11-3-19 Grace - Benson & Vail Sermon

John 8:31-36 [Welcome Home 2 Reformation]

Pastor Ron Koehler Grace—Benson/Vail, AZ

November 3, 2019

The Secret to Finding True Freedom 1. Jesus’ Teaching is Truth 2. The Truth Will Set Us Free In the name of the one whose Word is truth and who sets us free, dear friends in Christ,

Some of you know that there is a show on TV that I really enjoy. It’s called Expedition Unknown. Josh Gates, an archaeologist and explorer, is the star of the show. He travels the world trying to find lost treasure and things of legend or myth or history.

He’s always looking for the right clues or secrets that will lead to those things. So he consults written accounts. He interviews experts. He pairs up with locals who know the history and perhaps have that key bit of information about how and where to find whatever he’s looking for, whether that is pirate treasure, a lost civilization, or the Yeti!

He gets as excited as I would over the piece of information that brings him to brink of discovery. When he unearths something, he’ll often talk about the thing that caused them to look where they did. He marvels at how they would have never found what they did, if it had not been for that one thing.

Today, on this Reformation Sunday, we consider what has proven to be elusive for so many people: truth and freedom. There are also many people who believe they have found truth and that they know what freedom is, but they couldn’t be more wrong.

What we hear today in this interaction between Jesus and some Jewish people—which included some who believed in him and some who did not—is stuff we hear today and what we need to hear from Jesus: Jesus’ Teaching is Truth and The Truth will Set Us Free Jesus addressed those in the crowd who believed in him, saying, If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples. That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Christians today want to do that. I know that good Lutherans want to remain in Jesus’ word because we know that JESUS’ TEACHING IS TRUTH. But how good are we at doing so? I think we have some problems doing that both in sticking to only God’s Word and all of God’s Word.

Faith in man-made teachings, human reason, or scientific hypothesis over what the Bible says is not the same as remaining in Jesus’ word. The threat of letting our logic and our wishes supersede God’s teachings is constantly present. It lurks in shadowy darkness like a thief, waiting to rob us of gospel truth. That danger was there as Jesus preached these words. It was there when Paul wrote: For there will come a time when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, because they have itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in line with their own desires. They will also turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3,4). It was there as Luther defended the Scriptures too. And surely it is here as you and I sit listening at this very moment.

The dark temptation is there to let human reason interfere with anything God says in Scripture. We could easily doubt or rationalize away the Creation account, the Flood, the virgin birth, or that little infants can believe through Baptism. A great temptation to doubt is before you today as Jesus tells us that his body and blood are really present, along with the bread and wine as we take Communion today. That is what Jesus says in his Word, but did you know that the teaching that the body and blood, bread and wine are all present is a distinctly Lutheran teaching? That means that most Christians believe that the bread and wine turn into Christ’s body and blood (Catholic) or that it is only bread and wine that you receive (Protestant).

We must remain in Jesus’ word—just as it is. That means 100% God’s Word and 0% input from puny, sin-affected minds. The Christian has an attitude that says, “If God says it, then it’s true.” It does not matter how I feel or think about it. This is about listening to God, not telling him. This is faith that JESUS’ TEACHING IS TRUTH. We are also to trust everything he reveals to us. He warns us toward the beginning of the Bible, Do not add to the word I am commanding you, and do not subtract from it (Deuteronomy 4:2a) and again at the end of the Bible: If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the Tree of life and in the Holy City, which are written in this book (Revelation 22:19). You do not have the liberty to treat God’s Word as a doctrinal potluck dinner where you can go through and take only that which you like and agree with and leave behind those things that are unappealing to you.

If you are serious about being a disciple of Jesus and remaining in his word, then you are consistently here in worship to hear it. You read it at home. You strongly consider Bible Study opportunities with other Christians. You see, you cannot possibly remain in Jesus’ word and remain convicted that JESUS’ TEACHING IS TRUTH if you don’t know what it says! And if you think that you know it all already then you are as pompous and arrogant as some of those Jews who felt that their family treeattachment to Abraham made them superior to others and somehow connected to God when they weren’t at all!

I don’t care how smart you are or how long you’ve been around it—you don’t know it all. The study of God’s Word is a life-long study. Jesus intends for it to be continuous.

We need it to be continuous for a strong and living faith. If we are irregular in worship or inconsistent in Bible reading, and have no use for Bible Study, then today is a day for repentance.

The same is true if we don’t care enough about the right answer that God gives or we mock the truth that there is a right understanding of the Bible. Jesus said to his disciples on another occasion: Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. We want to hold to all of Jesus’ teaching, trusting that it all is truth.

Our sinful nature causes us to fall to the temptations I mentioned. That imperfection is an eternally fatal flaw. How do you expect the all-knowing, perfect God to react to people who say they love him, but don’t respond well to his very words in which he reveals himself to them? I pray that we are not deluded like the Jews, who responded to Jesus’ command to listen to him with, “We are Abraham’s descendants and we have never been slaves of anyone.” They did not recognize their sin of rejecting Jesus’ word as truth. I pray instead that we repent of our sins and trust in the word of Jesus that offers forgiveness and eternal life by faith in him.

What Luther emphasized, and what we Lutherans still stress today, is that JESUS’ TEACHING IS TRUTH and that we trust Jesus when he says, If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.

So many today refuse to say that the Bible is God’s inspired and inerrant Word.

Perhaps it surprises us that many mainline Christian denominations will not make that claim and do not hold Scripture up as the only truth, as Jesus says it is. Many claim only that the Bible contains God’s word. Others consider the Bible to be incomplete, trusting in modern prophets or popes or church decrees to tell them what God is saying today.

Be thankful that because of God’s love you bear the name Christian. You may also, with humility, be thankful that you bear the name Lutheran as well—because if you and the Lutheran church body to which you belong still confesses the Bible to be the inspired and inerrant Word of God, you are heirs of the Reformation. The Holy Spirit has shown you THE SECRET TO FINDING TRUE FREEDOM—through the teaching of Jesus, which is THE TRUTH that WILL SET US FREE. Martin Luther made a discovery that would change his life and rock the theological world. He studied his Bible, and like an archaeologist digging up a priceless treasure, he unearthed the Gospel in all its shining brilliance. He had led a life of penance and confession that still left him feeling guilty. He always wondered if he had done enough to do away with his sin. Then he discovered a certain freedom found only in Christ.

He found what it means to be “justified” before God. Just like us, he knew of his sinful nature and the promised eternal damnation that was sure to follow the sinner’s life in this world. The gem he uncovered was the gospel truth that we cannot and need not do anything for our salvation, but that Jesus did it all for us!

He finally understood that Jesus lived a perfect life for us because we are not able to do so; that Jesus offered that life on the cross as a payment for the world’s sin; that Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, assuring us that we too will rise and live in heaven when we die. All of this Jesus did as our substitute, in our place. It was, for Luther, as if a brilliant floodlight had shone on the gospel. Ah, but this is nothing new to you is it? You know so well those facts about Jesus and how he has freed us from sin! But shouldn’t it be exciting and impressive every time you hear it or read it or think about it?

This is what Luther said about that: Ah, how cold and unappreciative even Christians are! When we hear that Christ has redeemed us with His blood, we are moved precisely as much as a dunce is moved when he hears that a hen has laid an egg.

What kind of marvel is this? says he; indeed, that happens every day. There is also no joy, comfort, thanks, or wonderment when people hear of Christ’s suffering. Oh, that is nothing new! Who does not know that? I have known it well for a long time. And so the dear Christ with His precious blood and His immeasurable works of wonder must be considered a trifling matter...In a word, in eternity we shall not be able to marvel enough at the work of Christ and to study it sufficiently; but here we stocks and stones pay precisely as much attention to it when we hear about it as we do to the falling of a rotten apple from a tree. We yawn and say: Well, have you not often seen a rotten apple fall from a tree?

The good news of our Savior’s work for us doesn’t change. It’s the same truth week-toweek. You will hear it from your pastors every Sunday—and well you should! I pray that you don’t take the news of your freedom from sin in Christ for granted, which is what Luther warned against. Hold it in high regard. You want and need to hear that precious truth every week.

It is not new to you because you are Bible-believing Christians and Lutherans who believe it. You know the truth of Jesus’ love and forgiveness so well! You know that you have been set free from sin. Your sinful nature is not your master anymore, Jesus is, because he paid for your sins and the Holy Spirit has revealed that secret truth to you. To know that truth is to know freedom! We are set free to live for God instead of being slaves to our sinful nature. Though we still contend with a sinful nature—and we do still sin—we are not slaves to sin.

I pray that we understand that. Unfortunately, some of the Jews to whom Jesus spoke did not fully comprehend it. They thought that when Jesus spoke of being “set free,” he was implying that they were spiritual slaves, that they were once held hostage by unbelief or by false idols. By their history as Jews, they enjoyed a unique religious standing. They were God’s chosen people. They knew the one true God. They had faith. “Children of Abraham,” as they were called, were not slaves, but sons of God! Jesus said to them, “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.” He was saying that the Jews had no claim to freedom simply by birth. To reject Jesus and his word would be to keep on committing sin and would prove that they were slaves to it. And a slave has no place in the family, although he might share the same home for a while. He could always be sold or kicked out. He has no inheritance.

The special position enjoyed by those Jews under the Old Covenant was coming to an end. They were “in the house” by virtue of being Abraham’s physical descendants, but that did not automatically make them Abraham’s true spiritual children. Only those who shared the same faith as Abraham were members of the household of God. And the faith of Abraham looked to the Messiah, to Jesus, who was now standing right in front of them!

Do we ever feel like those Jews or talk like them? Just because you’re a “Lutheran” doesn’t mean you have automatic entry into heaven. “Lutheran” isn’t some password that will enable you to enter the Golden Gate of heaven. Just because you say you’re a Christian doesn’t cut it either. Nor does simply being on a church’s membership list.

As the Savior had to point out to those Jews, so he also shows us—it is what is in your heart that counts. Are we slaves to the sinful nature…or have we been set free by a faith in Jesus that remains in his word and trusts it as truth?

By the grace of God alone, though Scripture alone, THE SECRET TO FINDING TRUE FREEDOM has been made known to us. We know that JESUS’ TEACHING IS TRUTH and we understand that THE TRUTH HAS SET US FREE. Jesus tells us, So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. Since Jesus sets us free, there is no doubt about it! Glory in your freedom from sin; revel in it; proclaim it! We have freedom from the slavery of sin. We have freedom from the eternal punishment attached to sin. The Holy Spirit now lives in us and moves us to do Godpleasing things. The freedom we have through Christ makes us part of the family of God with all the blessings and the inheritance of life heaven attached!

These are all ours because Jesus promises them to us in his Word—and his Word is truth! Jesus promises us today, If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples. Let nothing get in the way of that so that you continue to enjoy true freedom as you live for your Savior now and look forward to living with him forever. 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. 32 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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