praying God’s Word? The Apostle Paul wrote, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” But hearing alone is not the end. Faith must endure. It needs to be sustained through trials and temptations. As Jesus says, the good soil are those who “hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” Here we must look away from ourselves and back to Christ. For Jesus is not only the sower of the Word. He is also the perfectly faithful hearer and keeper of that Word. He is the Word made flesh. Where we fail, He stands firm. He faced the devil in the wilderness and defeated him with the Word of God. He endured suffering, rejection, and the cross in perfect obedience to His Father’s Word. He trusted the promises of God even unto death. And He did so for us. The truly good and honest heart belongs to Jesus. Our hearts are only good in, and through, Him. The Gospel shines brightly here. Christ has made full and complete payment for our sins. For every time we’ve ignored the Word. Every time we’ve allowed it to be choked out. For all the times we have fallen away under pressure. The Word that condemns us as sinners is the same Word that declares believers righteous. In Christ, God’s verdict is final and sure. “You are forgiven.” “You are mine.” This saving Word doesn’t float abstractly in the air. God delivers it through concrete means. Through preaching. Holy Baptism. Absolution. Through the Lord’s Supper. These are the means of grace. Here, God creates faith. Here, He sustains it. He strengthens weak and faltering hearts. And these means are found within the Church. The Church is not a human invention or a voluntary association. It is the place where Christ has promised to be present for us. To absent oneself from the Word and Sacraments is not a neutral act. It is to place oneself in danger. But where the Church gathers around the means of grace, Christ Himself is there, holding His people fast. We do not cling to the Word by our own strength. We cling to it because Christ seeks out and clings to us. Martin Luther provided the most clear and succinct teaching on this in the Small Catechism, in his explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed. Luther wrote, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Where did Luther find this teaching? In the Bible. In Philippians 2:13, where Paul wrote: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” In the Book of Hebrews that called Jesus “the founder and perfecter of our faith.” In Ephesians, where Paul made clear that faith is a gift of God, “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God’s Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper are not human achievements. They are gifts. They open eyes and ears. And through these gifts, He produces fruit that will endure. Crops to be gathered on the Last Day. An abundant harvest—not because of us, but only through Him. Through His cross and righteousness. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Amen. PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 The Lord’s Prayer Page 196 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Page 198 Post-Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 OUR CLOSING HYMN: 924 “Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing”