Reformation Sunday October 25, 2009

 

John 8:31-36 Freedom in The Gospel

 

Dear fellow redeemed:

To be an American is to know what freedom is.

1 We’re free from those who would tyrannize and oppress us.

2 We’re free to obtain an education, to enter the field of our choice.

3 We’re free to hold to our own political views, to confess our religious convictions, to be who we want to be. We live in the land of liberty after all.

* Most will agree that American freedom is important.

You can’t put a price tag on it.

 

But American freedom means different things to different people.

1 For some freedom means being able to serve other people.

For others it means getting to live my life without interference from others.

2 For some it means being able to settle down, to work where I want to work and live where I want to live. For others it means never settling down.

3 For some it means freedom of religion.

For others it means freedom from religion.

 

And what if we stick to that subject of religion?

Especially then people cannot agree what true freedom consists of.

* We may think of the people in our text. I’m sure there was a fairly diverse gathering of people, consisting basically of three groups.

* On one end were the unbelievers, including perhaps a few Gentiles known as pagans. On the other end were the self-righteous Pharisees. But you also had your believing Jews present who were quite eager to listen to Jesus.

They were the ones who’d learn about freedom as it’s given us in the Gospel.

* And that’s how it is today. People look for freedom in life in one of 3 ways.

There are those who want freedom to say “yes” to sin, those who believe they’re free to say “no” to sin. And finally those who find Freedom in the Gospel.

 

As for what Jesus says to those gathered around him, his words are very simple.

“If you abide in my word...You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

* The word “abide” may also be translated: “to live”, “remain”, or “dwell”.

Jesus is stating that Christian freedom is enjoyed when God’s Word is a regular part of one’s life.

* Our freedom is not a license to live a certain way, nor is it a natural freedom whereby we’re able to choose what God wants us to choose in life.

* It’s a freedom that’s provided by God’s Word.

We hear the Gospel, the truth concerning our Savior, and we are free from the curse of sin, which is death and damnation.

 

But not everyone wants this freedom, or they first prefer another kind of freedom.

* First there are those who want a freedom to say “yes” to sin.

They want the freedom, that is, to live in sin, to embrace what they believe will bring them happiness.

* In their opinion Christ’s Word inhibits and constrains. It crimps our style, preventing us from getting out of life - life’s greatest pleasures and joys.

The greatest freedom in their mind is the freedom to live one’s own life.

* Jesus’ answer to such freedom is to expose it for what it really is.

It’s not freedom. It’s slavery. “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”

 

But note Jesus says this not to the known unbelievers who take pleasure in their sin, but those who claim Abraham as their father, some no doubt who were Pharisees.

* Our Lord speaks to those who claim to be religious. The Jews had been taught that by simply being a descendent of Abraham this made them right with God giving them special status before God. But they were just like the pagan Gentiles, believing their sin was no longer an issue.

* So those who are “slaves to sin” according to Jesus are those who believed: “Sin may be real in this world, it’s no longer a problem for me”.

* And on occasion it may be us he addresses. The question is whether instead of trusting the Gospel, we’re trusting our Lutheran heritage.

* We love our Lutheran theology. We enjoy our Lutheran hymns and liturgy. And we should. They’re God’s gifts.

* But do we love and enjoy the opportunity to hear God’s Word?

Is our greatest desire and yearning to be free from sin and its effects?

* Or do we believe our sin is an issue of the past?

 

A Pharisee is one who trusts in his religious connections over and above Christ.

* Sadly we have our share of Pharisees in the Church today not simply among the laity but pastors. I refer to religious leaders who have no use for Christ’s Word, for they love people more than they love the Law and the Gospel.

* It generally works something like this.

People are not recognized as sinners but merely as victims. Furthermore, instead of confronting the sinner who’s attached himself to the church, the leader confronts sincere Christians who would judge the sin as wrong.

* Homosexuality, unscriptural divorce, those seeking abortions, those joining a church that promotes false doctrine: we’re not supposed to talk about the sinner, just those who are hurting, those whom we can love.

* Well, certainly we love them. We love even our enemies. But do you see what’s happening here? If we don’t call it a sin, then it’s okay.

We don’t have to worry about it. And those engaging in the behavior have no reason but to figure “it still suits me. I guess I’m free to keep it up!”

 

Well, there’s a second type of Pharisee in the Church today.

And like the first Pharisee he believes in freedom.

* But he doesn’t believe we’re free to say “yes” to sin. He believes, rather, that we’re free, that is, we’re capable of saying “no” to sin.

* This second definition for freedom we may call a freewill based freedom.

And it’s existed in the Church for centuries. The basic premise is that the individual by exercising his freewill is free to choose Christ over against sin.

* It was about five hundred years ago that things came to a real head on this issue as two reformers, named Luther and Erasmus, debated the issue.

 

* Erasmus did not connect Christianity and receiving faith to abiding in Christ’s Word and doctrine. For him, Christianity for the most part was living a moral life. Erasmus was reacting against the superstitions and abuses which had crept into the Church.

* People had gotten the impression that forgiveness was obtained from the Church’s sacraments no matter what was in a person’s heart.

* So in response, Erasmus emphasized the heart, that is freewill, believing not only that true Christians have the right kind of heart, but also that we have the power and freedom to produce this heart.

 

Then there was Luther who also stood against the church’s abuses.

* But Luther would not substitute superstitious works with self-righteous works. They were still man’s works and could do nothing to save a sinner.

* To summarize: Luther believed we have no freewill to choose Christ. Coming to faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit. And he gives faith through his Word.

* Man’s so-called freewill in Luther’s opinion was just an excuse to trust in one’s own heart rather than trust the Word of Christ.

* Let me cite a couple of statements Luther said to Erasmus.

“But this false idea of freewill is a real threat to salvation and a delusion with the most dangerous consequences.” Also: “The power of freewill amounts to this: because Satan rules over it, it rejects even grace, and the Spirit.” Also: “Freewill with all its powers and efforts...is perpetually guilty of the sin of unbelief.”

 

It’s easy for Christians to talk big about the choices they’ve made.

* And even Lutherans are susceptible to such a thing.

Maybe we won’t claim we’ve chosen Christ as our Savior.

* But we’d love to talk about our decision to give up that former life, before we got straightened out, before we met our wife or husband, before we started coming back to church, before we took that course, before we knew better, before our decision to become a Lutheran.

* And we too need a stern reminder that becoming the Christian we are, enjoying real freedom and salvation has nothing to do with our saying “yes” or “no” to anyone or anything.

* Remember the words of the apostle? “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do... I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.”

 

Can you imagine St. Paul, after making this confession, boasting about his freedom to make the right choices in life?

* Real genuine freedom is not something with which we’re born.

We’re conceived and born in sin, spiritually blind dead and an enemy of God. No. True freedom is given to us.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” says our Lord.

* The Lord Jesus frees you from unbelief and every other consequence of sin through the message of the Gospel.

That’s why we’ve come to God’s house this day.

* We want to enjoy this freedom and understand where it truly comes from. In the words of Christ: “If you abide in my word... the truth will set you free”.

* We don’t need to seek out some phony freedom. We’re set free by the truth of Christ’s Word, the good news that Christ has paid for our sins.

Having given us faith through his Gospel, Christ has removed our sin from the sight of God.

* You know what that means? That means although “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (all) are justified by his grace.”

That means although “the wages of sin is death...the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

* That means although I have absolutely nothing to boast about, no grounds whatsoever, “it is excluded”, I may confess nevertheless that I am “justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”

* That means although I’m a sinner from the cradle to the grave, although “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him”, although time and time again I choose “not the good I want to do; (but) the evil I do not want to do”nevertheless my Father sees not a sinner when he looks at me, but a saint.

 

Many of you have heard the controversial statement of Luther: “Sin boldly!”

What was he thinking?

* Obviously he did not mean that because of God’s grace we may say “yes” to sin. Rather, in as much as we are sinning all the time but Christ has set us free from all sin, we don’t have live our lives in fear. We don’t have to think to ourselves: “Oh, I better not leave my house or show my face to other people, I might be tempted and fall away from Christ.”

* No. We can live our lives with every confidence that despite our sin, God’s grace will save us, sustaining us in our faith to the end.

 

We’re like the blind man being led by the seeing-eye dog.

* He doesn’t take his each step wondering whether this will be his last.

Will it be the one that causes him to trip and fall or step in front of some speeding vehicle resulting in his death? What he does is he keeps holding on to that leash, for he knows that despite his handicap and any unforeseen challenge that lies ahead, his dog will lead him safely to his destination.

* And so it is when we abide in Christ’s Word, holding on for dear life to promises of the Gospel.

* No. The Gospel will not keep us from sinning. We’ll continue to sin every last day or our lives. But the Gospel will, by God’s grace, keep us from falling.

* That’s the meaning of true Christian freedom.

We don’t have to be afraid that our efforts will fall short.

For it’s not about our efforts. It’s about Christ freeing us free from sin’s grip and claim on us. It’s about being free to trust in our Savior. Amen.

 

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.