Year C
 Jeremiah 31:31-34
 Psalm 46
 Romans 3:19-28
 John 8:31-36
May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth…

Honey bees live together in large…  well-organized family groups…  they are social insects…  not solitary ones…  and because of that…  they engage in a variety of specialized tasks not practiced by the thousands of the solitary ones…  complex nest construction…  environmental control…  defense…  and division of labor…  are just a few of the behaviors that honey bees have developed in order to be successful in social colonies…  these fascinating behaviors make social insects in general…  and honey bees in particular…  among the most fascinating creatures on earth…  a honey bee colony typically consists of three kinds of adult bees…  workers…  drones…  and a queen…  several thousand worker bees cooperate in nest building…  food collection…  and rearing the young…  but surviving and thriving take the combined efforts of all…  individual bees cannot survive without the support of the entire colony…  and while the social structure of the colony is maintained by the presence of the queen and her workers…  they depend on an effective system of communication…  labor activities among worker bees depend primarily on their age…  but can also vary based on the changing needs of the colony…  and as the size of the colony increases…  so does its efficiency…  and as they cooperate together…  for the good of the hive…  their efforts help ensure their success…

In our Prayer of the Day…  we prayed for God’s holy catholic church…  in this case…  catholic doesn’t mean Roman Catholic…  it means universal…  all-embracing…  and we asked God that where it is divided…  to unite it…  and [ here ] at Two Churches…  we strive to overcome denominational tribalism…  one of our small…  local efforts…  to effect unity…  in fact…  according to the Rev. Walter Bouman…  it is sinful before God…  when denominations compete for a share of the Christian market…

Jeremiah affirms that to seek this kind of unity…  is to seek God…  and there’s no longer talk about twelve tribes…  but one…  that we all might be one… in his own time…  soon after the Exile…  he affirms an absolute confidence and trust in Israel’s covenant with God…  in Chapter 22:16…  he says this goal finds expression when we uphold the rights of the poor and needy…  and the renewed covenant which he describes…  moves God’s Law from an external reference point…  written on tablets of stone…  or parchment papers…  or in law books…  moves God’s Law to an internal reference point…  written on our hearts… enabling us to act with God’s Wisdom… the renewed covenant he describes…  written on our hearts…  is possible only because God forgives our iniquity and remembers our sins no more…  so we could say…  that our hope lies in a God who chooses to forget…

By the end of the seventeenth century…  many Lutheran churches celebrated a festival commemorating Martin Luther’s posting of the Ninety-five Theses…  a summary of abuses in the church of his time…  at the heart of the reform movement was the Gospel…  the good news that it is by grace through faith that we are justified and set free…  and over time…  this idea of Christian reformation has become more widespread…

And Paul’s words in Romans…  stand at the heart of Martin Luther’s preaching…  and that of other reformers…  that no human beings make themselves right with God through works of the law…  and that we are brought into a right relationship with God through the divine activity centered in Christ’s death and resurrection…  this act is a gift of grace…  which liberates us from sin and empowers our faith…

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him…  If you continue in my Word…  you are truly my disciples…  and you will know the truth…  and the truth will make you free…  the Greek word that’s translated as continue…  can also be translated as abide…  and there’s a subtle nuance  that using “abide” gives us…  abide doesn’t simply mean to continue to exist …  but to continue to exist unchanged…  while enduing adversity…  it gives the impression that while we may be unable to change our circumstances…  we still cling to hope…  cling to life…  continuing on as things are…  not knowing when or if they will ever change…  but not letting those exterior circumstances…  change or touch us…  for example…  a shipwrecked sailor…  buffeted by constant storms…  clinging to a rock…  head down… uncertain of rescue…  in physical danger…  but with an internal peace…  he…  or she…  is abiding…

And when we further understand that Jesus is saying…  if you abide in my Word…  in my Logos…  if you abide…  in what was in the beginning…  with God…  through whom all things came into being…  if you abide in the life which was the light of all people…  a light which shines in the darkness…  then darkness can not overcome you… 

And I have to wonder if those who answered him…  who said…  We are descendants of Abraham…  and have never been slaves to anyone…  were in some real denial…  or had some kind of selective memory…  because in Genesis 15:13…  God even told Abram…  Know well…  that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs…  and they shall be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years… 

So we must be talking about a different kind of slavery than what’s usually meant…  perhaps the kind of freedom for which Christ sets us free…  is the kind that frees us from the tendency to think of ourselves first…  frees us from the resistance to work for the common good…  frees us from having to be right…  from wanting to score points…  frees us from that there’s not enough to go around…  frees us from the obedience to rigid interpretations of the Law…  frees us to embrace a more generous contextual response…  frees us from the sense of not belonging…  and frees us from every barrier which keeps us from being in right relationship with God and with each other…  it’s all about relationship…  and so we must also ask…  are we committed to ensuring that freedom…  so all people can have that kind of relationship with God…  or do we unwittingly prevent that…

Jesus speaks of truth and freedom as spiritual realities known through his Word…  he reveals the truth that sets people free from sin…  and while we are rooted in the past and are growing into the future…  the church must always be reformed in order to live out the love of Christ in an ever-changing world…  we celebrate the good news of God’s grace…  that in the resurrection…  Jesus makes new life available to us in each and every moment…  Jesus sets us free every day to do this life-transforming work…  and trusting in the freedom given to us in baptism…  we pray for the church…  that Christians will unite more fully in worship and the work of mission… which also varies…  based on the changing needs of the community… 

So when you get a chance…  ask the residents of a beehive…  what enslaves them…  whether they procrastinate or complain…  if they have difficulty working together for the common good…  meeting each other’s needs…  making sacrifices for each other…  ask them whether the needs of the many outweigh the wants of the few…  and remember…  honeybees make honey…  which reminds me of the experience that was recorded in Ps. 119:103…  how pleasing is your Word in my mouth…  O God…  it is sweeter than honey…  and today’s Psalm reminds us to…  be still…  and know that God is God…  and I’m confident that as we become increasingly established in that silence…  we too…  will be fed more and more…  with God’s sweet…  sweet Word…  Holy God…  make it so…