A New Birth of Freedom Reformation Sunday October 31, 2004
Jeremiah 31:31-34 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more."
Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ
Freedom is a word that we American’s have always held dear. And when that freedom comes under attack, we cling to it even tighter. Thousands upon thousands of our fellow citizens have fought for the word freedom and they have died for that word. The concept of freedom is also very near to the hearts of every Christian. It is one of the great themes found on the pages of Scripture and it is perhaps the single best word that could be used to describe the Lutheran Reformation, which we celebrate today. Jeremiah had a message of freedom for his people thousands of years ago. The freedom he proclaimed was the freedom of the new covenant.
This freedom stood in stark contrast to the bondage of the old covenant. This was the covenant made with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. This covenant was a covenant of laws and regulations that governed every aspect of the Israelites’ lives. There were regulations on the food they could eat, the types of sacrifices they needed to make, and the type of government they would have. It soon became clear that the Israelites would not be able to keep their side of the agreement. The history of God’s chosen people in the Old Testament is a sad story of broken promises and open rebellion against God’s commands. The yoke of the old covenant proved to be a yoke that the people were not able to bear. Even those who remained faithful to the LORD must have been led to despair when they looked at how often they had broken God’s commands. The old covenant was a constant reminder of their sin and their inability to atone for their sin by their own works.
Now we move ahead to the church of the early 16th century. This was the church that Martin Luther was born into. And like the people of Judah in Jeremiah’s day, it was a church that was under the burden of laws and regulations. But these were not the laws that God established at Sinai. The church at Luther’s time had established its own laws for the people to follow. The church set up a system of work righteousness, where one had to perform certain acts or buy certain indulgences in order to receive forgiveness of sins. This was a system that led to a great deal of guilt in people’s lives. After all, how could they ever know if they had done enough? This system led Luther to the harsh life of being a monk. He prayed for hours, went to confessional, even beat himself at times. But no matter how many good works he did, he could not escape the oppressive burden of the law. He once said that he felt like he was being closed in by four walls: the first wall said "God is holy and hates sin." The second wall said "I am a sinner." The third wall said, "The wages of sin is death." And the last wall concluded "God must condemn to death." This was a time of despair in Luther’s life. There seemed to be no way out and no matter what he did he remained trapped by the shackles of the church’s teaching of work righteousness.
But that was five hundred years ago. We don’t believe in work righteousness still today, do we? The concept that we have to do good in order to go to heaven is rooted deep in hearts from the day we were born. We see this idea in most people that don’t know the truth of what the Bible says about sin and its consequences. When you ask someone who doesn’t know about Jesus why they think they are going to heaven, they will almost always respond, "Because I’m a pretty good person. I’ve been nice to people. I work hard at my job." And this is the idea we fall back on when we start to doubt the basic truths that we have learned about Jesus. There’s always a part of us that wants to say "Sure I’m going to heaven—I’ve been good." And this thought will eventually lead to despair because we know deep down that we haven’t been good. For every day that we’ve been kind and generous, we can think of five days when we’ve been selfish and unloving. This leads us to feelings of guilt.
I don’t think there are too many of us here that struggle with feeling good about ourselves because of a work righteous attitude—people that think "Yeah, I’ve done so many good works God must let me into heaven." I think there are more of us that struggle with feeling bad about ourselves because of our work righteous attitudes. We see how completely unworthy we are and how we keep falling into the same sins and we think to ourselves "How could God possibly let me into his heaven?" We end up overwhelmed by feelings of guilt and shame—trapped within those same four walls as Luther with no relief in sight. At times like this, we need to reminded of the message that Jeremiah brings this morning.
Just think how wonderful it would have been for those Old Testament believers to hear the words, "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel." This new covenant meant freedom for God’s people. It meant that they would be free from the rules and regulations that came with the old covenant. But, more importantly, they would be free from the guilt and power of sin in their lives. Jeremiah describes the heart and soul of the new covenant with the words, "For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more." The people were reminded that all of their sacrifices and their laws were leading up to a single event—the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross. No longer would the old covenant be necessary for it would find its fulfillment in Christ. Jeremiah’s message gave hope to those Old Testament believers. The new covenant meant forgiveness and life. For all those who felt burdened and trapped by the laws of the old covenant—freedom was coming.
This is the freedom that Luther was longing for in his days as an Augustinian monk. And this is the freedom that Luther found one lonely night in his study at the monastery. It was here that Luther made the connection that the righteousness God demands from us is also the righteousness that God has given us through faith in Christ. Luther did not need to beat his body to earn God’s forgiveness; God offered his forgiveness freely in Jesus. Luther no longer looked at God as the All Terrible Judge, but rather as his All Merciful Father in Heaven. This was the turning point in Luther’s career and the early seed of the Lutheran Reformation. Here’s how Luther describe the experience: Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that "The just shall live by his faith." Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.
It was truly a liberating experience for Luther. He spent the rest of his life discovering and writing about this freedom that is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Of course, as is often said, freedom is not free. The freedom we have was bought by the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. When he said, "It is finished" on the cross, he ushered in a new birth of freedom for the captives. Christ’s work sealed the new covenant for us. Because of him, God will forgive our wickedness and remember our sins no more. But I don’t need to tell you this. You already know it. God said through Jeremiah, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest." God wrote the beautiful truth of his new covenant deep in your heart the day you were baptized. And he continues to write it in your heart as you come and hear his Word and participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion. What are the words Jesus used in his institution of the Lord’s Supper? "This is my blood of the new covenant!" The new covenant means forgiveness. The new covenant means freedom.
As Christians, we rejoice in our freedom. We have been freed from the demands of the law, freed from the curse of sin, freed from the power of death. But there is another side to the coin. Not only do we look at what we have been freed from, but also what we have been freed for. Christian freedom means the freedom to serve God and to serve others. This is not oppressive service—service that we have to do. This is service that we do willingly, because we are thankful for the freedom Christ has won for us.
Perhaps you have seen the movie "Braveheart." One of the most memorable scenes in that movie is the execution of William Wallace. As the executioner is about to deliver the final blow with his ax, Wallace musters all his strength and shouts one final word—FREEDOM! This is also the battle cry of all Christians. The church began shouting this word when Jesus cried out "It is finished" on the cross. And the battle cry of freedom has gone on through the years. At times it has become a faint murmur—as it was in the early days of Luther’s life. But the Reformation once again made the cry of freedom loud and clear. As heirs of the Reformation, we now carry this cry of freedom out into the world. To all those who are enslaved by sin and guilt, we come with the words of the new covenant—"I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more." In a word: freedom! Amen.
