The Lutheran Hour
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"Free, Indeed"
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Text: John 8:34-36
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Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Dear Lord, without Jesus my soul was befouled by sin. I give thanks that Jesus has been charitable to me and shared Your grace. May others come to know the wonders of Your Son Who set us free from the shackles of sin. Amen.
If you were to travel with me to the ancient and wondrous country of Egypt, there are many incredible things to see. That being said there are two things which usually appear on the “top ten” list of first-time visitors. Number one has to be the great pyramids near Cairo. The only remaining wonder of the ancient world, the final resting places of Pharaohs, are breathtaking. The second thing you must see is the burial mask of King Tut. Discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, the mask of Tut is a glorious thing. Far more valuable than the 24 pounds of gold it contains, the crowds wait in line for hours to see this most beautiful of relics.
Now you would think that such an object of art and history would always be treated with tender, loving care. You might think that, but you would be wrong. Earlier this year, when museum curators were adjusting the lighting on the Pharaoh’s mask, they broke off his golden beard. Understandably they panicked at what they had done. Then, from higher up came the order, “Fix the mask and fix it now! The mask must be on display for the herds of tomorrow’s tourists.”
“But how,” the curators debated, “how shall we reattach the beard to the mask in such a short time?” The debate continued until someone suggested quick-drying epoxy. A tube of the super-epoxy was brought in and a large blob was slapped on the mask so the beard could be reattached. There was great rejoicing as the curators proclaimed, “Nobody will ever know.” They were wrong. In their haste they had put the glue on too thick. They put it on so thick that a very noticeable ring of epoxy had oozed out from around the point of contact. Insult was done to injury when they saw that, during the repair one of them had scratched the mask.
All of which leads me to conclude: glue is not always a good thing. If you doubt me, talk to the lady who was rushed to the hospital after emergency personnel had pulled her from a toilet seat at the Home Depot store in Banks Crossing, Georgia. Inside the bathroom’s garbage can the store manager found a brown, paper bag with a bottle of Loctite GO2 glue. That’s the glue which had been slathered on all the washroom’s seats.
Funny stories? Perhaps, as long as you’re not the one being held captive. Can you think back to the first time you worked with Super Glue? Tell me, how many fingers did you end up sticking together? Do you remember the frustration as you yanked, tugged, washed, scraped, and despaired at ever being able to separate your digits from each other? On that day, you would have agreed: glue is not always a good thing.
Now what holds true in the world of glues, pastes, and epoxies, also holds true in our own lives. Years ago I met a man who introduced his children to me. He began “Here’s John, he’s the klutziest of my kids; then there’s Elizabeth, she’s our family’s version of the Charlie Brown comic-strip character Pig Pen; and, as always, bringing up the rear, is Robert. Mark my words, that boy is going to be late for his own funeral.” I don’t know if you noticed, Dad was gluing some pretty negative attributes to his children. He may have been making a joke but not everybody was laughing.
He is hardly alone. If a political candidate makes any kind of mistake, his enemies in the media will trot out the man’s embarrassing video clip again and again. If you alienate the powers-that-be in Hollywood, you will find your mistake has gotten you demoted from the “A” list to the “B” and then the “C” list. Your mistake can be glued so tightly to you that eventually you become an invisible nobody. Can our mistakes become glued to us? Talk to just about any kid in high school and he or she will tell you how their mistakes have been the blood in the water to the razor sharp wit of their shark-like classmates.
Still, if you wish to see accusation and condemnation raised to an art form, all you have to do is take a look at the handiwork of Satan. He is the genius who gets great delight at gluing your sins, your errors, your transgressions to your heart, mind, body, and soul. He made sure sin stuck to disobedient Adam and Eve; to Sodom and Gomorrah; to the rebellious Children of Israel who died in the desert. He made sure sin stuck to and punishment came to the Jews when they renounced their Lord and pursued other deities.
Thousands of years ago or today, it makes no difference. Satan loves to make sure sin sticks. My friend, look inside your heart. Isn’t there a little room, a walled off, padlocked little room in which you’ve tried to hide the super-secret sins which you have committed? Although you’ve been very diligent in keeping those sins under lock and key and far from the curious gazes of those around you; you still feel unsafe, uncertain, anxious, and apprehensive, don’t you? Why? In part it’s because although you can hide your sins from most people, it’s hard to hide them from the devil. He knows most of your sins and he loves to bring them out, dust them off, and hold them up. He loves to whisper: “No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, no matter where you go, your sins, these sins, are going to stick. These transgressions have driven a wedge between you and God. They are glued to your soul and you will never be free from their chains.”
Does all or any of what I’ve said sound the least little bit familiar? If it does, I give thanks that the Lord has brought you to hear this day’s broadcast. It is a special broadcast day for us here at The Lutheran Hour. It is special because this week, on October 2nd, we are celebrating 85 years of bringing Christ to the nations… eight-and-a-half decades of pointing despairing souls and despondent hearts to Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the world’s Savior. That’s 85 years of setting slaves free from their sins; 85 years of ungluing souls from their guilt.
The broadcast began in the days of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. We were broadcasting when the Japanese did their best to destroy Pearl Harbor. We brought Christ to the nations and to our military during World War II, Korea, and the socially challenging times of the Viet Nam era. We spoke of the Savior’s love during flood and drought; after Hurricane Katrina and when the Twin Towers fell. Using different speakers with their own unique styles, for 85 years every broadcast has done four things.
Maybe I’d better change that. Change it because, the first thing on the list is something we don’t do. Have you noticed that so far in this broadcast we haven’t tried to sell you anything? That is because we don’t sell to you we give to you. We preach Christ crucified and risen to you and any who will hear. Now, please understand, our job would be easier if we balanced our books through the selling of holy anointing water taken from the Jordan River or holy dirt procured from somewhere near the grave of Christ. We would have an easier job if we ran commercials during which we marketed holy seeds, holy incense, holy olive oil, and sacred prayer handkerchiefs. But we don’t sell such silly things because we don’t think God wants us to obscure the glorious and greatest Gift you will ever receive: Jesus Christ, His Son, the crucified and risen Savior of the world.
Which takes us to the three things The Lutheran Hour has done for 85 years. Every message, every broadcast to this congregation-of-the-air has told listeners they were sinners. Now we know it’s not politically correct to do that. We live in a world where people feel they aren’t guilty of anything because they haven’t done anything wrong. Observe and you will see that if a child gets into trouble, it will be someone else’s fault. If a motorist is caught speeding, he has an excuse which justifies his heavy foot. If a spouse cheats on another, it’s because he or she was misunderstood; if a neighborhood riots and pillages the area stores, it’s because it’s not fair the store has stuff and they don’t. We live in a world which likes to believe nobody sins and nobody is guilty.
That is what we say on the outside; that is the mask we show to the world. But inside, yes, inside, we know better. Remember that little padlocked box filled with sin? Inside Satan knows about your transgressions and he shouts, “Sinner! You may lie to everyone around you, but you and I know the kind of sin which is stuck to you, don’t we?” For 85 years this broadcast has shared God’s truth: the sinful soul will surely die. For 85 years we have told people, on their own, they are doomed; they are lost. No self-help books, no talk shows can unstick our sins. No bravado, no boasting can cover them. That’s why, for 85 years we have tried to take people to that place where they are able to say, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”
When souls have come to the realization they are lost and there is nothing they can do to save themselves, it is time for the next part of the message: the part about God’s grace. My friend, if you were to travel to the Mid-East, one of the first words you would learn is “baksheesh.” In many places there are a frightening number of children, cripples, and beggars who can surround you, hold out their hands and pleadingly beg, “baksheesh.” The meaning of the word baksheesh is simple: it means: “I want; I need charity.”
Some time back I wrote a Bible Correspondence Course to help educate unbelievers in that part of the world. I wrote in English and a gifted translator converted what I had written. The translation was fascinating. Where I had typed: “Salvation is a gift from God; it is God’s undeserved kindness,” the translator had put down: “Baksheesh.” We may not want to believe it, but each of us needs God’s baksheesh. Each of us are spiritual beggars wholly dependent upon the baksheesh of God.
Years ago in England, an old minister went to London to seek his son who had dishonored the family name and run away. It took weeks before the father was able to find the street where the boy was living. The father had the street but no address. As he stood at the head of that street and looked down upon block after block filled with run-down tenements, the preacher enlisted some help. That help came in the person of a street musician. The minister asked “Do you know this hymn, Nearer My God To Thee?” The musician said he knew the tune. The minister shared, “Years ago that song was a favorite with my children. Now we’re going to play that tune and hope my boy comes out to hear.”
So they began their two-man procession. Slowly, almost reverently, they walked the street. The preacher held his hat in his hand so that his son might see his face. Together they walked, searching for a son who had run away, looking for a boy who had no understanding of his father’s love. Now you may wonder, “Did they find him?” I don’t know. You who are today being called to faith in the Savior are the ones who have the answer. You see, you are the lost son and this broadcast is the street musician helping the Father call you home.
For 85 years and as long as the Lord gives us strength, we will continue to tell the lost that the Lord loves them and wishes to forgive them. We will call them to the Savior Who fulfilled God’s laws for us; Who carried our sins and died for us; Who rose from the dead so we might be absolutely positive His invitation to salvation is real. Today, even as we have done so often in the past, we come to let you know God loves you and wishes to forgive you.
Which takes us to the third part of what this broadcast tries to do. You should know we reach out to you not because we are such fine folk; not because we are such perfect people. We reach out not to put you in debt to us or so we can put a contribution envelope in your hand and twist your arm until you respond. We do this not for your gratitude or to make our listenership grow. We share the Savior because we want you, our unseen brothers and sisters, to be forgiven; to be brought home to the Lord’s family. We want you to know Jesus before it’s too late.
On a cold winter evening a man suffered a heart attack. After being admitted to the hospital, he asked the nurse to call his daughter. He explained, “I live alone and she is the only family I have.” The nurse went to phone the daughter. The daughter was quite upset and shouted, “You must not let him die! Dad and I had a terrible argument almost a year ago. I haven’t seen him since. All these months I’ve wanted to go to him for forgiveness, but the last thing I said to him was ‘I hate you.'” The daughter cried and then said, “I’m coming now. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
The patient went into cardiac arrest, and code 99 was called. The nurse, who by this time had become personally involved, prayed, “Oh God, his daughter is coming. Don’t let it end before she gets here.” The daughter arrived in twenty-five minutes, not thirty. Even so, she was too late. A doctor caught her before she entered her father’s room.
When the doctor was done breaking the news, the nurse took the daughter aside and said, “I’m sorry.” The daughter cried, “I never hated him, you know. I loved him, And now I want to go see him.” The nurse took the daughter to the room. She immediately went to the bed and buried her face in the sheets as she said a tearful goodbye to her deceased father.
The nurse tried not to invade the daughter’s personal time or space. That’s how it happened she noticed a scrap of paper on the bed table. She picked it up and read: “My dear Janie, I forgive you. I know that you love me. I love you, too. Daddy.” On the cross of Calvary, hung the Son of God. Pontius Pilate put a note above the dying Savior which read, “Jesus Christ. King of the Jews.” I think God put another note there which said, “My dearest children, because of My Son I can forgive you. I want you to love Me as much as I love you. Your heavenly Father.”
Which is why, for 85 years we have said, “Come to the cross. See and believe God’s Son Who gives salvation. Do not pass by as so many have. Let the Holy Spirit take you to the cross and let Him lead you to the risen Savior’s empty tomb. See what Jesus has done for you and be saved.”
Remember, when Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed. The past–with its sins, hurts, brokenness, and self-recrimination–is gone, dead, crucified, remembered no more. In short, because of Jesus Satan no longer can glue us to our sins. If this freedom and faith is something you wish to have, please call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
Topic: CAN WE JUDGE GOD?ANNOUNCER: And now Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Pastor, good to have you back with us.
KLAUS: Thanks, Mark. Good to be here.
ANNOUNCER: Our listener’s question today comes to us out of a family discussion. They got together to celebrate a birthday. During the course of the evening, the talk turned to discussing a family friend who had recently been divorced. From there, they got to talking about marriage, and from there to the recent Supreme Court ruling. Turns out they knew someone who planned to take advantage of the Court’s new definition of marriage. They also talked about abortion and other issues.
KLAUS: It really sounds like quite the birthday party!
ANNOUNCER: At any rate, it was clear the family was divided into different factions. For example, there were those who believed such things, as we discussed, are going against God’s Word and His will for our lives. Others felt that matters of faith and religion were entirely personal issues that should be kept to one’s self and kept out of the public square.
KLAUS: That’s a lot of stuff to untangle here. Let’s begin with John 17:17. There the Lord Jesus says, “God’s Word is truth.” Now, I’m wondering… where are the exceptions to what Jesus said?
ANNOUNCER: Exceptions?
KLAUS: I mean, when Jesus said God’s Word is truth, did He give us any wiggle room? Did He set a time limit on how long God’s Word would be the truth? Did He say it was true for some people and not for others? Did He give anyone the authority to decide what was true and what was not?
ANNOUNCER: No, as I understand it, He’s saying God’s Word is comprehensive, and by that I mean it’s true for all people and for all time.
KLAUS: I would agree. But there’s another passage which has always seemed very powerful to me… a passage which hits this nail on the noggin. It’s from the last verses of the last chapter of the last book of the Bible. I look upon it kind of as God’s way of summarizing His message and attitude to us.
ANNOUNCER: And there the Apostle John writes, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” That’s from Revelation 22:18-19.
KLAUS: So, as near as I can tell, the Lord is saying, “Don’t be a wise guy. Don’t think there won’t be any repercussions if you add things to what I have said in this book.”
ANNOUNCER: And don’t think there won’t be any fallout if you subtract things as well.
KLAUS: Exactly, but now our discussion has turned very negative.
ANNOUNCER: Right.
KLAUS: I think we need to be a bit more positive in our response to these folks.
ANNOUNCER: That’s a good idea, but how?
KLAUS: A story. Not so long ago, a soldier threw himself on top of a live grenade in order to save his platoon. After the blast he lived just long enough to tell his friends, “Would you tell my wife I love her? Will you tell my children my last thoughts were of them?” Mark, what should those surviving soldiers do?
ANNOUNCER: There is only one answer to that: they need to deliver those messages.
KLAUS: So, they should go to his wife and say, “Uh, we think maybe your husband might have felt some degree of affection for you,” and to the man’s children they don’t say a word.
ANNOUNCER: That would be totally unacceptable.
KLAUS: And why would it be unacceptable?
ANNOUNCER: Because their friend had died for them. He had given his life for them. All he asked was that they deliver a message of love to those who needed to hear it. And that message needed to be delivered unchanged, without any kind of reinterpretation.
KLAUS: Bingo. You’ve said it all. We have a Savior Who gave His life for us. After His resurrection from the dead He told His disciples “Tell the rest of the world how much I loved them and what I endured to save them from their sins; what I endured to save them from eternal death.” It would be unacceptable for those friends, that’s us, to leave that message undelivered or to change and diminish it in any way. The Savior’s request and His love had to be honored.
ANNOUNCER: And that means taking it out to whoever would hear it. Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Action in Ministry for September 27, 2015
Guest: Suzie Sallee and Rich CohrsANNOUNCER: You’re listening to The Lutheran Hour and Pastor Gregory Seltz joins us now. Pastor, this broadcast first began back during the Great Depression when radio was a brand-new thing. Some might say that today we’re witnessing the great expression of new communication methods and technologies.
SELTZ: Well that’s true, Mark. However, the Bible also says even with all this great, new technology, there’s nothing new, really, under the sun. So you want to stay with us for the next few minutes as we talk about a method of communication that really hasn’t changed and that’s the power of being able to speak to the God of the universe through prayer.
ANNOUNCER: Now if that sounds intimidating, here to help us better understand this amazing and precious gift from God are Suzie Sallee and Rich Cohrs, co-authors of a new resource titled: Prayer When You Don’t Know What To Say. Suzie and Rich, thanks for joining us.
SALLEE: Hi there. Thanks for having us.
COHRS: Thank you.
SELTZ: Rich, what is prayer and why is it so free?
COHRS: When you think of God as the Creator and the Author of the universe, it’s very intimidating that you can’t really approach Him; but through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we have free access any time, any place to talk to God and to express our wants, our feelings, our joys, our happinesses, our sorrows, and He listens to us.
ANNOUNCER: At the same time, though, people have real questions about prayer and sometimes they feel that their prayers aren’t being answered. You say in this booklet that God always answers prayer. How is that?
COHRS: Well, there’s always an answer; sometimes it’s “yes…”
SALLEE: Sometimes it’s “no…”
COHRS: And sometimes it’s “not yet.”
SALLEE: The great thing about prayer is sometimes He says “yes.” Sometimes He says “Not right now. I need for you to wait.” And other times He says “no.” And a lot of the times when He does say “No,” that’s a blessing when you look back….
ANNOUNCER: …turns out.
SALLEE: ….and go, “I’m so thankful that He said ‘no’ because this would not have worked out well at all.”
SELTZ: I think that….Suzie, that’s what I love about what you’re talking about. It’s faith communication. It’s being able to talk to God knowing that He already loves us and cares about us. And so even when it’s not easy to understand or decipher the answer that He has, we can trust God. We can even entrust our prayers to Him. There is a struggle for a lot of people; how to pray, what to say, and you write in the booklet an example that Jesus gave us. Tell us about that.
COHRS: Well, you know that concept of what to pray is not a new one. The disciples were with Jesus and they said, “Lord, can you teach us to pray?”
SELTZ: That’s a good question, huh?
COHRS: And He first started out, the first thing He said was, “Pray like this. Abba, our Father.” What a great thing! He’s our Father for time immemorial.
SELTZ: Right and what an incredible statement because most people don’t talk to God that way….our Father. Yeah.
SALLEE: He teaches us to say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And we need to slow down, and we need to take a breath, and we need to thank God that He’s given us our daily bread today…
SELTZ: And we can trust Him on that.
SALLEE: …and He’s going to take care of tomorrow.
SELTZ: Think about the fact that most people are praying about tomorrow because they think they’ve got today taken care of.
SALLEE: Right. Absolutely.
SELTZ: He’s turning all that around a little bit.
SALLEE: Doesn’t work that way.
SELTZ: And then even “lead us not into temptation.” We talked a little bit about that in the booklet, too I think, right?
COHRS: It is so easy in today’s world and it’s always been easy…as a sinner that we get tempted to fall away from God. What’s really interesting is not only do we pray “lead us not into temptation,” but we also…we fail. And then we pray, “And Lord forgive us our trespasses.” And what a great comfort that is.
ANNOUNCER: The Lord’s Prayer provides a pattern or a model or a template for prayer; but sometimes we’re so overcome by emotion or grief or pain that we just can’t get the words out. Even then the Holy Spirit comes alongside to help us express that prayer even at that time.
SALLEE: Many times we don’t know how to pray. But in this booklet, it gives you some different ideas if it’s grief, or thanksgiving, or whatever it is, because so many times we don’t know what to say and that’s why we wrote the booklet.
SELTZ: And that’s the goal. We want them to be able to pray confidently…
SALLEE: Absolutely.
SELTZ: To a Lord that really loves them and gives them guidance on how to live now and forever.
ANNOUNCER: The name of the booklet is: Prayer When You Don’t Know What To Say. For your free copy, call The Lutheran Hour toll free: 1-855john 316. That’s 1-855-564-6316. Or go online: www.lutheranhour.org and look for the tab that says: Action In Ministry. Our email address is: info@lhm.org.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Triune God, Be Thou Our Stay” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“Lord of Our Life” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)