Reformation 2019
John 8:31-36
“Free to…”
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
When the founders of the United States drew up the Declaration of Independence and framed the Constitution, they adopted Luther’s principles [although not his Theology]. This has been freely admitted by many great leaders of our country. Daniel Webster said, “The Reformation of Martin Luther introduced the principles of civil liberty into the wilderness of North America.” President McKinley said, “Luther gave us civil and religious liberty.” Henry Ward Beecher said, “Our civil liberty is the result of the open Bible, which Luther gave us.”
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson, 1776. ME 1:29, Papers 1:315)
It is in the First Amendment that we hear these words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” (John 8:31-33)
The Jews pointed to the fact that they were Abraham’s seed. They were God’s chosen nation. They were promised by God to be made great. Nobody could take this away from them. No nation could counter God’s promise. They may have been enslaved by Egypt and Babylon in the past…but that didn’t take the religious freedom away; that didn’t break God’s promise to be their God and they His people; that didn’t take away their proud heritage.
We often feel and speak the same way. We point to the First Amendment and often speak boldly about our religious freedom…as well as other freedoms. In our country we have the freedom to choose how we live. We have the freedom to abort as many babies as we want. We have the freedom to commit adultery. We have the freedom to choose our own sexuality. We have the freedom to drink too much. We have the freedom to…[fill in the blank]. All of these things are done with many defending it as their pursuit of happiness and their religious freedom. Yet we are not free. No; we are slaves. Many may argue we are Americans. We are not slaves to anyone! We are Thomas Jefferson’s sons; we are George Washington’s sons, We are Abraham Lincoln’s sons…we are slaves to no one!
“Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)
We sin by putting other things first before God. We misuse God’s name when we cuss and swear and when we use other phrases that have the same sinful intent. We don’t always keep the Sabbath Day. We aren’t always in Church or worshiping God and often we make excuses to not go to church. We often disobey our parents instead of honoring them. Many the unborn and others murder with their lips and thoughts. We commit adultery when we look lustfully at another person whether its walking down the street, reading a magazine, looking at a calendar, or surfing the internet. We steal from others by taking what isn’t ours, cheating others of what they have, or finding means to get things that are untruthful. We speak badly about others, start rumors, and lie to make others look bad or make ourselves look better. We covet things that aren’t ours. We wish we lived in the bigger house; we wish we drove the nicer cars; we wish we wore better clothes. Yes, we are sinners and truly we are slaves to sin.
Luther knew about sin. Luther knew how sinful he was. Luther thought God to be an angry judge that could not love him or forgive him. There was nothing that he could do to merit God’s love or forgiveness. And the Church in Luther’s time gave him no peace or hope.
Later in his life, Luther would write a letter to his friend Philip Melanchthon on August 1, 1521, Luther wrote: "Be a sinner and sin boldly but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly...Pray boldly--you too are a mighty sinner." Luther doesn’t want you to sin and not care…but to follow your conscience boldly. Luther says this about Christians: “simul Justus et peccator” which means “at the same time saint and sinner.” But how do we go from being poor miserable sinners to being saints that sin boldly, believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly and pray boldly? How are we freed from the bondage of sin; from being slaves to sin?
“Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:35-36) “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-24)
This is the heart of our Lutheran Theology that we celebrate this day and every day: Justification by God’s grace alone. What is sad is that many do not know what Justification is. Some have watered down Justification to mean “just as if I didn’t do it.” But that misses the point. That makes it sound as if there were no need for Christ to die. Our sin did come with a heavy price. Our sin was punished. Jesus took our sin, our wrath, our punishment upon Himself and died on the cross in our stead. Justification is God’s declaration that we are innocent; forgiven for Jesus sake. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we are forgiven. But that doesn’t mean we can go and do whatever we want. It doesn’t mean that once saved always saved. It doesn’t mean we can ignore being in this place. It means that by faith we are free…to be faithful! Faithful to Christ, His Word, and His Church. Faithful to share the truth about Jesus in love. Faithful to share His love.
Christ has set you free from sin. No matter what Satan or this sinful world may throw at you…your sins are forgiven “period.” You are God’s beloved child “period.” Remember that even if they take “our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, though these all be gone, our victory has been won; The Kingdom ours remaineth.” Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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