The Festival of the Reformation
Baptism of Joanna Christine Douthwaite
Jesu Juva
“Set Free!”
Text: John 8:31-36;
Romans 3:19-28
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father,
and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
“If you abide in my word, you are truly
my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
This
morning, Joanna Christine was set free.
Oh,
some will disagree with that statement.
After all, what could Joanna possibly be enslaved
to? She’s only a baby! And only 6 days old. She’s never been enslaved to anyone.
But
we confessed in our liturgy earlier exactly this reality; the reality of our
sin. “If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Perhaps you will allow me to modify that
statement somewhat, and say: “If we say SHE has no sin, we deceive ourselves . . .”
Yes, Joanna Christine is a sinner like the rest of
us. She is because of the sin she
inherited from me, just as she inherited from me her dark hair and blue
eyes. She is not a sinner because
she does sins – if that were the
case, I suppose you could argue about
whether or not she has actually committed any sins yet, and therefore whether
or not she is a sinner. But she is not
a sinner because of whatever sins she may commit, now or in the future – she
will commit sin, rather, because she is a sinner. We do what we are. And Joanna, as innocent as she looks, was
born a slave to sin. Just like you and
me.
But
this morning, she was set free.
And
it happened to her; was not because of anything she did. For she can do nothing. It doesn’t take very long to see that. That left on her own,
she would surely die. No – in fact, her
spiritual condition was even worse
than that, for she was not even born alive spiritually – but dead. Dead in sin. (Eph 2:1) Spiritually stillborn, until she was born again. Until the Word of God came to her in the waters of Holy Baptism,
and gave her life. Life from the dead. And
so today we witnessed a resurrection! Joanna
Christine, set free from her bondage to sin and death, and given a new
life. A new life as a
child of God, in the House of God, by the Word of God. And as we heard, “if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed.”
But today is not just about Joanna.
Today is also about you.
To remember that the Word of God, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, has
set you free. And
not because of anything that you did, or do. Not because of your service; not because of
your dedication; not because of any decision you have made. For to Him, you are as Joanna. Helpless.
It took Martin Luther a while to realize that. Many people today have trouble realizing
that! Even you and me. Because we want there to be something
in us; something we can do for God;
even if it’s the littlest thing. Some
reason in me why God would choose me . . . even if it’s only that just as
little 6 day olds, we are so cute! But little 6 day olds turn into not-so-cute
screaming monsters at 3 in the morning.
And so it is with us! Inside,
we’re not so cute. We’re black. With sin and death. And helpless.
But to know that is a good thing! It’s terribly humbling, and difficult to
accept! But it’s a good thing. Because if it were up to something in you to
make you acceptable to God, to make Him choose you, then what happens if one
day that is no longer there? If it were
your cuteness, then what when you’re not so cute anymore? If it were something you did, then what if
you didn’t do that one day? If it were
your usefulness, then what if one day you’re not useful to Him anymore? You could never be sure, but always in
doubt. Will God love me today? Will He accept me today? Is there someone else cuter, better?
But there’s not! We
heard that earlier: “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.” Or in
other words, none of us are cute in God’s eyes!
None good, no one better than another. And that’s good (even though it sounds bad!) because that means it’s not
a competition. It’s not me against you;
both of us trying to outdo the other for God’s favor and attention. No. No
distinction. No difference. Nothing in us at all. And that’s what makes what St. Paul continues
and says the most wonderful news of all:
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus.”
It is all a gift. Today, Joanna received
that gift. Today, so do we. The gift of sins forgiven.
The gift of life. The gift of faith. The gift of resurrection. For
where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. (Small Catechism, Holy Baptism, part II) All gift. Nothing
earned. Nothing deserved. Ever. And God will not ever change His mind, and
withdraw this gift. How do we know? Because to keep His
promise, to establish His new covenant, His new testament (Jer 31), He sent His Son. He sent His Son to offer His life on the
cross. To give His
life for ours. A trade; a ransom;
an atonement – that the unworthy might be worthy. And when Jesus rose from death, His resurrection
proved that that ransom has been paid, if full, for the life of the world.
For no sin, no death. And no death, then no power of the
devil. And no power of the devil, then
we have been set free! “And
if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!”
And we know it also because God didn’t just send His Son once into this world to set us free with
His death and resurrection – He keeps
coming, keeps conquering, keeps forgiving and setting free, as He
keeps applying His death and resurrection to
us. And so He came this morning and
set Joanna free through His Word combined with the water of Holy Baptism. And if the Son sets you free, you are free
indeed! And He came this morning
and set you free through His Word of Absolution, not just announcing but actually giving you the forgiveness of
your sins. And if the Son sets you free, you
are free indeed! And He is coming
again this morning and setting you free through His Word combined with the
bread and wine of Holy Communion, giving you His life and forgiveness in His
resurrected body and blood. And
if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed! So many gifts that we receive here – and not
just today, but every Sunday, every day.
The gifts never running out, never changing. And all gift. Nothing earned. Nothing deserved. Ever.
You know, we say that a lot
in the
And that’s what today, the Festival of the Reformation is all about,
because that’s what the Gospel is all about.
The free gifts of God that are ours in Christ Jesus. The gifts that set us free. The Word that set a monk named Martin Luther
free. The Word that set a baby named
Joanna free. And the Word that sets you
and me free. His Word that we sang
about: His Strong Word that once cleaved the darkness (LW 328);
His one little Word that fells Satan (LW
298); and His Word that bespeaks
us righteous (LW 328), raising sinners dead in sin to new life in
Christ. A new life, a resurrected life,
that will never end.
And that actually is how Joanna received her name – from the
resurrection. For we read in Luke 24: “But
on the first day of the week, at early dawn, [the women] went to the tomb . . .
but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus . . . two men said to them,
‘He is not here, but has risen.’ . . . And they remembered His words. . . . Now
it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the
other women with them . . .” And
just as a woman named Joanna was one of the first witnesses of the
resurrection, so in Holy Baptism today our Lord has promised another Joanna that she will see the
same. For just as Jesus is risen from
the dead, now so has Joanna. His empty
tomb is now her empty tomb, His life now her life. This morning was a resurrection, and Joanna
was set free! And in Christ Jesus, so
are we.
In
the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts
and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.