If you get a chance have a listen to the song ‘Man of Sorrows.’ It says a whole of good stuff about who Jesus is and what he’s done for us, it expresses his sacrifice for us in a really beautiful way. When this song came out it was also quite an important song for me at a time in my life when I had drifted away from the church a bit, and it was part of my journey reconnecting with other people who had a faith and were living it out around me.
There’s also a line in that song that comes directly from our gospel reading today: ‘Who the Son sets free is free indeed’ – John 8:36.
What does this mean, to be set free?
What do you think of when you think of freedom, the freedom Jesus has won for us? What does it mean to you, how does it change your life??
There’s one avenue for us today, another one on the screen – famous quote from Martin Luther himself: ‘Here I stand, I can do no other.’
I’m sure you know when he said this > back in the midst of the reformation itself, the year is 1521 and he’s being told to recant or renounce his teachings, but he doesn’t – instead he stands firm and he says this now famous line.
I think this is not only a line that Luther said, but it’s actually something for you and me when we consider our faith and what this freedom is…
Where is Luther standing when he says these words, not literally/physically but what he is he standing on, what is he held up by, what he is holding tightly to?
He is standing on God’s word, he’s standing IN God’s word, held up by it and secured by it. He’s standing in the freedom Jesus has won for him, for us, for all people – even if it looks like he’s not so physically free at this time in his life…
So we’re not talking about physical freedom today, because that’s not what it’s all about. We’re talking about spiritual freedom, which if you think about it goes much deeper than our physical wellbeing, it gets to our soul, the state of our soul.
So we’ve got 3 passages here, all words we’ve already heard today, to walk through to see how this freedom works, what it is, what Luther stood on and what you and me stand on today:
The freedom we stand in is:
Jeremiah 31:34 – God says, ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’
Wickedness, sin = bad things, things we get stuck in, unfortunately things we continue to get stuck in as human beings. Things that separate us from God, where we put ourselves above the one who made us and loves us enough to die for us.
And that’s the rest of this verse > God knows we’re wicked and sinful, but what does he say? I will remember their sins NO MORE. He knows our sin, but he chooses to forgive us, to restore us, to renew us.
This is what it means to be justified, to be redeemed, which leads us into our next passage >>>
Romans 3 – we are justified, we are redeemed
Justified and redeemed as in made right with God, brought home to be part of his family, a loved and forgiven child, and all this happens how? By grace through faith.
We can’t justify ourselves, we can’t redeem ourselves – we can have a go at that but if you’ve tried that you might have realised it doesn’t work! Only freedom in Christ gives us fullness of life, only Jesus gives us access to new life and ongoing life with him in heaven.
And we’ve got Psalm 46, which comes at this from a slightly different angle >>>
Psalm 46:5 – ‘God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.’
This verse can be taken a few different ways: the context of this verse is ‘she’ and ‘her’ being a city, but this can have also have a really powerful interpretation as God speaking to women directly, as God does. He is within all of us, we will not fall, he will help us at break of day.
This is the firm grounding part isn’t it > a city has a firm foundation, otherwise it won’t stand. And this city has God’s presence within it, more than bricks and mortar, this is not only physical but spiritual, this goes to our heart and soul – that’s where God is!
God’s presence is what makes it a firm foundation, without that it’s just another city.
This is no ordinary city, this is a city inhabited by the living God > what Luther is standing on, what we get to stand on all these years later – 504 years later to be exact – is exactly the same, our hearts and souls are inhabited by the living God. Pretty incredible to think about.
So we get to live in this spiritual freedom, because our God is living in us.
This firm foundation, this is an ongoing source, the source of life itself. We are connected to it and empowered by it day after day.
And nothing else can give us this freedom, we can’t get this level of freedom any other way. Not in our worldly possessions, not in our reputation or status or influence or power. All of those things come and go, but the word of our God lasts forever! We might even say this is a mighty fortress, we are within a mighty fortress inhabited by the living God.
So we can all say this, we can all echo this famous line from Luther, standing in the grace of God, standing in the forgiveness of sins, set free because the Son has set us free: we can all say, ‘Here I stand, I can do no other.’
Lord we thank you for setting us free, free to live in the freedom that is life with you. We thank you for examples and leaders in the faith to follow, and the community of faith we get to continue to be part of today. Thank you for forgiving our sins and being with us, so that in you we will not fall. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Tom Kitson 