“Basic How To’s: How to Be Free”
October 30, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Today we once more celebrate Reformation Sunday, and we also get to celebrate Halloween tomorrow! Believe it or not, there is a direct connection between Halloween and Reformation Day, and Martin Luther is involved. October 31st is also known as All Hallows Evening, or Hallow E’en in Old English – which is where our word Halloween comes from. “Hallows” means people who were considered holy, especially saints. It was the night before All Saints Day, which traditionally took place on November 1st.
Especially in Luther’s time, it was believed that before someone could enter heaven after death, they had to go through a period of cleansing in a place called purgatory, which I usually compare to showers in a locker room, where their sins would be cleaned off, so they would be considered worthy enough to go to heaven. It was also believed that the prayers and good works people did in this life on behalf of people in purgatory could shorten the time they had to spend in purgatory, and help them go to heaven faster. So, on October 31st, people would come to church to pray for the souls of their departed loved ones they believed were in purgatory. In his own study of the Bible, Luther discovered that none of any of this was actually in the Bible: there was no mention of purgatory, and, most of all, no one was saved by any good works, including prayers – only by what Jesus did by dying and rising again. He also rediscovered the truth that God is love, and loves all people unconditionally – so no one needs to try to earn God’s love. He wrote the 95 Theses to show that many of the things the church of his time was teaching were against the Bible, and he picked October 31st as the day on which to nail his 95 Theses to the doors of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, Germany, because that would be the day there would be a large crowd coming to church, who would read what he had to say. That is why we celebrate the Sunday closest to October 31st as Reformation Sunday.
Now, all this being said, in the past this particular Sunday has been used as an opportunity to criticize, disparage, even bash other Christians. It is no longer appropriate for us to do so, because we cannot claim a monopoly on Christianity, nor do we call ourselves the only true Church. We are not more important than any other Christians, nor is our teaching the only absolute truth. Also, and especially after the major change and crisis all churches have gone through during the pandemic, we are to support and encourage each other, rather than try to tear each other apart. We are also to focus on what unites us, and makes us the same, rather than what makes us different from each other. This means that we regard all churches as being equal and Christian, all Christians as being the same, and we accept one another as such.
Yet, even all of this being said, today is not just about history, or even trying to distinguish true from false teaching. It is about freedom. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” But what exactly does it mean to be free? Well, there are things we are free from, and which we are free for.
1. We are free from guilt. But not in the way we would think. Usually, we talk about being free from the guilt of sin, and while that is true, we also have to consider that many of the sins for which we have been made to feel guilty, are not really sins. The previous pattern of preaching has also been to try to point out what is wrong with culture or society, generally based on personal opinion. We do still live in a sinful world, where people frequently choose to hurt themselves and other people, and we ourselves have done things against others. As Paul points out in our Second Reading, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Yet our purpose is not to shame others, or to make ourselves constantly feel ashamed, but instead to recognize where we have not treated others the way God would want us to treat them, ask for forgiveness and God’s help in restoring any broken relationships, and move forward. Also, as I’ve said before, a lot of our religion has been based on fear – fear of God’s wrath, abandonment, judgment, or punishment. But God is not a god who wants us to be afraid of Him – He wants us to love Him instead. So rather than focusing on what we have done wrong, or what we might be doing wrong, we can instead come to God as a loving Father who desires nothing more than a relationship with us, to be our friend. He also wants to restore rather than destroy: where things are going in a direction other than what He desires, He gently brings them back around to where He wants them to go. So our relationship with God ought not to be based on being terrified of God for any reason, but on the fact He thinks we are special and valuable to Him. Which leads to the second point:
2. We are free from having to prove ourselves. If we think about it, much of life has to do with having to prove how good or worthy we are – earning good enough grades, playing well on the field or diamond, performing our job duties well enough to earn raises and promotions, paying everything well enough to earn a good credit rating, everything to earn recognition and approval. Also, much of what we have thought to be God’s disapproval has actually come from the disapproval of other people – even other members of the church. We assume that if other people, especially other Christians, disapprove of us, then God does as well. The reality is, God and humans do not always have the same mindset, and humans are also frequently wrong. We cannot confuse the opinions of what others think of us with how God actually thinks of us. The truth is, He sees all people the same – as being worthy of His love, fully accepted, and fully acceptable. In the same way, since we are also free from guilt caused by fear, and we know that God approves of us, we can also be liberated from insisting that others have to earn our approval, and instead accept others as they are. Furthermore, we can remember that the idea is not to prove ourselves right or better than others, but simply to be who we are, and let who we are
3. We are free from having to worry. This actually comes from being free from guilt and having to prove ourselves, and shows us that God is always with us. And there are a lot of things we are worried about, even right now: we may be here in church, but honestly, we’ve got other things on our minds. We’re probably thinking more about something happening this week which we might be dreading; a medical appointment; an issue with family or friends; or even what might be happening later on this afternoon. These are realities we have to deal with, but which we can put in God’s hands to take care of. Since we believe that God never abandons us, and we are always under His care, in every situation, God is always in control. He has a plan for every moment, and is causing things to happen the way He wants them to. He also is always on our side, fighting for us, and will ultimately win. We know this because of Jesus’ death and resurrection: Jesus has reconciled us to God, and has justified us in God’s sight. This means even though we face struggles, we need never worry about God’s help – He is always there for us.
Yet even as we are free from all these things, there is a reason we have been made free: to live according to a special purpose, which all begins with Jesus.
1. We are free in Christ. Our freedom is not necessarily a license to do exactly whatever we want, but is instead the freedom to follow Jesus and His direction for our lives. It is being liberated from sin’s power over us, enabling us to become more like Jesus. Who we used to be is disappearing every day, and, as we grow both in faith and age, is being replaced by thoughts and habits which reflect more who Jesus is. This is actually what God, speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah, means in today’s First Reading, where He talks about writing His law on our hearts: that who we are is not determined by rules or guidelines we follow, but instead by God working in us to change and transform us. Which means, according to how we are changed:
2. We are free to love. This is our true purpose and calling. Love also means loving without any kind of an agenda: This is, in fact, what being a mature Christian is: someone who, by the power of Jesus actively working in us, is committed to showing unconditional love and acceptance. To love means both loving and accepting ourselves as well as others, and letting who we are be the testimony to what we believe.
3. We are free to serve. We give because we have been given much, and we want for others to enjoy the same goodness as we do. Just as with love, serving also means serving without necessarily expecting anything in return, even any kind of recognition or gratitude. Even if we might be trying to show others the rightness of our beliefs, we can be more persuasive if we show people we care, rather than trying to prove ourselves right. In fact, and more than ever nowadays, we can be able to attract more people to come to our church by serving – doing things for each other and for others in the community. So let us enjoy our freedom – but let us also use our freedom the way God wants us to.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment