Getting lost in the truth

This is the text of my sermon from this last week. To read the Bible text for context, click here.

Get Lost…in the Truth – John 8:31-36

Rick Warren, of Purpose Driven Life fame said in an interview this week, “A satisfying life is what you experience when you’re doing what God created you to do.”

This quote seems to be a twist on what Jesus is talking about in the reading this morning. He says, “If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…so if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free.”

You may be thinking like the Jews in this reading were, “but I don’t think that I am captive to anything.” Jesus had another word for them. He says in essence, everyone has something that separates them from God, and holds them captive.

I am still thinking that I’m not sure what this freedom is all about, or if it’s worth something. Although, I imagine that if we search our souls, and examine our lives carefully, we can come up with more than one thing that we feel traps us, or even oppresses us, one or more things that we know separate us from our true selves, and from the love of God. Maybe it is money, or our families or the societal pressure to have a family, perhaps the extreme pressure of a job has its grip on you.

Young people and kids, do you feel like you have to be popular in order to be good at anything? Even the desire to be popular instead of being ourselves can trap us.

There are enough distractions in the world for us that we can get lost in them.

Yet, Jesus offers you and me to a radically different way of living our lives that involves looking very deeply at ourselves and those we have relationships with, and looking very deeply to God…and not just once, but daily.

This morning, one small child will be/was brought into God’s loving relationship through baptism. Baptism is God’s gift to us, in which God gives us the unconditional promise of forgiveness and God’s presence in our lives. These promises are not only for today, but for everyday. In baptism, God starts a relationship with us through these waters and God’s holy word. And God continues that relationship of promise with us daily. It’s good to remind ourselves of those promises.

This is the beginning of a radically different way of life. Yet these promises don’t have much effect if we don’t learn to trust in them and live by them.

This summer, Erica and I lived out in OR and we traveled all the way across the country in our Ford Focus with whatever we thought we needed for the summer and her mom’s old classical guitar. Neither of us played the guitar, but we both had the desire to learn. Over the summer, we took turns learning some chords, and teaching each other a few things. We were learning the rules of the strings, how to strum and how not to make hideous sounds, but harmonious ones. I have not been keeping up on my strumming lately, but she has. Although, I still have the desire, I haven’t experienced the thrill of really playing the guitar. It will take time, and practice. It takes some discipline (like the word disciple). Discipline can sound like a downer word, but think of all the things that we enjoy only through practicing a discipline. It is actually fun! And freeing. I will be freed when the guitar and I can make music together.

I think our relationship with God is similar. When we have a desire to know God, and know how God wants to use us in the world we experience the thrill and fun of that relationship when we take the time to learn about our wonderful God.

This morning in addition to Olivia’s baptism, there are five young men who are continuing their walk of faith by saying yes to God’s promises for them. They are affirming their baptism. God has given these young men a wide variety of gifts… compassion, kindness, humor, athleticism, intelligence, and hearts that are seeking God’s direction and presence in their lives. I ask that we as their faith family surround them and continue to encourage them in their faith walk and to help them live into God’s truth and the freedom that we are given because of God’s amazing love and grace.

When we talked with these young men yesterday, we talked about faith as though it was running a race. I see it this way…the time between baptism and confirmation is like training. We learn the techniques and work to strengthen our bodies and minds so that when we face a difficult challenge, we are equipped to handle it faithfully. As you take this step of faith, you are not expected to be perfect, or even the best runner of the race. By standing before this congregation and before God, you are expected to be faithful, to seek the truth and freedom that God has already given to you and to share the thrill of faith with others. You don’t have to do this alone, in fact, one of the great things God gave us was the church, we’re all in this with you together. Keep digging deeper into yourselves and God. Ask questions and share your struggles. Celebrate when you have a “God moment”, those times when you just know God is with you.

Jesus is most certainly all about truth and freedom. And it’s in our daily lives, it’s in those very events that we feel bound to that Jesus so deeply wants to free us. As disciples, Jesus frees us from those things that trap us by giving himself to us on the cross and placing all of our barriers and sins with him on it, so that the things that separate us from ourselves and God are not the last word, they don’t have the final say. The last word is that we are God’s people, called and claimed in baptism and invited into a radical way of truth and freedom with Jesus. When it all comes down to it, we are invited to get lost in the truth. Amen.