Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36
Rev. Dr. Bruce Roth
Beloved People of God….
What does freedom mean to you? For a baby, I guess, freedom is being able to get out of the crib and crawl around on the living room carpet. If you're a third grader, freedom is the last day of school, and you know you have summer vacation ahead of you. For the sixteen-year-old, it's getting that driver's license. For the high school graduate, it's leaving home and being on your own in college with no one to tell you what to do.
I once heard of a teen-ager who was tired of his parents telling him what to do, so he ran off and joined the Marines! Freedom for a young couple might be an evening alone with a baby-sitter watching the kids. For some, retirement from the job is freedom. I guess for some, when we reach the age in time when life holds nothing but pain and troubles, and you're no longer able to care for yourself, freedom is to be with God.
Our concepts of freedom are quite different depending upon where we are in life and what's taking place. In the life of our nation there have been different times when freedom was at stake. Do these images or experiences emind you of anything? Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or 9/11? Pride Parade? What does freedom mean for us as Christians?
Jesus said, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” So, what is freedom? The first aspect of freedom that is important is that we understand from what we are free. The very concept of freedom implies being set loose from something. Jesus tells us that we are free from sin. But what is sin, really? There are several aspects of sin that we can identify, but this morning I’d like to lift up two.
First, sin is bondage to self-centeredness. Who here has ever been locked out of your home? It happened to me once. It’s an amazing thing to experience being locked out of your own home. On the one hand we discovered that our “high security” lock really was one! On the other hand, no matter how philosophical I tried to be, I couldn’t get past myself...my anger at being so inconvenienced. That’s the problem with sin, it locks us into ourselves. Worse than that, sin leads to consequences that lock us away from others, especially those we love. Jesus has come to set us free from this bondage to self-centeredness.
Secondly, sin is addiction to immediacy. The power of temptation is that it holds the future hostage to our immediate desire. How many marriages have been lost because of an immediate desire? How many professional futures have been sacrificed on the altar of immediate success or gratification? How many families have been destroyed by the immediate pleasure of drugs or alcohol? Jesus has come to set us free from our addiction to the immediate.
Freedom is also about being free for something. The first gift of freedom from Christ is the freedom for relationships that work. The truth is that you simply can’t have relationships that work unless you are willing to get beyond yourself. The tragedy of serial marriages is that they are symptomatic of an addiction to immediacy. Relationships that work can only be grown when we see the other as a real person...not just someone to meet our own needs.
The second gift of our faith is freedom for character. Character is the consequence of personal growth. We grow as people when we are able to reflect on what we have experienced or learned and apply it to our lives. Growth is simply not possible when we are locked in self-centeredness, immediacy and our feelings. When Jesus promises that he will set us free, at least in part, he intends to free us for such reflection and by faith to grow.
Lastly, Jesus invites us into freedom for discipleship. Following Jesus Christ is the greatest adventure possible. Every day we discover the treasure of blessings and a life with God. Each day we have the possibility of having our lives lined up with the eternal plans of our Heavenly Father. When we follow Jesus the Christ, we discover a significance that endures, a purpose that moves like a fresh wind to free us from sin and a power for life that will carry us into forever. To be a disciple of Jesus is to discover real freedom!
The simple fact is, True Freedom is Christ. Abraham Maslow discovered real freedom in the hell of Auschwitz. He notes that there were some who rose above deprivation and horror. These were the people who, seeing another in greater need than they, would give their scrap of bread away. These were those who refused to succumb to the tyranny of desperation and the abuse of guards and prisoners alike and went out of their way to speak words of comfort and touch the broken and dying with a moment of human kindness. Maslow discovered that, when it appears you have no choice, you can still act as if you are free. You can choose your attitude, and your soul can still be free.
We celebrate freedom on this Reformation Day as we remember the fact that the fires of the Reformation swept across Europe because human hearts were dry and combustible, longing for spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom Of the Heart is that wondrous ability to soar free when our circumstances chain us to the present. Abraham Maslow discovered that kind of freedom – and it changed his life. Martin Luther discovered that very same freedom – as did the other reformers – and the world changed. That is the very same freedom that our confirmation students realized, and it is the freedom that God invites each one of us to find in Christ.
Spiritual freedom is also Of the Attitude. Today God has given each of us a remarkable gift – life to be lived. How will you live it? Teens, will you choose to define your life over against the boundaries of school or parents or will you choose the freedom of attitude to look for and live for the best? No matter what our circumstances we can choose, in faith, to see the blessings, discover the joy and purpose of today – or, we can get stuck in the mire of the mundane. Which do you believe God is calling you to?
The Reformation invitation is simple: Have confidence in Christ. The power of the reformation is the power of God active within and among us…and together with the Holy Spirit, we can change the world. That’s, in part, why God never calls us to walk the journey of faith alone. We are called to be a part of God’s church—to be a church that is ever in the process of reforming as we realize more what God’s grace means to us. Which is what confirmation is also about—saying yes to the yes God has said to us, and taking a more mature role in the life of the church.
Alone we can each touch the lives of a few, and we are called to do just that. But together as Christ’s Church we can touch the lives of millions. So, we join the Northeastern Ohio Synod to lift up new leaders, plant new congregations, make a serious dent in the poverty of our own community and reach thousands of miles around the world. Together we will embrace the world that has moved into our communities and continue to feed and clothe hundreds of families. Together we shall be a light of hope and faith on the hill to transform our city and beyond. But it will take resources. It will take your gifts of time, talent and treasure. And yes, you all have them in varying forms and to varying degrees.
We will need your time and energy to reach out to one another and build the caring community as well as the welcoming community the Savior calls us to be—to be a place and a people who worship God. Grow in Faith. And offer hope. With the freedom and confidence given by our Lord Jesus Christ, let us continue the reformation and be Christ’s living church in this time and place. Amen.