July 1, 2007 Sermon Synopsis

True Freedom – Scripture: John 8:31-36

Freedom is a common term for those of us who live in the USA. It has meant many different things throughout history. Most of us think in terms of political freedom.

Jesus lived in a world that new little about freedom. The Jewish people of his day (God’s chosen ones) reacted in different ways to political oppression.

Some became Zealots and planned a violent revolution to overthrow the Roman oppressors.

Some became Sadducees and used the system for personal gain and wealth.

Some became Essenes and removed themselves from society to form separate communities.

Some became Pharisees and lived in a tension between this present world and God’s promised world. The Pharisees reacted to the situation by emphasizing a legalistic system with many strict rules for living as citizens of God’s Kingdom in a foreign land and under the control of a competing kingdom.

Jesus never really talked about political freedom … he was aligned with the Pharisees, but promoted a different way of living in this world as citizens of God’s Kingdom.

CONTEXT OF TODAYS SCRIPTURE
Jesus often found himself at the center of controversy. In today’s Scripture passage he is in dialog with Jewish believers. Jesus is in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2). He went secretly (John 7:10), most likely because there were folks out to kill him (John 7:19). At the beginning of chapter 8, the Jews were about to kill a woman caught in adultery and Jesus stopped them. He set her free from the death penalty. She was set free, but Jesus told her, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11)

After this, Jesus entered into another round of dialog with the Jewish leaders. Some believed him.

ARE YOU FREE?
There’s a lot of talk about freedom this week. Are you free?

I asked the children if any of them had slaves at their house. None of them did. We talked about what a slave is and concluded that they were not free in many ways. I showed the kids a large, old key. It reminds me that sometimes slaves were locked up because they wanted to get free. The key opened the lock to set them free; it reminds me of Jesus. Jesus is the key to true freedom. Jesus sets us free from our sins.


FOLLOWING JESUS DEMANDS DOING WHAT HE SAYS
There’s a difference between believing Jesus and believing in Jesus. We need to be careful that we don’t just have a head faith (believing about Jesus). We need to have a heart faith as well (believing in Jesus).

Jesus told those who believed him, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” (verse 31) They needed to move from believing Jesus’ words, to following Jesus. They needed to be, as James put it, doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22).

A true disciple will understand and do their master’s bidding. That sounds a lot like slavery! Does following Jesus mean we trade one form of slavery for another?

Being a disciple of Jesus is different from following anything else. In verse 32 Jesus tells us, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus speaks the truth and is the truth.

BEING A SLAVE OF JESUS MEANS BEING SET FREE
Jesus was speaking about spiritual freedom, something much more important than political freedom. But the Jews were thinking in political terms. They replied, “We’ve never been slaves to anyone.”

They had forgotten about a few moments in their history: slaves in Egypt, oppressions at the time of the Judges, the exile in Babylon, and the present Roman domination of their land and people.

God had, time and time again, freed them from political slavery. It was the basis of their formation as God’s people. God freed them from slavery in Egypt.

Jesus wants them to know that slavery is much deeper than political or human control of other human beings – it’s deeply spiritual. And until the spiritual bondage is taken care of, nobody will truly be free.

FREEDOM CAME BEFORE THE LAW

The Pharisees emphasized obedience to the law. They came close to becoming slaves to the Law. The Apostle Paul spoke about this in a number of his letters.

In the history of Israel, it’s interesting to note that freedom (liberation from Egypt) came before the law (Mt. Sinai). Slaves can’t fully understand the rules.

Jesus wanted the Pharisees to know that they needed to be truly free before they could fully understand the meaning of God’s rules.

SLAVES TO SIN

The Jews claimed they were never slaves, but Jesus tells them they were, and that they are – the worst kind of slavery, the slavery that has eternal consequences – slavery to sin!

Verse 34 – “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

We understand the relationship between a slave and the master.

Slaves do what they are told, against their will, they submit without questioning, they receive minimal care, enough to increase their master’s wealth, decisions are made for them, and they never reach their potential. You can think more about this type of relationship.

When Mennonites first came to live in America, many people had slaves. Mennonites were the first to speak out against slavery (published “A Minute Against Slavery” in February of 1688). They did things differently, because they believed that God wanted them to live differently – as Jesus taught and lived.

As a master controls the slave, sin controls those who give in to sinful desires. It’s a difficult cycle to break. Just think how many repeat offenders there are in our penal system. If you go to jail, you have a good chance of going back. That’s because you have not been truly set free.

SLAVES TO JESUS
We have a different relationship to Jesus. Our understanding of a slave is very different than the kind of relationship we have with Jesus.

We give our lives to Jesus because and we obey because we want to. We’re not forced to. We obey because we understand that the law is good for us. We make decisions based on our relationship to Jesus. We can reach our potential because Jesus is our Lord.

I’d rather be that kind of slave. That’s the kind of relationship Jesus wants to have with us. Jesus is the head of the church (and our lives) in a way that truly frees us. It’s not the way we understand slavery at all.

THE SON CAN SET YOU FREE

Who sets slaves free? The master or his descendents have that power. Nobody else can. The master has full decision making power over the slaves. Only the master can set you free.

Jesus said (v.36), “if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Who can set you free from the sin in your lives? Not the preacher, not the elders, not the Sunday School teacher. Nobody but Jesus. Jesus is the Key to true freedom.

SIN WANTS TO CONTROL YOU, BUT JESUS KEEPS YOU FREE

Jesus told the Jews who believed him (verse 37), “You are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.” They wanted to kill Jesus, just like they wanted to kill the woman caught in adultery. Jesus was innocent; killing was against the 10 commandments. All of this shows that sin was still in control of their lives. They were still slaves to sin. Jesus wants them to be free.

How about you? Who (or what) is in control of your life? Jesus wants you to be free. Know Jesus – He is truth! You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

We closed our worship with the chorus “I’m So Glad Jesus Set Me Free.” I hope you are able to sing those words.