“A permanent place in God's household”

John 8:31-36

Pastor Tom Johnson, October 26, 2014

In many ways the Reformation was about who is in God’s household. Who is truly a member of God’s family? How does someone get into the household of faith? How are we assured that we are secure there in our heavenly Father’s embrace? It may be hard for us to understand why these believers in Jesus would also put their trust in their Abrahamic heritage: “We are daughters and sons of Abraham.” “Abraham is our great grandfather. And because of that we are part of God’s household. We have been grandfathered in”…so to speak. “Father Abraham had many sons. Had many sons had father Abraham. I am one of them. And so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord.” It’s a lot easier to understand when we see this as God’s promise to all people.

God promised Abraham many sons…and daughters…so many biological children and great-grandchildren that his family would circle the globe. “All families of the earth will be blessed through you,” God said. All the families of the earth will be drawn into one Household, one Family—whom we call the holy catholic Church. This is “catholic” with a little “c.” It means what the promise to “bless all the families of the earth” means: “all the families of the earth will be blessed.” This spiritual family will be an inclusive, universal, global, complete, and whole.

Our Scripture says that Jesus was speaking to daughters and sons of Abraham “who had believed in him.” They were believers. But their faith and trust in Jesus was not complete. They were still banking on their birthright. They still put their confidence in their unique ethnic heritage. They also began to put their faith in Jesus. I think this is an important detail that we shouldn’t miss: they were somewhere on the continuum between certainty and unbelief. None of them completely doubted. None of them perfectly believed. Their trust in Abraham and being his descendants was not wrong. It simply falls short of how great God’s promises are to all tribes, peoples, tongues, and nations. And I think that is how we all ought to understand what it means to be a believer and to be a child of God. We are all somewhere along the spectrum of atheism and Christianity. We are somewhere between absolute disbelief and perfect faith. “We are American. Of course we are Christians,” we might have heard or even thought ourselves, “we have ‘In God we trust’ inscribed on our coins.” “We are Lutheran—heirs—daughters and sons of the Reformation! Of course we are part of the household of faith!” No, we are part of God’s household by God’s gift of grace.

Today is Reformation Sunday. It is not the day to pat ourselves (or Martin Luther) on the back. As one of my professors in seminary said, “It is not despise your non-Lutheran neighbor day.” It is not about celebrating the clarity and truth of the Gospel as if we have already arrived at a perfect understanding and are just reminding ourselves on the yearly vigil. No, today is not about justifying ourselves in any way. Jesus points the way in our Gospel reading. When he hears these faithful daughters and sons of Abraham and Sarah put their confidence in their bloodline and family tree, he does not crush their weak faith or limited vision of what God is doing. He doesn’t even directly confront the lie that the descendants of Abraham have never been slaves to anyone. Instead, he nudges them toward stronger faith. He leads them down a path of greater confidence of who is in the household of faith. And by doing that, Jesus enlarges our vision of who is welcome—not only these biological descendants of Abraham but descendants of the whole human race.

When we see God’s invitation like this, the good news gets even better and we are led a little further away from unbelief toward belief. We move away from confidence in our flesh and blood and confidence in the Body and Blood of Jesus. We move away from our insecurities and doubt that we are part of God’s family toward assurance and faith that we have a permanent place in his Household. To put it in the words of the Reformation—we are loved and accepted by God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone—to God alone be the glory. Scripture alone has the final authority to speak on these matters. And the Scripture says we have a permanent place in the household because of the Son. He makes us free children of God by his life, death, and resurrection.

Have you seen our new doors? I think this recent change is a good illustration of the truth of the Gospel. The doors are more inviting. They entrance looks even bigger than before. All are welcome. God wants to expand his Household. The doors let more light in. We see more of the s-u-n sun’s presence than before. So it is with God’s household. The light of the S-o-n Son illuminates our path into God’s family. God does not want less children of Abraham; he wants more of every people, tribe, nation, and tongue. With the new doors, we look in with greater transparency. And in the center of our vision is the Cross. We are reminded that it is through the gift of his Son, Jesus that we enter. He has conquered death by the Cross. And he has purchased for us eternal life. That is how we look into God’s household. It is all a gift—not by bloodlines or by good deeds works. God has thrown the doors wide open. By grace, we have a permanent place in God’s household. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23).