10-30-22 Grace-Tucson Sermon

John 8:31-36 Reformation

Pastor Ron Koehler

Grace-Tucson, AZ

October 30, 2022

Real Disciples Remain in the Word Are Set Free by Jesus It happened in the church office about a week ago. An envelope was opened, and there was a business check inside. That’s not unusual. What was unusual was the amount of the check: $110,000! I’m telling you, the thing looked absolutely legitimate.

Of course, it wasn’t. But it can be very hard to tell, which is why criminals do things like this. If someone is duped by it or simply isn’t paying attention–although that seems less likely with a $110,000 check–they can gain access to your account.

In a world of photoshopped images and social media filters and phishing emails that look like they’re from legitimate companies and fraudulent checks that look authentic, how do you know what’s real?

How do you know what is true when politicians say things about their opponent that contradict what their opponent says? Or when scientists and their studies disagree?

Is the news we hear fake news…or is it true? Like Pontius Pilate addressing Jesus, we may shake our heads and say, “What is truth?”

In a confusing world full of various religions and different types of Christians, it can be hard to know what is real and true when it comes to faith and eternity. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the only Savior, the only Way that leads to eternal life. He is the real Savior who explained what his Real Disciples, or followers, do. And to his Real Disciples, Jesus makes an incredibly comforting promise. John’s gospel tells us about all this morning.

One minute they love you, the next they hate you. That’s what Jesus experienced as he spent the day teaching at the Temple in Jerusalem. The people listened and many actually believed in him. So, he kept talking. “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples. You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

But this confused some of them. “We are Abraham’s descendants, and we have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be set free’?”

Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin. But a slave does not remain in the family forever. A son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

They and Jesus kept talking back and forth until, ultimately, they picked up stones to start firing at him, but Jesus escaped. His talk about Real Disciples was the beginning of an exchange that set them off. But why? Because they got stuck on the “truth setting them free” part.

So many people misuse those words of Jesus, using them for all sorts of things– maybe you’ve even been guilty of that! A suspect is told that if he wants to unburden his conscience, he should confess because “the truth will set him free.” A writer shares lessons taught in the recent live-action Pinocchio movie with Tom Hanks and speaks of Pinocchio finally telling the truth, which transforms him into a real boy. The title of the piece? You guessed it, “The Truth Will Set You Free.” (https://www.popsugar.com/family/life-lessons-from-disneys-pinocchio48925891#photo-48925901)

You might say, “Well, those are just more examples of our culture not getting it.”

Except, it’s not just our culture; this has always been the case. This happened the moment the words “the truth will set you free” came out of Jesus’ mouth. Those listening got all defensive, claiming that their people had never been slaves, so they didn’t need to be freed! That sounds kind of weird since God’s people had a history of being enslaved. Think of Egypt and Babylon—and they were under Roman rule as they talked with Jesus, so not free! They meant something else though. They meant that God had made them his chosen people—they had no master except God himself.

At least they understood that Jesus was talking about religious freedom. But they considered themselves already freed, so they didn’t need him. They didn’t need to listen to his words, and they didn’t need to follow him. Later in the conversation, Jesus clearly said that he is the eternal Son of God, which they did not accept, and which led to them trying to stone him to death. They were not Real Disciples of Jesus, and so not of the Father either, despite being branches on Abraham’s family tree.

What Jesus wanted for them is what he wants for us: just to listen to him and follow him. It seems so simple. Just listen to Jesus. The Holy Spirit ensured that Jesus’ words—and all of God’s words that he wanted shared with the world—were preserved in the Bible. This way, people can really become disciples of Jesus as they hear the word and hold to it. Jesus isn’t visibly present to talk to us today as he was back then, but he is present in the Scriptures, and his words still speak to a modern crowd. The Bible is his Word and it is readily available for us to listen to.

There have been times when it was less accessible. One of those was at the time of Martin Luther, in about 1500, so a little over 500 years ago. Actually, for many years prior to that, the gospel—the good news about Jesus and the freedom he brings—was obscured by the Church’s focus only on the law of God. Guilt and punishment for sin and the threat of the flames of hell dominated and were used to control the people, enslaving them twice—once to the Church itself and the other to the damning guilt of the law! What a terrible trap and burden!

Into the darkness of that time stepped God’s gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit.

What the world knows is that Martin Luther was the primary person God used to bring the entirety of God’s Word out into the open. He was not the only one, but he led the Reformation of the Christian Church. He was simply a person that God used to bring back the shining light of the gospel, the message of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus.

Into today’s dark world, the same gospel steps. To people who are under the wrong impression about what truth is, Jesus comes with his word of love and forgiveness and eternal life. That word arrives on the wings of the Spirit of God who uses it to open eyes and hearts to see Jesus as the Savior. Faith is created and followers made— Real Disciples who remain in the words of Jesus. They are the ones who are set free.

But set free from what?

Yes, they are set free from spiritual confusion. They are set free from worldly approaches to God and life and death. But their freedom is bigger and more than that.

Anyone who continually holds to Jesus words, who reads them regularly, who hears them in worship week by week—and who does so with faith—finds that they are forgiven for all their sins. Literally, every sin.

They are set free from them because they trust in Jesus. The words of Jesus explain the purpose of his sinless life lived for sinners. The word tells of his capture and condemnation—and how his captors led him to his crucifixion. That word proclaims that he set himself free from the grave that had claimed him. The risen Christ is the one Real Disciples follow because they have come to know him through his word—and they continue to follow him by remaining in that word.

What a relief it is to know that by faith in Christ our sins do not condemn us! The Word tells us that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2). You know that death is only a thing because of sin. Had Adam and Eve not sinned, there would be no death, only an eternal and peaceful life with God. Tragically, though, sin brought death into the world. Sinful people die, which means everyone dies. This is the law of sin and death. And to make it worse, there is nothing that sinful people—you and me—can do about that. Sin is stuck to us and so both physical and eternal death wait for us.

But what we couldn’t do, Jesus did. The sinless Jesus gave his perfection to you. He made his victory over the grave yours too. Holding onto that truth means that physical death will not hold onto you, and eternal death cannot claim you! This—this is the truth that sets you free!

As you sit here this morning, you have some time to wait before you experience death and are immediately set free from it to live eternally with your Savior in heaven. You may not make it home from church today or you might have 60 more years to live.

Most of us are somewhere in between there, I would think. So, what happens between now and then? Well, we remain here as disciples who follow Jesus but who contend with a sinful nature at the same time.

Remember the defiant reaction of those listening to Jesus at the Temple, who were thinking of their place in Abraham’s family tree and how they were never slaves? Jesus said to them, Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin. But a slave does not remain in the family forever. A son does remain forever. He wanted them thinking not about physical slavery, but spiritual slavery. And this raises the question for us: are we slaves to sin?

You might say so, since we can’t shake the sinful nature.

You might think so, since we each fall back into certain sins that have strong appeal to us for some reason.

You might be under that impression because no matter how hard we try, we’re always breaking one commandment or the other—maybe several at the same time!

We may feel like slaves to sin because of things like this. We may even question our forgiveness. If this is true, if that’s what it means to be slaves to sin, the outlook for us is pretty bleak. A slave does not remain in the family forever. Slaves to sin are not in God’s family eternally. But this is the thing: Jesus has set us free from the damning effects of sin. Our faith in him means that we are cleansed of sin, that we live under this umbrella of forgiveness that gives us confidence that despite our sin, Jesus has freed us from its consequences and promised us eternal life.

Real Disciples don’t mess with this. They don’t treat this freeing truth as a Get Out of Eternal Jail Free card that they can use whenever they purposely rebel against God. These promises of Jesus do not give us a license to sin. A Real Disciple of Jesus remains in his word, which does reveal sin, but also then steers us to look to Jesus and his forgiveness, to know that we are “sons of God” and part of his family forever. That word directs us then to put away sin and to strive to live in ways that express our gratitude to our Savior, to live in ways that glorify him so that others might see his importance to us and perhaps look to him too.

The Reformation of the Church brought the gospel back into the light where everyone could see it. Those days also put the Word of God into the hands of everyday people so that they could see for themselves what Jesus says. It became their treasure because it allowed them to know the grace of God in his Son and to remain in Jesus’ word as his Real Disciples. May the words of Jesus today lead you to treasure his word because it brings you the truth that sets you free from sin and death and brings you to eternal life with him. Amen.

Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.

You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered, “and we have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be set free’?” 34 Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin. 35 But a slave does not remain in the family forever. A son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

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