Text: John 8:31-36
Jesus is talking to a group of his Jewish followers. At this time, most of his followers are Jews, of course, since they are the people of the land of Israel and the ones with whom Jesus has contact. In one way, these people are the most likely to become his followers, because as believers in the Jewish faith, they already understand the concept of one God…not like the Gentiles in the neighbouring countries, most of whom believe in many gods. But in another way, there is a barrier that keeps Jewish believers from understanding the Gospel of Jesus: they are still committed to keeping the Law. Jesus suggests that they are captives to the Law and they need to be set free.
These believers are indignant. “We are members of the tribe of Abraham; we’ve never been slaves to anyone.” This is a point of pride for these Jews: many centuries before, their ancestors fled from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. Every year they celebrate the Feast of Passover, remembering how God helped them to escape from slavery. And now Jesus says they are still slaves?
But Jesus isn’t talking about political slavery; he’s talking about spiritual slavery. These Jewish believers sense that God dwells in this Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, and they are attracted to his power and his wisdom, but they aren’t ready to give up their old values. What are their old values?...the security of following old rituals, the pride of moral superiority, the comfort of complacency. “We don’t need to change: we’re Jews, descendants of Abraham; we know all the stories about the liberation of our people thousands of years back. We don’t need to be made free. We’re already free.” But their protesting so strongly in the face of Jesus suggests that true freedom frightens them. Like the addict who insists it’s possible to kick the habit anytime, their claims to freedom ring hollow.
Likewise, five hundred years ago, when Martin Luther came on the scene in Europe as it emerged from the Middle Ages, he knew he wasn’t free either. The Roman Catholic Church ruled most of the known world and had for a thousand years. Old values dominated everyone and everything: the practice of old rituals, the pride of moral superiority, the comfort of complacency. If personal faith and Christian morality were badly eroded, who could do anything about it? And if anyone tried, the religious and political powers would suppress any resistance or argument. Truth and freedom were so ground down that hardly anyone knew what they were any more. But Luther was stubborn and determined and committed. He believed the words of Jesus rather than the pronouncements of a monolithic church: “…you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” He was a man of great intelligence and deep insight. His Biblical study and his personal spiritual struggle led to strong conviction. He probably never intended to oppose the greatest religious and political power that ever existed, but his conviction grew to the point where he couldn’t avoid taking a stand. He was forced into it by his own discovery of Biblical truth and by the irresistible pressure of events. What Luther thought were merely contributions to an academic discussion became the focus of a sweeping political movement. He and his university colleagues, the monks of his religious order, the German princes and the general population of these farflung provinces in northern Europe were swept along in the waves of change. Like the teachings of Jesus, the teachings of Luther and the other leaders of the Reformation spoke to the spiritual hopes and needs of a whole continent. Look at the poster displayed in front here: it’s called “The Knight, Death and the Devil” and it’s the work of Albrecht Durer, a contemporary of Martin Luther. It gives us a strong taste of the medieval spirit: the terror of death and hell, the ever-present threat of evil spirits, the desperate hope that human courage could ward off these dangers….It’s not a picture of freedom; it’s a picture of oppression.
What was this freedom that Jesus brought, and that Luther helped to restore? It was the freedom from sin – in a word, salvation…or in two words, salvation and redemption. Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “…everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” That’s all of us, right? And further, Jesus says, “The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.” He is not talking about himself when he uses the word “son”; he is talking about us, sons and daughters of God’s household. We are not merely servants in God’s household; we are children of the household, with all the privileges of belonging to the family of God. And one of the greatest privileges is freedom from sin, provided through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Well,” you might be thinking, “I don’t have a problem with sin. I’m a member of the church; I’m a decent person; I’m not guilty of doing anything very bad.” The security of old rituals? The pride of moral superiority? The comfort of complacency? But if you have actually absorbed the truth of the Gospel and you do in fact take sin seriously, believe in redemption through Christ and trust that your sins are forgiven, you are unusual, even in the church. Outside the church, and for many within the church, there is little understanding of sin and little sense of the need for salvation. I don’t mean that we should be overwhelmed with fear and superstition as were the folk of Luther’s time; I just mean that we should have a clear understanding of our position before God. And most people in our immediate world have little concept of sin and the hope of salvation. I would say that our world psychologizes sin and secularizes salvation. What does that mean? Well, psychology is a useful discipline for understanding human thoughts and feelings and behaviour, but it does not explain spirituality. Likewise, secular thinking applies well to our social and political and economic context, but it does not address the world of the spirit. I would suggest that even in the church popular psychology and secular thinking have largely replaced the values taught by Jesus. That is to say, permissiveness and popularity, materialism and monoculture. Not much matters except following the crowd. I suggest that our society, and in some ways, our church, need another reformation.
Well, we can’t wait around for another Luther. At the moment, nobody like Luther seems to be on the horizon. Mind you, in Luther’s time, nobody, least of all Luther himself, expected he’d be the agent of change. So who will save the church from corruption and irrelevance? I’m not sure who might be the human agent, but certainly God is still on the job. What signs of hope do we see?
In the last few years, our own church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, has had to downsize. There are fewer national staff, synod offices have the same number of staff, and budgets are reduced, but programs are still made available to congregations, and national and synodical gatherings are high quality events. We do a lot more cooperative work with other churches, especially the Anglican Church of Canada, which has also reduced its program staff and budgets. There is a much effective work done on social justice, environmental and poverty issues by a coalition of churches in an organization called KAIROS. The internet has increased our ability to communicate with each other widely at low cost. We have good procedures in place, and lots of checks and balances so our church organizations function well. Church employees are treated fairly. We even had a decent pension plan until the crisis a couple of weeks ago! At the congregational level, here in Airdrie we are a smaller congregation than we were five years ago, but for the first time since I came here over six years ago, we are on target with our financial situation. Usually by the end of summer we have fallen behind and we don’t catch up until Christmas. But this year, things are going better. We can say that the present active members take seriously their responsibility to support the church. And what’s more, in the last three years, since November 2005, we have paid down $130,000 on our mortgage. That’s amazing, considering that we thought it was an impossible task. But in three years, we’ve paid down a third of the debt. All that while we’ve been keeping up with the operating budget as well. And this fall we completed a major renovation with interior paint and new carpets, with a lot of volunteer input from members. What does this say about hope for our church? Well, we need to survive in other areas besides finance, but our financial situation is an indicator of the health of the congregation. And the willingness of members to volunteer is another indicator of good health around here. As well, we contribute a lot of money and goods and volunteer time to people in need in our community and in the world. Lutheran Church of the Master is doing a lot of the things we are called by God to do. We’re not perfect but we’re moving in the right direction.
What does all this have to do with being free from sin? I think that our spiritual health is evident in our behaviour in the church community and in the community at large. We may be a small group but we’re making a difference to each other and to our neighbours by our efforts to live holy and committed lives. We know we are sinners but we know who can save us. And that freedom gives us the motivation and the energy to do the right things. Thanks be to God!
These believers are indignant. “We are members of the tribe of Abraham; we’ve never been slaves to anyone.” This is a point of pride for these Jews: many centuries before, their ancestors fled from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. Every year they celebrate the Feast of Passover, remembering how God helped them to escape from slavery. And now Jesus says they are still slaves?
But Jesus isn’t talking about political slavery; he’s talking about spiritual slavery. These Jewish believers sense that God dwells in this Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, and they are attracted to his power and his wisdom, but they aren’t ready to give up their old values. What are their old values?...the security of following old rituals, the pride of moral superiority, the comfort of complacency. “We don’t need to change: we’re Jews, descendants of Abraham; we know all the stories about the liberation of our people thousands of years back. We don’t need to be made free. We’re already free.” But their protesting so strongly in the face of Jesus suggests that true freedom frightens them. Like the addict who insists it’s possible to kick the habit anytime, their claims to freedom ring hollow.
Likewise, five hundred years ago, when Martin Luther came on the scene in Europe as it emerged from the Middle Ages, he knew he wasn’t free either. The Roman Catholic Church ruled most of the known world and had for a thousand years. Old values dominated everyone and everything: the practice of old rituals, the pride of moral superiority, the comfort of complacency. If personal faith and Christian morality were badly eroded, who could do anything about it? And if anyone tried, the religious and political powers would suppress any resistance or argument. Truth and freedom were so ground down that hardly anyone knew what they were any more. But Luther was stubborn and determined and committed. He believed the words of Jesus rather than the pronouncements of a monolithic church: “…you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” He was a man of great intelligence and deep insight. His Biblical study and his personal spiritual struggle led to strong conviction. He probably never intended to oppose the greatest religious and political power that ever existed, but his conviction grew to the point where he couldn’t avoid taking a stand. He was forced into it by his own discovery of Biblical truth and by the irresistible pressure of events. What Luther thought were merely contributions to an academic discussion became the focus of a sweeping political movement. He and his university colleagues, the monks of his religious order, the German princes and the general population of these farflung provinces in northern Europe were swept along in the waves of change. Like the teachings of Jesus, the teachings of Luther and the other leaders of the Reformation spoke to the spiritual hopes and needs of a whole continent. Look at the poster displayed in front here: it’s called “The Knight, Death and the Devil” and it’s the work of Albrecht Durer, a contemporary of Martin Luther. It gives us a strong taste of the medieval spirit: the terror of death and hell, the ever-present threat of evil spirits, the desperate hope that human courage could ward off these dangers….It’s not a picture of freedom; it’s a picture of oppression.
What was this freedom that Jesus brought, and that Luther helped to restore? It was the freedom from sin – in a word, salvation…or in two words, salvation and redemption. Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “…everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” That’s all of us, right? And further, Jesus says, “The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.” He is not talking about himself when he uses the word “son”; he is talking about us, sons and daughters of God’s household. We are not merely servants in God’s household; we are children of the household, with all the privileges of belonging to the family of God. And one of the greatest privileges is freedom from sin, provided through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Well,” you might be thinking, “I don’t have a problem with sin. I’m a member of the church; I’m a decent person; I’m not guilty of doing anything very bad.” The security of old rituals? The pride of moral superiority? The comfort of complacency? But if you have actually absorbed the truth of the Gospel and you do in fact take sin seriously, believe in redemption through Christ and trust that your sins are forgiven, you are unusual, even in the church. Outside the church, and for many within the church, there is little understanding of sin and little sense of the need for salvation. I don’t mean that we should be overwhelmed with fear and superstition as were the folk of Luther’s time; I just mean that we should have a clear understanding of our position before God. And most people in our immediate world have little concept of sin and the hope of salvation. I would say that our world psychologizes sin and secularizes salvation. What does that mean? Well, psychology is a useful discipline for understanding human thoughts and feelings and behaviour, but it does not explain spirituality. Likewise, secular thinking applies well to our social and political and economic context, but it does not address the world of the spirit. I would suggest that even in the church popular psychology and secular thinking have largely replaced the values taught by Jesus. That is to say, permissiveness and popularity, materialism and monoculture. Not much matters except following the crowd. I suggest that our society, and in some ways, our church, need another reformation.
Well, we can’t wait around for another Luther. At the moment, nobody like Luther seems to be on the horizon. Mind you, in Luther’s time, nobody, least of all Luther himself, expected he’d be the agent of change. So who will save the church from corruption and irrelevance? I’m not sure who might be the human agent, but certainly God is still on the job. What signs of hope do we see?
In the last few years, our own church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, has had to downsize. There are fewer national staff, synod offices have the same number of staff, and budgets are reduced, but programs are still made available to congregations, and national and synodical gatherings are high quality events. We do a lot more cooperative work with other churches, especially the Anglican Church of Canada, which has also reduced its program staff and budgets. There is a much effective work done on social justice, environmental and poverty issues by a coalition of churches in an organization called KAIROS. The internet has increased our ability to communicate with each other widely at low cost. We have good procedures in place, and lots of checks and balances so our church organizations function well. Church employees are treated fairly. We even had a decent pension plan until the crisis a couple of weeks ago! At the congregational level, here in Airdrie we are a smaller congregation than we were five years ago, but for the first time since I came here over six years ago, we are on target with our financial situation. Usually by the end of summer we have fallen behind and we don’t catch up until Christmas. But this year, things are going better. We can say that the present active members take seriously their responsibility to support the church. And what’s more, in the last three years, since November 2005, we have paid down $130,000 on our mortgage. That’s amazing, considering that we thought it was an impossible task. But in three years, we’ve paid down a third of the debt. All that while we’ve been keeping up with the operating budget as well. And this fall we completed a major renovation with interior paint and new carpets, with a lot of volunteer input from members. What does this say about hope for our church? Well, we need to survive in other areas besides finance, but our financial situation is an indicator of the health of the congregation. And the willingness of members to volunteer is another indicator of good health around here. As well, we contribute a lot of money and goods and volunteer time to people in need in our community and in the world. Lutheran Church of the Master is doing a lot of the things we are called by God to do. We’re not perfect but we’re moving in the right direction.
What does all this have to do with being free from sin? I think that our spiritual health is evident in our behaviour in the church community and in the community at large. We may be a small group but we’re making a difference to each other and to our neighbours by our efforts to live holy and committed lives. We know we are sinners but we know who can save us. And that freedom gives us the motivation and the energy to do the right things. Thanks be to God!
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