America’s Independence Day seems an opportune time to review a lesson regarding Martin Luther’s critical 1520 treatise called “On the Freedom of a Christian,” which created the doctrine as to what living as a Christian should look like.
But before we explore that, let’s step back a moment and discuss another of Luther’s critical doctrines known as “Justification by Faith Alone,” which essentially says that God freely offers us his mercy and grace and all we have to do is accept it. And that is what we call “faith.”
Nothing to earn here, my friend. God doesn’t charge a cover charge.
Ergo, if we have been spared the burden of earning God’s love, and thus are fully pardoned children of God, then we are no longer obligated to adhere to God’s laws to obtain our salvation.
This is what it means to truly be free Christian: To go about living a Godly life, without worry of somehow not measuring up.
Now, you want to talk about freedom, my friends, there it is! Happy Independence Day indeed!
So, now that we have established that God’s salvation is universal for all, then let’s get back to that concept of what Christian behavior looks like.
When I think about how best to describe what a Christian life looks like, what comes to mind is Luke 12:48, which reads in part: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required …”
Does God require us to live a life in which we serve our neighbor, and also God’s wider creation? No, absolutely not. We are given that freedom as faithful people to decide for ourselves.
However, what Luther teaches us is that if you have truly accepted God’s freely-given grace, it will change you in ways that will put you at odds with what this earthly kingdom values.
In other words, God’s grace will turn your focus from looking inward to looking outward at your neighbor, and you’ll freely and willingly take to a life of service to others.
And that is how I would describe what Christian behavior looks like.
There is a lot of behavior nowadays that wears a Christian label that Jesus would never recognize. Additionally, there is a lot of commingling of the ideals of nation and faith, when there is no biblical basis for such a marriage.
We Americans love our freedom, but what tends to get lost in our blind patriotism is that our independence actually calls us into a life of service to others, rather than allowing us to prioritize ourselves over community.
However, God’s love changes all that. Happy Independence Day! Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and serves Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn.
Source: Freepik.com