October 28, 2007 – Reformation Sunday
John 8:31-36
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Grace and peace to you from God the Creator, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“It was a dark and stormy night…” -- 490 years ago -- Halloween. A young, German professor of Old Testament at Wittenberg University skittered across the town square and nailed a list of items for debate on the campus bulletin board, the huge wooden door of the Castle Church at the entry into town. These 95 statements were intended for discussion, for lively debate, but once folks began the conversation, it fueled the Protestant Reformation of the Roman Catholic church, and changed the religious world. Newsweek magazine seems to agree that Martin Luther was the third most important historical figure of our modern era. And even though Martin had no idea, his faith journey would change the world.
“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” said Jesus, speaking to a crowd of Jews who were following him, those who said they believed. But Jesus was calling forth a kind of faith they hadn’t known in their faith journey. These were Jews, who began to follow a rabbi who taught the same way that he lived, and for whom the Law was a tool, not a structure for life. And now Jesus was letting them in on a powerful secret, a secret that would change them, if they let it, a secret that was really not a secret, but was so different from how they had understood, and ordered their lives. The secret? It was the simple truth that “God is Love, not Law.” And now that they had heard it, they were faced with The Question that comes to all the faithful: “Now that you know the truth, now that you see you are free, how will you live?” (Will you continue to use your faith for yourself? Or are you willing to look to God to use you?) Are you content to be a member, or do you wish to become a disciple?
It is the same question that Luther pondered for years. It was the question he framed in a different form, “How can human beings find favor with God?” Our Confirmands were attempting to answer exactly that type of question when they wrote and proclaimed their own personal Statements of Faith last week, their creed, their unique answer to the question, “What do I believe?” And added to that, they attempted their first crack at answering the very Lutheran question, “What does this mean? For ME?”
As I mentioned last week, the fear of public speaking is still the #1 fear in America today. Imagine that. Now I know that every one of you probably speaks out loud at least once a day, and I’ll bet there are more than a few folks who hear you – in public! So what’s the big fear? I think, underneath it all, is the fear of getting it wrong, of making a mistake, of not being perfect, of, (Oh my goodness!) FAILING. In fact, we have become so afraid of being judged as lacking, that this fear has replaced even our fear of death! So we are held captive, enslaved, by our fear of being judged by others. While Jesus, Luther and hopefully, the Church today continue to preach the gospel good news of freedom to those who cannot, will not, believe they are bound.
Just look at those Jews who responded to Jesus in our lesson today, “We are children of Abraham, and have NEVER been slaves to anyone! Well excuse me, but you are sitting in Palestine in the first century with Jesus, and Rome occupies you! And what about that other minor event spanning generations in a place called Egypt, or those years in Babylon when your people were not free to go home? It appears that the Chosen People of Israel were not only slaves in the past, they were defined by their captivities! And yet, just like us, they did not want to admit it. And, just like us, they still YEARNED after God’s initial intent for them: freedom – living unencumbered – Americans would call it “independence.”
Last week I was having a conversation with our new Director of Youth & Family Ministries for Junior and Senior High, John Holt. In the middle of the conversation he said something, and I just had to stop him. “John, say that again,” I said, “I need to write it down for my Reformation sermon.” What John said was, “It’s not about the right answer, it’s about the real answer.” Wow. It’s not about the right answer, it’s about the real answer, and The Real Answer is that God is NOT “Judge” but “Love.”
We already know the REAL answer, don’t we? As the prophet Jeremiah said in our Old Testament reading this morning, “it’s been written on our hearts.” And Jesus, the revelation of God in human form, showed us the real answer, the truth. Plus, the Bible tells us in a thousand ways – for instance, Jesus saying, “I AM the Way, the TRUTH, the Life.” Or the angels (God’s messengers) saying, “Don’t be afraid.” Or Paul the Apostle saying, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” Or God, himself, saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved,” which is echoed for each of us as we are claimed as God’s precious child in the waters of Baptism.
Today, I want you to imagine your life with nothing to prove; that’s God’s plan. I want you to imagine your life without guilt, without fear; that’s God’s plan. I want you to imagine your life filled with all the love you could ever want or need; that’s God’s plan. Now imagine that God “puts his money where his mouth is,” which is exactly what God did, on a hill called Calvary. For there, Jesus showed just how much God loves us. And here, at this table, God comes to us over and over again --for forgiveness, for remembrance and for new-ness of Life.
I was having a conversation a week or so ago over coffee with a member of Advent. He was telling me about a seminar he had attended where they “typed” folks so that you might better understand your co-workers’ styles. One of the types was labeled, The Stamp Collector. I had to ask him to tell me more. The Stamp Collector is the person who will easily forgive you for some transgression, but then puts a stamp with your name on it in a book. Hopefully you never cross paths again, but if you do he is willing to forgive again, but then puts another stamp with your name on it in his book, just waiting for the time to come when he can say, “Oh, I can forgive you, but I will not forget.”
The mark of the disciple is the mark of love, and is most potent in the act of forgiveness.
For we live in a broken world – we worship in a church full of broken people - we love conditionally, through broken relationships, and we come back home to God over and over again, with broken hearts. And God tells us over and over again about truth:
“The truth about suffering – that it can build character;
The truth about forgiveness – that it is as essential as bread;
The truth about death – that it is not the last word;
The truth about slavery – that God does not condemn us,
nor hold us captive, nor seek to judge us.
But that Jesus Christ is the Heart and Mind and Spirit of God, God in human form, God’s Son”
God with us. Forever. “And we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free.” Amen.
