Reformation Sunday

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0:00 Today's Reformation Sunday or the Sunday that we celebrate the Reformation, that's why I got my red banners up back there. In case you were perceptive and noticed, you have dreaming because you've been in a season of this privilege. But today we get to put the red ones up. We put the red ones up on an infestible day. Today's special day. We get to celebrate the Reformation. 1500, Luther, you know, over the gospel.

0:31 The gospel will come into our session this morning that I want to look at it in John chapter eight. It starts at verse 31, if you want to look at it with me. Matthew Mark Luke John, Acts Romans. John chapter eight, verse 31. This is in a section where Jesus, John has been recounting Jesus' teaching at the temple to a group of, quote,

1:09 and he's talking about who he is, his identity and the light world. We're talking about walking darkness. And the uncle's got questioning him. The father is, he talks about how they don't get what's going on. John's gospel is different from most of the synopsis. And he's teaching the teaching that he records Jesus getting a little bit of a different flavor. It's a little bit more an acknowledge than the synopsis. Matthew Mark Luke and John.

1:39 And we think that John wrote his gospel really late in his life. And so John's gospel actually might be the last document written that's in the New Testament. So maybe it's late at one point. So he's really remembering back his time that he's sentenced to Jesus when he writes the gospel of John. And a lot of people think that there were a lot of noxious around.

2:09 And so he's writing to show the way in which Jesus is not anoxic. But the section that we have through our reading this morning comes right after this kind of enigmatic teaching in the beginning of chapter eight. And comes right in verse 31. If you want to look there with me, John's chapter eight verse 31. So Jesus said to the Jews who had been leads in him.

2:39 If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciple. And you will know the truth and the truth will touch you. And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book.

3:10 And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book. And I'm going to ask you to read the book.

3:45 And the thing that stuck at me first when I read this, when I thought about the situation, is he's inside the Jewish temple. And he taught me to use some IAM phrases which would resonate with Jewish folks to say that Jesus is explaining this divinity. So the son of Nazareth, Jesus of Nazareth, is explaining this divinity with an IAM statement. And then saying that the God is his father and he has his familial relationship

4:17 with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of creation and life. And then there's a group of people that says who believe in him, and two of the groups who believe these claims, he says, abide, he says, you'll get it right. If you abide in my words, you are too to my disciple. And this is the first thing right to speak after me. Wait a minute. What? I thought they believed. Isn't this interesting? To those who believe he gives an Ith statement,

4:49 if you abide in my words, then you will be truly my disciples. It's almost like there's capacity for them. They have believed in the moment, they're taught by the teaching of Jesus. They're there in the temple, the like political of humanity, the crux on which all humanity turns. The incarnated God in the flesh of humans speaks to them and tells them of his identity.

5:23 And in that moment, as the divine incarnate is speaking, they believe. To them, there's some apparently that don't, but he says, if you abide in my words, then you will truly be my disciples. It's like there's a capacity when they leave that moment to not end up in disciples of God. A lot of scholars think that in the first century, then when Jesus is living,

5:57 that the Jesus has this idea that's understanding about what it meant to be Israel, that Israel was the chosen nation of God. And there was some different applications of that, but the trueest application of that would be that they are like priests for the world. That they go to God on behalf of the world and then speak for God to the world. This is why they would be called the sin on a hill or a light to the world, a holy priesthood, a royal nation,

6:33 that they are mediating the presence of God out into the world. They get this position in first-century, there's an understanding that they get this position as the priest to the world, simply by the election of God, like God's divine prerogative. So they understand that Israel got to be Israel by grace. Pretty cool. Now, how do they get to stay as Israel?

7:05 They get significantly more complex. In first-century Israel, they say Israel by appropriately keeping all of the commandments. And to the extent that they fail that keeps in the commandments, appropriately administering all of the sacrifices to a throne for their sins. So they have this contract, essentially, with the God of creation and life, they're God, they've got an Abraham Isaac in Jacob, that he has made them a royal priesthood and a holy nation,

7:38 that they have this position of preference with God, that they will be servants to the world. They keep this position as servants to the world by keeping the rules and then offering the sacrifices for the ways that they fall forward. So they stay in by their actions. Jesus says to those who have believed, abide in my words, will be my true disciples.

8:10 He recognizes that they could fall out. Israel, of course, famously, failed at being Israel. This is why there is the ten lost tribes in the northern kingdom of Concord, and of course, this is why there is the Babylonian activity when the southern tribes do that in Benjamin are taken off into Babylon. And then they are ceremoniously and triumphantly allowed to come back

8:40 and rebuild the temple and after that season that these have come. They failed and lost their position. It is possible, Jesus says. And so he says to those who believe abide in my word, and you will be my true disciples. So it might be helpful to know what abide in the word of Jesus means, and for that I was thinking about one of the reasons that I am an old man about baseball.

9:14 I really like baseball. I've played baseball for 13 years. As long as they were letting it so they finally saw me then, you just not good enough. Go home. So then I did, I found other things to do, right? Play baseball. One day would let me. And baseball fourths got money in baseball. They are trying to get people back. They are changing all the rules of baseball. Not all the rules, but some of them.

9:45 One of the ones I don't like, they have instant replay in baseball right now. It's not a science. It's a game. Now they have when you watch the game, they have the square on the TV, and they can track where all the balls go. And it has three quarters of that one, which inside the box, he said he called it a strike, he called it a ball. So now they are grading all the uncles, and they are talking about replacing unfires with machines,

10:16 because machines won't ever get it wrong. This is why I am an old man about baseball, because what I love about baseball is when you feel the ball, and you go and turn double play, you grab the ball, you just pick the dirt behind the bag and throw it to first to get the double play. And if the umpire says you got the guy out, he defines reality on the field, the guy's out. It's not about whether I tag the guy or not, it's about what the umpire says, the umpire does try to keep out.

10:47 The umpire decides to strike, they said that umpires used to keep the game moving in baseball by deciding the strike zone out the beginning. There was a rough outline, but they would call balls and strikes based on how the guy was swinging and how the guy was kicking in order to keep the game moving and put a bias towards hitting the ball. They can't do that anymore because the guys on TV are critiquing them with what a robot said, which is false. The robot does determine reality on the field, the umpire determines reality on the field.

11:18 If you're pulling the lead down an old man about baseball, I would say leave it alone, right? And let the umpire determine reality. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. And Jesus hears that a good friend of his is sick. The disciples say, hey, Mary and Mark of the Father,

11:50 if you go stand before the demo, Jesus is now awake. They wait, he dies. Weigh those Jesus who waited too long, and the disciples tell him, loud is the death because it's good to him. They're like, why it's close to Jerusalem? People want to kill you, and it's too late. He's dead already. They got the mourners set up and every day they're doing the funeral thing, they have trouble. Jesus is in charge to the disciples' God. I imagine they were intimidated and a little confused.

12:23 They get there, it's louder than sisters, meet him on the way and say, what are you doing? You ought to have done here. He says, take me to the tomb. They say, why? He's been dead and starting to stink already. He says, how do I care? Take me to the tomb. He walks up, stands outside of the tomb, says, roll away the stone, and they realize why. It stinks the nakes. Is, would you roll away the stone and standing outside of the tomb? He calls to the dead body of Lazarus, hey, Lazarus, get up and come out.

12:53 Lazarus, dead with grave clothes on, walks out of the tomb. Why? Because Jesus defines reality. His word speaks reality into existence. When he says you're alive, you're alive. Death runs at the command of the Christ and death will have to obey because he just speaks reality into existence.

13:24 When he tells those who believe, hey, stick around my word. If he says he's defining reality, he has defined reality for you. He says, you are forgiven. No longer the sum of your choices. No longer defined by your basis,

13:55 in things Christ says, I define reality, and I'll call you holy-diloving. Redeemed and eternal. Significant and destined for the glory you are due. You are full of potential, obtained by the word of the Christ,

14:26 standing in the temple 2000 years ago, announcing words that would get people killed, blasphemous words that claim he is the God, a couple of people miraculously believe, and Jesus says, stick around me. Because we're out here playing, and all kind of people would want to define your reality.

14:56 Tell you who you are. Stick around, you can't abide in my word because my word defines the reality you want. You'll be through the temple, you can't stand it. And you stick around. Follow in the way of the incarnate God, the Savior of the world. Stick around, abide in many things.

15:32 If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. It gets tripped up a little bit as they are after all. Well-trained Israelites. They're all the temple, they're not the nominal Israelites that haven't learned what they're supposed to learn. They've learned it all. That's why they're there, offering the sacrifices and learning more

16:02 from the rabbis. And he says, stick around, abide in my word, and you'll be my true disciples. They like the idea of disciples, and they get it. They're not the disciples of the rabbi right now, which means they probably sell out of schooling at some point. And he says, you get the chance to be my disciples, because my word defines reality. And then he says, and when you're my disciple, when you go by and you're in my word, when you stick around in my reality,

16:32 you'll be my true disciple. Then you'll know the truth, he says, and the truth will set you free. And that triggers them a little bit, because look at what it says. And they answer the hey, who said we needed to be free from anything? Do you think we were free already? Who said? We are offering of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? I thought we were free already.

17:04 I don't need your freedom. She's the manager. I've got it under control. I don't need your freedom. That's a little bit presumptuous. Who are you who said I will become free, aren't I free already? Who's telling me what to do? I tell myself what to do. Thank you. Tell myself what to do. Then he has this little line,

17:34 which is a real kicker. And no fun at all. Jesus, the answer then truly, truly I say to you. That's what he's really feeling himself a little bit. When he's about to drop it into the ground shop that he does that, when he's about to like, oh guys, listen up. Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a state of sin.

18:04 Bummer. This is not only, I mean Jesus says this, and it is a bummer. It's like a thing that prompted the reformation actually. Luther, Martin Luther, the guy that kicked off his reformation of the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s was a monk, which is where he went if you were smart.

18:37 And maybe pious sometimes monks went there because they got sued in a place of lived. But Luther, especially, went there because his parents wanted him to. He kind of wanted to be a lawyer, but his parents told him we needed a church member as part of the family. Probably there was some political stuff that they wanted to be able to have a say in the church. So he goes to be amongst forces for him. Well, forces for him, he's pretty smart, unfortunate for him, he's very early. 1500s, it was a tough time to be an early monk

19:08 because the rules were pretty crippling. If you had a really regimented system for how you paid for your court comments, they had this penance thing that was really well documented. And if you took seriously, Luther said, if I take seriously all the sins of my head and my heart, I'll never get off my knee. I'll always be doing penance. God is this God who demands something I can never keep up with.

19:43 Like I'm a slave to recouping or reinstating or paying for the choices that I've made. Paul took up on this a little bit in Romans chapter 6. If you want to look there, that's cool. Romans chapter 6 verse 6, otherwise you can take my word for it. But in Romans chapter 6 verse 6, Paul, the Apostle Paul says, we know that our old self was criticized with him in order that the body of sin

20:13 might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved. For one who had died has been set free from sin. This is what long, these ideas are what launch Paul is, and it's most of the Reformation that says, oh my God, it is not my job to pay for my short times. It is not my job to pay for my failures. It is certainly not my job to pay for my temptation or my instant.

20:46 He says, when Paul reads it, he realizes that God has done something different where he put the death something and brought to life something altogether than you, that the pain that has been made fully and the rest of the preaching has been lost into the world. That when you stand in the reality, the world that Christ created, you stand wholly safe, redeemed, sanctified, and destined for eternity now.

21:18 This is the reality that Jesus Christ has never watched, and the world is why He says about it and He, because when you do, I speak reality over you that launches something new in you. Paul says, you put something to death. Luke got off of his name and said, we're making everybody pay for something that Christ abolished. It's so long ago.

21:48 Let's abide in the proclamation in the word of Jesus. Let's live there rather than in our old reality. Let's live in a reality defined by Jesus. It's life, death, resurrection, ascension. His church, not the Father, it's the system of your ballast with the Pharisees and again with the church.

22:19 But it is tricky to do that. I mean, it's tricky to abolish the Tennessee. There's one little thing I want us to look like in Galatians, and I want to say that in Galatians, I'm going to find it. Galatians chapter five. Well, oh.

22:50 Paul writes his church, the church is in Galatians on town. It's a reason. He writes the whole reason, because he had been through there and started his church and they had come. And he writes the people in the temple hearing the words of Jesus, who believed there were ones when Paul went through Galatians who heard him in the league. He prised out and they formed the church. And then folks came through and said, yeah, it's cool, you believe. But remember Israel.

23:20 You know how to stay in? You've got to follow the rules. If you want to be the church, you've got to follow the rules. If you want to be one of us, you've got to do the right thing look the right way, say the right stuff. People came after Paul for the church's insulates us, sort of rolling out rules for them to stay in. And Paul writes them a letter back and says, hey, you were running well in chapter five verse seven. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

23:52 He says, get these little lies out of your way. He says, you were doing a great job in abiding in the words allowing him to define the reality. The hard work of being a Christian is not the coming something that you're not. It's believing something that you already all down here. Define the reality for you. And it's much easier to believe that you are the sum of your choices rather than the proclamation of the plan.

24:23 It's much easier to believe and identify with your basis instinct and to the thought then to identify with the embers of the redeemed in you. To identify with the joys, the peace, the generosity, the mercy, the love. God is a way in who you will be forever inside of you. And no matter how much this old person that Paul said has been put to death, he's coming back.

24:54 The work of following Jesus is a balling in his word and allowing him to define the reality for you. It's not becoming something you're not. It's believing something that you already all. And the Christians in Galatius had such a hard time with it. He said it would be much easier if we could just define ourselves by the choices that we make. Could we do that? Now listen, Paul, we're making some bad choices, but less bad places than those over there. So we feel better about ourselves.

25:25 You see, we have some wrong answers, but we have less wrong answers than they do over there. So we just, this is what happens over and over and over again. In the church, four people of faith, you could see it with the Pharisees, you could see it with the Roman Catholic Church, you could see it in the Lutheran Church, you could see it in this body, you could see it in the body that's sore. It happens over and over and over again. Jesus comes to find the reality.

25:56 In a moment of faith, we believe. And then we leave that moment of faith and we boil our worth down to the choices that we make to the bank account that we have, to the people that we know, to the good work that we've done, and when we feel crumming about the bank account that we have, the people that we know, the good work that we've done, we compare ourselves to other people's bank account on that work and the good work, and we try to be better than them at least.

26:29 If we would just drop the instant replay and live in a reality that the empire defined, look, Jesus make a better reality than you do. When you know the truth, the truth will tell you, please,

27:04 no longer bound by your basis and think for worth its eyes, no longer limited by the capacity of your flesh or the power of your will, you are destined by the power of the will of the divine, who has claimed you forever and created your unique capabilities and instincts and has destined them to be revealed in the end. This is your glory. It calls us from glory into glory forever,

27:35 becomes more and more in yourself. When you live abide in the word of Jesus, right, you will know the truth, that there is a God, it is not you, the God is for you, it seems with you a solidarity and a donut effect, and that truth will set you free. Okay, let's close out the little section we have. Jesus says I'm true to the activities, I don't want to commit, okay, the flavor's up. So if the sun sets you free,

28:09 you are free indeed. This is you. This is for you today. A. Now, this has you offering them as you will. A pair for eternity now.

28:43 Abide in the word of Christ, not in your own. Identify with who he calls you, not the voices you call yourself. So, release your worst choices and your basis into as though they defined. Thank you now.

29:14 Our truth is defined by the Christ Jesus of Matthew. He says he offered. Right. And we will make it free today. Oh, let us believe that freedom you have given us. The glory. And live out of it now. Teach us to abide in your word in this moment and in the moment to come. And in each moment, and so do you call at home.

29:44 And choose this train with prayer. Amen.