Sunday 27th October 2024. Reformation Sunday.
Pastor Pete Myers explains John 8:31-36.
Why are we Lutheran?
Why are we Lutheran?
Why are we Lutheran?
This Thursday is the 31st October, the traditional day when we celebrate the Reformation.
And so we have set aside this Sunday to remember that amazing event.
Which is a great opportunity to turn to God’s Word for an answer to the one question I get asked most often:
Why are we Lutheran? which, of course, also means: What is a Lutheran?
And we could give an historical answer to that question. Very simply: A Lutheran is someone who recognises that the most accurate summary of the Bible written down so far in history was done by a bunch of Germans about 500 years ago. That’s an historical answer, and that’s why we use the name of this one particular German guy, Luther.
But what does that actually mean?
Well, as several of you have heard me say before, there are four key ideas at the heart of the Lutheran faith: God’s Word, God’s Law, God’s Gospel and God’s People.
And as we look at these words of Jesus today from John 8:31-36, we’ll hear him say four things about these four concepts:
God’s Word tells us truth
God’s Law reveals that sin enslaves us
God’s Gospel is free
God’s People have been set free
God’s Word tells us truth
So: God’s Word tells us truth.
Please look again at vv. 31-32:
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Jesus defines a Christian as someone who holds onto his Word. Later on in John 10:27 he will say this:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Why are we Lutherans? Because we define a Christian in the same way. …but, not everyone does; …there are all sorts of competing claims about what it means to be a Christian.
For example, some people claim that being a Christian is not about continually holding onto Jesus’ Word, but about making a one-time decision for Christ.
And that no matter what I later do years after that decision …I’m still a Christian no matter what. But, can you see from Jesus’ words that this “once saved always saved” mentality is not the same as what Christ himself says, v. 31:
If you abide in my word…
And so people who do not abide in Christ’s word are not Christians. This is what Lutherans believe.
And the thing Christ says we must abide in is His Word. That is: His revealed Word—the Bible.
There are many people here in Manchester today, who call themselves Christians just as we do, but are listening to something else.
They listen to prophecies. They listen to wisdom. They listen to fresh revelations. They listen to their thoughts. They listen to their feelings. They listen to modern philosophy and ideas and ideology.
But, what does Christ say will cause us to know the truth? vv. 31-32:
If you abide in my word… you will know the truth
Why are we Lutherans? Because the Bible is our only source of doctrine. And do you notice the order of things in Jesus’ words? Jesus also directly challenges the idea that we only know things from experience and reason.
It has become fashionable to imagine that it is our place to determine what is true.
I will decide truth based on my terms… …and then if the Bible matches up to that …then I may choose to dip my toe in Christian things.
But Jesus puts God’s Word and truth completely the other way around.
It is not up to us to determine truth and on that basis choose a religious text or none. Rather,
“If you abide in my word,… you will know the truth
God’s Word tells us truth
God’s Law reveals that sin enslaves us
And the first truth God’s Word tells us is this: God’s Law reveals that sin enslaves us.
Look again at vv. 33-34:
They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
The reason we need truth to come to us through God’s Word …to come to us from the outside …is because we are by nature slaves to sin. And we are so enslaved to sin, that we don’t even realise it.
You can see that in the Jews’ response to Jesus:
We… have never been enslaved to anyone.
And that is our view of ourselves today.
“I’m perfectly fine, thanks.” “I’m rational, I can make up my own mind.” “I do what I want to do, and I’m in control of what I want.”
Why are we Lutherans? Because we recognise that God’s Law tells us that these things we naturally assume are in fact untrue.
The thing is, I am not naturally good: I’m naturally selfish. It doesn’t take much to trigger a sense of pride: that I’ve been wronged. Frustration, irritation… these things naturally come so quick.
Some people imagine sin comes to them from the outside.
I have several muslim friends, and we were talking the other day about our different understandings of sin. They put many controls on their lives they structure their days with many laws and rules to stop sin coming to them, to stop temptation invading.
That’s not what God’s Law tells us about sin.
Jesus says this in Mark 7:14-15:
“Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”
Jesus understands people here, because what God’s Law says is true. We do all have a natural corruption that comes out from within.
During the week I work with children. And I can tell you this without batting an eyelid: Nobody has to teach them to be badly behaved.
It’s built in. It’s natural to them. But… good behaviour… that’s a massive effort to make the smallest rewards.
You have to labour with kids. Never stop asserting the boundaries. Constantly re-establish routines.
Learning to behave well takes unrelenting practice. We are Lutherans because we recognize that.
God’s Law reveals that sin enslaves us.
God’s Gospel is free
But we are also Lutherans because we preach that God’s Gospel is free.
Look again at vv. 35-36:
The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
This is the heart of the Reformation. This is why we remember the Reformation every 31st October. This is why we are celebrating the Reformation today.
God’s favour, his grace, his forgiveness, his positive disposition toward you… …is entirely free, unmerited, unearned.
He has already won justification for you. He has already forgiven you. He has already put away your sins and paid for them in your place.
Faith, trust in his promises, earns nothing before him. But, is simply the open hand that receives what is already there. And that open hand of faith itself is not something we generate ourselves. It’s something he gives us freely, as we hear God’s Word, and his Spirit works faith in our hearts.
Here’s what Jesus means in v. 35:
The slave does not remain in the house forever;
Sin, living without faith in God’s Word, does bring some benefits. Of course it does: we see this all around us.
People who have nothing to do with God’s Word, nothing to do with faith, are living lives of massive success, of victory, even of luxury.
Slaves in the Roman world lived in the houses of their masters… …with many benefits and privileges …but it didn’t last forever. Roman slaves lived lives of success, even of wealth, but only as long as they were useful.
But, Jesus goes on:
the son remains forever
A son, in particular an heir, remains in his Father’s house, because he is not there simply because he is useful. A son is there because his Father loves him.
Jesus is God’s Son, and through his death and resurrection applied to us in baptism, he has made us sons.
As Paul writes to the Galatians in chapter 4:7:
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
But not everyone who claims the name Christian preaches this truth. And it was the recovery of this truth that was at the heart of Luther’s message.
Grace is not something we earn. God’s favour is not something we win. We don’t have to persuade God to be on our side.
These ideas had come to shape the medieval catholic church …but they are also rampant here in Manchester today.
People still seek God’s favour, want to get into his good graces through all sorts of religious feats… …long prayer meetings …emotional times of worship …good works done to those in need.
All of these things are ways people imagine they are winning God’s favour towards them.
But, the message of the Reformation is simply this: Christ died and rose again for your justification. Christ has already earned God’s favour for you.
In other words: God’s Gospel is free
There is nothing to earn. There is nothing you can do to earn it. This is why we are Lutherans.
God’s People have been set free
And because of that Gospel: God’s People have been set free. Our fourth key idea. Verse 36 again:
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
In other words: God’s free Gospel of grace has a purpose, an end goal.
And that end goal is for us to enjoy living free of sin: salvation from selfishness, free of frustration, liberated from the lusts of this world.
The Apostle Paul describes this idea in this way, Ephesians 2:10:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Everyone longs to live like this. Ask anyone about themselves, and within moments you’ll hear them trying to convince you they’re a good person.
All of us do that all the time. We are constantly trying to convince ourselves we are good people. In our minds, we list our achievements. We prepare excuses for our missteps.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ means we don’t need to do that. In Christ, we are free of that kind of internal lawsuit.
Christ has justified us from sin. And so now, in him, we experience the freedom of living justly.
Why are we Lutheran?
This is Reformation Sunday, and this is why we are Lutheran.
Because 500 years ago, a bunch of Germans did the best job so far in history of describing the Bible’s message.
These words from Jesus in John 8 show us four key ideas at the heart of that message:
God’s Word tells us truth. God’s Law reveals that sin enslaves us. God’s Gospel is free. God’s People have been set free.
“If you abide in my word,
…says Jesus…
you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
This is why we are Lutheran.
Happy Reformation Sunday.