Tag Archives: Faith

Faith in Jesus Christ which comes through the presence of the Holy Spirit

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on October 30, 2015
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The Freedom of a Christian — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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October 30, 2015

“If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.” 1 Corinthians 9:16-19

“To make the way smoother for the unlearned—for only them do I serve—I shall set down the following two propositions concerning the freedom and the bondage of the spirit:

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

These two theses seem to contradict each other. If, however, they should be found to fit together they would serve our purpose beautifully. Love by its very nature is ready to serve and be subject to him who is loved.” Martin Luther (1483-1546) The Freedom of a Christian, 1520, “For All The Saints” volume II, (p. 977)

As Christians, we are free from any kind of necessity to earn our righteousness or work our way to heaven. This is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christians the work has been done by Christ – so we are free, subject to nothing. But if the thought ended there, we would be so much poorer as people of faith. Yes we are subject to no one and no thing, and yet we are subject to all people, and to all things as servants.

The Pope came to America with a message — three needs for us to consider – three areas that require each one of us to consider what we are doing to address them:

1. Income inequality
2. Refugees
3. The environment including climate change.

We could say, “There are programs to serve those needs”. And that is true. But that reality does not release us from our obligation to do something on our own to help bring about more equal pay for all, assistance for refugees, and caring for our environment.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. I would also say that It takes the church, both locally and globally, those disciples of Jesus and other kinds of disciples to bring about justice and peace for all people.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on October 25, 2015
Tags: Faith, ,   

You Are Free — Rev. David J. Schreffler

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October 25, 2015, Reformation Sunday

“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

“If we are ever to enter fully into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, we are going to have to spend more time thinking about freedom than we do. The church, by and large, has had a poor record of encouraging freedom. She has spent so much time inculcating in us the fear of making mistakes that she had made us like ill-taught piano students; we play our songs, but we never really hear them, because our main concern is not to make music, but to avoid some flub that will get us in dutch. She has been so afraid we will lose sight of the laws of our nature, that she made us care more about how we look than about who we are; made us act more like the subjects of a police state than fellow citizens of the saints.

It is essential that you see this clearly. The Apostle is saying that you, and Paul, and I have been sprung. Right now; not next week, or at the end of the world. And unconditionally, with no probation officer to report to. But that means that we have finally come face to face with the one question we have always thought we were aching to hear but that we now realize we have scrupulously ducked every time it got within a mile of us. What would you do with freedom if you had it? Only now it is posed to you not in the subjunctive but in the indicative: You are free. What do you plan to do?” (from Robert Capon in Between Noon and Three.)

You are free. You are free now. Today. Yes one day we will be free from pain, death, loss, suffering, etc., but there are ways that we can look at and live into our freedom right now. The first thing we should do is identify the ways that we are held hostage – by our jobs, by our wants You Are and needs, by our desires, and so on. We are just as capable of living holy lives as butchers, bakers and computer makers as we are if we all go to seminary. So if we are free, we need to live in that manner.

But we also need to remember who makes us free – Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ makes us free right now – free to love, to serve, to hate, to judge – it is an unprecedented freedom, but it is a spiritual freedom. So what will you do with your spiritual freedom today – and how will you be an instrument of freedom to someone you meet?

Pastor Dave