Independence Day

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.      John 8:31-36

My favorite word in the English language is ‘independence.’  Beyond the meaning of the word, I love the way it sounds and the way it feels when you speak it.  Say it with me:  in-de-pen-dence.  Feels good, doesn’t it?

Needless to say, I am incredibly thankful for my freedom and for those who have made that freedom possible.  I guard my independence jealously and really don’t like to be told what to do. Or maybe that’s just stubbornness.  There’s a fine line there (perspective). At any rate, I revel in my independence. 

But, just how free are we?  I’m not talking about personal or political freedom, but spiritual freedom.  Do you believe that humans possess free will?  Do you believe we have the ability to choose between good and evil?  Do you believe that we could live lives that are pleasing to God if we just made the right choices?

These are not idle questions; the answers impact not only your faith, but how you live day to day.  Martin Luther recognized this 500 years ago.  His answer to the question of whether or not we have free will may surprise you.

“Free will is a downright lie!  We have no free will except to do what is evil.”

The great thing about Luther is you never have to wonder where he stands on an issue! In his day the church taught that humans had to contribute something to their salvation.  But Luther believed, and Lutherans still confess, that “we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.”  Period.  Luther referred to this as the Bondage of the Will and wrote a very famous book by that title.  The only freedom we have is over things “below” such as our possessions or what to eat for dinner.  We have no freedom when it comes to things “above” because we will either make the wrong choice, or we will make the right choice for the wrong reason.  Always.  As Jesus said, we are “slaves to sin.”

If all of this sounds like bad news to you, it was good news to Luther.  Our lack of free will means that our salvation doesn’t depend upon us or our efforts.  We don’t have to struggle to do the impossible.  We don’t have to worry whether we are good enough; we don’t have to worry whether we are “saved.”  Salvation is God’s work and it has already been accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In a word, we are free.

So now, we are able to live and serve one another not out of compulsion or selfishness (if I do something good God will reward me), but simply out of love.  Our freedom doesn’t become a license to sin because it is grounded in the love of God.  Our lives and actions are transformed when we embrace this love.

In a sense, our declaration of independence was posted on All Hallow’s Eve, 1517 when Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg and kicked off the Protestant Reformation. This Sunday we will celebrate that event but, more importantly, we will celebrate the freedom we enjoy in Christ.  You might say that it is our Independence Day.

Stay well.  You are free to wear your mask.