Saying It Is The Key - Reformation Sunday

John 8:31-38 - October 31st, 2021

The Lord Be With You.

A parable on the Gospel …

There once was a guy who would never say thank you. No matter what anyone did for him, he just never uttered the words, “Thank you.” This was very disconcerting to his family because the result of his refusal was to be shunned by others because they sensed he was ungrateful. However, the guy would do favors for others when he would receive them himself and when he saw someone in need. He would do those favors quite often and others would thank him for that. But he would never thank others himself. When he was asked why he refused to express gratitude, he just shrugged and turned away. It wasn’t until he was given a gift that could not have been anticipated that he finally his expressed gratitude. The gift he was given was the gift of a new liver. The gift of a new life. This guy’s was failing and he wasn’t on the list for a replacement. Somehow though, through a miracle, the guy’s name was moved to the top of the list. The guy found out that the donor had requested him personally. This moved the guy to express his thanks to the donor’s family and it changed his outlook on his own life completely. He finally saw value in his own life.

Here ends the parable.

Verse 31 says, in part, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.” This verse points directly towards what do we do with the miracles that God does in our own lives on a daily basis. To abide in Jesus’ words is to live within those very words. This means that no matter what you do, what you say, in what ways you live out the days that you have left, you and I are always to work towards telling the truth of what these Gospels tells us is the truth. No matter what.

The second part of that verse, “and the truth shall make you free” allows us the ability to always rest in the fact that what we know, deep down in our own hearts, is that what we’ve been taught is not the road to perdition but the road to freedom. There is a difference, you know.

But there’s a catch. And that’s the big word, “If”. You see, we can go day by day and let, or allow, the words of this world to cloud or confuse us. We can be put off by something we heard or something we saw. And that clouds over the very words of the Gospels and causes us to go off course. We can let the narrative of the day skew the truth, so much so, that it becomes almost impossible to discern. That’s the world’s job. To make you a part of the world rather than a participant in the world. What’s real doesn’t seem that way. Our minds begin to work on what we know and, sooner than later, we can begin to see what is not there or said as what we want it to be and what we want to hear and see.

It’s like the executive who passed a mental hospital on his way to work and used to stop every once in a while to watch one of the patients going through the motions of winding up and pitching an imaginary ball. A friend asked the executive what he found so interesting about the man’s performance.

“Well,” said the executive, “if things keep on going the way they are, I’ll be there some day catching for that guy, and I just want to get in on his curves.”

Once we start down that path of insanity then it gets really hard to get back on the path of truth. We convince ourselves that wrong is right and right is wrong. And then it gets awfully hard to get back on that part where the Holy Spirit is within you to help guide you through the pitfalls. But Jesus is telling us, here, that when we abide within Him we abide within the truth.

I’ve called this message, “Saying It Is The Key” because sometimes all it takes is an audible “Satan get behind me” to activate the peace that goes beyond all understanding to come back into your hectic day. And that allows you to really abide within Jesus and the words He says rather than the words that the world says. And peace is the very definition of freedom.

You see freedom, the freedom from the overcoming zeal of Satan, is a gift. A gift from the Father. It cannot be earned no more than your faith can be earned. It’s the belief in the freedom that is your faith that allows you to have the strength to combat all that this world can pile up on you.

You know folks, Jesus gave us the roadmap that we can carry with us to help us to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and emerge on the other side victorious. He gave us the reformed words of the Old Testament that is our New Testament. He gave us the guiding words to really let it sink in that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel and that if we can just keep our heads up towards heaven then when we do look down towards the earth it won’t seem so dark at times. It reminds me of something I read …

You see, one day two little boys were playing, and one asked the other, “Wouldn’t you hate to wear glasses all the time?”

The other little boy responded, “No-o-o, not if I had the kind Grandma wears. She sees how to fix a lot of things, and she sees lots of nice things to do on rainy days, and she sees when folks are tired and sorry, and what will make them feel better, and she always sees what you meant to do even if you haven’t gotten things just right.

I asked her one day how she could see that way all the time, and she said it was the way she had learned to look at things as she grew older. So it must be her glasses.”

This Reformation Sunday is your day to stand up and walk with the truth. Put away all those things that are calling that are causing you to drift away. Ignore all those that want to tell you that all this Jesus and God stuff is just a bunch of bull. Cause you know what? We got the pure promises of Jesus to shield us. It may not seem it at times. We’ll all be tried over and over again. That’s just the way the world is.

There’ll be those who try to cancel you out. Say lies against you. Tell others half-truths which are just lies in and of themselves. Put up roadblocks against you just so they can have their 20 minutes of fame and satisfaction. But Luther faced the very same things during his time. The disciples faced persecution during their lifetimes. And each of them relied on the promises of Jesus and the simplicity of the Gospels to pave a roadmap for us today to be able to follow. Follow the words of Jesus and you’ll never get lost. Hang on to the verse that Jesus said here, “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”

The Jews had it all wrong then. They were looking at a point in their history that was earthly bound. That was of the world. Jesus pointed out that it’s not what the earthly realm promises that keeps you free in Him but what’s in the spiritual realm that guarantees that makes you a son of God. A disciple created from the beginning of time. You see, the liberating power of truth is unknowable apart from being Jesus’ disciple, which in turn depends on one’s relationship to the very words Jesus spoke.

So you have to ask yourself, can we claim ownership of our relationship with Jesus if we’re also stuck in this world? If we’re stuck in our past, in this world, can we live for our future? What does it look like to live with Christ? Do we even want those things? And more than that, do we even recognize the difference between earthly freedom and heavenly freedom? Do we even want to know? Freedom of religion is the God-given right for each individual to choose to go to hell the human way or to go to heaven God’s way. That’s also what’s called free will.

Brothers and sisters, there’ll be a day where you’re gonna have to choose. You may still be around when that day comes. And in that day, if you’re still here, are you gonna let go and truly live or are you gonna stay closed up and just simply exist? None of us is perfect. Luther would say we love that which is evil and hate that which is good. He says that because, despite the fact that we cannot possibly do anything perfect, because we’re broken, we’ll still equivocate our existence otherwise we simply couldn’t live with our shortcomings. But Luther would also say that because we’re sinful human beings we’re the only belief system in the world that has a way to live with our shortcomings. That’s the grace of the only one who can give it. Jesus through God.

Remember, saying it is the key. Saying I truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God is the key. And saying please forgive me Father for all I have done is the key. Luther would go into the confessional booth so many times because the moment he stepped out he remembered another thing he felt he needed forgiveness for. He did this so many times that his superior told him to stop coming in until he had something big to forgive. I think we’re all like that. Whether we say stuff under our breath or think badly about another person because they’ve irritated us, we need that forgiveness and grace. Like the guy in the parable, we need to forgive ourselves first and realize that we truly are gifts from the Father. Made in His image. So, if we’re made in His image, how can we possibly be so bad?

Our Reformation day is a day to engage one another to learn about each other. It’s a day to recognize that without Luther there wouldn’t be any other denomination that we have today other than the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic denominations. Most of your neighbors couldn’t even tell you the real story of where their own denominations emerged from let alone the specifics of even the Book of Concord which is the book they also base their faith on. Many long time Lutherans can’t either.

I know the first day of seminary, after the initial prayer before the class began, which tells you that you’re really in seminary, the instructor told us to get out our Book of Concord. I had no idea what he was talking about. I hadn’t ever heard of that book. I was never told. I didn’t even know there were different branches of Lutherism. No one told me but I found out real quickly. And I recently found out that even those that are in the different branches of Lutherism have a tendency to fall back into the practices that led many to establish those different branches in the first place. But despite all that, we can all still say the words that Jesus longs for us to say, “You are the Son of God” and, as such, He is the one that we can put our trust and belief in no matter what happens next.

So, we’ve gone over this passage in John every Reformation day. I know I’ve preached on it at least two other times. But each time we look at it and hear a different take on it, I want to remind you that the promises have never changed. The promises of Jesus have never changed. The promises of the opportunity to abide within what Jesus is teaching. That has never changed in over 2,000 years. And in knowing that, we can make the decision to be as the slave, the slave to this world, and only stay in God’s house until the going gets tough or we can be the true disciples of God and remain forever. Not only us but also all those that are in places that are telling them what this world want them to know instead of what God wants them to know.

Yes, even those in other churches. Even those in the woke culture. Even those who wish to water down the Gospel so it doesn’t offend anyone. The words that Jesus is telling us to abide in are hard at times. Life is hard. The words that Jesus is telling us to abide in caused many of His disciple to sacrifice everything. We’re faced with those same choices too. The words that Jesus is telling us to abide in may not be easy on the ears. Read about the seven churches in Revelations sometime. But the promises that Jesus makes to us by abiding in His words allows us to abide with Him in all that is true and good.

Never succumb to that crowd that wants you to marginalize the truth for what feels good. Never back down from the truth to those who despise just that. Never second guess what’s written for the sake of going along to get along. That’s not abiding but is an arm’s length relationship. Jesus wants you next to Him. Always. Remember, no one can make us inferior without our consent.

The guy in the parable never gave thanks because he had convinced himself that he wasn’t worthy of receiving any gift no matter how small or large. It wasn’t until he was given the gift of life that he finally realized that he was worth something to someone. When he allowed that realization to sink in, his view of himself changed too. Too many times we can be like the guy. But the gift from God of His Son shows us that the gifts we’re given are designed specifically for us.

Each of us is unique in the Father’s eyes. It’s only through our recognition of this gift, the gift of freedom, that we can come to the fuller understanding that we are children of the one God. It’s only through the acceptance of this gift of life that we can begin to experience the freedom that we were born with. It’s only though this freedom that we can choose to follow the Son of Man into new realms that give new meaning to our lives and allows us to share that meaning, that freedom, that gift with others.

We have a banner on our wall that says, “God said ‘Tonight’, Jesus said ‘Today’, Will you say ‘Tomorrow’”. I was asked from where in the Bible did that come. Luke 12:20 has God telling the rich man that tonight his soul will be required of him. Nothing he did will matter anymore. Luke 23:43 has Jesus telling the man on the cross next to Him that today he will be in paradise with Him. Everything that man did at that moment mattered. Both point to what we do with our gifts. Today or tomorrow. We can choose to recognize this. Or not. Tell others. Or not. Share with others. Or not. It’s our choice. What’s yours gonna be? Something to think about! Something to pray about?

Can we pray? …

Father, we pray that you can show us that we are yours and that what we do matters. Father help us to see the beauty in all that surrounds us so that we can continue to appreciate all that you’ve created. We pray for your guidance in our day to day lives so that your glory can be shown to others that may only see the darkness of life. We pray that you’ll send your Holy Spirit down into our lives so that the paths that we, ourselves, choose will be the ones that bring glory to your name. We look upon this Reformation day and know that your timing is always what we need. Help us to understand the message of those that came before us so that we can enlighten others to the works they did in your name. Father fill us with your grace and mercy and light. We pray this in the name of your Son, Jesus the Christ.

And all God’s people said – Amen?!

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