The Lutheran Hour
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"No Longer Slaves, But Free"
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Text: Galatians 3:23-4:7
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But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Dystopia. Dystopia, do you know what that means? Dystopia is a bleak and it’s an ugly place, a place where all is wrong. I hope you are not living in “dystopia” right now, that’s for sure. It’s a place where nothing is right. Nothing is good. No hope. Usually, dystopias are the result of someone’s inappropriate/destructive actions, or even worse, the downward spiral of a whole community or a whole society. Most people talk about dystopia in the future. You know, it’s a time of coming bleakness because of what we’re doing today. Dystopia will be a time when crime runs rampant, a time when the government is totally corrupt, when natural resources will be used up and people are left to seek ways just to survive. Times like that pit neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother because resources are scarce, protection is personal, and the survival of the fittest becomes a daily reality. Dystopia. How does that sound to you? I hope it doesn’t sound good.
But the opposite of all of that is just as dangerous. What’s the opposite of dystopia? Right, Utopia; a place of perfection; a place where everything is just right. That might be a dream that even you are having right now, one that is helping you cope with what’s going on all around you. Utopian dreams are dreams that see us magically whisked away from where we are now to a place where everything is as it should be. For many, it’s a hope against hope reality, wishful thinking that’s for sure.
So, my question for you today is “What’s going on in your life right now and what does all of that all mean for your future.” Is your story a dystopian tale? A Utopian dream? Both? Neither? And why does this all matter anyway? Why is your life important enough to ask and find out answers to these questions? Well, that’s what our Bible reading is all about today. You were meant to be a “Child of God,” living in freedom, and joy, and perfection, and peace. And this is no utopian wish because of a dystopian reality. This is the most real thing in this world right now and it is a promise, a reality, and a certainty for all who put their faith in a real Savior, Jesus Christ.
You see, God gets a bad rap today. Most of us think about Him in ways that we dream up and we project. So He either gets blamed for the brokenness and the evil of our dystopian reality or He gets mocked as a wishful projection of a utopianism that can never exist. We do that, I believe, to keep God at bay, to prevent Him from really having a say in our lives or a way for our lives.
Let me illustrate by asking you a question. If you were to put a hat on God to describe what He means to this world, what hat would you have Him wear? Whenever I ask people that question, they often say, I think God would be wearing a policeman’s hat, that’s for sure. He is the ultimate Law and Order force in the world. Others have Him wearing the magicians/sorcerer’s hat because power is needed to really change things. For dystopians, that’s a God who makes sense or at least has some value in our thinking, right? Others protest and they say, “No, God wears the hat of the chef, the giver of all good things. Or God wears the Santa Claus hat, because He makes dreams come true.” To utopians, that God makes sense or at least helps us be motivated to get to work and make our utopian dreams a reality.
So, let me ask you the ultimate question. When it comes to a hat that God wears that can amply reflect His promise, His reality, His hope for your life; what hat does the Bible itself describe as vital to Him? Yes, you guessed, it was the hat that Jesus, the Messiah, wore on Good Friday; it was the crown of thorns. That crown describes His very real work for you. It was not a dystopian hopelessness, or a utopian myth, it was the real work of God in the flesh for you and for me. The crown of thorns was a real crown because this world is in real hopelessness and pain because of sin. That crown of thorns was a real crown; because there is real hope in the work of the One Who wore it for you.
In Galatians 3 and 4, our reading for today, Paul tells us that God is neither dystopian nor utopian. As a matter of fact, God is much more involved in the daily reality of our lives even now.
Galatians was a letter written to a people who wondered if, as believers, they had to obey the Old Testament law to be graced and loved by God. Paul tells the church that the point of the law in the Old Testament was to lead people to God’s love for us all in Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the law was given to show us our sin, to show us our need, and even to guide God’s people to yearn for a real solution, a Messiah who would come.
Paul doesn’t speak of utopian dreams, he talks about saving realities. He says this Messiah has come; born of a woman, born under the law. God’s Messiah came into this world just like you and me. He was born into this mess that we have created by our own sinfulness, rebellion, and willingness to try to deal with our dystopias and utopias on our own, as if we are the lords of our life.
And incredibly, He didn’t come to judge, even though He had that right. He was born into our mess to redeem us, to save us, to reconcile us back to God the Father. He was willing to be born to ultimately wear a crown of thorns, to die on the cross for the sins of the world, and give the world and every person in it, the hope of an eternal life that He earned for each one.
Listen to the language Paul uses. He doesn’t talk about total gloom or total bliss. He doesn’t talk about dystopian futures or realities. He doesn’t talk about ephemeral, perfect utopian bliss. He talks about saving reality; a birth, a man, children, a Father, real adoption for those who are on their own without Him.
God Himself is reaching into your life right now by the power of His Spirit to call you to Himself. He wants you to have His promises in your life. He wants you to have real purpose for living. He wants you to have His love, His joy, His peace, His forgiveness; real, concrete, certain.
When Paul says that “God’s Law does condemn us,” it is not to grind us into the dust. No, it’s just the reality of life if you are disconnected from the God Who created and redeemed you. God’s holy standards were what you and I were meant to be, naturally, on our own. To live then in rebellion to that, that sin cuts us off from the spiritual oxygen for our very lives.
Someone sang back in the ’80s, “I’m only human, born to make mistakes.” That might seem right, but the premise is wrong. Our sin actually destroys our humanity. To be human was to be a child of God, created in His image, made alive to live as truly human beings to one another. Sin has destroyed all that and God’s law now exposes the culprits; right, you and me, and all people in the world.
This is the reality of our situation in God’s sight when we are measured; our actions are measured by His holiness, His intentions for us all.
The Bible tries to describe how serious this reality is when it uses one of the most gut-wrenching of all metaphors. The Bible describes all of us as sinners who are “enslaved to our sins.” It even then describes our status as “slaves outside of the family of God.” Every time we chose to live in rebellion and sin, acting against God’s law, acting as if our feelings and desires are the only standard to which we need to adhere….we enslave ourselves to sin, we go it “alone” as it were. Nothing could be more destructive. When Paul paints this picture, it is a reality check because God doesn’t want chaos, and destruction, and death, and eternal damnation to be anyone’s reality, and surely not yours.
Remember, He wore that hat, that crown of thorns, to paint the picture of what hope His work grants to you; what He made possible for you, and what He wants for you right now!
Sin, slaves to sin; that may be real for you right now, but it doesn’t have to be. Paul says something incredible to you and me, even if we feel disconnected from God; even if we feel we are outside of the family at the moment because of our sins and actions. He talks about “adoption, being real sons and daughters of God” again.
If you want to get to the heart of this passage, then hear the key to these words. The promise of the Good News of the Bible is that God does not view us in light of our sin. We are no longer slaves to sin because God made a new reality possible for us, because God Himself, in the person and work of Jesus, has set us free from our slavery and our bondage to sin. God has changed the reality, the status of who we are. He has given us something we don’t deserve; given us freedom in spite of our spiritual enslavement. God has given us forgiveness even though we deserve judgment. He has called us children, even though we have lived contrary to everything He desires.
This isn’t utopia because real things had to happen to make it so. This isn’t merely a dream, because Someone has died and risen again to make it true. This isn’t a myth because real names, places, people, and events have been recorded down through history that demonstrate that this is a promise that God not only made but He fulfilled.
In the movie “Grand Torino,” (one of my favorites) Clint Eastwood paints a tale of racial dystopia, cultural clashes, and potential hopelessness; this movie seems to illustrate all the problems that we have as people today. The story is about an aging white veteran living in a changing neighborhood. The neighbors are Hmong immigrants from another part of the world. But as they seek to make it in the Motor City, Detroit, the reality of gangs, violence, and dystopia seem to overpower everyone in the film. I won’t tell you the plot or the story; it’s pretty powerful. You should watch it for yourself. But, I’ll say this. What makes this movie so compelling is that at one defining moment, someone has to die so that everyone else can really begin to live. Someone has to make a selfless action so that there can be a redeeming reaction.
That’s a glimpse of what Paul is talking about in Jesus Christ. In fact, the Bible says it this way, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die (You know, like the guy did in the movie, “Grand Torino” or like people sometimes do in life) but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Utopia? No way, there was blood shed so that you and I might live. There was a real resurrection of a Savior Who wore a real crown of thorns, so that you too might live an eternal life.
God doesn’t ignore your sin and mine. Such injustice would merely be another form of dystopia and death. To ignore the reality of sin is not love. To say one thing and then do another isn’t truth or justice. God does exactly what He says and He keeps His Word. And that is a good thing.
And forgiveness doesn’t come from nor result in some kind of utopia. Forgiveness comes through the death and resurrection of a real Savior, Jesus Christ. You see, God does indeed punish our sins. He did pour out His wrath against our evil choices and actions. God does bring about death because of your sin.
Law and Gospel, death and life, without Jesus, there’s only dystopian realities or utopian wishful thinking, but thank God there is a saving reality and possibility for you today because God so loved us that He sent Christ to save us all.
Jesus is God in the flesh. He is God with skin and bones. He is God and man. And as God, He was the only Man without sin. He did not deserve death or punishment. He had no dystopian future. But He also knew that Utopia is a fairy tale. Jesus came as a real person and gave His life as a sacrifice for all of your sins. He willingly died on the cross in order to pay the price that your sins and my sins deserve.
And through that death and resurrection three days later, Jesus has set you free from your sin. He has set you free from your slavery to sin and death. You are no longer a slave to sin, you are free in Jesus. Through faith in Jesus, you no longer an orphan cut off from God’s family. By faith in Him, you are now a child of God. To put your faith in Him means you’re adopted into the family of God as a son, as a daughter, as an eternal heir.
If you’ve ever truly been on your own, alone, you know that’s no way to live. God created us to be His sons and daughters, part of His family in a community of people who truly love each other, forgive each other, encourage each other the way that He does to and for us. If you’ve ever been cut off from such a family or community, you know how truly good it feels to be adopted by one that cares for you again. There’s nothing like it. If you don’t believe me, talk to a child who has been adopted into a loving family. Talk to a person who was all alone and then suddenly was part of a family or a community that really looked out for each other and looked out for them. Try as we might, we don’t make such things happen without the love of God as the glue, as the key to it all.
Paul lays it on the line. With Jesus, there is an answer. With Jesus, you are part of a family that endures. With Jesus, enslavement to sin ends and hope for the future begins. Your salvation is a flesh and blood reality.
You might look around you today and see a dystopian reality in your life or maybe you’re looking around and you just hope that there is a utopia out there somewhere.
But there is something better. His Name is Jesus. In Him, your sins are forgiven and eternal life is your future. It’s not pie in the sky hopes. It’s real. Your Savior was born of a woman. Your Savior suffered and died. Your Savior really rose from the dead. And in Him, because of Him, with faith in Him, you are free, forgiven, restored with real hope and a real future. Don’t trust me, trust Him. Amen.
Action in Ministry for June 19, 2016
Guest: Dr. Joel BiermannANNOUNCER: You are listening to The Lutheran Hour and this is Action in Ministry and today we are going to talk about something that is really one of my greatest joys, that of being a father.
SELTZ: Well, me too. I mean fatherhood is something I treasure very dearly. I love my daughter. But there are challenging times to being a father as well, right?
ANNOUNCER: Well, we’re excited to welcome Dr. Joel Biermann as our guest today. He’s also a dad and he’s going to help us put all these pieces together in a video Bible study titled Fatherhood.
SELTZ: Joel, it’s great to have you with us.
BIERMANN: Good to be here.
SELTZ: Becoming a father is the easy part though, right?
BIERMANN: Yeah, I suppose that’s the easy part.
SELTZ: But being a real father, day by day, how can we learn to go about this the right way?
BIERMANN: Well, actually, while you might say there is no instruction manual, but there is a whole lot of guidance on being a father; especially within God’s Word. He lays things out; there’s actually quite a bit more there to grab onto than you might think.
SELTZ: There you go.
ANNOUNCER: Now we’re surrounded by a culture that presents many obstacles to being a good father. What do you see as some of those main obstacles?
BIERMANN: There are so many. There is just the whole denigration of the family which we are experiencing and so then the father feels like what’s the point. You have the radical individualism, which is so rampant in our culture-it’s all about living for myself. The idea of sacrificing myself and my agenda for someone else, even my own child, that just kind of goes against the grain. If the kid fits into my life, nice; but if it doesn’t, I’ll do my own thing. The feminization of our culture doesn’t help either. I think we’ve made a lot of men very meek and very retiring and they’re not able to do the things they would naturally want to do.
SELTZ: Naturally the family needs them to do.
BIERMANN: Absolutely! And this is the way God put it together. The man is to lead, care, protect; that’s his role.
SELTZ: Right; and I was just going to say, too, that’s what the Bible calls their self-sacrifice. It’s not them taking charge so much as doing the things they need to do for the family by leading. And that’s a whole different thing.
BIERMANN: Right.
SELTZ: How do we stay focused? How do we stay on track with all this, Joel?
BIERMANN: We stay focused by hearing God’s Word, by being in conversation with other men. I’ve become more and more convinced the more I learn, the more I read, how important habits and behaviors are, and the things we learn to do and the things we don’t do. Praying with my kids, spending time with my kids, investing in them; these are the things that matter. It’s the little stuff that adds up to making a huge impact.
SELTZ: Dr. Biermann, there are times when we as fathers, we know we just blew it.
BIERMANN: Yeah.
SELTZ: Anyone who’s out there, you know that this has happened with you too. What do we do when we completely miss the mark as dads?
BIERMANN: That is going to happen and maybe one of the reasons why fathers are sometimes reluctant is they’re not sure of themselves. They think they might blow it. The answer is you are going to. We are simple people. We make mistakes. One of the most powerful things you can do as a father is by simply doing what you know you need to do, which is taking responsibility for your actions, and admitting you are wrong, and apologizing, and even apologizing to your children when necessary. If you lose your temper, you go and say “I’m sorry. I was wrong.” Not just to blow it off, but take it seriously and take responsibility. It’s humbling but it’s also very powerful.
SELTZ: But it demonstrates what they need to do too.
BIERMANN: Exactly, and what you’re doing is you’re living the reality of the gospel. Part of what I try to explore in this Bible study is this interaction between the law parts and the Gospel parts and how those things fit because they both need to be there.
ANNOUNCER: Now in this Bible study you also compare fatherhood to waging war….
BIERMANN: Yeah.
ANNOUNCER: …what does it mean to “report for duty”?
BIERMANN: You are basically waging war against the pull of our culture and against Satan’s intentions. Satan wants to destroy families. Satan wants to destroy people. If he can mess a family up from the very beginning, he’s made some really good progress. So a father needs to realize he’s up against some serious things and so he needs to be fighting hard against the pull of the culture, fighting hard against Satan’s desire to undo what God wants us to do. It is a battle and you need to have that kind of sense going in that this is not a hobby; this is serious business.
SELTZ: Right, the big picture can be overwhelming and that’s what we need to understand. This isn’t really us fighting; this is God with us fighting to do the things that really will bless people.
BIERMANN: Yeah.
ANNOUNCER: And working through this Bible study either as an individual or maybe in the company of other dads might be a great way to proceed.
BIERMANN: Yeah, and especially in the company of other men because then you get the chance to interact and to encourage each other. That’s pretty tremendous.
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Joel Biermann, thank you for being with us.
BIERMANN: My pleasure.
SELTZ: Thank you very much and that’s our Action in Ministry segment today to bless, to empower, and to strengthen your life in Christ for others.
ANNOUNCER: To view or download this content at no cost, go to lutheranhour.org and click on Action in Ministry. For information on ordering a DVD copy of the video resource Fatherhood, call 1-855-john316. That’s 1-855-564-6316. Our email address is info@lhm.org.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for June 19, 2016
Topic: How Do We Encourage Someone to Return to Church?ANNOUNCER: And we are back once again with Pastor Gregory Seltz. I’m Mark Eischer. Our question today is, “How can we encourage someone who is staying away from Church, how can we encourage them to return to worship?”
SELTZ: Mark, that is a tough issue because there are many reasons for people to get disconnected from Church. There are also lots of emotions and fears involved, and the people we love are often harder to talk to about faith than complete strangers because we don’t want to risk saying something that might drive them further from church and even further from us.
ANNOUNCER: Is there a sure way to get someone back in Church?
SELTZ: As usual, the answer is unfortunately yes and no. Yes, getting them to see that it’s about the blessings of Jesus and the work of Christ, that is a sure way to touch on what they really need; but no, we can’t make them want them, then, want to go to church, just as we can’t force someone to believe.
ANNOUNCER: How then would you go about talking to this loved one who has stopped attending?
SELTZ: There are really two issues involved that need to be addressed. The first and most important one is the issue of faith and seeing how vital faith in Jesus is for them. It is important to discuss with a person who has stopped attending worship exactly why they stopped attending. How do they feel about God? How do they think God feels about them? What role does God play in their lives? Did God disappoint them or let them down in some way? Did they have expectations that God failed to live up to in their mind?
ANNOUNCER: Those are some weighty questions.
SELTZ: Yes they are, but these are exactly the kinds of questions that need to be asked. Sometimes one of the most important things we can do is to allow people to express their feelings about God. Many times when you ask someone how they feel about God or how they think God feels about them, you will learn pretty quickly the root of why they don’t go to Church or why they are hesitant to return.
ANNOUNCER: And what if they respond by saying they are mad at God or they tried God and that didn’t work for them?
SELTZ: It’s interesting that Jesus tells His disciples that they will be witnesses. And that’s exactly what they were and we are. We can’t answer every question that people have about God. And God doesn’t need our defense anyway. He needs us to testify about His love, His guidance, His forgiveness, His grace and then to prayerfully care for those He places in our path.
ANNOUNCER: And even if our loved one is upset with God, we should also tell them about God’s love for them in Jesus Christ?
SELTZ: That’s exactly right. We can help someone talk through their issues with God and help point them back to Jesus Christ. And of course, if they see His love anew in their life, well, going to church would seem to follow pretty naturally.
ANNOUNCER: But what if they think they don’t need God?
SELTZ: That is when we need to speak God’s Word of Law and there are many ways to do that. But people tend to know that they are supposed to live rightly, deep in their hearts; just ask them what should happen in their life if they fail to meet their own standards, and then keep asking, what should happen if they fail to meet the righteous standards of God Himself? Keep in mind; it’s impossible to talk about a Savior to those who don’t think they have spiritual needs.
ANNOUNCER: You said there were two issues to address. The first was to ask them about God. What is the second?
SELTZ: The second issue to address is if something happened at Church that is keeping them from attending. They might need to forgive someone at church or seek forgiveness from someone at Church.
ANNOUNCER: That could be harder to talk about than questions about God and faith!
SELTZ: Yes. Many times the things happen at Church are so emotionally upsetting that it takes our focus off what we still really need. I am going to say this again; the Church is full of sinners, so we need to put into practice the forgiveness we’ve received. That too needs friendship conversation.
ANNOUNCER: What do you say in those circumstances?
SELTZ: I remind people often about the hurts that we all give and receive in our daily lives. Forgiveness is needed there so don’t run from that. Don’t let it cause you to run from the place where the Word of God is shared and the Sacraments are received. You need that now more than ever!
ANNOUNCER: Are you saying we should go to Church because that’s where God gives us things? I thought we go to Church because we have to.
SELTZ: No, we go because we get to! You won’t find a message like Jesus’ anywhere else in the world. Go, because you can. Go, because you need it. Go, to learn how to share it.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Seltz. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“Salvation Unto Us Has Come” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)