John 8:31-36
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him,
"If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and
you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33 They
answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to
anyone. What do you mean by saying, "You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus
answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a
slave to sin. 35 The
slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place
there forever. 36 So
if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
you will know the truth, and the
truth will make you free.
·
Can we agree on something before we
start here? I’d like us all to agree that the Word of God is a living Word, as
the letter to the Hebrews says: Indeed, the word of God is living and
active, sharper than any two-edged sword. To agree on this will
make sense as this sermon goes on.
·
So then, on this Reformation Sunday
we commemorate and even celebrate the Reformation that swept into the Christian
Church 499 years ago. We gather to hear the Living Word of God proclaimed and
preached here in this place.
·
Today we remember a particular
historic event – the posting of the 95 Theses, or the 95 points for discussion
and debate on or near the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg in Electoral
Saxony by Dr. Martin Luther of the Order of St. Augustine, the town preacher
and university professor of theology. This festival is commemorates what we
hold to be the start of the Protestant Reformation.
·
Luther posted his list of topics for
debate in response to the selling of indulgences in the next town over from
where he lived. He found this practice offensive, not only because it preyed on
the poor and the uneducated who were being cheated, but because it reduced the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to an economic transaction, and an illegal one at that.
·
Martin Luther did not come to this
conclusion alone; he came to it after much study and experience. He saw the
corruption of the Church of his time. He saw how the challenges of the Gospel
were not being met and how the comfort and hope found in the Gospel of Christ
were not being proclaimed. At the Diet of Worms, he stated “My conscience is captive to the
Word of God.” It was nothing less than the Word of God inspiring him to
protest what he knew to be an injustice and a perversion of the Gospel.
·
We may see all the changes this brave
and lonely stand led to. We may know the history of the Lutheran movement
within the universal Church and the hymns and thought and theologies that come
out of that.
·
However, what we really commemorate
and celebrate today is the Gospel. It is the Gospel that carries the message of
true freedom for all and proclaims that freedom. The Gospel puts the focus on
the work of Jesus Christ rather than on our work. The Gospel, the “Good News”
is truly good news to us because it frees us from slavery to sin, from the
slavery of what are called “works” or a do-it-yourself salvation which attempts
to do it all for ourselves, and leads to the slavery of never being “good
enough.”
·
If we focus on the Reformation as
primarily a change in how the church is governed, on how the worship service is
done, or on what groups are reformed and what groups are not, we’ve lost the
real focus of the Reformation.
·
The Reformation with began with that
invitation to discussion and debate was a response to the Word of God. The Word
of God, the living Word, had become hidden --- buried --- obscured by all the
trapping of Medieval religion. There were others that had heard the call of the
Word of God before and some of their reforms and their spirit are with the
Church to this very day. Luther’s call was to remember and teach others to
remember the freedom of the Gospel.
·
There was a feeling at the time that
a person had to make themselves worthy of the Gospel; they had to earn the love
of God. Some thought the love of God could be earned by penance and prayer or
by paying for things like indulgences.
·
The Gospel, however, is free and
without charge to all, for all are unworthy. Paul wrote For there is no distinction, since
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are
now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus…
·
This is the Gospel we hold to, the
Good New that frees us, not just from the necessity of self-salvation but from
sin and from the anxiety of not measuring up and from the terror of death and
Hell.
·
It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that
tells us of our freedom in Jesus and it is this Gospel that was the focus of
the Reformation and that remains the focus of our Church to this day. That is
why we worship in a language known to us. That is why we hear the Word in a
language known to us and insist on teaching the Scriptures.
·
you will know the
truth, and the truth will make you free. The truth as we know it is this: It is the Good News of Jesus and
all that it conveys that frees us and saves us, because Jesus is the
Word of God and Jesus is the Good
News. In that we are free – free from sin, free from the fear of death, free
from vain striving for salvation. The truth is all that has been granted to us by
his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…
and as John the Evangelist writes: So if the Son makes you free, you will be free
indeed.
·
What else can be say but “Thanks be
to God!”
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