CELC REFORMATION DAY

Reformation Day October 31, 2004 – John 8:31-36

What do you think of when you see the “Statue of Liberty?” Does it remind you of the freedom we enjoy in this marvelous land of ours? I think of Janet’s grandmother who came into this country as an immigrant. She told stories of walking up the stairs at Ellis Island and being afraid that someone might send her back to Poland. Liberty was not on her mind.

Yet, for most of us the statue embodies liberty itself. Look at TV coverage of the Fourth of July and you will inevitably see fireworks over the Statue of Liberty. It is a “can’t miss” broadcast for the networks.

In today’s gospel lesson Jesus tells us that knowing the truth will set us free. We mistakenly assume that he means political freedom, the kind of freedom we will exercise as we vote on Tuesday. Jesus means something different.

Jesus is telling us that he is the very embodiment of truth: that in him you see not just a man, but God, and not just God but the very truth of God. Jesus embodies the truth that in him God sets us free from the sin, free from the brokenness that is everywhere in our lives.

The brokenness is in even in our relationships, and especially in our relationship with God. When we confuse what God has done for us in Jesus with political liberty, we are at best confused and at worst playing god. We begin to think that all we need is to live in a democracy that has free and open elections and we are religious people. That is not the case.

True, it is a blessing from God that we live in such a free nation. God, however, has gone one more step, another mile, and done for us much more than simply provide political freedom. God has given us forgiveness of sins and life in Jesus; God gives us meaning and purpose through the gift of the cross. No longer are we slaves to sin, but people of true liberty as God comes in Christ to forgive and love us.

It is God’s unconditional love that forgives us completely. On this Reformation Day Luther would remind us that this is not our doing, but a gift of God that we know through faith. God has acted in the cross to forgive and love us; we know that liberating gift through faith. It is faith that leads us to realize that this truth is embodied in Christ as he dies and rises to new life. It is faith that provides the trust we need to know that Christ is the very incarnation of truth.

With the foundation of forgiveness and love being a gift to us in the cross, we then are able to discover our meaning and purpose as we embody the truth of the cross to others.

As we embody the truth of the cross to others we discover meaning because we are moved beyond just existing in this world to a mission: we are called by God to be bodies that tell others of God’s unconditional love for them.

To embody the truth of the cross, I would suggest to you this morning that there are three ways we can do this as the church, as Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church.

First, we might say that the church is a “clinic.” This is a real possibility. The church as clinic is a place where all people who are sick with sin come and commiserate together. The thinking here is we are all sinners, so it doesn’t really matter. Just come and hang out here at the clinic with the rest of us.

The problem with this model is that no one takes responsibility for their sin. The cross is not needed; no one is really expected to change much.

A second model is one we might call “court church.” It is very different from the clinic because if the clinic is a “no-fault” gathering of the people, the court church is a gathering of sinners…with, of course, the exception of you. This model gets the name “court” because you sit as judge over all the others, pointing out how sinful they are, and reminding yourself that you are the exception.

Once again the draw back is that no one takes responsibility for their sin. Once again the cross is not needed; you are perfect and don’t need to change at all.

The third model is one I personally like. It is what you might call “community.” The church as community is neither clinic nor court, though it may seem like that at times. The church as community has disciples who know they are broken by sin and live in a broken world. The church as community has disciples that know only the cross contains the unconditional love and forgiveness that restores them to wholeness. That is the truth. So, the church as community embodies the truth of the cross to others, saying, “Come and see. Here is Christ dying for you.”

If you believe that Christ has set you free from sin and the inevitable wages of sin, death, then don’t you want to do all you can, the “extra mile” to embody that truth for others?

Perhaps your purpose in life then emerges. You are called by God not just to be a wage earner in some occupation. Your vocation is a calling to be the very embodiment of freedom so that others will see and hear and know that in Christ God loves them and frees them.

As Joe Bugel might say to his players this afternoon as they line up across the line from the Green Bay Packers: “Put your body on the line. Give it all you have.”

This afternoon we have a planning session for the ministry we envision for next year. I wonder what model our planning will be built upon? Will it be the clinic? Will it be the court? Perhaps it will be the community? I wonder what Christ Church might look like if we are willing to embody Christ as the truth when planning? Will this be a place of love and unity? Will it be a place of grace and forgiveness? I wonder? Amen.

- Pastor Robert F. Holley