Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you
from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“If you
abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you
will know the truth, and the truth will set
you free.”
In the name of Jesus
I don’t
imagine it being too much of an enjoyment being an African in the new land of
America from the early 1600’s to the mid to late 1800’s. Living a life of slavery was not a luxurious,
cushy, lavish lifestyle. You worked sun
up to sun down. You had to be content
with the little possessions that you had.
You were completely at the mercy of your master. I would venture to guess that being
oppressed, being degraded, being silenced, being bound in chains figuratively
sometimes even literally, wasn’t exactly a morale booster.
Imagine for
a moment now, you are in this situation.
Imagine you are being suppressed by a controlling master you dictates
your every move. You have heard rumors
that there are people out in the unknown world who are fighting for you, but
you don’t and even can’t think about it because that is all out of your
hands. You know very well, and are even
told by your master, you are a horrible worthless person. You own nothing. You can do nothing on your own for you are
owned.
With the
signing of the Emancipation Proclamation signed in 1863, freedom was on its
way. In 1865 the official word was
given, all slaves were free in the new land.
What a liberating feeling it must have been to hear that no longer could
you be held as a slave. You were free in
every sense of the word. Now, granted it
would be a while yet before civil rights movement, you lived your life as you
pleased. You owned land, you had a
family, you had possessions.
It is hard
for us to imagine such a scenario isn’t it.
You and I have never been put through the horror of slavery. We have never been held against our will and
forced to work in such conditions as there were in 1600-1800. It seemed difficult as well for the Jews in
our text. In fact, it seemed offensive
to them to even be associated with slavery.
We are offspring of Abraham and have never been
enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?
Jesus was beginning to offend them because he was speaking on the
subject of slavery, and more specifically, their slavery and the need to be set
free. He said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in
my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free.”
Slavery is
an offensive thing. No one likes to
think about what it must have been like in those days. Surely no one likes to think of themselves in
that same position. Yet you are. You are a slave, please be offended. You are a slave and you deserve everything
which that title entails. You sit here
in God’s house having come in shackles.
You are the ones to whom Jesus is speaking in our text. You are the ones who our Lord calls to abide in my word know the truth, and the
truth will set you free.
Martin
Luther felt the restraints of sin upon him.
He knew well the convicting words of our Lord, Everyone
who practices sin is a slave to sin. The
slave does not remain in the house forever.
He was taught that the way to loosen the chains was to please God with
works, to sacrifice his life, by dedicating to the Lord’s work. Yet the chains where binding. His work was never enough. The truth for Luther was that he was a poor
miserable sinner worthy of nothing.
We know from
the history of our country what the reward, what the payment, what the
compensation was for a slave. They got
nothing. We know from our Lord’s
teaching, from his holy and inspired word what our reward, payment,
compensation for being a slave to sin, to the devil is, and it is more than
nothing, it is death.
What should
the master give us for being unfaithful to him?
What should the master give us for not following his laws, his
commands? We can’t pretend everything is
fine and dandy. Our Lords very words
convict us. Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house
forever.
Who,
therefore, in this house, does not practice sin? Everyone
who practices sin is a slave to sin. We are the slaves.
It took a special
act in 1863 to begin releasing slaves, the Emancipation Proclamation. A letter, an act, from President Abraham
Lincoln declaring all those held as slaves, free. By virtue of
the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all
persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are,
and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United
States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize
and maintain the freedom of said persons.
It took a special act, a special proclamation,
words from the leader, to release us. It
wasn’t written on official letter head, it wasn’t written and declared
immediately by the governing authorities.
It was in fact the just the opposite.
Our freedom was declared by one held on death row.
Through of the proclamation of our
Lord, it is finished, the greatest
reversal took place. A reversal, an
exchange, which was foretold of in our Gospel reading. Jesus answered them, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house
forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Because of the graciousness of our God we are no longer
slaves set to be thrown out of the house.
We are not bound in the chains of sin, we are free. We are the son. Remember the slave receives nothing, yet the
son receives everything. The son
receives the house, the son receives the place of honor, the son receives the
inheritance.
This is the glorious truth Luther discovered in the monastery
nearly 500 years ago. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life. For all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
What a blessing we have been given. Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the
truth will set you free.”
They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to
anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’? Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave
does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
So if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed.
We have the truth. We have the law written on our hearts and the
sign of the cross placed upon us. Yes
those who practice sin are a slave to it, but on the cross at our baptism the
Son set us free. We hold the truth in
the Bible for that is where it is contained.
We hold the truth of his death when we receive his body and blood.
This truth also, because of our baptisms into his death and
resurrection also lives in us. For in
our baptisms, the Wicked One was cast out to make room for the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit testifies for the
Spirit is the truth. Everyone who has been born of God overcomes
the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the
one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who
came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the
water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies,
because the Spirit is the truth.
For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the
blood; and these three agree.
Thanks be to God the inheritance of the son is most certainly
ours. That which was won for us and is
given to us, eternal life in heaven, at the throne of our Father, cannot be
taken away. Yes, though devils all the world should fill all eager to devour us, we
tremble not we fear no ill, they shall not over power us.
Thanks be to God that through the three solas, sola fide,
sola scriptura, sola gratia, that is faith alone, scripture alone, grace alone,
we are founded and anchored on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. We cannot be shaken.
Amen.
+SDG+
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