Getting the God that we need…
We celebrate Reformation once a year but re-formation is a continual process. We celebrate Reformation once a year but re-formation is a continual process. Word and sacrament –and the Jesus we find there — continually reforms us.
The conversation between Jesus and “the Jews who had believed in him” in John 8 which Jesus tells us that we “will know the truth and the truth will make [us] free” poignantly shows how true that is.
Those who were listening didn’t understand the phrase “if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
And we share so much kinship with Jews of long ago. We respond to the word “freedom” much like they did.
The Jews said that we are descendants of Abraham, slaves to no one. Ok, so they seem to have forgotten the reason behind that little 40-year excursion in the desert.
They were so caught up in their righteousness that they lost sight of the need for justification, for the Word, for the truth.
But as Lutherans are we any different?
Do we get so caught up in our righteousness that we loose sight of the need and free gift of justification?
In other words, does our work on the Word get in the way of the Word’s work on us?
That’s what was happening to Martin Luther. He was so caught up in all the doing and doing it right, that he lost sight of the Truth. In his own words, he was worshiping the wrong God.
I believe it accurate to say that up until that point Martin lived a tortured spiritual life. He was worshiping a god that scared him to death. This was a god who expected righteousness – strict adherence to the law – and punished ruthlessly those who couldn’t get it right, which is of course everyone.
And when God comes out looking like a tyrant who must be appeased, who is all about the justice, then Jesus becomes nothing more than a “whipping boy” – the one who stood in for us and took the merciless beating we deserve. The one who had to die to make God a forgiving God.1
And then Luther met Jesus, the Word, the Logos, the Truth and went to work on Martin.
And he found freedom in the Word – freedom from the God that scared him to death2. And met through Jesus a God that was all about love.
It was a God that Martin didn’t expect to meet.
That is what was going on in John 8 – the Jews were meeting the unexpected God, a God of loving and forgiving. A God that didn’t care if they were righteous. A God that wanted to take away their fear.
A God of freedom – from sin, from death, from the devil.
A God of salvation. A God that sees us, seeks us out and brings us home, safe to his bosom, holding us in a close relationship.
And we have just as hard time believing it now as they did then.
A colleague shared this story about a member of a youth group who asked her friends what they imagined Jesus thought of them2.
So take a few moments and imagine what Jesus thinks of you.
Is Jesus shaking his head? Perhaps burying his face in his hands? Face palm? Glancing over at God and saying, with outstretched arms, “Hey, I tried…”
The overwhelming answer that the young woman received? Disappointment. They assumed that Jesus and God was disappointed with them.
Yeah, I get that picture, too sometimes, ok, a lot of the times.
How easy it is to forget that we have a God who loves us no matter what and that there is nothing that we can do to make God love us more or make God love us less.
It has to do with how we define and see God. If we see a God that is angry, wants absolute and impeccable righteousness, that is waiting to zap us for every single sin, then of course God is going to be disappointed with us.
It’s because that’s the kind of God that I expect to show up.
And the good news is that I don’t get the God that I expect but rather the one that I need. And that is true for everyone.
What we get is God who shows up when no one and nothing else does.
A God who looks for the least, the lost, the lonely, the last and the left behind.
A God who likes to surprise us with unexpected salvation and grace.
A God who loves us, seeks us out, sees us, runs to us, embraces us, and brings us home – no matter what and without exception.
The son, the Word, the Logos, the truth has made us free and we are free indeed. The Word is re forming us as his disciples. May the Word burn in our hearts, in our minds, in our souls. And may our response be…
To God’s glory…the Son has made us free!
1 http://www.workingpreacher.org/
2Thank you, Mike Geyser, for sharing your wonderful insight with me after the service on Sunday – “for me freedom is freedom from fear.”