We live in a world that loves freedom or at least
the idea of freedom Every new thing promises
to set us free free from inconvenience free from
waiting free from limits Think about your phone
for a second And I say that loosely because I'm
sure many of you do think of your phone every
second when smartphones first came out They promised
us freedom freedom to work anywhere, talk to
anyone from anywhere, access anything right there
in your hand, and it felt amazing at first. But
now, you can't leave home without it. You can't
even leave the room without it. Even walking
away from it and knowing it's there instead of
in your hand or in your pocket is kind of cringy.
I mean, you're like, something does not feel
right. If you've misplaced it for five minutes
and you start to feel your heart racing a little
bit. Can you call my phone? Can you call my phone?
Call my phone? Yeah, check the hook. There's
a little tracker. Check it. Let's find out where
it is. And worst of all, it buzzes in your pocket,
hopefully only buzzing during worship, and you
have to check it. But then you find out that
there wasn't even anything buzzing. It was a
phantom vibration. Your brain is so trained to
expect that little jolt that it kind of makes
one up in your head. See, the irony is that the
thing that's promised to set us free has actually
made us slaves. Slaves to notifications, slaves
to comparing ourselves to other people on social
media. Slaves to the constant need to respond
because well if I don't respond they'll think
I'm ignoring them and Heaven forbid if you lead
someone on red That's exactly the kind of slavery
Jesus talks about is not physical chains But
the invisible ones the habits the the voices
the expectations that start running our lives
While we tell ourselves. Oh, we're the ones who
are really in control We say, I'm free, but we
can't even set the phone down long enough to
look someone in the eye. Could you imagine? If
the apostles had smartphones and Peter would
have been scrolling while Jesus is out on the
water, I mean, we know how that turned out already.
Could you imagine, it's like, hey guys, Peter
here, hanging out with the Messiah. Hey, here's
my bro, what's up? Yeah, I know, this is like
so cool, everybody, right? Ah, wait, oh, what's
he doing? I don't know. Hey, let's get out on
the water, everybody. Why am I sinking? That
was painful to do, by the way. You know, 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.
And that's what Jesus means when he says, everyone
who sins is a slave to sin, is that we don't
even notice when the chains are on us. When we're
comfortable. when something's familiar, when
something's convenient, until we realize that
those things may be keeping us from the life
that we're actually meant to have. We live in
a world that loves freedom, but maybe it's just
the idea of it. You can tell because every commercial
promises to set you free, free from wrinkles,
free from cable, free from that three -year phone
contract that you swore you'd never sign again.
And even if I go, freedom, half of you know exactly
which movie I'm talking about. But have you noticed
how the things that promise to set us free often
end up owning us? When Jesus says in John 8,
if the Son sets you free, you'll 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, how did they respond? They
answered, we've never been slaves to anyone.
even ignoring the fact that there was the whole
history in Egypt, isn't that the human condition
in a nutshell? We don't want to believe that
we are ever the ones who need saving. 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, instead of as
a privilege. Instead of as a Responsibility.
They thought because we're Abraham's children,
we're already right with God. Everything's fine.
But Jesus was showing them that being God's people,
it doesn't mean being free from sin. It means
being called to trust God for freedom from sin.
Their identity became a source of pride rather
than humility. They relied on who they were outwardly
instead of on what God was doing inside 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. They felt free because they didn't
bow down to the Roman idols. They felt free because
they didn't eat the Gentile food or break the
Sabbath, but inside they were still enslaved.
Inside, they were still slaves to judging others,
comparing themselves to others, being afraid
of something making them unclean, and the need
to somehow prove themselves worthy. Their national
and spiritual pride made it almost impossible
for them to see that they were in need of grace.
They looked at the Gentiles and thought, they're
the sinners, we're the righteous. They made repentance
hard because Repentance would mean admitting,
I need saving too. So when Jesus came offering
freedom, they resisted because they didn't think
they needed saving. They just wanted to be vindicated
for their actions and attitudes. Their ego told
them, we're already fine. No wonder they were
offended when Jesus told them, you're slaves,
but I came to truly make you free. Jesus saw
through it all. And 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. That's not freedom. See, they wanted to appear
righteous more than they wanted to be righteous.
Did you catch that? They wanted to appear righteous.
more than they wanted to be righteous. They kept
the external stuff, the tithing and the sacrifice
and the purity rituals, but they ignored the
inner corruption that Jesus was exposing. And
when He said, the truth will set you free, it
wasn't just these abstract ideas. He meant, if
you'll face the truth about your sin, then you
can truly be free of it through Me. See, true
freedom, it's not about 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 making sure
we belong to the right master. But facing the
truth, it requires humility. Pride can make that
humility unbearable. Today, many people believe
they're free because they can do whatever they
want. We can scroll when we want. We can post
when we want. We can buy what we want. But in
reality, our habits, our approval seeking, our
screens, all those things own us. It was hilarious
when somebody sent a video that somebody said,
hey, I'm going to let you all know. Did you know
that Apple Pay is not free? Because apparently
people don't understand how credit cards work.
Just when we think we understand what freedom
is, there's something still trying to bind us.
But you see, we're not free when we keep being
addicted to distraction. Because we're distracted
from reality in exchange for self -confidence.
We are happy to be distracted from reality because
in exchange, we get to always have self -confidence.
But that's the part that Jesus has to confront
See the Jews pride in being chosen kept them
enslaved to sin just like we today Have our pride
in being independent and it keeps us enslaved
ourselves and our own emotions and struggles
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 can't be set free if
you don't believe you're captive in the first
place And that's not just the first century pride,
that'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. That's exactly the trap that Jesus
and Paul are warning us about. But let's say,
though, that so many of you are fully capable
and good with understanding you're sinful. You
need God's grace, truly. That's good. But, what
happens if we finally face our brokenness, but
we don't realize that the grace of God is free?
That's where we find ourselves today with Reformation
Sunday, where we see Martin Luther and where
he found himself. That guy had issues. Y 'all
gotta just be honest, okay? He had this constant
sense of understanding that there was something
wrong inside of him, but he couldn't fix it.
He prayed constantly. He fasted regularly. He
kept confessing so many minute little things
to his confessor that the confessor finally looked
at him and said, Martin, stop coming in here
until you actually commit a sin worth confessing.
Yeah, that's a problem I don't think many of
us have today. Luther's problem wasn't that he
didn't take God seriously. It 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 is not something
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. Not freedom from being right, but rather
freedom to be loved. See, that's the thing about
this is Luther, nailing those 95 theses to the
door in Wittenberg, he wasn't trying to start
a revolution for the world. He was more like
posting on the community bulletin board. It was
sort of like the Facebook wall of 1517. Boom,
boom, boom. See, he didn't mean to go viral.
But that's exactly what happened. He was the
first person to break the internet, or at least
the printing press. That wasn't my joke. Someone
had it on the internet. I swear it was their
idea, not mine. But you see, here's the part
we often miss. The strongest backlash didn't
come from the outsiders. It came from within.
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. It was other
church leaders. They were the ones 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 community doesn't
want to hear, is what led to the diet of worms.
That's where Luther stands before the emperors,
the bishops, the scholars, and he refuses to
recant. He refuses to change. 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. See, 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.
Surprise! You can stop pretending that you're
someone that you aren't. And you have finally
been loved and respected for who you are. A child
of God saved by grace. 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 always setting people free and fixing
the world and saving the culture. We imagine
that if we just get everything right, the perfect
theology, the perfect platform, the perfect social
posturing, then everything will finally be set
straight. But y 'all, that's not the gospel.
And it never was. We don't set people right or
free by proving we're right. We set people free
by confessing we're wrong. And that we've needed
forgiveness too. Because if grace isn't for sinners,
it isn't for anybody. Power comes not by flaunting
our sinfulness, but by humbly admitting it to
be true and that it doesn't take away are worth
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. By naming the narrative
herself, she took control of it. And for all
of my rap, friends in the crowd. Eminem won the
rap battle in Eight Mile by dissing himself before
his opponent had the chance. He took away the
enemy's power by owning his flaws. You see, the
greatest sins are not from those who admit their
flaws, but from those who continue to avoid taking
ownership and then continue doing the exact same
things. And the church still doubles down on
its mistakes today. If I were to say, what about
the church would ever deny grace to those who
are in need, we would say, could you imagine?
But could you imagine a church withholding baptism
because they couldn't do it their usual way?
I was called into a hospital yesterday morning
for a teenage girl who has such advanced brain
cancer that she's barely conscious. She's been
wanting to be baptized for some time, but because
her church couldn't fully immerse her in a tub,
they wouldn't do it. They wanted it their way,
and there was no room for anything else. But
since baptism, baptizo, is any washing with water,
her mother brought me into the room, and I freely
dripped the waters of baptism on her head, in
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Because it wasn't about whether she was
able to do something well enough, and it wasn't
about whether or not even at that moment she
could even speak all the words herself. The only
freedom to truly matter is the freedom to bring
the gospel to those who need it. Because we might
not be buying indulgences anymore thinking we
can buy our forgiveness with money. but we so
often come up with our own versions of how to
make ourselves feel that we've justified ourselves
in God's eyes, while completely missing how God's
grace is something we all need, and that God
freely gives to us all without our best efforts.
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 rather meant to turn
around. And that's what we need to do. Honestly,
that's good news for people like me. Because
sometimes I need to turn around three or four
times a day, or even just three or four times
when I'm just even up here. And frankly, I get
busy because I need it a lot. But every time
we're willing to turn around, we find that Christ
is already there. Not with the list of what we
owe, or how to convince Him to accept us, but
with open arms and a finished cross. So may today,
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 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.