Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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| "The Liberator Who Sets You Free" \\ John 8:31-35 \\ October 26, 2003 \\ Reformation Sunday \\ Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Boise, Idaho \\ Pastor Tim Pauls |
I.
The Liberator \\ \\ The Liberator strides through the halls of the prison, keys jingling in his hand.
His wounds are fresh, but the battle is won.
At each cell door he stops, turns the lock and throws open the door.
"Come out!" he shouts.
"I've come to set you free!
I haven't come to plunder or to take what little you have.
I've come to release you from this prison and give you all sorts of gifts.
There's food and clothing outside-riches in abundance, and I give them to you freely!
Your ruler was a tyrant who would keep you in your cells until the day you died.
I've defeated him.
I've destroyed him.
He's not coming back.
Come out of your cells!
Come out of the prison!
I've set you all free!" \\ \\ The doors stand open, as do the prison gates outside.
The tyrant and his armies are decimated.
The Liberator has done all the work to release these people from their prison.
"Come forth!"
He calls again.
"You are free!"
\\ \\ A few heads poke warily out of cells, but there is little other movement.
From the cell of Doubtful Suspicion, a voice cries out, "What do you want in return?"
"Nothing!"
cries the Liberator.
"As I have already said, I will say again.
I have not come to take from you, but to give you freedom and so much more.
Come out!
You're free!" \\ \\ From the cell of Pedigree comes another voice: "What do you mean, we're free?
We've never considered ourselves to be anything but free in the first place.
What makes us any freer now?"
The Liberator responds, "You've been imprisoned so long that bondage is all you have ever known.
You've been told that it is freedom, but it is not.
You are in a cell, but I've flung the door wide open.
Come out!
You're free!" \\ \\ Across the hallway, an intelligent voice speaks from the cell of Reasonable Rejection: "Thank you for your offer, but we have elected to remain.
You see, we've thought about this long and hard, and we've decided that you don't exist.
Therefore, your freedom isn't real.
After consultation, we've decided to remain in the cell.
We know that we're going to die here and have no hope beyond that, but we'll make the most of the time that we have here in prison."
The Liberator cries out, "Whether you believe it or not, the battle is fought, I am here and the door is open.
Don't rely on your logical conclusions!
Come out!
Be free!" \\ \\ Next comes a surprisingly joyous voice from the cell of Syncretism: "O thank you for your offer, but there is no need!
You see, we've made our own liberator.
We've fashioned him out of straw and clay and our own ideas and desires, and he's been our liberator for quite some time now.
Of course, we don't want to exclude you, either; so from now on we'll consider our liberator to be just like you.
O happy day!"
To this the Liberator declares, "But your liberator is not like me.
He is only as free as those who have made him, and he is only inside the cell and cannot get out.
Don't put your trust in straw and clay and your own wisdom, for all of that has kept you in your cage.
I am no dead brick; I have conquered your tyrant.
Come out!
Be free!" \\ \\ There's some murmuring further down the hallway, and a voice emerges.
From the cell of Veiled Blindness, it says, "Our ruler warned us about you!
He said that if you showed up here, you'd make us give up all that we have to make us follow you.
He warned you that you'd be worse.
We're not coming out!" "And what would I have you give up?" demands the Liberator.
"I desire that you give up the rags that you wear in exchange for new clothes.
I desire that you give up hunger and starvation in exchange for nourishing food.
I desire that you give up darkness, disease, death and decay; in exchange, I give you light and life forever!
Consider the source of the warning: The one who warned you was the ruler who kept you in chains, and he's a liar from start to finish.
I've come to save you!
Come out!
You are free!"
\\ \\ From the darkness behind another open door, another voice: "We are so happy that you have come, and we see the door wide open!
We look forward to joining you in the freedom that lies outside.
In fact, as we have been for the past centuries, we are busy chipping away at this wall with our spoons.
We haven't made a dent yet; but it's only a matter of time until we make our escape by our own hand."
The voice from the cell of Futile Effort fades away, replaced by the scraping of silverware on granite.
The Liberator shouts, "Put down the spoons and cease your efforts!
The door is open because I've done all the work!
Come out!
Come forth now!
You are free!"
\\ \\ The Liberator remains, calling for all to hear.
He continues to warn them of the death they face in that prison.
He warns them that their efforts will not save them.
He warns them of the lies of the ruler who has kept them bound.
And all the while, he calls them forth to have life, to be free.
\\ \\ Time and time again, though, voices emerge from the darkness, giving one reason or another why prison is preferred.
Why do so many look for excuses not to be free?
\\ \\ But here and there, it happens.
From one cell or another, a poor wretch emerges.
Blinking in the unaccustomed light, he would fall and fail if the Liberator did not hold him up and keep him on the journey.
One by one they come, and after a while a crowd of former prisoners stands outside.
They are clothed and fed.
They are strengthened and enlivened.
They have new life within them, because the Liberator has set them free.
They need never return to the prison again.
\\ \\ And yet, absurd as it sounds, some of them do.
Some of them return to their cells.
It may be because they just like the darkness and the life of the cell better.
It may be that they just won't trust the Liberator's ongoing kindness.
It may be that they hear the voices of former comrades calling them back, and they elect to join the old club once again.
It's a strange phenomenon, because many of those who return believe they are still liberated.
"I spent some time with the Liberator.
I heard him speak.
I ate and wore his clothes.
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