Well, howdy We live in a world that loves freedom
if I were to say freedom What movie is it? Thank
you. Thank you. Someone cut the Braveheart reference.
Absolutely it is Inherent in our psyche in who
we are what we think every new thing is promising
somehow to set us Free, free from inconvenience,
free from waiting, free from limits. Now, I want
you to pause and I want you to think about your
phone for a second, which I'm sure that many
of you currently have in your hand. When smartphones
first came out, they were promising us freedom.
Freedom to work anywhere, freedom to talk to
anyone, anywhere, anytime, and access to anything,
and it felt amazing at first. But now, you can't
leave home without it. If you realize that you
have left the room without it, and all of a sudden
something feels weird. It's like you're patting
your pockets, and you're like, there's something
that should be in this left -hand pocket, and
it's not there. Part of me is missing. It's this
weird feeling. If you must place it for five
minutes, did you know where my phone is? Do you
know where my phone is? Call my phone. Can you
find my phone? Check the computer. Where's the
little tag? And worst of all, it buzzes in your
pocket, and you have to check it. and there's
no notification. It's a phantom vibration, okay?
Your brain is so trained to expect that little
jolt that sometimes it just makes one up in your
head. Although I swear, I know whenever it's
buzzing. I swear I've got this little innate
sense. Here's the irony. The thing that promised
to set us free has actually made us slaves. Slaves
to little notifications that come up. slaves
to comparing ourselves to all the people on our
social media platforms, slaves to the constant
need to respond because somebody sent a message
right then and there. And that's exactly the
kind of slavery that Jesus is talking about.
Not physical chains, but invisible ones. The
habits, the voices, the expectations that run
our lives while we tell ourselves that we're
the ones who are in control. We say, I'm free,
but we can't even set the phone down long enough
to look someone in the eye. If the apostles had
smartphones, Peter would have been scrolling
whenever Jesus is walking on the water, and we
know how that turned out already. Could you imagine,
hey guys, I'm out on the water with my buddy
Jesus. Say, hey Jesus. Oh, wait. Oh, sorry. He's
out on the water. Oh, let's go. Let's go see
what's going on. Let's go see. Check it out.
Oh, I'm singing. I mean, could you just imagine?
And so much of what we see ends up being so relevant
to us today. I still haven't figured out all
the peace sign things yet. It's a modern parable
of the same truth. When we serve the wrong master,
even one that looks good, we end up losing the
very freedom that we were chasing. That's what
Jesus means when he says everyone who sins is
a slave to sin. We don't even notice the chains
because they're comfortable. They're familiar.
Maybe even they feel kind of convenient. We're
used to them. Until we realize that they keep
us from the life that we were meant to have.
We live in a world that loves freedom, or at
least the idea of it. You can tell because every
commercial promises to set you free, free from
wrinkles, free from cable, free from the three
-year phone contract you swore you'd never sign
again. But have you noticed how the things that
promise to set us free are the very things that
end up owning our time, attention, energy? When
Jesus says in John 8, if the Son sets you free,
you will be free indeed. He's talking about something
deeper. The kind of freedom we don't even know
that we need. Because the truth is most of us
don't believe we're captives in the first place.
When Jesus told the crowd, you will know the
truth and the truth will set you free. What did
they say? We've never been slaves to anyone getting
past the fact that they were slaves in Egypt.
Isn't that truly the human condition in a nutshell?
We don't want to believe that we're the ones
who need saving, and we will even block out what's
inconvenient to hold on to that idea. The Jewish
people were chosen by God to be a light to the
nations, but over time they started to treat
that privilege as a guarantee rather than a responsibility.
They thought because we're Abraham's children,
we're already right with God. But Jesus was showing
them that being God's people doesn't mean being
free from sin. It means being called to trust
God for freedom. See, their identity became a
source of pride rather than humility. They relied
on who they were outwardly instead of what God
was doing inside of them. They were faithful
to the law on the outside, but their focus on
rules and traditions gave them a false sense
of freedom from the world around them. See, they
felt free because they didn't bow to Roman idols.
They felt free because they didn't eat Gentile
food or break the Sabbath. But inside, they were
still enslaved. They were still judgmental of
others, comparing themselves, afraid of being
unclean and constantly needing to prove themselves
worthy. Their national and spiritual pride made
it almost impossible to see their need for grace.
They would look at the Gentiles and they think
they're the sinners. We're the righteous. And
that made repentance hard because repentance
means that you have to admit I need saving too.
So when Jesus came offering freedom they resisted.
We don't need that. They didn't think they needed
saving. Only, vindication for their actions and
attitudes. Their ego was telling them, we're
already just fine. No wonder they were offended
when Jesus told them, you're slaves. But I came
to make you truly free. Jesus saw through it
all. He wasn't saying that following the law
was wrong. He was revealing that keeping the
law without knowing we need God is just another
form of bondage. Believing that we're only free
because we look different from everyone around
us See they wanted to appear righteous more than
they wanted to be righteous They kept the externals
they tithe the money they they sacrificed they
had their purity rituals But they ignored the
inner corruption that Jesus was exposing So when
he said the truth will set you free He wasn't
talking about some abstract idea. He meant if
you'll face the truth about your sin, then you
can truly be free of it in Me. Jesus wasn't trying
to shame them. He was trying to free them. He
said if the sun sets you free, you will be free
indeed. Because true freedom, it's not found
in your background or your religious practices
or your self -discipline. It's found in belonging
to Christ. Freedom is not the absence of authority,
it's belonging to the right master. But facing
the truth, it requires humility. And pride can
make humility unbearable. Today, many people
believe they're free because they can do whatever
they want. Scroll when they want, post what they
want, buy what they want, but in reality, our
habits? the desires inside of us, our approval
seeking, and our screens. All those things actually
own us. See, we're not actually free. We're addicted
to distractions. And being distracted from reality
in exchange for getting the self -confidence
that people want. That's what Jesus is confronting.
See, the Jews' pride in being chosen, it kept
them enslaved. to sin. Just like our pride in
being independent can keep us enslaved to ourselves
and our own emotions and struggles. See, Paul
was getting at the same thing in his letter to
the Romans, all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God. You cannot be set free if you
don't believe you're captive. As long as you
are not willing to acknowledge the things that
keep holding you captive, you cannot be free
of them. It's not just the first century pride,
it's us. We say, I'm not perfect, but I'm not
a bad person. We say, I make mistakes, but I'm
not a sinner. It's exactly the trap that Jesus
and Paul are warning us about. But what if we
finally face our brokenness? but we don't realize
the free grace of God. See, that's exactly where
Martin Luther found himself. He knew something
was wrong inside of him, but he couldn't fix
it. He had some form of obsessive tendencies,
but he was praying constantly. fasting regularly,
and he would confess every single thing as if
making sure he got them all would somehow please
God. But it was so much that his confessor finally
told him, Martin, stop coming in here unless
you actually commit a sin worth confessing. Wouldn't
that be a nice problem to have? Luther's problem
wasn't that he didn't take God seriously. His
problem was that he didn't yet understand how
seriously God took grace. He thought the gospel
was about God demanding more and more. Through
the religious teachers he'd been taught to follow
without question until he realized that righteousness,
it's not something that we earn, it's something
we receive. When Luther read Romans 3, we hold
that a person is justified by faith apart from
works of the law. He said it felt like the gates
of paradise were opened. He discovered the freedom
that Jesus was talking about. Not freedom from
effort, but freedom from fear. It's not freedom
to be right, but freedom to be loved. See, when
Luther is nailing his 95 Theses to the church
door in Wittenberg, he wasn't trying to start
a revolution. It was more like posting on the
community bulletin board. It was like the Facebook
wall of 1517, even with ads. He didn't mean to
go viral, but that's what happened. He was the
first person ever to break the internet, or the
printing press, if you will. But here's the part
we often miss. The strongest backlash didn't
come from the outsiders. The backlash came from
within. It was from the very people who claimed
to stand for the same faith. It wasn't the atheists
or the pagans who called the free grace of the
gospel dangerous. It was other believers. Other
church leaders who were the most offended by
his insistence on returning to grace and scripture.
They thought he was tearing down the faith when
in reality he was trying to bring people back
to its foundation. And that tension. Speaking
truth. that your own community doesn't want to
hear. That's what led to the Diet of Orms. That's
where Luther stood before emperors, bishops,
scholars, and refused to change his mind. What
began as a simple post to the church wall became
a moment for the whole world to hear the gospel
again. That we're saved by grace alone, through
faith alone, in Christ alone. Because once you
know that grace is for you, you can finally stop
pretending that you don't need it. You can stop
defending your image and start living in freedom
because you don't have to be afraid of others
discovering you're just as sinful as they are.
You can stop pretending you're someone that you
aren't and finally be loved and respected for
who you are. Warts and all. And friends, we're
not that different today. The church still likes
to think it's the hero in the story, that we're
the ones setting people free, fixing the world
and saving the culture. We imagine that if we
just got everything right, the perfect theology,
the perfect platform, the perfect social posture,
then everything would finally be set right. That's
not the gospel, y 'all. We don't set people free
by proving we're right. We set people free by
confessing we're wrong, and that we've needed
forgiveness too. Because of grace, if it's not
for sinners, then it isn't for anybody. Power
comes not by flaunting our sinfulness, but by
humbly admitting it to be true, and that it does
not take away our worthiness in God's eyes. Researcher
Brene Brown? became famous not by projecting
strength, but by admitting weakness. When critics
mocked Tay -Tay, Taylor Swift, for dating too
much and writing breakup songs, she started writing
more of them and even poked fun at the criticism
by saying, I'll just write a song about it. And
by naming the narrative, she took control of
it. And for all of you rap battle fans in the
crowd, Eminem won the battle by dissing himself
before his opponent could, and in doing so, he
took away the enemy's power by owning his flaws.
The greatest sin is not from those who admit
their flaws, but from those who continue to avoid
taking ownership and then continue to do exactly
the same things. But the church still doubles
down on its mistakes today. Could you imagine
A church withholding grace because it doesn't
fit what they want to see. Could you imagine
a church withholding baptism because they didn't
do it their usual way? I was called into a hospital
yesterday for a teenage girl who has such advanced
brain cancer that she's barely conscious. She
has wanted to be baptized for some time, But
because her church couldn't fully immerse her
in a tub, they wouldn't do it. But since baptism
is any washing with water, her mother allowed
me into the room, and I freely dripped the waters
of baptism upon her head, in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
not worried about how conscious she was or wasn't.
Because the only freedom to truly matter is the
freedom to bring the Gospel. to someone because
they need it most. We might not buy indulgences
anymore, thinking we can buy our forgiveness
with money, but so often we come up with our
own versions of how to make ourselves feel justified
in God's eyes. We completely miss how God's grace
is something we need and that God freely gives
without our best efforts. See, the Reformation
began when someone dared to say, no more self
-justification, only grace by God's justification.
Someone once said the Reformation began when
Luther realized that the word repent didn't mean
do penance, but to turn around. And honestly,
that's good news for people like me. Because
sometimes I need to turn around three, four times
a day, three, four times an hour. Three four
times even while I'm up here sometimes Sometimes
I get dizzy doing it because I need to do it
a lot But every time that we're willing to turn
around We find that Christ is already there not
with a list of what we owe or how to convince
him to accept us but with open arms and a finished
cross So may this Reformation Sunday not just
be a history lesson, but a reminder that the
freedom of The Gospel is finished in Christ,
and everything thereafter is freely given in
return. Grace is free for the sinner who knows
they need saving. It's for the church that admits
it's still learning. And it's for every one of
us who still needs to be reformed in the image
of Christ by grace alone, through faith alone,
in Christ alone. Thanks be to God.