The Truth Will Set You Free
John 8:31-36
October 30, 2022 anno Domini
In today’s Gospel reading, the Jews, once again reject Jesus. They reject Him because He said His Word was the truth and that truth would set them free. They reject Jesus because they didn’t believe the truth and they didn’t need freedom. They weren’t slaves. (Read vs. 33). Ironically, they were at this very time, subjects of the Roman Empire. Their history was a history of slavery – they were slaves in the land of Egypt when Moses delivered them. They had been subjects of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and now Rome. In all that slavery and subjugation Israel’s God, the Holy Trinity, was trying to teach them one truth. They were sinners, bound to sin, death, and the Devil, and the only freedom is in the Lord’s Christ.
Their history, from the creation until the day Jesus walked among them was God’s preaching His Christ to them for their freedom
- as the Serpent crushing Son of Eve.
- as the ultimate Noah who would save humanity by bringing them into the ark of His church.
- as the Son of Abraham through whom the world would be blessed.
- as the fulfillment of Isaac who would be the Lamb of God, carrying the wood of His own sacrifice, being our substitute, that our sins might be forgiven, that we might laugh at death.
- as the final Joseph who would save his brothers by going into the exile of hell, of being enslaved with our sins, yet being righteous and holy, and giving us the bread of eternal life.
- as the greater Moses, whose life was in danger at birth, who went down to Egypt in His youth, whose baptism is our Red Sea and whose Supper is our manna from heaven.
- as the Son of David who would take out that giant of death with one large stone rolled away, revealing an empty tomb.
- as the Son of David who would rule over the world for all eternity.
Every story of the Old Testament, every son of a woman, every Passover Lamb, points to Jesus. The Tabernacle, The Temple, the Priesthood, the Ark of the Covenant, they all point to and find their fulfillment in the Son of God becoming man in the person of Jesus Christ. God chose Israel for this one purpose – to be the people through whom the Savior would come. But, as St. John tells us, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”
The Jews rejected Jesus because they believed in Israeli exceptionalism. They believed that once they had God’s favor, they couldn’t lose His favor. Once God’s people, always God’s people. They took pride in being Abraham’s sons, but forgot that Abraham was saved by faith – faith that One of his sons would be a blessing to the world. That son of Abraham is the Son of God, the Son of Mary.
There is a similar pride in the Missouri Synod against which we need to guard. We are the largest Lutheran synod in the United States which holds to God’s Word and the Lutheran Confessions. We are not afraid to say, “God’s Word is right and you are wrong.” God has given us an incredible gift in the confession we inherited through the faithfulness of those who have gone before us. But we dare not fall into the same trap as the Jews and believe in Missouri Exceptionalism, that somehow or in some way, we are God’s chosen church and we cannot fall or fail. The Lord Jesus managed 1847 years without a Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, and 1945 years without a Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in Saint Cloud, and 1988 years without a Pastor Bruce Timm, so don’t put your faith in any of those institutions or people.
Put your faith in Jesus. Believe that He is the Son of God in the flesh and that His death on the cross atones for your sins and His resurrection declares you righteous before God. Believe Jesus. If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Did you know that this year marks the 175th Anniversary of the Missouri Synod? Me either, until I started thinking about my Reformation sermon. Let me tell you a little bit about the Synod’s founding.
In 1830, on the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, the King of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm III, issued an executive order that there would be one state church in Prussia and that church would be a Union of the Reformed and the Lutherans. This meant Lutherans would be forced to commune with those who deny that Christ’s body and blood are truly present in the Lord’s Supper. They would have to listen to pastors say that you cannot be certain Christ died for you. Their children would be taught that once you are saved you cannot fall from grace. Today the state church of Germany is still this union church.
The Lutherans of Prussia, now northeastern Germany left Prussia for the United States so they could be free – free to preach the Gospel, free to reject false teaching, free to practice their faith in a way that gave all glory to Christ.
One of the earliest founding pastors of the Missouri Synod was Friedrich Wynekin. His first area of service was a 460-mile circuit through Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. He didn’t drive a Ford and he wished he could have complained about potholes in the pavement. When he returned to Germany, he lamented the poor state of the church in America and how quickly the Germans had become lazy in their faith and embraced “carnal liberty” and “outward comfort.” He said, “the majority swims along in the stream of greed.” Could the same be said of us? Wynekin said they needed the Jesus which meant they need the Church so he begged for German pastors to come to America.
Johann Conrad Wilhelm Loehe answered Wynekin’s call by sending men to be trained as pastors. Loehe established the seminary in Fort Wayne and began mission work among the Chippewa Indians. To assist immigrants and to carry on that mission work Loehe established the community of Frankenmuth, Michigan. St. Lorenz Lutheran Church stands there to this day as a founding congregation of the Synod.
It wasn’t just the men who sacrificed for freedom. It was also the women. Susanna Kern immigrated with her family to Union County, Ohio, just across the border from Fort Wayne, Indiana. When a young bachelor pastor arrived at St. Paul’s Lutheran church by the name of Wilhelm Sihler, a member of the congregation suggested he meet Miss Kern. He travelled to Ohio, saw her working hard in the field, supposedly declared, “She’ll do” and they were married the next day. The Sihler’s had nine children, but before they had one child, they welcomed 11 young men into their home. You see their parsonage became the first seminary of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in Fort Wayne. Those 11 men were the first class. Susanna fed them, housed them, and though younger than most of them, likely was mother to them. I doubt it was easy or comfortable for her.
It has become a cliché that freedom isn’t free. Our freedom from sin cost the Son of God His blood, His body, and His life. Our freedom in the Gospel was preserved by men, women, and children, leaving their homes and comforts in Germany to live in the wilderness of Michigan, Indiana and Missouri. We will not remain free if we do not proclaim the truth. That truth is Jesus. That truth is His Word.
In nine days, you will have the privilege of casting your vote in a number of federal, state, and local elections. This morning I’m going to tell you how to vote. Vote for the truth. The killing of unborn children is not a woman’s reproductive right, it is murder. Research your school board elections. They affect the children in your neighborhood and the ability for Christians to be future teachers. Any school board member who says a boy can be a girl is a liar. How do I know? Jesus said so. Any school board member who claims there is systemic racism is a racist because she wants one race favored over another. Scripture knows no races. There is one human race – descended from Adam and Eve, created in the image of God, and redeemed by the Son of God. That truth will go farther than any Marxist system of schooling.
Yesterday one of the Free Conference presenters asked a question like this, “How much adultery would you allow in your marriage?” The answer is none. That’s how much compromise we can allow with the truth of God’s Word if we are to remain free and bring freedom to this suffering and dying world. We come from a long line of faithful and bold confessors who sacrificed their lives and livelihoods that we might have the Gospel. It’s time to follow their example, and confess the truth no matter the cost, that our children and our neighbors might be free in the name of Jesus. Amen.