Reformation (Observed)
Slave or Free?
St. John 8:31-38
26 October 2014 – Redeemer
Are you slave or free? It sounds like a pretty lame question in this year of our Lord 2014 in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Of course you are free. Free to come to church. Free to assemble. Free to speak. Free to drive across the border into Iowa or Wisconsin or one of the Dakotas. But I’m not asking an earthly freedom question. I’m asking, “Are you free from sin? Are you free from God’s anger? Are you free to live or are you bound to death?”
What does your religion teach you? Are you free or slave? That’s a Reformation question, “Does your religion, the god you worship, the preacher to whom you listen, the altar where you kneel, does that religion free you or enslave you?”
One of the chief lessons to learn from the Reformation is that there are only two religions in the world. (And no, not Lutheran and Catholic like in Stearns County). There is the religion that leaves people enslaved to their sin and fearing God as a cruel master, and there is the religion that sets people free from their sin and emboldens sinners to regard God as their Father.
The story of young Martin Luther serves as an illustration of this truth. In the year 1505 at age 23 Luther was returning to college for summer school. Traveling in a thunder storm a lightning bolt struck so close to Luther it knocked him to the ground. Afraid for his life he prayed, “Saint Anna, save me and I’ll become a monk.” She did and he did. Thus began Luther’s years of great slavery. He entered the Augustinian monastery to fulfill his obligation to Saint Anna. Luther may have been the best monk the Augustinians ever had. He fasted on all the appointed days. He went on a pilgrimage to Rome, he slept on stone floors without bedding, he whipped himself to scourge himself of sin, he paid to worship relics like the head of John the Baptist and the nails from Christ’s cross, he bought indulgences to free his grandparents from purgatory.
During these years in the monastery and as a professor at Wittenberg University Luther hated God. He regarded God as cruel master. Martin did all that he could, but he never knew if God was satisfied. Think about it. You lust at a woman other than your wife. Jesus says, “That’s adultery.” Now, what would you need to do – for your wife, for your children, for that other woman, and for God to atone for that sin? And how many times have you committed adultery? Or imagine (and you don’t really have to imagine) that you have been so angry at someone you wished him harm. You’ve thought of grabbing him by the collar and landing a solid left hook his jaw. “That’s murder,” says Jesus. Oscar Pistorius got 5 years in prison and might be out in 10 months – that’s not justice and he only killed one person. He could serve the rest of his life, even be executed and that would never restore her life. How much would you need to do repay the serial murders you’ve committed by anger? Luther knew God’s word well. He knew what God expected of him and he had an acute conscience – he was a good Catholic and a then a good Lutheran – and both Catholics and Lutherans are really good at guilt.
Do you understand why Luther hated God? God was a cruel master. Every day God expected something more of him – another mass, another trip, another relic, another fast, another sleepless night on cold floors. He also became aware that his problem was deeper than his actual sins. His problem was that his very nature was corrupted by sin. Luther couldn’t stop sinning. God never stopped demanding. Luther was enslaved to the fear of God, to doubting his salvation. He was enslaved to sin, to death, to God’s judgment. The bishops and priests of his church even told him, “Martin, you can never be certain of your salvation so you must keep working. Harder Martin. More Martin. Don’t stop Martin.”
Is that your religion? Now I’m not asking if you are Roman Catholic or Lutheran or Methobapticostal. I’m asking you what do you hear from your preacher? What is taught in your congregation? And if you don’t go to church what do you believe in your heart? Do you believe that you can please God? Have you stopped sinning? Changed your nature from sinner to saint? Of course not. Then you are a slave because you will never know if God is pleased with you. I’ve mentioned just two common sins among us – lust and anger. You could spend your whole life trying to set right just those two sins and you would never know if you’ve made right what you wronged. That leaves you a slave, hating God for His demands, fearing death and terrified of facing God’s judgment.
On Reformation Day we celebrate that God’s Holy Spirit revealed to Dr. Martin Luther the better way, God’s way, a way that had been hidden for hundreds of years before the Reformation. The religion that sets us free is the faith taught in Holy Scripture. As a professor and parish priest, Dr. Luther read and studied God’s Word, especially Psalms and Romans. Through that Word the Holy Spirit preached into his ears news that Dr. Luther never thought he would hear. “You’re free Martin. You’re forgiven.” That good news came in verses like Romans 3 from today’s Epistle, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:”for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 3:21–24, ESV) Do you hear the language of freedom there? Luther sought to make himself right with God through the Law, by works and services and sacrifices, but Saint Paul says, we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.”
Here then lies the difference between the religion of slavery and the religion of freedom. The religion of slavery points to you. The religion of freedom points to Christ alone. The Son of God became flesh – He bound Himself up in our flesh and then freely He bound Himself to our sin. It was like you were on a slave galley, always rowing, always sweating, but knowing you would never arrive at home or be free and then a healthy and fit man comes and says, “I’m taking your place. You’re free to leave.”
Jesus took our place. You were a terrible two year old and He was terrific. He never said, “No” to green vegetables. You were a tempestuous teenager and He always did what His Father said and never rolled his eyes. You have been unfaithful to your marriage and He has been faithful. He always and only looked out for His bride and when she was in peril He gave His life for her. Jesus is human, like you, in every way, except without sin. He had none of His own, but then He soaked up your sin in His baptism. God made Jesus who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Dr. Luther liked to say that on the cross Jesus was the worst sinner the world ever knew. Why? Because on the cross Jesus became Martin Luther. He became you and me. On the cross Jesus made right what was wrong with you. “It is finished.” Having completed His work He rested on the Sabbath day in His tomb and then He rose again, declaring that everything was once again right. Your sins are forgiven so you are free of death. God is completely satisfied with Christ’s sacrifice so by faith you are now God’s child and love to call Him “Father.” The Law holds no threat, so you no longer have to keep it. You want to keep it.
The religion of freedom, God’s Holy Word proclaims that Jesus did the work of salvation. There is nothing you have to do. Nothing. You need to do what Jaxyn did this morning – nothing, but receive. Today in those Holy Waters Jesus gave Jaxyn everything. Jesus took Jaxyn’s place in the manger, in life, in death, in hell, in the tomb so that in these Holy Waters Jaxyn could receive Jesus’ place — a son of God, written into the will, an heir of life and the resurrection.
So here’s the truth – God doesn’t need your offerings. He doesn’t need your attendance or church membership. He doesn’t need your good works. He doesn’t need anything from you because Christ alone has taken care of your forgiveness completely. You’re free. God doesn’t need your offerings, but I do – so that I can live and eat and provide for my family and preach Jesus to you. God doesn’t need your attendance, but you do because this is where Christ Jesus is given out – in Word and Sacrament. God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does, your coworkers do, your spouse and children do. Abide in the Word of Jesus, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pastor Bruce Timm
25 October 2014 anno Domini