31<\/sup><\/em> Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, „If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples;<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a032<\/sup> and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.“<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a033<\/sup> 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‘?“<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a034<\/sup> Jesus answered them, „Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a035<\/sup> The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a036<\/sup> So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0(Joh 8:31-36 NRSV)<\/em><\/p>\n Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n On this Reformation Sunday the church again celebrates the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and all the reformers who fought for the confessional movement within the church.\u00a0 History has taught us that schisms involving religion have always been a part of the world, and will continue to be.\u00a0 What we celebrate today is a failure, because rather than actually reforming the church and bringing people together the church was broken.\u00a0 Even today Lutheranism, a name hated by Luther himself, is not unified.\u00a0 We continue to find ways to divide, rather than finding ways to unify as the body of Christ.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t only true of Lutherans, as other denominations in our midst have split and continue to do so today.<\/p>\n Jesus lived in the midst of a religious schism.\u00a0 Some Jews believed in him, some did not.\u00a0 Some had believed briefly, and then fell away.\u00a0 Some hated Jesus and wanted to kill him.\u00a0 In the midst of all that, Jesus looked at those Jews who had believed in him and said \u201cIf you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Think about that.\u00a0 In the midst of a divided people, that is a bold statement.\u00a0 It\u2019s especially bold given not only the religious divisions of the day, but also the social and political divisions.\u00a0 For Jesus and for the Jews, they lived in an occupied land.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 words stir their thoughts about what a Rome-free Israel could look like.\u00a0 His words stir them to imagine a time when they could live unified in their religion.\u00a0 No longer would they be subject to Caesar or oppressed by Rome.\u00a0 They yearned to be free from the occupation, to have their own kingdom and their own king again.\u00a0 Not just a puppet of the government, but their own government they could hold accountable.\u00a0 This is what Jesus offers them. \u00a0As he tells them \u201cIf you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples\u201d, he does so with an extra proposition: \u201cyou will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.“\u00a0 Jesus offers the Jews a chance for unity, a chance for freedom, and a chance to be a disciple in a kingdom that is not of this world. \u00a0That in and of itself is remarkable, but it is a statement that automatically brings about some healthy skepticism among the Jews.<\/p>\n