11/3 Sermon - The Truth Will Set You Free

The truth will set you free

John 8:31-36

1. Why does it matter? We’re Lutherans. Why does it matter? Why do we call ourselves “Lutheran”?

- It’s the difference between slavery and freedom.

- 500 years ago, the Catholic church enslaved Europe.

- Prayers to Mary, Pope > Word, Limited forgiveness.

- Most of all, they enslaved everyone with a feeling of guilt. No one was ever quite sure if they were saved.  

- No one was ever told about the free forgiveness of Jesus, the gift of eternal life, and the sure hope of life. 

- “If you don’t live a good enough life, you’re not really a Christian. You better hope you’ve done enough.”

- The image of Jesus the Catholic church painted, and still paints, is an angry, stern, judgmental God.

- People were enslaved.

2. Then, Martin Luther comes onto the scene in 1519.

- I’m sure many of you are familiar with the history, but if you want to know more, ask me or another pastor!

- Martin Luther’s approach is simple: he preached the simple Word of God, the only sure truth in this world.

- Luther essentially preached Jesus’ words in John 8, “If you hold to (Jesus’) teaching, you are really (his) disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

- This means freedom not just for Europe in the 1500s, but for everyone! For us today, this truth sets us free.

3. “Hold on. Why does that matter? Freedom? Slavery? I’m not enslaved, I’m a free American!”

- Let’s think about it. Are you really, on your own, free?

- We have the veneer of freedom: You can get a job, buy a house, go on vacation, vote. Great freedoms!

- But… are we really free?

- The Jews of Jesus day certainly thought so! They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” They were Jews, descendants of Abraham himself, they were God’s people. If any people were to be free, it was the Jews.

4. 34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

- The Jews weren’t free, we’re not free, because of sin.

- No matter what we do, we can’t escape sin.

- Our past sin haunts us, the mistakes and choices we made, the abuse and hurt stick with us.

- Our present sin sticks to us. We can try every day to be a good person, to make a positive impact. But no matter how good-intentioned we are, or we’ll sin today, tomorrow, and we’ll hurt ourselves and others.  

- It’s it funny how sin starts? It starts small. Maybe a thought, an attitude, a reaction. But then sin grows bigger and worse. We told ourselves we were in control. But sin was the master the whole time.

- We can eat the healthiest food, exercise daily, eliminate all stress in your life… but we will still suffer, and we will still die, because we sin.  

- It’s that guilt the Catholic church is so good at pressing down on people. We’ve all felt it, at least from ourselves! “Am I doing enough? Am I good enough? Am I making God or my spouse or my parents happy?”

- God has such a terrifying image of sin in Genesis. He tells Cain, right before he kills his brother Abel, “Sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you.” Sin isn’t just an invisible force, it’s a starving lion, it’s Satan who wants to drag you to hell, it’s our sinful nature that rejects God. Sin is, by nature, our master. On our own, we’re slaves to sin.

5. Why does it matter? Why does Jesus matter? Why do the teachings of Martin Luther matter?

- Jesus said, “If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

- There is freedom from sin. There is freedom from our slavery. But only in the truth.

- I think we see that phrase a lot, don’t we? The truth will set you free. It’s on libraries or people’s online bios. They use it to talk about “knowledge.” Sure there’s some truth to that. But that’s not what the verse means. It’s not talking about worldly knowledge, but the truth of Jesus Christ, the gospel, that frees us from sin.

6. One of the clearest places we read about this gospel in Romans 3, one of our readings for today. 

- Read Romans 3:19-26.

- There are 4 phrases that summarize the truth of Romans 3, the truth Luther proclaimed, the truth of God. Whether you know them already or have never heard about them, let’s marvel and meditate on them:

- Solus Christus. It’s Latin for “Christ alone.” Cf. 3:24. Jesus Christ alone sets us free. He took our sin, our guilt, even our death, on the cross, in our place, shed his blood, died, and rose. Now, because of him, we are justified. That’s a courtroom term about a judge’s decision. God looks at you, bangs his gavel, and says, “Because Jesus took your sin and death, I declare you innocent and forgiven for all of eternity.”

- Sola Scriptura. It’s Latin for “by Scripture alone.” Cf. 3:21. Not the pope, not tradition, not our hearts, not social media. God’s Word alone, “the law and prophets,” this Bible alone tells us about our freedom.

- sola gratia. It’s Latin for “by grace alone.” Cf. 3:24. God doesn’t feel compelled to pay us as if we’re workers, not because we’re good or worthy. It’s a gift. Grace means a gift giving love. God looks at us, loves us, and entirely because of his grace, he gives freedom.

- Sola fide. This is Latin for “by faith alone.” Cf. 3:25. This freedom comes not by our decision, or our choice, not by our works or our effort. Faith is a trust in our heart. Just like an infant knows their parent’s face and trusts them, our hearts trust in Jesus for freedom.

7. This truth doesn’t just set us free; freedom means we are children of God.

- “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

- Think of your children, or grandchildren, or nieces and nephews. How much love and pride are in your heart? That’s how God looks at you because Jesus has set you free to become children of God.

- Everything that a child has from their parents you have from God: He loves you, he’s always with you, he watches over you, you are always part of his family, your home is in heaven. The truth of Jesus sets you free.

- Each child in a family is different, but unique, and able to grow in their own way. And now we are free to serve Christ and others as children of God. This is the teaching of vocation. Each one of us is unique, different from everyone else. God gives us different situations. But we’re free to love God and love others in our own unique way, exactly as God intended and blessed you.

8. Why does it matter?

- I hope you realize that it does.

- We’re Lutherans not because of tradition and not because we worship some German monk.

- We call ourselves Lutheran because of the truth that Martin Luther proclaimed, the truth he just read about in the Bible, that truth that was obscured for 100s of years, the truth that sets us free, the truth now preached to you.

- Th truth says this: We are justified, forgiven, and set free from sin through Jesus alone, by Scripture alone, by faith alone, by grace alone.

- Jesus tells us, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciple.

- What do we do, then? Remain in this teaching. Hold fast to this teaching. Age after age, whether it’s to our children or to people God brings into our life or church, we proclaim, from age to age, the truth that sets us free.