Imagine being in a jail cell or in the depths of a dungeon. You're locked in, locked up, put away...you're removed from society. The reason doesn't matter. What matters is that you're behind bars. Thick walls surround you on all sides. There is no hope for escape. At least, there is no hope in yourself for escape.

So, you settle in. You have nothing better to do. There is nothing left for you to do. That's the situation you're in, so you give up.

Time goes by. Hours become days, days become weeks, weeks become months, months become years. Before you know it, you've been in your cell for a very long time. It has gotten to the point that the cell is all you know. You don't remember life on the outside. To you, this is all life has to offer. What you have, as far as you know, is freedom!

What would happen if the door to your cell was mysteriously swung wide open?

Maybe you're just imagining things, so you return to what you normally do. Could it really be that there is something beyond the walls? So, you peak your head around the corner. There's nothing out there for you, so you return to what you normally do. Life is great...boring, but great. You have no need for anything more!

"You're free," you hear, but you don't know from where the voice came or who said it. Maybe you ignore it. Maybe it was just your thoughts running away from you. "You're right," you respond. Not because the door is open, but because in your mind, you are free. There is nothing holding you back from your measly existence. "Go away," you respond, "I've never been anything but free. Leave me alone."

Today Christ proclaims, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." He has swung the door to everyone's prison cell wide open and gives freedom to all who would hear and hold to His teaching.

How do the people respond? Well, throughout the ages, the responses have been different, but they have all been saying the same thing. Deep down is the belief that I'm free because of who I am and what I have done or what I will do. They have never known captivity or slavery, of course they're free. So the cry still comes from lonely, dark cells, "Go away! I've never been anything but free. Leave me alone."

"We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" The door to their prison cell has been flung open to the Jews, yet they refuse the freedom Jesus is showing them. What are they saying? They are saying that they know freedom; there has never been a time that they, as Abraham's descendants, have known captivity or slavery.

Things must have been really good for these Jews who were listening to Jesus. How quickly they have forgotten the centuries of slavery Abraham's descendants spent in Egypt so many years ago. How quickly they have forgotten Nebuchadnezzar and their exile in Babylon just a few short centuries ago. If they had only looked in or listened to their scriptures, they could have seen these things.

Well, maybe they meant something else. Even in slavery and exile, the Lord their God has always been the Lord their God. They have always been His people; He has preserved them as a remnant of His people. He has given them Moses and the Prophets. He has given them Moses' Law. They keep the Law perfectly. What of slavery and exile now? Jesus replies, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."

Let's move on from there a little bit. "The Lord Jesus has died for our sins—to help us escape from prison, slavery, and exile. That's a good thing. However, now, we can break ourselves out of our cell to meet Him by our prayers and works and payments." Once again, the door has been flung open, this time to the Church of Rome, but they, too, refuse the freedom Jesus is giving them. This was the common objection to freedom from the Roman Church in Luther's day, and it isn't completely dead yet today.

Rome taught that man cooperated with God to gain His release. There is enough good in man to work for freedom. Primarily, in Luther's day, this was taught through the practice of indulgences: pay some money to the Church in Rome and earn a declaration of freedom from the pope. The door is open behind them, yet they are scraping at the thick, stone walls of their cells with their fingernails and spoons. So, on October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 Theses against the power and efficacy of indulgences to the Wittenburg Castle church door. From there, he would go on to show the door to the cells that Jesus had opened.

But, before you think that because we bear Luther's name we are standing outside of our cell doors. No, our struggle is the same as Abraham's descendants and the members of the Church of Rome. What's our objection to freedom? It comes in many forms. "I've just got to pray harder." "I've only got to go to church." "If only I believe a little harder." If these things happen, then things will get better. Even though the door behind us is open, we are hoping that the bars on the window to our cell magically bend or disappear. You see, if that happens, with all certainty we can say that our freedom was through no work of ours, but we hoped for it!

As Lutherans, we stand firm on what we call the three solas, that is the three "alones": Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Scripture Alone. With these, we wholeheartedly confess that we are saved by no action of our own. But, it's when the going gets rough that we look to ourselves for the answers or the reasons. "Did I do something wrong to deserve this?" "Am I praying hard enough so that God will like me again?" We certainly trust in God to care and nurture us, but how often do we think that He does so because of something we have done?

We begin to look at God's grace as things that we do. I have been Baptized. I go to the Lord's Supper. I confess my sins. Now, God owes me grace. Now, God needs to grant me freedom at the place where I need it and am looking for it. Yes, the door to our cells has been opened, and even though we have been brought forth into freedom, we have walked right back into the cell and look to the window to reclaim freedom!

Dear friends in Christ, Jesus still proclaims, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." He has come to your cell and swung open wide your door. He calls to you to come out. He shows you his battle scars—nail pierced hands and feet, spear pierced side, the tattered flesh of beatings and lashings—just punishment for your crimes; He declares your freedom!

"Thanks, Lord, but we're keeping the Law perfectly." "Thanks, Lord, but we're breaking ourselves out with prayers and works and payments." "Thanks, Lord, but I'm doing all this stuff for you so that you will open the window, not the door." "Thanks Lord," we all say, "but I can do it myself." What's freedom if we can't earn it?

Jesus replies, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever." Our response to the open doors is different, but we're all saying the same thing. We don't need the freedom Jesus gives, we can work for it ourselves. We refuse God's grace and try to earn God's favor. We reject the free righteousness of Christ and seek out our own righteousness—works righteousness.

Man is truly and utterly lost. Sin is not something external that can be cast off, like an article of clothing. Sin infects his whole being! Sin blinds him to the freedom of the open door—to imprisonment completely sometimes—and restricts him to seeking his own freedom, even to the point of believing he has always been free in the first place! And in this, we sin all the more!

Jesus still calls out to us. He is still saying, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." His call is freedom: "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." His call is His Word, and by the hearing of His Word, He gives faith, the faith needed to be free.

By His Word, people come out from their cells. Not everyone will emerge. There are still the Descendants of Abraham who stand upon their works of the Law. There are still the Romans who try to buy their freedom. There are still people who stare at the window in hope. Jesus does not force people out of their cells, but graciously calls to them: "I AM the Son of God; if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

By His Word, Jesus proclaims freedom. Combined with water, His Word is freedom from sin and the giving of faith: the washing of Holy Baptism. Combined with bread and wine, His Word is freedom from sin and the strengthening of that faith: the grace of the Lord's Supper. This is the Word He has given to the Church to continue in, the teachings He has given to the Church to hold to.

That brings us back to today, and Reformation Day. On this day nearly 500 years ago, the Church continued in its reformation, for the Church is always in reform, Martin Luther would say. The Church's reformation is never about going the way of the world; it is never about seeking our own release from prison, as the world so often seeks. The Church's reformation always returns to the teachings of Christ: the declaration of sin that has imprisoned us, and the proclamation of Christ crucified as punishment for our sin, granting us release, freedom, and forgiveness of sins.

This Gospel is the proclamation of Christ today, Reformation Day, and every day—that which He says to you: "I have set you free from sin, and if I have set you free, you are free indeed." Jesus has opened the doors to your prison cells, brought you forth by His grace, and forgiven you for all your sins.