Reformation

November 2, 2014 in Sermon by R0s3m@ry

John 8:31-36

31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 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’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

“Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin,” Jesus said. Strong words those are and mighty offensive too. Jesus’ words fly in the face of how we think of ourselves. Granted nobody claims to be sinless. Everybody that I know will at least admit a sin here and there. They might even admit a favorite sin or one that they struggle with more than others. We might even confess that things are a little worse than that. We might even begrudgingly accept the title sinner but I’m probably pushing my luck with that one. Referring to oneself as a sinner is far too negative and the term is usually reserved for use among crack pots and the Pentecostals. Surely it can’t be that bad can it? Yet, Jesus drops the bomb and says that anyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. Really . . . a slave? Does he have any idea about what he just said? A slave has no choice in the matter. A slave does what someone else tells them to do. A slave is not in control. Since we’ve established that we sin, is Jesus telling us that we have no choice except to sin because sin is in control of us and tells us what to do? Yes, that is exactly what Jesus said. Of course his words have never sat well with anybody. His first followers didn’t like it. “We’ve never been slaves to anyone,” they yelled at him. They appealed to their ethnic heritage as children of Abraham to serve as their justification. The people in Luther’s day didn’t like it either. “We’re not slaves, this indulgence, this half the time off the next great sin committed coupon from the Pope says so,” they argued. And do I even need to go into people’s reaction to being called a slave in our times? What people from the Garden of Eden all the way to the newest members on the maternity floors of the hospital share is an incredible capacity for self-deception. We are born with it, bound by it, captivated by the lie that we are free and in control. We so easily forget or ignore the fact that we are mortally wounded before we even draw our first breath. “I was conceived in sin in my mother’s womb,” King David confessed. We simply cannot believe that we are guilty of Adam’s sin. We will not believe that we are judged and found guilty before we blink the amniotic fluid out of our eyes and scream it from our lungs. Original sinners and therefore slaves to sin, no way, not me! Original sin is the hardest thing in the world to get across. Nobody believes it. It has to be revealed to us by God. To do that he even gave us the law to show us our slavery. He gave us the law not to control sin but to make it worse, to expose what an original sinner looks like. And what do you suppose an original sinner does with the law? We even attempt to use it to get God off our back by proving to ourselves, others, and God how we can’t be original sinners because we have so much potential in the God department. Well that all ends today. Let every mouth be silenced and the whole world accountable to God. We are slaves to sin because Jesus said so. No excuses, not denying it, end of story. Furthermore, there is nothing we can do about it because it is too late. The kingdom of God has arrived and judgment day is here. We are dead. Is that it? Must we continue to wallow in the postmortem? No. The obscure prophet Habakkuk, long before Christ, stopped ranting and raving about God’s impending judgment just long enough to preach a little sermon. He said “the ones who are justified by faith shall live.” King David in the midst of all his troubles sang about God telling us that he is loving and good in his word. The Apostle Paul put the confession of the law and the prophets all together and said the one who trust in God’s word alone shall live. Now what in the world do you suppose God’s word that makes alive apart from the law is? Simply this, Christ has taken your sin. Christ took your sin, all of it, past, present and future, into the grave with him and there it stayed. He is the reason that I declare unto you the entire forgiveness of all your sin. So don’t go digging up bones and trying to make amends with the law because if you do you’ll find the chains of your slavery hanging right where they always have. Instead continue in Christ’s word of promise that declares he is your justification. He is your righteousness. He is your word from God that tells you God loves you. His word is the truth. His word is freedom. It is Christ who there at the font, there at the communion rail takes your sin and makes you free, and when Christ makes you free you are free indeed. Listen to him. Amen