Atom“And You Shall Be Free!”
“If you abide in my word – if you continue in my Word,” says Jesus, “then you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free.”
On this Reformation Day we celebrate one who in abiding in Christ’s Word learned the truth and was marvelously set free…and in being set free changed the very course of history.
John 8:31-36
“If you abide in my word – if you continue in my Word,” says Jesus, “then you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free.”
On this Reformation Day we celebrate one who in abiding in Christ’s Word learned the truth and was marvelously set free…and in being set free changed the very course of history. I watched the movie, Luther, again this week in preparation for Confirmation and shared a bit of it with the young people. I recommend it to you again. Rent it. Watch it. And wonder at what truth it was that caused Luther to take on the powers that be in Sixteenth Century Europe – the German princes, the pope, the Church – and that One Church was all powerful, and the very Holy Roman Empire that united and ruled much of Europe. I was taken in once again, by this story of a German miner’s son, who afraid for his life in the midst of a lightening storm, fell to his knees and promised Saint Ann and God, “Save me and I shall be a priest.” Well, much to the disappointment of his father who wanted him to be a lawyer and make enough money to care for his parents in their old age, Luther kept his promise and committed himself to full time service to God…which didn’t go particularly well, you remember. Luther never felt inadequate in the presence of God, he was ever aware that he was sinful and unclean – unworthy – and afraid of God and of God’s anger. But his mentor encouraged him to look to Jesus for the God he was seeking and gave him a very profound assignment: “Study the Bible, the New Testament – come to know God through Jesus.” Luther did and discovered the truth – and the truth about sin and death and about God and about love and faith and the truth set him free….and the rest…is history.
But what truth did Luther discover? In the reading today, those listening to Jesus heard his words but didn’t understand their meaning. Set us free? Set us free from what? We are not slaves. We are children of Abraham…we are the people of Israel…we are children of God! We might say something similar today. Set us free? From what? We are not slaves to anyone! We are children of the Revolution; we are Americans. We are not slaves to anyone!
But, you see, Jesus was talking of a deeper slavery that they knew but tried to ignore. He spoke of slavery to sin – a deep seated rebellion within us that seeks to go its own way. Remember that sin is anything in our lives that hurts us or hurts others or hurts our connection with our God and Creator. And sin is insidious. It seeks us out over and over again. I visited with a member of the community a week or so ago. He was just out of a treatment program for alcohol. For the third time. That is slavery folks – an insidious force in our lives that we know will do us or others harm and we do it anyway. Even though we know abuse of alcohol and other drugs will hurt us and our families we give in. Even though we know that stepping outside of our marriage bed will no doubt destroy our marriage and our family, we give in. Even though we know that spending more than what we earn just leads to deeper debt and to fights and arguments and sleepless nights we give in. Even though we know that God would have us use our gifts to bring joy and healing and hope to others, we get so focused on our own wants that we can’t see the good that God would have us do. The truth is that sin – hurt – rebellion against our Creator’s hopes and intentions for us binds us and does not easily let us go.
Luther knew this truth about himself – knew it so well that he was given to despair. God must surely want to give up on him. God must judge us as unworthy and fit for roasting. But the truth that Luther discovered is that God does not. God does not give up on us. God does not abandon us to the garbage pile or the incinerator. God sends Jesus. “For God so love that world that he gave his only Son…Indeed God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17) And again, here in chapter 8: “Anyone who sins is a slave to sin.” It will not let leave you alone. That is the truth. But…if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” God help us.
Luther learned the truth about sin – he knew the truth – he knew how vulnerable he was to its temptations. But what he learned was that over and over again Jesus would deliver us – forgive us and set us right again.
Luther also learned the truth about death. One could not avoid death in the Sixteenth Century. Life expectancy was far shorter than today. Childbirth was always risky business for child and mother. Plagues and famines ravaged the populace. Medicine was in its infancy. There were wars and natural disasters. Life was fragile and limited. As it is today. We live a bit longer now, but death is still a part of our future. In the past week we have had three funerals here at First Lutheran – one mother and grandmother in her eighties – that might be old enough – it depends on who you talk to…one in her early seventies – not old enough for most of us even though her health was poor – and an infant less than two hours from birth – a unexpected and unexplainable tragedy. Oh there are physical reasons – but why this young one who had experienced so little of life and love and whom her parents desperately wanted to share life with? Why? Save that we live in a broken world where bodies are good but finite, given to injury and sickness and wear. We know this truth only too well.
But Luther learned another truth in God’s Word…and that is that God grieves our death. God grieves our wars and senseless killing. God grieves the brokenness of bodies and their vulnerability to disease. And God sends Jesus to take all of that death upon himself – into the very heart of God once and for all so that after all is said and done and our time earth is complete, whether that time be short or long – there is yet life to be had. “For the one who believes in me,” says the risen Jesus, “Even though they die, yet shall they live. For I am the resurrection and the life.” You see? “If you continue in my word you will know this truth and this truth will set you free!”
Luther learned the truth about God – that God is not an angry judge watching to see where we will step out of bounds so that God can strike us with lightening or heart-attack or cancer. God is the God we meet in Jesus, a seeking God, giving himself up for us, leading us to fuller life, offering his life for ours and making a way out of this temporary dwelling to a dwelling that is eternal. And you learn that truth here – in this Word – in the good news of Jesus.
And when Luther knew this truth – he was set free to stand before magistrates and popes and the powers that be, and even death itself – because when you watch the movie and relive the conflict you realize that Luther was oh so close to burning at the stake for daring to place the Word of God over the Word of Humans and Government. And the world – our world – was forever changed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Luther was set free and his life’s work was to offer this same freedom to all of God’s people. If you have time…rent the movie and watch it.
And if you have time, go to the High School Musical this weekend or next. When Pastor Dave and I were in seminary, one of our Theology professors, Dr. Jensen – who used to be the preacher on Lutheran Vespers – told us over and over again that this musical was his favorite musical. He listened to it over and over again as he commuted. It was his favorite because of these very themes we speak of today. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
Les Miserables…Les Mis…however you say it is the story of a man, Jean Valjean who as a teen is caught stealing a loaf of bread to share with his starving sister and her child. He is sentenced to five years of hard labor and that becomes nineteen because of various attempts at escape. When he is finally paroled he is a broken, hungry man. He attempts to steal some silver from a priest and when he is caught, the priest defends him, saying that in taking the silver he was doing and errand. After the police have left, the priest tells him God’s truth: “God has greater things in mind for you, Valjean. God has a greater plan. Forgiveness is yours, the future is yours. Use your freedom to make the world you live in a better place. Well, the rest of the story is about Valjean seeking to live that newness, taking the treasure he has been given and “paying it forward.” “You shall know the truth – about you – and the truth shall set you free.” Valjean becomes a compassionate factory owner, mindful of his own roots in poverty and caring about the wellbeing of his employees; he becomes mayor seeking justice and opportunity for even the poorest of the poor; he takes on the child of a dying unwed mother and raises her as his own. He spends his wealth in running a weekly soup kitchen in the streets of the city. Valjean is ever aware of the gift he has been given and that God has blessed him to be a blessing and he seeks to live out of that truth.
His nemesis in the story, however, lives by another truth. Inspector Javert, is an officer of the law who knows only one truth and that is law and order. There is a law of sin and once you have crossed it, there is no forgiveness. There is only judgment. To him, Valjean is a criminal and will always be a criminal. Every act of charity and good will Valjen does is merely a cover and suspect. There is no forgiveness; there is no hope of a new life. Javert knows the truth that enslaves – the truth about sin and death. But he does not know the truth that sets free, the truth of a God of new beginnings and new hope when we think all is lost. I recommend the story to you as an amplification of the words of Jesus today: “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
People of God…it is good news we celebrate today as we remember Luther, but even more as we remember the Jesus he pointed to…the Jesus who says again, “I have come into the world not so that the world and you might be judged unworthy, but that you might be set free from the sin and death that binds you. Stay close to me. Continue to read and hear my word that you might remember who you are and whose you are and that this truth might keep you free, for if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” Let’s pray…
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