Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

Sermon for Reformation Sunday
10-29-23
Text: John 8:31-36

Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace be to you on this Reformation Sunday and always. Amen.

Who are your abiders? Who has been there for you in life? Who has showed up in your life to celebrate your accomplishments and be with you in hard times?

When Fred Rogers received his Lifetime Emmy Award, he asked the audience to be silent for a minute during his acceptance speech. He asked them to take that time to think of the people in their lives who “loved them into being;” those who supported and cared for them over the years. As the seconds of silence ticked by, sniffles could be heard, and the camera panned to celebrities with tears running down their faces. Such is the power of abiding.

As I was writing this sermon, I thought about sharing some stories of the ways people have been abiders in my life, but I quickly realized that I would never be able to get through a single story without crying—again, that’s the power of abiding. And when I think about the abiders in my life, I remember the simple moments that people were with me. I didn’t think of the amazing advice I’ve been given, though I have received great advice over my life, or the over-the-top gestures of generosity, though I have witnessed extraordinary generosity.

Instead, I think about meaningful presence. The consistent phone calls when I needed them. People sitting with me in devastating times of my life. Neighbors who would welcome me into their homes when I was young. Stories read to me before bedtime. Colleagues who covered for me when I had COVID. Sometimes the big gestures people make are life-changing, but often It’s the daily, small, consistent acts that make abiding so powerful.

Abiding and intimacy are connected. There’s something about strong, reliable presence that leads to deep connection. If you travel with a group of people to Tanzania, sharing the joys and challenges of that trip, you will get to know them better. When your neighbors pick up your mail and put out your garbage cans when you’re away on vacation, it’s hard not to feel some affection for them. Of course, not every person we spend significant time with becomes an abider in our life. But it’s hard to be an abider without putting in some good effort.

If you abide in my word, Jesus says in our gospel reading from John today, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. John uses the word “meno” over 40 times throughout this Gospel, meaning abide, remain, stay. It’s used to describe God’s presence with us: John scholar Dr. Karoline Lewis writes that “it’s a relationship of provision, sustenance, nurturing, and protection.”

God is our abider. Whether we know it or not, the presence of the Spirit is with us, remaining with us, staying with us, offering protection, provision, and sustenance. The Spirit nurtures us. Think of the best abider you’ve ever known. The Spirit is better at it.

John chapter 8 is the Reformation Sunday text every year. As we remember the beginning of Lutheranism over 500 years ago, we are reminded that the church is always reforming, always called to search for the truth. “If you continue in my word,” Jesus says, “you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

The truth will make you free. It feels like we could go down a never-ending rabbit hole trying to figure out what “truth” means and what “freedom” means. Yet if we focus on John’s gospel, it’s clear that Jesus is not talking about truth as an abstract concept.

Jesus claims in John 14, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus is the truth. To know the truth, Dr. Lewis writes, is synonymous with being in a relationship with Jesus. It’s revealed in an abiding, intimate relationship with a God who loves the world. Truth is experiencing God’s love. Truth is abiding in God. And to be free is to know a relationship with God. To know that God is for us.

And to be in relationship with God is to abide in God’s Word—to abide in Jesus, as the Word, and to abide in Scripture. As we help parents fulfill the promises they made in their children’s baptisms—to place the Scriptures in their children’s hands as they grow—we celebrate the centrality of Scripture in our faith. To dwell in Scripture is to dwell in God.

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Think of the abiders in your life and the stories you could tell about them. Does thinking about these people and the ways they’ve affected your life you make you want to tell others about them? Would your storytelling about them be filled with emotion and gratitude? Do we tell others about God’s abiding in our lives with the same power?

We could do with more powerful abiding in this world. To practice being present with people who are suffering, and to seek only to listen and understand. To be a sustaining partner with organizations that support people on the margins of our society; to seek to understand rather than fix.

As a still-reforming church, we continue to ask ourselves as a congregation:

What does it mean for this beautiful building to abide on Snelling Avenue?

In what ways are we abiding with others?

Thanks be to God for abiding with us; for nurturing, protecting, and sustaining us throughout our lives and in the life to come. Amen.