“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:31-36

“Jesus speaks to us today of truth. And of slavery to sin. And of his being our freedom as he both models and grants this unfathomable acceptance. And we know in our gut, don’t you think, as well as in our experience that truth sets us free? But first it has to be spoken, received, and embraced. Or so it seems to me. First we have to acknowledge our utter slavery to that which binds us up. And our need to be set free. And that we have nowhere to turn but to the only one who can bring this marvelous gift of freedom to us.

This is the wonder of Jesus’ words for us today and every day. It’s not up to me or you. Jesus came to set us free. We can’t do it. All we can do — all we have to do — is know our need and be grateful in the gift. All we have to do is cast aside the biggest lie of all: that we can do it all ourselves and that our value rests in that. It does not. And sometimes coming to that larger truth begins in simply speaking what truths we know here and now as best we can. Jesus says today that our freedom can only come from outside ourselves: that we have to be ‘set free’ by him.” (The Rev. Dr. Janet H. Hunt, “On Truth and Freedom and the One Who Sets Us Free”, October 19, 2014, word.dancingwiththeword.com)

Thomas Merton, Catholic priest and mystic, a prolific writer wrote these words about society: “We are living in the greatest revolution – a profound spiritual crisis of the whole world, manifested largely in cynicism, violence, conflict, and ambivalence…we do not know if we are building a fabulously wonderful world or destroying all that we ever had, all that we have achieved.”

I look around at the world and society that I live in, and I couldn’t agree more. I see an explosion of technology meant to free us – and all that it does is enslave us more and more. I coach my daughter’s U19 Recreation Soccer Club, and this year’s team has been an interesting journey. Once the club decided to actually play soccer, we only had half of the usual number of girls signing up to play. This meant a smaller team, and more of a chance for the girls to come together as a team. But this year took longer than usual, because of the anxiety and concern posed by the Pandemic and Covid-19 scare. In other words, it took almost four weeks of practicing and playing games until the girlsreally came out of their shells and the team began to play as a unit.

I worry about my children and their friends and their ability to interact with one another in this pandemic and post-pandemic world. I wonder if our children will soon have to attend classes to learn what to say to one another when they can come together and interact face to face?

And at the root of our Lutheran faith is “faith alone” (sola fide) and “Scripture alone” (sola scriptura), and “Grace alone” (sola gratia). But that does not mean that we need to go on a faith journey alone. Justification by faith through G-d’s Grace means that we are made right in G-d’s eyes only through “faith” that comes to us when we hear, read, and live out G-d’s “Word”. That should not mean that we come to this congregation on Sunday to worship hoping that people will leave us alone.

As Lutherans, we historically have focused too much on the word “alone” and the word “grace”, and not enough on the words “faith” and “Scripture”. Instead of being comfortable with being “evangelists” and doing “evangelism”, we would rather have people leave us alone so we can live out our lives of faith. That used to work enough to sustain a faith community – at least up until the 1990’s. However, we no longer can think that just our presence (church building) in the community will attract people to our message and ministry – especially if we are all wearing masks and keeping six feet apart.

I ask you, my Lutheran brothers and sisters in Christ, for the near future and beyond, return with me to the five pillars of Lutheranism: Word Alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and Christ’s love. Allow God’s Word to compel you to live “In Christ”, to live in God’s “Grace”, to strengthen your “Faith”, to give you the courage to get involved and to share God’s love every day, in every way, with everyone you meet.

Pastor Dave