Reformation Sunday + October 30, 2016
Text: John 8:31-36
Celebrating the Reformation is an exciting time in the Lutheran Church. Next year for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we really get to go all out. But it’s important to double check that our excitement is more about being “Church” than it is about being “Lutheran.” Our Synod has a handy phrase to remind us: “Reformation 2017: It’s Still All About Jesus” And because it’s all about Jesus, let’s hear from Him:
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.”
Jesus makes this the defining characteristic of those who follow Him. Those who bear the title Christian abide in His Word. You can’t have Jesus without His Word. If someone says they’re a Christian and they love Jesus but they don’t listen to His Word, that person is deceived.
What the Lord says is not anything new. It was the same way for Israel—a true Israelite hears the Word of the Lord. The statutes of God and the people of God are inseparable. “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them…I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”[1] Whenever the people called by God’s Name tried to strike out on their own, God no longer called them His people.
The reformers made the same point as Jesus: God’s Word is the defining mark of Christians. They said so, against powerful opponents who argued that the church was founded on Scripture and traditions, that it supposedly had divine authority to appoint and depose kings, and sentence men to death on the charge of false doctrine. By God’s faithful deliverance, however, the truth and clarity of God’s Word prevailed over the enemies of Christ’s cross. By God’s continued grace, the truth and clarity of His Word is proclaimed and believed today.
But in our day, 500 years after the Reformation, we see something tragic happening in all the descendants of this blessed awakening. There is a pull away from abiding in the Word. No corner of Christianity is immune to this—even our own Missouri Synod.
Excitement for what God’s Word has been replaced with pop psychology, parading as Christian teaching. People flock to hear sermons on 10 things you can do to improve your marriage, your job, or live with more “joy.” They want to be told what they should be doing to succeed, rather than what God works in you through His Word.
What we look to as blessing in the Church is no longer in being persecuted for proclaiming the truth (as Jesus says in Matthew 5:11). Churches are chase after social trends so they can “bless” themselves with greater attendance and more programs.
Teachers of the Church are also under attack. At many mainline seminaries, the Bible commentaries students use are written by unbelievers who dissect the motives of the authors. The result is pastors and professors who consider the Bible no more than a religious manifesto by a bunch of backward, sexist, homophobic men.
Nevertheless, the Lord keeps a remnant for Himself—those who have not bowed before Baal and kissed him.[2] That which is born of Spirit is spirit, and they still abide in His Word today. These are truly His disciples.
Then Jesus says, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
The picture of Christianity today is sometimes an exercise in nostalgia for what Church has been in the past. People gather together, sing some songs about God, listen to someone talk about God. Yet, all of this is to “do church” without Jesus or His Word. Without Jesus, the gathering is just social. The songs could replace the name Jesus with your boyfriend and make just as much sense. The sermon could be a motivational speech given at a convention. All the while people think they are being Christians, experiencing freedom, they haven’t actually been free because they haven’t heard the Truth.
See, when Jesus says that the Truth makes you free, He’s saying something about us. We’re not free. The people He’s speaking to pick up on that, too. They respond, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.” But Jesus isn’t talking about slavery you can see. The bondage that Jesus speaks of is bondage to sin, and that’s something which—despite our best efforts to act free—we are powerless to free ourselves from.
The scary thing about Christians losing God’s Word is that people will never hear of their soul’s true condition. Instead of seeing that they are “slaves to sin,” they’ll imagine there’s some glimmer of hope to help themselves (this delusion really helps book sales, by the way). Maybe they’ll think of themselves as religious free agents, who can choose whichever way to God speaks to them the most. They may imagine that God looks down from heaven and smiles because there are some people who are really trying hard to be good.[3] They might go to church just because it’s the social or family thing to do, but never have a passing thought of repentance.
But the Truth sets us free because He sheds His light from heaven on our sinful squalor, the deadly mess that we are in. He wakes us up from our complacency of downplaying sin and its effects. So, He shows us that we are truly slaves to sin, but that He truly is our Redeemer.
When we know the Truth, we find that we can only look to Him for hope. It comes down to simple math: 100% Jesus, 0% us. If we claim any worthiness we for ourselves, we take it away from Christ. However free we think we are from sin’s dominion, we take that much power away from Christ. With our Savior Jesus Christ, it really is all or nothing—either He is the one who has all the power to save, all the power to free us, or we land somewhere else without a Savior.
In the freedom which Jesus gives, there is blessed assurance: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Because it’s 100% God’s work, your life is secure, anchored to solid rock. That’s something only the Lord can deliver, because it won’t be found in pop Christian trends which are only the work of human hands.
If you want certainty in life’s trials, abide in the Word of your Baptism. God has freed you from the power of sin and even death. In your weakness, God has given you a continuous fountain of life in which to wash you and present you without spot or blemish.[4]
In your mortal body, abide in the Word of Christ’s Body and Blood given in, with, and under bread and wine. This is His Body, risen victorious from the grave. This is His blood, shed for the full remission of all our sins.
Abide in the Word of God, in your ear, on your forehead, and on your tongue. The Word He speaks is the Truth which sets you free today from your sins and on the last day from the bonds of death! Amen.
[1] Leviticus 26:3, 12
[2] 1 Kings 19:18
[3] Psalm 53:2-3
[4] Ephesians 5:26-27
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