First Reading: Revelation 14:6-7
6I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Psalm 46
1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea; 3Though its waters rage and foam, and though the mountains tremble at its tumult. 4The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 5There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 6God is in the midst of her; she shall not be overthrown; God shall help her at the break of day. 7The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away. 8The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 9Come now and look upon the works of the Lord, what awesome things he has done on earth. 10It is he who makes war to cease in all the world; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire. 11“Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” 12The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Second Reading: Second Reading: Romans 3:19-28
19Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Gospel: John 8:31-36
31Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Free to Serve
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He frequently dealt with people who needed correction, change, repentance, enlightenment, or a new perspective. These people were often very religious, oftentimes they were intelligent leaders of the synagogues who were well versed in the scriptures, and especially in the Talmud or Jewish religious law. They were people who believed in God, were devout in their ways, and were eager to teach people the will of God as they had come to know it. But they were often wrong, misguided, and were enslaved by tradition. Now I want to be clear here. There is a difference between being informed by tradition and being enslaved to tradition. The Religious Leaders of Jesus’ day were enslaved to tradition.
In addition to being enslaved to tradition, they had also misinterpreted the Talmud and the Torah, the first 5 books of the Old Testament. At times they would alter the law’s original purpose to fit their own self-centered purposes. Their sin then was the same as some today, they would interpret the Jewish law and the Bible through the lens of society rather than society through the lens of the Bible and the law. They often fell into the trap of believing that blessing meant privilege, tradition meant truth, and credentials meant insight. This, as it often does, led to arrogance and, at times, heresy.
Throughout the gospels we read of Jesus correcting faulty beliefs or traditions. The scripture is full of stories of people who thought they had it right, but were wrong, and because of pride, they were not open to correction. When Jesus tried to correct these people or broaden their understanding, He often met resistance. Such is the case in our gospel lesson for today. Our text reads: “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been in bondage to anyone. What do you mean we will be made free?” Interestingly, these were people who believed in Jesus. They weren’t outsiders who needed to be convinced. By way of comparison, these were church members, not the unchurched.
These addressing Jesus were people who had taken step one, they believed Jesus. However, Jesus wanted them to understand steps 2 and 3, being obedient and becoming disciples; this is why He said, “If you continue in my Word.” Being obedient and becoming a disciple is more than a start, it’s a lifetime commitment. Discipleship and obedience is more than simply being baptized and coming to church. Obedience and discipleship is a calling that continues. Freedom in Christ means daily dying to sin and living within the will of God. It’s daily following Jesus and about working in God’s kingdom. Jesus wanted them to know what the kingdom of God is about: once we have received God’s mercy, then the kingdom is about mishpat and zedekah, justice and righteousness.
The kingdom of God is about the right ordering of relationships and resources to serve God and others. At the heart of God’s kingdom is a call for justice and righteousness. It’s about sharing God’s love with our neighbor in need. Remember Jesus’ response to those on the left in His story of separating the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:41-43), ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ Confused, they asked, ‘when did we do this?’ Jesus responded, “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (vs. 45). This is the follow-up part of what Jesus meant when He said, “If you continue in my Word.” Jesus was referring to justice and righteousness, the right ordering of resources and relationships. The question for us is, do Jesus’ words here threatening us as much as they were a threat to the Jews in our text?
Do we become as defensive as those asking Jesus the questions because of our tradition, our self-assurance in what we’ve come to believe. Are there things in our religious understanding that need correcting – questioning – improvement – reforming in our church, in our ideas about God. Now I want to be careful here. Even though I feel the NALC has a good handle on our understanding of what it means to be a disciple and faithful to God and His word, I do want to acknowledge that none of us have it perfectly correct.
Every church body needs to be open to correction and improvement. We cannot become so convinced that we have a lock on God’s word, His will, and His ways that we don’t continually test ourselves and our understanding. We must be careful not to become like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, smug and arrogant. We must constantly ask, “what does God expect of us in the way of justice and mercy.”
Today is Reformation Sunday. Today we remember how God raised up a priest by the name of Martin Luther who challenged the church to recover something he felt it had neglected or covered up. The 16th century church needed to be reformed, to wake up, to get back on track, to recover what it had lost. The reformation didn’t end when Luther died. The church is continually being reformed. Today, the Catholic Church, especially in Latin America, is challenging the church universal to remember its calling, to get back to Biblical basics, to being obedient to God’s word, and to faithful discipleship.
One of the main teachings that came out of Luther’s theology was justification by faith. Lutherans, along with most Christians believe strongly in justification by faith. Justification by faith means that we are accepted, and forgiven by God, not because we’re good, or because we’ve earned it, we’ve been justified because God loves us. Our salvation is by grace through faith alone. We simply believe it and receive it. St. Paul, in our epistle reading made this clear, “we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:28). Justification by faith means you cannot earn salvation. One cannot buy it, nor do we deserve it It’s a free gift. God initiates it. Christ died for it. God completes it. Salvation is God’s work, not ours. But we must be careful here: our understanding that justification is by faith alone can, and has, become a potential heresy in some churches today.
What do I mean by heresy? One definition of heresy is – a truth that is distorted, exaggerated, or is over emphasized; a truth that is not balanced with other truths. When I talk about the heresy of justification by faith today, I mean the use of it in such a way that it’s distorted or causes us to neglect other truths, resulting in it becoming an escape or a barrier to other important truths.
A respected pastor once said, “justification by faith is the most neglected and misunderstood teaching of the Christian faith.” He said, “the term itself is heavy and the explanation usually given to interpret it heavier still.” He went on to suggest that “justification by faith is a starting point, not the goal of the Christian life. It has been proclaimed as an end in itself instead of a means to the end.” The question is, has the distortion of justification by faith stifled our call to discipleship. What I mean is, do people believe that since we cannot save ourselves, that salvation is God’s work alone, and that anything we do for God is work, they we shouldn’t do anything. God has claimed us in baptism so we can now do whatever we want. In other words, universal salvation. I know this is the case, I’ve heard Lutheran preachers say as much. As a result of this distorted belief, we have churches full of people who have been baptized and confirmed, but where few are obedient and who faithfully follow Jesus. These are the people that view the Bible through the lens of society rather than society through the lens of the Bible.
Our primary focus should be on obedience to God, about faithful discipleship, and about the work needed in God’s kingdom. Jesus began His preaching where John the Baptist left off, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). We’re justified by grace through faith for a reason, to do the work of the kingdom while it is still light. His death on the cross brought salvation. His call is to take up our cross and follow Him daily. God is glorified when the kingdom comes. And so we pray “Thy kingdom come.” The kingdom, or reign of God, is a kingdom or reign of mercy, justice, and righteousness.
These three words mean forgiveness and the right ordering of relationships and resources so that all creation can experience wholeness. God blessed Israel so that His chosen people could be a blessing to the whole world. And what was God looking for? Justice and righteousness. God, through Isaiah, said, “I looked for mishpat. I looked for zedakah” (Isaiah 5:7). In Amos 5, we learn that beautiful worship, right liturgies, music at its best, inspiring preaching are all regarded as worthless – useless when the people were not focused on justice and righteousness: “Let justice and righteousness roll down like water” (vs. 24). We have been justified by faith through grace for work in God’s kingdom. God loves us and we share that love with others.
That’s the bottom line for Israel and the church. That’s what the kingdom is about. Being justified by faith, being claimed by God in baptism is the beginning of our Christian life in Christ, justice and righteousness, obedience and discipleship, is our daily desire and goal so we can reach out to our neighbors in need. When you look across human history, God’s goal hasn’t changed. The first family in Genesis, the call and promise to Abraham, the Exodus from Egypt, the call of the Hebrew people, God’s patience with His chosen people, the sending of Jesus, the formation of the first century church, all had to do with salvation, justice, and righteousness.
Look at Luke 4:18, Jesus came to preach good news to the poor and let the oppressed go free. Justice has always had a focus on those in need … release of the captives … sight to the blind … liberty for the oppressed. Jesus announced a year of jubilee. That meant a new beginning for everyone. Daily we’re called to die to sin and to rise to newness of life. Our call is to go and make disciples, to teach, and to serve. The question is, have we allowed our teaching of justification by faith and not by works to morph into a do nothing denomination? St. James might agree that we have.
St. James was clear in his letter; “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works” (2:26). Furthermore, he wrote, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (2:18). God didn’t send His Son to save us just so we can sit and do nothing, or worse, be self-focused. God created us for a purpose, to serve Him and to serve others.
I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but somehow we’ve detached the doctrine of justification from the teachings of discipleship. For me they are inseparably linked. God saved His people from the Egyptians to do what? To be His priests to the other nations. God set His people aside so they could be an example for the other nations. God chooses to work through His people so that all may come to know and serve God. We, as the body of Christ, cannot fulfill our calling without effort. We serve God in this world out of appreciation for all He has done for us in Jesus. It isn’t about earning salvation. It isn’t about earning God’s favor. Our works are because we want to serve God and others in response to God’s mercy. Our faithfulness should be our drive and desire.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was spot on when he addressed cheap grace. Cheap grace says that it’s all about me and my wants and desires. Costly grace on the other hand says it’s all about God and His desires. Costly grace focuses on taking up our cross daily, it’s about living a righteous life, and about working for justice for all people. But we must be careful here. We cannot fall into the trap of defining righteousness and justice by our terms, both justice and righteousness must be defined by God’s word.
Earlier I mentioned that our doctrine of Justification by grace through faith has sometimes resulted in heresies. Let me give you some examples of what I mean. First, a distorted emphasis on justification by faith has led to an escape from a concern for this world to an “other worldly” religion. Too often, we’re so worried about getting to heaven – that there’s little energy or interest in working for justice and righteousness on earth. I grew up in a denomination where “are you ready for heaven” was a weekly theme in its teaching. My question is, have people become so focused on “getting to heaven” that they’ve neglected their neighbor?
Second, has a distorted emphasis on justification by faith resulted in a church that gathers people who believe in God, but who are not following Jesus. We’ve pushed so hard to insist that our works will not save us, that little emphasis is placed on the call to follow. Are we willing to pay the cost of following Jesus if it means quitting our job, if it means not associating with people who are only focused on themselves and their happiness?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book Cost of Discipleship wrote, “we Lutherans have gathered like eagles round the carcass of cheap grace, and there we have drunk of the poison that has killed the life of following Christ … We have given away the Word and sacraments wholesale; we baptized, confirmed, and absolved a whole nation without asking awkward questions or insisting on strict conditions. Our humanitarian sentiment made us give that which was holy to the scornful and unbelieving. We poured forth unending streams of grace. But the call to follow Jesus was hardly ever heard.”
Jon Sabrino, a priest from El Salvador, calls for a new look at Christology. He says we need to recover the essential message of the gospels. Jesus said, “Come, follow me.” When justification by faith isn’t followed by the call to follow Jesus, we’re in trouble.
Third, a distorted emphasis on justification by faith has led to an individualistic, privatistic religion. Far too many people see salvation as primarily “me and my Jesus,” failing to realize that when you turn your life over to Christ, He never comes alone. He always brings your neighbor with him. How many churches have hundreds on their membership rolls, but have less than 1/3 of them in church on Sunday? Many people today see the church as a place where we can slip in, slip out, without any commitment to the Christian community. After all, they are justified by their individual faith.
My faith is between me and God, they say. I can worship God as well, or better, on the golf course. I don’t need the church. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. The writer of Hebrews was clear, “Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (10:25). I wonder if our use of justification by faith as a criterion to see if someone is truly gospel-centered is not partly to blame for this self-centeredness in our faith.
Finally, a distorted use of justification by faith leads to an absence of teaching of judgment found in the scriptures. No one wants to be called a “hell fire and brimstone preacher. We don’t want to address accountability or the consequences of sin. We don’t like to talk about the weeping and gnashing of teeth like Jesus did. Isn’t the cross as much about God’s judgment, as it is about God’s grace? The passage in Matthew 25 about God separating the sheep and the goats is hard for many because it holds people accountable and it address consequences. We don’t want to talk about God as a just judge. It’s so much easier to simply forward that all “good” people go to heaven rather than teach accountability and consequences. But the Bible is clear, just as there is forgiveness for all who repent, there is also judgement for all: “all will answer for what they have done in this life, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The message of the Reformation is that we don’t have to earn God’s favor. God’s gift of grace is for all who repent and believe. But there is a follow up, the same Jesus who willingly went to the cross for us is the same one who bids us to take up our cross and follow Him. Justification is just the first step. The follow up is to give our lives over to God and to serve His kingdom, obedience and discipleship.
Jesus comes to us today as He came to the Jews who believed in Him, and says, “If you continue in my Word, then you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” We are justified by faith. That’s God’s business. Now we’re called to continue the work of God’s kingdom by working for justice and righteousness in this world and by sharing God’s love and good news with our neighbors, we’re called to obedience and discipleship. That’s our business, that’s our call.
Amen