Free Indeed

Joshua warns us that good intentions cannot make us faithful, Jesus exposes the slavery of sin, and Paul points us to the Holy Spirit and Christ—the One who alone can make us truly free.

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Free Indeed

Good Morning. Have you ever heard someone say, “I can quit anytime I want?” Maybe they were talking about smoking. Maybe drinking. Maybe even something as simple as eating too much junk food. Usually, the person saying it honestly believes it.

Then one day they decide to quit. That’s when they discover something they didn’t expect. The hardest chains to break are often the ones we don’t realize we’re wearing. That’s where God’s Word meets us today. Across three lessons we see the same truth: left to ourselves, we’re not as free as we think we are. 

But I have good news. As we continue, we see one of the best promises in the Bible. We have to walk through the diagnosis before we get to the cure.

Joshua has gathered the people of Israel for what is essentially his farewell address. He is old. The Promised Land has been conquered. The tribes have received their inheritance. Before he dies, he wants the people to remember the God who brought them there.

Here comes one of the best-known verses in the Bible, which we sang for our opening hymn: “Choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Many Christian homes have that verse hanging on the wall. It is a wonderful declaration of faith.

The people immediately answer, “Of course we’ll serve the Lord!” They remember Jericho. They remember God’s faithfulness and protection as they received the land God promised them. But then Joshua says something unexpected. You are not able to serve the Lord!

I wonder how much that bothered the people who had just given their oath. Joshua called them to choose the Lord. They choose the Lord. But then, he tells them they can’t do it. But Joshua wasn’t trying to crush their faith. Joshua was crushing their self-confidence so they could see how much they needed God.

Joshua had spent decades with these people. He had watched them grumble after miracles, doubt after victories, and even worship the golden calf at Mount Sinai. Joshua wasn’t questioning their sincerity. He was questioning their strength.

The people were sincere. They simply did not understand how weak they really were. And neither do we. We usually think our biggest problem is that we don’t know enough or try hard enough. Scripture paints a much deeper picture.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus offends his audience in a way that is easy to miss. As Jesus was speaking, many believed in Him. So Jesus told them:

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples... and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 

And the people, instead of rejoicing, object: 

We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.

Jesus offers them freedom, and they answer as though He’s a salesman at the front door: “No thanks, we’ve already got freedom!”

Jesus, of course, wasn’t talking about slavery to Rome or slavery to Egypt or Babylon. He was talking about something much deeper.

Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

That’s not how we usually think about sin. We usually think of sin as things we do. Jesus speaks of sin as a power that holds us. Pride. Anger. Greed. Fear. The need to be right.

We can see it when it takes us ten minutes to apologize because we first have to explain why “the thing we did” really made sense at the time. …

That isn’t just stubbornness! It’s a subtle form of bondage! Sometimes we don’t recognize these things until we honestly try to let them go, and that’s when we discover they have a much stronger grip than we imagined.

The people listening to Jesus were offended because they thought they were free. The Israelites in Joshua’s day were confident because they thought they were able to obey God.

Different centuries. Same human heart.

But the greatest danger wasn’t that they were weak. It was that they didn’t know they were weak.

In our collect of the day, which sums up our lessons into a prayer, we ask God to ...make us to ask such things as shall please Him. We aren’t simply asking God to answer our prayers. We’re admitting we don’t even know ahat we ought to want unless God teaches us in the first place.

Even our prayers require God’s grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Here is where the good news I promised breaks through.

Christianity isn’t about pretending we are stronger than we really are. It’s about trusting Someone who is. That's exactly what Paul shows us in our Epistle lesson to the Corinthians. The answer isn't greater determination. It's the Holy Spirit. Paul says every blessing comes from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us gifts. Even saying “Jesus is Lord” and truly meaning it is a work of the Holy Spirit, and not something we can boast about.

The Spirit gives wisdom. The Spirit gives faith.

The Spirit empowers each believer according to His will. We see the pattern across our lessons.

The Christian life begins where human confidence ends. It begins when we stop trusting our own strength and begin trusting God. Joshua leaves the people with a warning. Jesus gives His people one of the greatest promises in Scripture.

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

He doesn’t say, “If we work hard enough, we’ll become free.” Or, “If we’re sincere enough.” Or, “If we keep enough promises.” Freedom comes from the Son.

Jesus wasn’t trying to shame the people. He was taking away a false hope so he could give a true one.

The false hope says, “I can handle this.”

The true hope says,

“Christ can.”

So this week, when you catch yourselves thinking, “I’ve got this,” whatever “this” is, let that be our cue to pray instead. Ask for His grace.

Ask for His Spirit. Ask for the freedom only the Son can give.

We all come to God the same way. Not because we’re perfect, but because we need a perfect Savior. We confess our sins. We hear His forgiveness. We listen to His Word. We ask for His Spirit. And every week Christ reminds us that our hope has never rested in our ability to hold onto Him.

Our hope rests in His promise to hold onto us.