FIRST READING Jeremiah 31:31–34
31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
PSALM Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains shake in the depths of the sea; 3 though its waters rage and foam, and though the mountains tremble with its tumult. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be shaken; God shall help it at the break of day. 6 The nations rage, and the kingdoms shake; God speaks, and the earth melts away. 7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 8 Come now, regard the works of the LORD, what desolations God has brought upon the earth; 9 behold the one who makes war to cease in all the world; who breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire. 10 “Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
SECOND READING Romans 3:19–28
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
GOSPEL John 8:31–36
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
CHRIST HAS SET US FREE
In 1493 a history of the world was published in Germany. By way of reference, this is just one year after Columbus discovered America. The world, and the view of the world, was changing and one would think that the discovery of a new land would be big news; news worth of publication. But the book didn’t end with that; in fact the authors didn’t even mention it. Instead the book ended with a drawing of the Last Day, showing Christ as Judge sitting on a rainbow. In the picture, Christ had a lily in His right ear to symbolize the redeemed whom the angels were ushering into paradise. In His left ear, there was a sword which represented the doom of the damned, whom the demons were dragging by their hair from their graves and throwing into the flames of hell. This drawing appeared in several books of the period.
Luther had seen pictures like it and said he was utterly terrified at the thought of Christ as his judge. Today, five centuries later, I suppose we all feel such a notion, the thought that God is too primitive for the enlightened mind. Yet the concept that the Lord is some kind of giant truant officer – that worry is still around, that He’s always prowling about to keep us from doing something we could enjoy. Another image might be that He’s like a huge thumb, holding us down, mashing our spirit. Under this oppressive thumb we squirm and wiggle and protest, “I want to be free!” With that being said, what will it take for people to understand that the Gospel isn’t a message that stifles us? How can I bring it home that Christ isn’t a wet blanket, but a liberator?
I guess the best way is to make a clear statement and say that “Christ Has Set Us Free.” I’ll also take this statement one step further and state emphatically, that what the devil does is promise liberty while delivering slavery. Christ on the other hand, offers discipleship and therefore delivers freedom. To better understand the difference we must first observe how the devil promises liberty and delivers slavery, we must note his technique: it’s the big lie. Go back with me into history for a quick look.
First we have a dark-complexioned fellow in Egypt, his lips curled back over his teeth, the veins in his neck standing up in rage, his massive right arm laying the whip on the back of Hebrew slaves while snarling, “Why didn’t you make as many bricks today as you did when we provide you straw?” Who could forget the centuries of enslavement, especially when an annual festival, the Passover, was designed to help them not forget it?
Then there was an exodus out of slavery, the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground, water from a rock, Manna, quail on demand not to mention a cloud by day and fire by night to guide them; all this followed by several centuries of independence. But then armies from Assyria and Babylon swooped down and burn their houses and barns, spoiled their gardens and trees and demolished their Temple and hauled almost every one of their able-bodied men and women off and into captivity. Who could forget those 70 years of trying to explain to the children that Babylon wasn’t their real home?
Then Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon and as foretold by God through Isaiah, sent the captives home, with all the treasures pillaged from the temple decades earlier, to resettle and rebuild. Yet before long, Alexander the Great stormed out of the west and converted Judea into a colony of Greece. That condition prevailed for 150 years. Who could forget that long stretch of embarrassment? Then finally a revolution; a strain of heroes arose, the Maccabees, who threw out the Greeks and gave back freedom to the Jews, independence that lasted 100 years.
But in 63 B.C., the Roman general Pompey attacked Judea and left a Roman governor and an army of occupation in charge, a state of affairs that still prevailed at the time of our text – when foreign soldiers were everywhere on the scene. Worse than that, you couldn’t escape their tax collectors, publicans who’d stop you several times on every little trip to impose their wheel taxes, road taxes, sales taxes, and whatnot taxes. Who could forget for a minute that Judea was subject to Rome?
Isn’t it remarkable then that having a history of centuries of slavery under Egypt, 70 years under Babylon, 150 years under Greece, and 100 years already under Rome – with no end in sight – isn’t it remarkable these antagonists of Christ could have replied: “What do you mean, you’ll set us free? We’re descendants of Abraham, and we’ve never been in bondage to anyone.”
The only way I can explain this absurd response is to say they’d been overcome by the devil’s technique of the big lie. They were slaves – as Jesus pointed out: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” – but they couldn’t acknowledge it. It was much like another time when Jesus remarked that those who are well don’t need a physician, only those who were sick, and that He’d come not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance. That is, the faultfinders were also sick but they didn’t know it. Quite simply, they were victims of the big lie. Would it ever end? The answer is of course, no, because we too, are victims of the big lie, it works with us too.
Just as with Adam and Eve, the devil promises if we’d only get God off our backs, we could take over and be worldly and mature and sophisticated – and free. But whenever we yield to the big lie and reach for the forbidden fruit, we gag on it, and we’re left with the same horrid aftertaste that deceit always brings. Just like Adam and Eve we feel a sense of being exposed and we also try to cover up. But alibis and passing the buck don’t work any better than fig leaves.
To all who are slaves without realizing it, Jesus serves notice that “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” The big lie captures us so smoothly we don’t see it coming. Judas must have slipped just a coin or two into his pocket only now and then, but eventually he was so enslaved by greed, he was willing to barter the life of Jesus for a few pieces of silver.
A few years ago Watergate befuddled us. How could the defendants be so obsessed with winning the election at all costs and overlook clear statements in the Constitution protecting the rights of individuals? This past week, in Illinois, voting machines that were “out of calibration” selected the opposite candidate when an entry was made. Several machines were tested and many were found to be defective. We go through the motions of doing what’s right but we seem surprised when we find we’ve been lied to. Perhaps some are still wondering how they fell for it. Yet at the time they say it seemed the most natural thing in the world. Enslaved by the big lie.
In our vocabulary of sin, it seems that it has to be a big lie before it’s bad enough to count. Unless it’s done under oath, no judge will put us in jail for it. This in itself is part of the devil’s technique; he puts out the big lie that small lying, an innocent little fib, a little white lie is all right. As long as no one gets hurt; as long as no one finds out; as long as we can laugh it off, then no harm no foul. We get so used to deceiving others we deceive ourselves. It’s becomes a way of life.
In other words, it enslaves us. So we could be wearing masks even in the presence of our dear ones, turning out to be strangers to them and they to us. We’ve fooled ourselves into thinking small lies are no big deal, but small lies rob us of the fullness of life God has designed us to enjoy. The subtle snake is always on the job, sneaking up to the human race by the hour, promising liberty while delivering slavery. Hopefully the realization of the big lie leaves us to ask, what’s the alternative?
The alternative is that Christ offers discipleship and thereby sets us free. Jesus said: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” But it doesn’t sound too exciting at first. Discipleship – or continuing in the word of Jesus – it looks like work. Discipleship demands commitment. Jesus was always talking about how we must deny the self and take up our cross if we want to follow Him. But why strain ourselves? Maybe slavery to sin is better; we get what we want, the desire of our self-focused heart, isn’t that better if the alternative is slavery to Christ?
Before throwing that out, let’s first look at how it is in the world of music and the world of sport. I admire the piano player who can sit down and have the freedom to play the most difficult music almost at sight. They make it looks easy. I admire jazz artists who have the freedom to blow their horns and tickle the keys all over the musical map, making up new melodies on the spot. I admire swimming champions who have the freedom to slip through the water with hardly a ripple. I admire the fishermen who have the freedom to flick the wrist and cast the bait in the exact spot they want it to go. But looks are deceiving.
No accomplished musician just sat down and began to play. No expert swimmer just fell out of a boat and began to paddle and breathe with ease. No skilled fisherman just bought the best reel on the market and then went out to lay their bait “on the money.” First there was discipline. The master musician had to start by learning to count and run through the scales and then to drill and to drill and to drill. Only by working at the piano is the artist free to play the piano.
When we first moved here to Bethel, it was a trick learning to get around in a rural area. I grew up in the west and things were laid out in a grid pattern. Roads and streets ran north and south, avenues and ways ran east and west. Roads ran for miles and never changed names. As a newcomer to the east, it was tricky for me to find my way to and from my destination, especially in the rural areas. If the bridge was out or construction caused a detour, getting to where I wanted to go, or home for that matter, wasn’t a sure thing. That may sound silly to those of you who’ve lived here all your life. But now, like you, I can start pretty much anywhere in the Gastonia, Bessemer City, Kings Mountain, Dallas, Lincolnton area and I can find my way home. As I like to tell folks, when you’re in North Carolina, there are 6 ways to Sunday to everywhere. When I was a novice, I had to stick to one or two main thoroughfares. Map quest, studying Google maps, the GPS and experience have brought me the freedom to get off the main roads and go almost anywhere, even at night, without getting lost.
We see then that in various departments of life, discipline is the mother of freedom, that although the devil’s big lie is that God is like a huge thumb holding us down, the truth is commitment to God actually liberates us. That is, when Christ offers us discipleship, He wants to make us free.
Let me show you how that works by referring to the discipline that alcoholics go through to be redeemed. They admit they’ve lost control and that they must turn to a Power greater than themselves. They draw up a list of all the people they’ve wronged. They seek to make amends except when to do so would work greater harm. They confess to them and to God the offense they’ve given them. Oh, how it hurts, to expose the soul, to concede they’re too weak to make it on their own, to acknowledge to their families, to their faces, that they’ve been a nuisance and an embarrassment. But this discipline is necessary before they become free not to drink. As Jesus said: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples.”
The program of A.A. is just an application of the word of our Lord on how to be free of any enslavement: to repent of our past, to look to Him, to receive His pardon, and to live forgiven, getting strength from the fellowship of other sinners who are also forgiven. The problem is, alcoholics are ashamed. So is everyone who’s enslaved. Whether it’s drinking, lying, over-eating, immorality, greed, or any other compulsion, it’s destructive and we know it and we don’t like ourselves for it and we may secretly wish we could overcome by ourselves. But that’s too frightening to deal with, so we look for scapegoats.
We blame others. Mostly we blame the Lord. The strange news of the Gospel is He’s already accepted the blame … and atoned for it … and thereby set us free from the power of guilt. Now we don’t need to hate ourselves – nor blame others for our faults. The Lord has taken all blame on Himself. Christ has set us free. This is what Luther re-discovered, that the Gospel doesn’t stifle our spirits; rather it gives us new life and new energy. It means Christ isn’t a wet blanket but an emancipator. Not a giant thumb mashing our souls, but a liberator.
Isn’t it time we recognize the big lie and the liar and say devil, be gone! You’ve been promising us liberty ever since Adam, and all you’ve done is tie us up in chains. Rather let us say, Christ, be welcome! Lord You offer us the discipline of repentance and faith and fellowship, and thereby You set us free. Free from sin, free from guilt, free from eternal damnation and the wrath of God. It’s time to recognize the promise that when Jesus sets us free we are free indeed. Discipleship, the denying of ourselves to serve God isn’t slavery; it’s the road to true freedom. Glory and thanks be to God for our freedom in Christ. Glory and thanks be to God indeed.
Amen