October 30, 2022 - Reformation Sunday
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
John 8:31-36
Grace across the Span of Your Life
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
“If you REMAIN in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Jesus encourages us to remain in the word, to stay anchored in it. When we stay connected to the word of God in the Bible, something happens to us. Each day we feed on its message for us. We read and ponder its words. And little by little, day after day, it transforms us. Our lives gradually become aligned to its message, its truths. And as that happens, we step into the expansive freedom and grace of God.
God’s word was central to Martin Luther. It was one of his three grounding principles. You see them on the front of our bulletin: scriptures alone, grace alone, faith alone. And that order is important. First comes the scriptures. It’s through the words of the Bible that we come to hear the message of God’s grace. The scriptures sing the song of God’s loving grace. And when we’ve heard this message of grace, then faith is born within. Scriptures, grace, faith, in that order. The scriptures come first, they MUST come first.
Jesus said, “If you REMAIN in my word, you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
We REMAIN in the word. It’s a long-term thing. The Bible isn’t something we read just once, like the Sunday comics, and then toss it aside. We stay connected to it over the span of our lives. The psalmist said that when we remain in God’s word, we’re like a tree planted by the water. It feeds and nourishes us. And like the successive rings of growth on a tree, our lifetime connection to God’s word matures with us.
The giant tap root of our faith and assurance is the abundant grace of God. It became clear to us in the most striking way through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus, the God we cannot see became visible. In Jesus, the transcendent and holy divine source of all life drew near to us in a way we could see and hear and feel.
His life and actions have been captured for us through the witness of those who knew him. They tell his story so that we might also know.
In the gospels we read about Jesus’ actions. The love of God sent him to us. He became a flesh and blood human, born to his parents, Mary and Joseph. He was as human as you and I. He ate and slept and got sick. He experienced the joy of family and friendship. He felt all of the emotions we do, he was tempted in every way we are.
In his ministry, he reflected the broad compassion and mercy of God’s love. He welcomed even the scorned and unlovely. He brought healing and wholeness to lepers and those tortured with mental illness, to the sick and dying. He challenged the rigid and self-righteous beliefs of those who had forgotten the central characteristic of God’s abiding love. His teachings and acts of mercy sparked new hope and inspiration among those who encountered him.
But these were just the first act. His final act came with his death and what followed. In his dying on the cross he has shown us that divine love is willing to go the distance to restore what human sin has broken. From the cross he went to the grave. And from the grave he descended even to the depths of hell. There was no place so remote and desolate where he was not willing to go. No matter the depths of your despair or brokenness, he was willing, is willing, to go there for you. As the song says: ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough. There is no place where he will not go to deliver and restore you into the bosom of divine love!
And in his resurrection, he has shown us that there is no power on this earth that he has not overcome. The brokenness of sin is no match for his healing forgiveness. Even the finality of death has ended. Death has been defeated by unquenchable light and life of the divine.
All of these good gifts! In his life, the words of liberation and grace; in his death, the height and depth and breadth of God’s love to restore and reunite; and in his resurrection, the knowledge that there is nothing, nothing in heaven and earth and under the earth that can overcome the eternal life and love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is what Jesus wants us to REMAIN in. Throughout all the days of our lives, we think on these things. This is the deep tap root of the Tree of Life. And when we dwell in the word, then we are like a tree planted by the waters. It will nourish and strengthen us throughout the days and seasons of our entire life.
That’s why the word is so important.
Today we mark the confirmation of several of our youth. Your faith journey began several years ago at the font of life. At your baptism, God claimed you. And you have been dwelling next to that river of life ever since. But I want you to think about something.
Soren Kirkegaard wisely said, “Life is to be lived forward, but it is to be understood backwards.”
So look backwards. Look back to what your faith was when you were a young child. Reach back to your earliest recollections of your faith walk. Consider what your understanding of your faith was then. And then compare it with where you are today. You can see just how much your faith and understanding have developed. These are the growth rings on your tree!
And then some day, you’ll be able to look back to this moment. And from the age that you will be, you’ll be able to see just how much your faith has developed from this day.
Those of you here today who look back to your own confirmation, consider just how much you have grown in faith and wisdom from that moment. Consider the long, winding path that has led you from your confirmation to this very day. Abiding in the word and promises of our Lord, your faith has grown and matured.
As we age, we reach a point where our physical strength and vitality peak and then decline. In the latter half of life, our strength and endurance gradually ebb. But in our spiritual life, just the opposite happens. As we REMAIN in Christ, we continue to grow in hope and wisdom.
The same with our vision. As we age, our eyesight dims. We need glasses, cataracts cloud our vision. But spiritually, our vision increases with age. I remember one dear saint who clearly manifested this to me.
Dear Mabel Quinlan was an elderly lady in a former parish of mine. Mabel suffered from macular degeneration. In order to read, she needed a very powerful magnifying lens and a very strong light source. But Mabel had a remarkable faith. Despite her failing eyes, her vision and wisdom stretched far beyond human sight. Through her daily walk with Jesus, she witnessed the light the darkness cannot overcome. Mabel had a calmness to her being because she was anchored in Christ.
These things come over the long journey of REMAINING in Christ’s word. As we contemplate and abide in his word, his perspective becomes our perspective. His values become ours. His grace and peace dwell within us, and we become instruments of it. In his truth, you will be free.
