St. John 8:31-36
Dearly beloved,
Today we celebrate Reformation Day in the church year. We
adorn the altar, pulpit and lecturn with red to highlight a feast that
causes us great joy. Red symbolizes the blood of Christ shed for the life
of the world. It symbolizes the gospel and this is precisely the reason for
the observance of Reformation. We remember Martin Luther and all the
Lutheran fathers who confessed the faith boldly in order to restore the
gospel to the church.
We stand today as Lutheran Christians, following in the
heritage of these Lutheran reformers. In a nutshell, the struggle was over
how one became free from sins. It is akin to the struggle going on in the
gospel for this festive occasion. In fact, if we were to do a quick scan
over church history, we would find that this battle is always being waged. How
does one become free from one’s sins? We see it in Jesus’ words to the
Pharisees as He teaches in the temple.
We see it in the early church fathers and the Council of
Nicaea when the groups are fighting over the doctrine of Jesus Christ—who He
is and whether or not He was God. We find it in Martin Luther as he speaks
against the selling of indulgences for the paying off of sins. We even
battle it today. The battle is the age old battle. Satan and world are
constantly trying to creep into the church in order to replace the church’s
life with the world.
It is always a battle between Christ and His merits versus
Satan and his ways. This battle, while being waged in the church, is also
being waged in your life. There are several things that are always at work.
You have to cope with your sinful urges. Oftentimes, those sinful urges
result in the committing of sins. You also have to cope with the stark
reality that you spend more time in the world than you do in the church. This
means more time listening to TV, radio, popular opinions and life
philosophies, while less time is spent hearing God’s word and studying
it. This
is a problem for you from a Christian living standpoint.
If we look at our lives, we may be amazed at how difficult
the battle really is. I am saddened by the realization that most people in
the church are not as steadfast in the faith as they should be. Jesus never
intended for people to half-heartedly take the salvation that He won for
them on the cross. The church is the place where new lives start. The
church is the place of a new beginning for sinners. Martin Luther called
the church “The Mouth House of the Gospel.”
Once we get a new beginning in the church, our lives start
anew. We pass through the waters of Holy Baptism and the old Adam dies, and
we begin to live the new life in Christ. This means that we are to abide in
this new existence. This is what Jesus is discussing in the gospel for
today. “If you abide in My word, you are my disciples, indeed.” Then a few
verses later, Jesus says, “A slave does not abide in the house forever, but
a son abides forever.”
To abide somewhere is to live somewhere: To abide with Jesus
means that you make your home with Him. A home defines a person. A home
influences and sets the pattern for one’s life and existence. A home is
where a person wants to be because it is comfortable, familiar: it is home.
If you are to abide with Jesus, if you are to make your home with Jesus,
then you must spend time there. Jesus must become your dwelling place. This
is more than just making occasional or even regular visits. You must be in
God’s word constantly. Being in God’s word and sacrament gifts is what you
are to be about.
You must be in prayer without ceasing. So my question for
you is: How does this hit you? Are you wondering if you are just a visitor
to Jesus? Or do you truly abide with Him? The great fallout among Christians
today is that they are far too lukewarm or indifferent to Jesus and His
gifts. Poignantly speaking, this is precisely why the church in the Middle
Ages had lost the gospel. Indifference to the gospel and Jesus led to the
world creeping in and replacing Jesus and the gospel with things of the
world.
We must be careful that we never let this happen among
us. This
is why we must come on our knees to the altar. Abiding, or, living in
Christ first means that we confess our sins—not just once but constantly. You
cannot abide in Jesus without His Holy Spirit and His love. You cannot make
Jesus your dwelling place through constantly coming to church and studying
God’s word unless the love of Jesus is put into you. In other words, to
abide in Jesus means that we need the gospel. We need Jesus to cover up our
sins and lead us.
My friends in Christ, this is precisely why Jesus came in
the flesh. Jesus came to keep the Law and then die on the cross bearing the
sins of the world, your sins included. Abiding with Jesus means we dwell in
mercy. The church is a mercy place. It has to be. The church is a mercy
place for you and your sins, but also for the sins and shortcomings of every
other person in the church. Where there is repentance, there is
forgiveness. Whether your sins continue to frighten you, hold you back from
abiding in Christ, or continue to place doubt in your mind, Jesus has placed
you here in the church, where there is freedom from all of that.
Jesus beckons us with the gospel in many places throughout
Holy Scripture, and continually reminds us that all is OK if we live in Him.
“Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light.”
You cannot trust in yourself or wait until things are
perfect in your life before you can abide in Jesus. Abiding in Jesus means
that we enter Him with all of those wretched and nasty sins, along with all
of our imperfections. Jesus has paid for all of those sins. Your only hope
of release from sin and the world is to abide in Christ. He must be your
home. Jesus being your home, will find you experiencing a manifold array of
blessings, all culminating in the resurrection and eternal life in heaven.
Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
