This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran Churches, Decorah, Iowa on October 27, 2019. It’s based on Romans 3:19-28 and John 8:31-36. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.
Romans 3:19-28
19Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
21But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
27Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
John 8:31-36
31Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33They 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’?”
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.”
How do you know when you’ve done enough?
Maybe it’s just me, but I have a really hard time answering this question. My brain tells me I’m good—I’ve done enough. I’ve done what I could. I’ve done what I have time to do. I’ve done what I have energy to do. I can rest now. I’ve done enough.
But my heart. It tries to tell me a different story. My heart tells me I haven’t done enough. It questions my loyalty, my worth, my value. Sometimes it even tries to tell me it’s not just that I haven’t done enough, it’s that I’m not enough.
How do you know when you’ve done enough? How do you know you are enough?
This is one way of putting the question that plagued Martin Luther. He became a monk in order to save his soul…He wanted to be sure of his standing with God, to ‘find a gracious God,’ to assure himself of God’s goodwill toward him; and the monastic vow was the most certain means to that end.1
But the more he studied and taught scripture, the more he tried to love God and neighbor with his whole heart…the more he doubted that he was doing enough, that he was enough. The more he learned of God’s law, the more he despaired at his inability to live as God intended. [Luther] experienced tormenting doubt and fear, the fruit of constant self-examination which convinced him that he simply did not possess the true and perfect love for his neighbour and, above all, for God, without which he could not be saved.2
Driven to despair, it was finally in his reading of Paul’s letter to the Romans that the Word of God laid hold of him, convincing and comforting his weary heart. One scholar describes Luther’s transformation this way: Luther’s own heart, which for all his endeavour had remained so cold, was kindled with the love of God through the Holy Spirit given unto him…the Spirit became a living reality in Luther’s life and thought as never before. He felt, he tells us, that he had become a new man and had entered through an open door into Paradise itself. For Luther now, all was gift, the undeserved and undeservable gift of Divine grace, which must be received by faith alone.3
How do you know when you’ve done enough? In 1518, Luther wrote: The Law says, ‘do this,’ and it’s never done. Grace says, ‘believe in this,’ and everything is already done.4
In Christ, through Christ, everything is already done.
Our reading for today from Romans highlights this gift of grace received by faith:
There is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
Though Luther continued to struggle with despair throughout his life, the grace he received as he studied Paul’s letter to the Romans sustained him and inspired him to share this good news with the world. It was this understanding of justification–being made right with God–by grace through faith that became the signature of Lutheranism. And 500 + years later, Lutherans continue to view scripture—and the world—through the lens of grace.
As a new pastor, I met a woman who had become Lutheran as an adult. What I took for granted, she celebrated. She told me what it was like for her hearing about God’s grace for the first time, hearing that it was for her, that there was nothing she had to do to do enough or to be enough. That word of grace was a word of freedom for her, and she went on to live a life of service, transformed by the love of God.
Several years ago, I saw a play in Lanesboro called Pride’s Crossing. At 90 years old, the main character, a woman named Mabel, is remembering the stories that have made up her life. Throughout the play, Mabel is planning a Fourth of July croquet party, but her age and some painful memories are making it difficult. But in the end, the party is splendid.
Four of the guests start playing by the established rules of the game, and Mabel is not playing–as she can barely walk. But then, suddenly, Mabel rises from her chair and begins swinging her croquet mallet, hitting a ball that is not her own, and encouraging all the other guests to join in the game–no longer abiding by any rules but all playing at once and simply having fun. One guest, in particular, cannot abide by this way of playing the game. He wants rules. He wants order. How will we know who wins? he asks in frustration. Who cares? Mabel responds with glee.
The scene is a picture of freedom–freedom from rules and expectations, freedom that comes when joy sweeps over us and compels us to live without fear and without shame and without regret.
This is the kind of freedom Jesus brings. Jesus enters into our story–our human story–and proclaims in word and deed that life isn’t about winning, but about serving. That we are not the sum of our sins, but are instead beloved children of God. That fear and shame and regret would bind us, but Jesus frees us to love God and to love one another.
The Bible is an inspired, God-given gift, and it is a dangerous book. Its words can be taken out of context, intentionally obscured, used to support everything from slavery to misogyny to white supremacy. As a woman in ministry, I’ve had scripture used as a weapon against me, to tell me I’m flagrantly disobeying God by serving as a pastor. It’s incredibly disheartening when Christians are so eager to draw lines in the sand, to define others as in or out, to turn scripture into a fence—guarding God, and the church, from sinners like me.
I’m so grateful to be part of a church that interprets the Bible through the lens of God’s grace, that sees the Bible, as Martin Luther put it, as the cradle wherein Christ is laid.5 When the words of scripture seem to contradict the embodied, incarnate Word that is Christ, we stand with Christ. We stand for forgiveness. We stand for freedom. We stand for unconditional love.
A hymn attributed to Martin Luther is a word for our hearts when they attempt to condemn us, to tell us we haven’t done enough, that we aren’t enough:
Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God–
Naught else is worth believing.
Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.
I’ll trust in God’s unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
[GOD’S] WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!6
Amen.
1,2,3 Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther by Philip S. Watson. pp. 15, 16, 21-22.
4 http://bookofconcord.org/heidelberg.php#26
5 Luther, Luther’s Works, vol. 35: Prefaces to the Old Testament, 236.
6 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/97672-feelings-come-and-feelings-go-and-feelings-are-deceiving-my