Reformation Sunday, 10/27/2019

Sermon on John 8:31-36, by Beth A. Schlegel

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

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(Everyone who acts sinfully is a slave to sin. If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.)

Dear People of God,

John’s Gospel is much like an onion – there are many layers of significance to his writing. I’d love to spend all day with you unpeeling this text, but since few people stick around very long to peel an onion and those who do start crying, I’ll mince my words.

Jesus’ hearers had an attitude problem. As good and faithful Jews, they understood themselves to be heirs of God’s promise to Abraham – the promise of descendants and land and divine inheritance through Abraham’s son.

Now, if we re-read Genesis 13-21, we’ll see that right after Abraham in his old age received the Lord’s promise of descendants, he went right to Sarah to do what was necessary for that to come about. But nothing happened. Again – nothing happened. For months on end, nothing happened. So Abraham and Sarah got impatient with God. Abraham produced a son by a slave-girl, Hagar. But this was the son of human will, human sin and faithlessness – not the son of God’s promise. Only the first-born son of Sarah according to God’s Word would receive the blessing of God. The slave girl Hagar and her son Ishmael were driven out. Isaac was born to be the 1st of the promised descendants of God’s promise.

So Jesus’ audience righteously protests his sermon.

v “We are the rightful heirs of God’s promise.

v We are a free people!

v We are superior to all others, since we belong to God through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Who do you think you are, Jesus, to imply that we are no better than slaves?!”

Jesus’ answer draws the line between heaven and hell, between life and death:

Every person who does sin is a slave to sin. Slaves inherit nothing. They don’t belong to the family. The sons and daughters belong to the family and inherit the riches. THEREFORE, if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.

Jesus turned the tables – no longer is he speaking merely of human relations of slave and master, but of our eternal relation to God.

And it is to us that he speaks. Don’t the voices sound familiar?

v “We are white and have never been slaves.”

o Racism is sin that continues to erode the Church’s witness and the fabric of our society.

o Racism enslaves us to believe we have the right to kill, with weapons and with words, those who are different.

o As long as we persist in thinking that other human beings are inferior, we are slaves to sin and God’s truth is not in us.

v Or another familiar voice: “We have gone to church – of course we deserve to inherit the kingdom of heaven.”

Pride is sin that builds walls between others and us and between God and us. Pride makes us believe we are always right and everyone else must do things our way. Pride makes us establish turf that we defend by fighting everyone else who wants to live there. And while that may sound like street gang language, I have seen the worst examples in churches, where member fights over whose closet, whose kitchen, whose supplies, and whose money have debilitated and even shut down congregations.

Pride is not mission --- it is sin. Life-threatening sin. Faith-destroying sin.

Jesus says, “If you continue – persist—endure in my Word, you are my disciples.” In other words, it is not enough just to be exposed to God’s Word – It is not a matter of plopping ourselves in a church pew for an hour a week. To remain in the Word of Christ is to desire it – to hear it and do it – to study it and understand it – to remember it – to use it in making everyday decisions.

Remember when we used to sit by the radio or record-player for hours, playing and replaying a song over and over until we had the words and melody down pat? Some of you may be doing that now with ipods or cd players. That’s what Jesus wants us to do with God’s Word. If you continue in my Word, you are truly my disciples, says the Lord Jesus.

Jesus’ Word is God’s Word. And it is not just information. It creates us and re-creates us. Therefore, we are to gladly hear and learn it. Don’t think that pastors have it any easier. We are often the worst offenders against the 3rd commandment, doing our duty and nothing more.

Not one of us is in a position to claim that we’ve “made it” or “earned it” when it comes to the riches of God. Like those who stood around pointing fingers at the adulteress, we are the ones condemned by our sin, which is fully known to God. If we try to claim the inheritance on our own merits, we expose ourselves as usurpers, thieves, and robbers. As we say each week: We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.

Now pay attention to what Jesus says next. If the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.

Jesus, the Son of the Father, is the only rightful heir! He alone qualifies for the kingdom of heaven. He has the only key to the doors of the Father’s House. The housekey to heaven is not a Quikset or Schlage – it is the cross.

And that key cannot be duplicated – it can only be shared.

When we were baptized, Jesus, the Son of the Father, shared the cross with us, so that together with him, we might enter the kingdom of heaven and dwell in the Father’s house forever. With his own suffering and death, Jesus frees us from our slavery to sin. In exchange for our life he gives his own.

He sets himself before us – the means by which we are no longer bound to sin. In Baptism and Communion, Jesus forgives our sin and binds us to himself. Now we belong to him – not simply as slaves, but as fellow-heirs.

To all who believe in his name he gives the power to become the children of God and bestows on them the Holy Spirit.

As children of God, we owe him obedience, service, honor, fear, and love.

We are free – not to do as we please, for then we have gone back to slavery to sin and the Holy Spirit is not in us. We are free to be children of God – to be the body of Christ – to be “little Christs’ in the world.

v We are free to stop fighting those who disagree with us and instead work together with them to do the mission of Christ in the world.

v We are free to have mercy on others.

v To seek the welfare of those who are poorer and weaker than we.

We are free To spend our lives in service to others.

We are free to live fully and confidently – not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow, but living today as those with whom Christ lives.

Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” “Rise, take up your mat and walk.” “Go and sin no more.” “Peace be with you. “ If the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

The Rev. Beth A. Schlegel
York, Pennsylvania, USA
E-Mail: pastorschlegel@live.com

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