10-27-2024 Freedom Coming Through With Rev. Marie Duquette

“…You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” So says Jesus in one of his most well-known quotes, so much so that even non-believers say it, especially when trying to convince someone who is resistant to hear the truth from which they turn away. Today’s sermon explains the truth and the freedom that Jesus was referring to when he said this and looks at how we might apply that meaning to discerning the truth today, in a turbulent time that is marked by blatant lies being peddled as truth. Lies that are costing people their lives. When it is God’s desire that we might have life. Abundantly. 

Transcript

First of all, I invite you to stay with me today. Because there is a lot we're going to talk about: truth and freedom, current events of today, reformation. At some point you may want to let your thoughts drift! And I urge you to stay with me--for the Holy Spirit gave me these words for you today. [Amen]

“…And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free!” Oh yes. One of our favorite lines from all of scripture, am I right? Every time I hear it, I feel like I can channel the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when I say it. He knew something about truth and freedom as did Rosa Parks as did John Lewis.

And I must confess that I have never, in my entire life, wanted to KNOW the truth and secure the freedom that comes from knowing that truth as I do right now.  [yes]

Now before I get into naming our anxiety around issues of truth, let’s take a step back and look at what Jesus means by the truth HERE in God’s word. 

Number One: Who is he talking to? It says, “the Jews that had believed in him.” That refers to those who once believed in him, then turned away. They gave up. They quit. It is not his disciples, as we often assume. It is not all Jews or Judeans. He is talking to those who once believed in Jesus, who later in John, chapter 14, calls himself, the TRUTH, and the way, and the life. It is to these once-upon-a-time believers that Jesus begins his answer with graceful offer.. with a graceful offer. “If you continue in my word, you will truly be my disciples. And you will know the truth. And the truth will make you free.” Jesus is saying, being my disciple requires perseverance. My word is fuel for perseverance. You cannot keep going, you cannot persevere if you do not stay fueled by the Word. 

Number Two: What is this truth they will know? The truth to which Jesus is referring is that he is their Savior. They are saved not by what they do or don’t do, but by what God does. They are saved because Jesus is well on his way to saving them from all the things that plague them, including lies and fear from the powers of the world that threaten them. 

Number Three: Then what is the freedom that follows the truth? The first thing we, and those to whom he is speaking, tend to think of here is physical freedom. Being freed from slavery. Forced servitude. To this point, the Jews decide to argue with Jesus. There’s an idea! They decide to point out that he has received fake news about them needing to be set free because, in vs. 33 they say, “we have never been slaves,” which is ironic because, in fact, they actually were slaves. To say they have never been slaves to anyone is NOT the truth—when they’re talking about truth! They ARE descendants of Abraham. Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson, lead the people, the family, down to Egypt to avoid famine. In Egypt, they multiplied and became a great nation. And in Egypt, a different Pharoah enslaved them because he perceived them as a threat. So, they were slaves. Until eventually God sent them Moses, who,  after a bunch of plagues, lead them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea to the promised land, aka, to freedom. 

“So for them to say, we have never been slaves is simply NOT the truth. And only then, after challenging this statement that is not the truth, does Jesus offer the ultimate incentive for staying in his Word. Jesus says…”…and the truth will make you free.

We all have this way of engaging in revisionist history. 

Just as the Jews in this story conveniently rewrote history in their own minds to say they were never enslaved, so the church finds it easy to forget that they once were in the business of selling indulgences. We may be Lutherans, those whose claim to fame is renouncing the church selling indulgences, among other things. Yet we are still part of the history of the church. Martin Luther confronted the powers of the medieval church, when the pope blessed the sale of indulgences. The plan was, ‘let’s prey on the fear of the people and sell them these tickets for advance forgiveness. They can buy them for things they don’t want to remember or admit to doing. Really big sins. They will be like a life insurance policy to protect them from the heat once they die.’ 

And to this, Luther said NO. His 95 Theses questioned abuses in the sale of indulgences, and more than that declared that “we are justified--that is, made right with God--apart from works of the law.” 

We are made right with God because of love. And when we fully understand this, we WILL do good works, because our faith can flourish freely. 

It is not about doing good works SO THAT we will be saved. We do good works because we ARE saved. THAT is the truth. And it was good news for Luther as well, who we think of as being a hero, but let’s face it, in his later years he supported and wrote about antisemitism. 

If we continue in Jesus’ Word, we not only know the truth, but we can speak the truth. The truth that is not always comfortable. The truth that can embarrass us. The truth that brings with it consequences. But these things come from our relationship to other humans, not our relationship with God. 

The truth for us today is that the church is changing. And there will be death. So many churches are closing now, that we have a gentler phrase to describe what is happening. Congregations are choosing “holy closure,” in which they give what they have left to charitable causes, so they might leave a legacy as their church closes its doors one last time. And the truth is: it’s nobody’s fault. We need not blame. If it IS anyone’s fault, it is EVERYONE’S fault for being human. People outside the church accuse church folks of being hypocrites. To this I say, of course we are hypocrites--we are human! And those calling us hypocrites are hypocrites too. To be hypocritical is to keep doing what you tell others not to do. Humans are very good at this. 

Yet even as we witness the church changing, reforming, and many congregations closing, we can trust Jesus to bring New Life. A new church will emerge. Losing buildings is not losing Jesus. Reforming ourselves is not abandoning faith. Not knowing what is up ahead is not assuming that what is ahead does not deserve hope. 

Jesus sets us free not only to know the truth but to claim and name the truth. And that is good news. Because many who call themselves Christians, have actually abandoned the Word of God, or are twisting it to mean what they want it to mean. Christian Nationalism is just one form of this brand of Christianity. Christian Nationalism likes to indulge in selling fear. They like to promote Jesus as a wrathful judge who will send us into the outer darkness, where we will be met with unquenchable fire for choosing between paths that both have troubling consequences. 

Take Abortion for example. We can agree that getting an abortion is an event that often troubles the consciences of those who choose one for the rest of their lives. We can also agree that women dying, leaving behind young children, and women suffering, because they do not have access to the medical procedure of an abortion, is a horrifically sad event. Jesus came that we would life--abundantly! To suffer needlessly. To grieve the loss of an unborn child. To carry a child to term that was conceived as a result of rape is NOT abundant life. Numerous news outlets have been reporting—including Scientific American, a reliable source—they’ve been reporting that from 2022 until recently 68,000 pregnancies were the result of rape. 

[Wow. ] Woe to anyone who takes a hard line on this issue, condemning the women who need abortions to both suffering and shame. The truth is: Jesus does not bless treating anyone this way. When we remain in his Word, we read over and over and over again, that we are to love one another. We know the truth: that love considers each person’s life as a miracle. Babies not yet born, yes, and also their mothers and their fathers and their siblings.

Hear the words of the great American writer and theologian, Frederick Buechner: What he wrote about abortion…

“There is perhaps no better illustration of the truth, that in an imperfect world there are no perfect solutions. All we can do, as Luther said, is sin bravely, which is to say: A - know that neither to have the child, nor not to have the child, is without the possibility of tragic consequences for everybody. Yet, be brave in knowing also, that not even that can put us beyond the forgiving love of God.”[i]

Amen.

Today’s Gospel is about persevering in the Word. It is about checking our perspectives on worldly issues against the Word that comes to us in the person of Jesus. This same Jesus who told the woman at the well that he knew about her five husbands. He knew, she was, what we would call today, “living in sin.” He knew EVERYTHING about her, and still loved her. He doesn’t condemn her. He doesn’t ostracize her. He restores her to the very community from which she has separated herself.

And when the men of the town drag a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, he tells them, “Let he who has no sin, cast the first stone.” And one by one, everyone in the crowd drops their stone, and leaves the scene they had planned to make violent. 

This is a time for us to remain in God’s word in which we read, repeatedly. “Do not fear!” “I am with you always!” “You will be my witnesses.”

It will be easy in the days ahead for our anxiety to rise. In fact, the truth is, it already is!  And it continues to rise as we watch the election in this country unfold; the war in the Middle East continue to slaughter innocents; and women suffering needlessly because laws are being enacted that leave them begging for necessary healthcare. While doctors are torn between losing their licenses, possible jail and saving the lives of these women. 

What kind of choice is that?

The fundamental truth that Jesus brings shows us the actual value of life, and it makes each person who follows Jesus ask themselves, To what should I give my life?

To what should I give my life?

Shall I be a servant or a dictator?

Shall I participate in healing the suffering or shaming them?

Shall I support laws designed to give power to a few, or laws that bring hope and freedom to many? 

In these coming days, let us be thoughtful, attentive to God’s word, and participants in God’s plan to claim and name and speak the truth that sets us free. 

Let us remember that we’ve come this far by faith. Let us watch for freedom. In the words of the musician and poet, Beyonce: “Freedom. Freedom Coming Through.” For God who loves us still, who saves us all knows, that “…we need freedom, too.” [Amen] [applause]