Sermon – October 31, 2010

Jeremiah 31            John 8:32            Reformation Sunday

Today, we hear the people following Jesus ask this question, “What do you mean by saying, you will be made free?”

The conversation leading up to this question has Jesus making some pretty bold claims about himself and God, the Father.  They are gathered in the temple during the Festival of Booths (Tabernacles), the Jewish Harvest Festival in which the faithful gather to give thanks for God’s presence and protection, as their ancestors made their way through the wilderness … to promise land.  They celebrated this by lighting candles, drawing water from the healing pool of Siloam, and built booths in remembrance of the Tabernacle, the tent, God had their ancestors build as a transportable dwelling place for God and the ark of the covenant.

To these faithful people, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. I am the living water offered so no one will thirst, and those who continue dwelling in my word will truly be free.  Basically, Jesus declares he is the fulfillment of this festival and through him, God now dwells among God’s people.

Huge, bold statement, … yet, this question of freedom trips the listeners up.  Did Jesus just say he would make us free?  But, I am already free.  Only slaves aren’t free.  And, I am no slave, so what are you talking about Jesus?

Living in the land of freedom, we also may bristle at the idea that we need anyone to make us free.

So, Jesus comes again to us today and offers a word of challenge and promise … while we physically may be free; not behind bars and have never known the oppression of slavery, some in our country once faced. … Jesus’ claim that he will make us free, does cause us to pause and wonder.

Am I really free?

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Tsx6RfRE4f8/TJ9M9y-ZtxI/AAAAAAAAD7k/z6IqjxnOdvU/painting%20of%20self%20in%20context%20two%20small%20print.jpg?imgmax=800

Do you feel free?

This image is hard to look at, because it does hit too close to home.

In this election season, many are making claims about what is costing us our freedom or who the people are that have enslaved us and are keeping us bound.  But, Jesus would say the power of bondage and the lack of freedom has not changed since he walked this earth … it’s not all that much worse or better, just the way it gets expressed changes over the years.

How do you understand freedom?

Janis Joplin slide

Many might join with Janis Joplin and claim, “Freedom is just another word for nothing else to lose …”

An “eat, drink, and be merry, because tomorrow we all may die” or this attitude of no real ties, consequences, do what I like when I like …

Carefree, I’ll lookout for me … I can make it on my own … and freedom measured by feeling good, going where the most fun can be had in that moment … and the least responsibility involved, means the most freedom.

Statue of Liberty

But those who came to the United States, our grandparents or great grandparents … knew freedom meant something more.  Liberty was not something to be taken for granted …

Economic hardship, famine, social standing or those with different religious or philosophical or ethic background … and with more power, could take that freedom away …

Fighter Jet

That through too many wars and lives sacrificed, … we also know freedom arrived in this country and is secured around the world through the service of our military and the determination of our founding fathers.

Our access to global news and relatively quick travels, open our eyes to the fact that freedom doesn’t mean the same thing to all people … and our own freedom is a gift we need to take care of, if we want to keep.

Which draws us back into that anxiety we felt upon being asked, “Are you free?”

There is this growing unease in the land of the free that maybe we’re not …

Flags

So, in this election season, many are ready to tell us what freedom truly is, who is at fault for endangering it or is taking freedom away, and how we best can protect it.

In this context, freedom is often defined as freedom from something or someone … or freedom of something … that we should be guaranteed as citizens of the United States.

Dollar Signs

Some say we will know true freedom once we get enough money and become financially free.

Pie Chart – Taxes

Which would come much faster if we had freedom from taxes.

Free Speech

Others seek freedom to speak …

Rally

Which then causes us to wrestle with how much freedom to allow in protests and rallies around our values, opinions and beliefs.

Don’t Tread on Me

Others desire freedom from government and regulation over our lives.

Library

Others define freedom as the ability to make choices, have access to an education, and to develop independent thought.

Religious Symbols

And, how do we interpret the founding fathers desire to preserve freedom of religion in this pluralistic world?  Can we coexist?  Should everyone have the freedom to believe what they want?

Billboard

There are many who think true freedom would be insured if there were no religions at all …

Open Road

And, then there is that restlessness deep within that when we think of freedom, we think of getting away from it all …

Harley

Getting that fast means of escape, the fun new toy to play, with the perfect vacation or second home or time outside in God’s creation … away from obligations or aging or work or problems …

Diving Free …  wait 5 sec. Bird Free …  wait 5 sec. Butterfly

MLK

Oh, there are days that we yearn for that … being free like a bird, but even in those moments of escape we know we are not free.

We know we are not free because others don’t even have the means to escape for a few hours …

And, the cries for freedom … like we heard during the Civil Rights Movement

Berlin Wall And, we witnessed as the Berlin Wall came down … challenge us to see what really keeps us bound … and where true freedom lies

Cross with Chains

You see, as Jesus spoke to the crowds, he knew what we still struggle to understand.  It is true, what we suspected all along.  We are not free.  We never have been free and nothing that we do or say will change that.  More money, power, fame, or friends; … more laws or no government at all; one religion or no religions; … bigger fancier toys, more advanced gadgets or living alone in the woods … we are still slaves to sin and we cannot free ourselves.

This sin that yes, we most easily recognize as the “bad things” we do to ourselves or others or to creation, but can’t be as easily solved as just not doing those bad things or wiping it all clean with a quick, “I am sorry.”

No, the sin Jesus is referring to, this power we are enslaved by, is a corrosive insecurity that keeps us from trusting God or each other … and encourages us to secure our future and even our freedom with other devices. (Lose)

Luther described Sin as a turning in on oneself, a self-centeredness that causes us to only pursue our own wants and desires.  Not surprising this was our first definition of freedom – doing what we want when we want.

So, the only way God knew how to free us from sin; this insecurity and self-centeredness was to save us by doing the least self-centered thing; die for us.

Cross with quote

This is the truth.  On the cross, Jesus set you free from the power of sin.  On the cross, God said to the world, I love you so much that I am going to forgive you.  Now, nothing stands between us.  You are free.

So, why do we Christians, who abide in Jesus, God’s Word, still struggle so with this freedom?  Father Robert Capon faults the church:

“If we are ever to enter fully into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, we are going to have to spend more time thinking about freedom than we do. The church, by and large, has had a poor record of encouraging freedom. She has spent so much time inculcating in us the fear of making mistakes that she had made us like ill-taught piano students; we play our songs, but we never really hear them, because our main concern is not to make music, but to avoid some flub that will get us in dutch. She has been so afraid we will loose sight of the laws of our nature, that she made us care more about how we look than about who we are; …. [p. 148]

So, what does freedom from self-centeredness, insecurity, and perfectionism look like?

Open Door If the son has set you free, you are free indeed.

Come on, we have all daydreamed about what we would do if we were really free … isn’t that what planning for retirement is all about?

But, now envision it through the cross … What would you really do with freedom if you had it?  Jesus says you are free.  What do you plan to do? … Or maybe the better question is, “What is freedom for?”

Hands Yes, Freedom in Christ dwells here …

Where the Word became flesh … and dwelled among us full of grace and truth.  And now we are free to reach our hands in worship and praise of God and out in love to this world God so loves.  Yes, let freedom reign!  Amen.