October 25 - Reformation Sunday

Jesus Sets Us Free
John 8:31-36
Reformation Sunday – October 25, 2009

House – TV show
Dr. House
brilliant doctor; brilliant mind, saves lives –
can figure out mysterious illnesses & diseases that escape everyone else
Interpersonal skills? Not so much

House isn't happy
few, if any, real friends – people respect him, but they don't much like him
And Greg House has been enslaved
– addicted to pain killers for the leg he injured in a motorcycle accident;
pops Vicoden like nobody's business.

And like most addictions, at 1st he doesn't see the problem;
thinks he's got it under control;
then thinks he can manage it through sheer will power;
then thinks he can kick it on his own,
thinks he has kicked it after 1 long night at home.

Only to realize that his addiction has taken over his rational mind;
he's been hallucinating things,
even the night he thought he detoxed;
His brilliant mind has been playing tricks on him.

So he has his 1 remaining friend take him to inpatient rehab at a psych hospital.
And once he's over the physical withdrawal symptoms, he figures he'll just check himself out.
Therapist & hospital staff refuse to let him out,
because they see what he can't
– that he hasn't dealt with the root of the problem yet,
with the pain & hurt & fears of his life,
with his inability to trust & let others help him.
House resists – wants to leave,
wants to go anywhere but where they will make them look
at his life, at himself,
and face the truth of what he finds there;
House wants to get better,
but he doesn't want to do what will make him truly “free”

Ain't that always the way?

This interaction between Jesus & the Jews who had believed in him is the same kind of situation – except they aren't as far along in the process as Dr. House
Jesus says to them -

“If you continue in my word,
you are truly my disciples,
& you will know the truth,
and the truth will make you free.”

They're still back in the denial stage
– we don't have a problem!
We're not slaves to anyone!
Which may be true,
but Jesus isn't just talking about slavery the way we understand it,
slavery to another person;
they're enslaved to sin.

And if they're anything like us,
once someone points out the problem,
once they realize there's an issue,
they'll think they can deal with it on their own,
that they can kick the habit through their own sheer willpower

My 10th grade book-report on Benj. Franklin –
He had a plan to improve his character
& overcome his character flaws –
a little chart of several characteristics
& each day he'd focus on them & mark his progress,
because eventually,
practice makes perfect.

We think practice makes perfect
– or at least makes up for all we do wrong.
And we, like House,
sometimes fool ourselves into thinking
we have kicked the problem on our own,
that we've got the core problem of our sin licked!
We don't need therapists or psych hospitals or Jesus to help us.


House hits bottom when he tries to prove the hospital staff wrong
by taking another patient out
– a patient who thinks he's a superhero who can fly –
and jumps off of a parking garage.

House realizes he can't save everyone else,
and he can't save himself.
He realize if he's gonna get better,
really & truly better,
he's gonna have to admit he needs help;
he's gonna have to reach out to those who will help him.

And even when he is finally released from the psych hospital,
he knows he'll have to continue to reach out,
continue to meet with his therapist,
continue to work through his stuff.
But facing that truth is the beginning of lasting freedom
– not just escape.

It's what Jesus offers to his listeners in the gospel & to us today.
Let's be clear –
Jesus is not a psychiatrist;
Jesus is not a therapist;
Jesus is not a counselor;
(this whole House story is just a metaphor)...

But the reality is,
we can't fix ourselves on our own.
Our problem with sin,
our enslavement,
our addiction to ourselves,
goes too deep for us to handle it on our own.

Jesus says,
“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Jesus is that truth.

And he calls us to face the reality that we can't save ourselves.
We need help,
And the only way to be really & truly set free
is to live our lives in Jesus.
To keep returning,
again & again & again to the source of life & love & freedom –
Jesus, who heals,
Jesus, who forgives,
Jesus, who transforms,
Jesus, who loves more deeply and fully than we can ever quite imagine.

So live in his love,
Continue in his word,
and you will know Jesus, who is the truth -
and the truth with set you free!

Amen.