Sermon for May 8th (Free Will?)

“Free will since humanity’s fall into sin exists in name only.” What do you think about that statement? Agree or disagree? Do you like that statement or dislike it? It is one of Martin Luther’s most famous quotes. In fact, of all the things that caused the Roman Catholic church to excommunicate him, this is the point they made most clearly, “If you don’t believe in free will, then you do not belong in the RomanCatholic church!” And, you know what, Martin Luther agreed with them. His stance on this issue really was the nail in his coffin so to speak—both politically speaking and, even more interestingly, theologically speaking. If you were to ask him, Martin Luther would probably say that his stance on free will was what truly set him free! Let me restate what Luther was saying in a different way: Ever since Adam and Eve began rebelling against God, their creator, the human race has been freely choosing to continue the rebellion (even though we continue to insist that we are free not to!).

The doctrine of free will insists on this: we are free to choose God or to reject God. If we choose God, we are saved. If we reject God, we are not. Simple, right? Those who support the doctrine of free will would argue that God gives us commands and expects us to follow them. How could he ask us to do things that we aren’t free to do? For example, in the 10th chapter of the gospel of Mark Jesus commands a man to, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” These are not impossible things to do. The man is free to do them, even though he chooses not to. In fact, Peter explains that while that man didn’t follow Jesus the disciples have left everything to follow Jesus! Isn’t that a home run for how free will works? Well, it’s part of the story. When Peter and his fellow disciples deny their Savior at his crucifixion and abandon him we see a fuller picture of what free will looks like.

I know that everyone in this room believes in free will. It is spoken about ad naseum in the movies, on the radio and written about constantly in books. But the term “free will” is only used once in the Bible, did you know that? And that was only in reference to “free will offerings” meaning that God’s people are expected to tithe ten percent of their income, but if they want to give more, they are free to choose to do so or not. Of course, the term “Trinity” is never used in the Bible either, but we believe in that because of what scripture shows us about how God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one. Is that the case for “free will” as well? What does scripture say? Does scripture support the understanding of our freedom to choose Jesus or not? If you are willing to take the risk to find out, I’d like to put your understanding of free will on trial. Scripture will be the judge.

The doctrine of free will is based on the assumption that God cannot hold us responsible for sin unless he gives us freedom to choose. If he chooses for us, he wouldn’t seem very justified to punish us as if we did something wrong. So what do we do with the story of the Exodus? “The Lord said to Moses, ‘When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” God promised to harden Pharaoh’s heart. And a few chapters later, scripture says that he did it, “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” I’ve heard all the explanations, the revisions, the excuses for getting God off the hook for this one. But the words are simple and clear. “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” The Lutheran Reformers wrote that it only takes one passage of scripture to create terror in the hearts of those who believe in free will, no matter how numerous the army of passages supporting freedom that you can find. Because if, even once, God doesn’t seem to leave us free to act on our own, we can never quite be sure that he ever does.

Just so you understand the gravity of the situation, let me give you a few more verses that cause all of us to squirm. In John 17 Jesus prays, “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them save by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” This passage refers to Judas. What does it mean that he was “doomed to destruction”? Does that get Judas off the hook? What does it mean in the 24th chapter of Luke that we read this morning when Jesus says, “Did not the Messiah HAVE to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” The word that is used in Greek to create this sentence means “it was necessary”. If Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion was “necessary” what happens to our free will? Can we still be held responsible for what happened? Or what about Philippians chapter 2, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” These verses don’t leave a lot of room for us to be free do they. Are we in charge of our salvation or is God?

Does this mean that we are destined to do whatever we do whether we like it or not? A kind of determinism? Like puppets on a string? An old professor of mine would answer this question by simply saying, “Look ma, no strings!” The fact is, whether we would argue that philosophically everything is determined or not, at some point we just stop thinking about it and still make our choices and feel very free to do so. We are very free to choose to eat oatmeal or donuts for breakfast. We can choose to love this person or that person. We have the freedom to will this or that in our decisions on this earth. But God makes it very clear over and over again in Scripture that when it comes to salvation, we don’t appear to be free at all to choose to be saved. No matter how many times he asks. No matter what he has commanded.

Listen, this is very important. I want all of your attention on this because this point is where everything stands or falls. For you mother’s out there, you might be able to understand this better than anyone else. You know that your children want to love you, that they care for you, that they want to please you but, the fact is, so often they seem to do just the opposite. They scream at you, they refuse to listen and they make choices directly against what you have asked them to do. Are they FREE to love you? Well, yes, I guess theoretically they have the ability to do the right thing. They could listen. They could be quiet. They could, but they don’t. I mean, you know that they want to be loving, but they seem bound and determined to do everything in their power to upset you some days. Are they free to do what they want? Yes, and they freely choose again and again to do the wrong thing. They don’t seem free not to.

This is true for all sinners. Are we free to do whatever we want? Yes, and we freely choose to betray God, to deny Jesus and to disobey God’s commandments. The problem with using the term “free will” is that it gives us the impression that we could, if all things went right, choose to do the right thing, follow God’s laws and believe in Jesus Christ. But scripture tells us that, while we were created free to do it, we are bound and determined to do whatever we want instead. Jesus said, “You did not choose me. I chose you.” “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

We are not free, we are slaves. Jesus said this very clearly in the gospel of John, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Saint Paul says again in Romans, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Ever since sin entered the world, free will exists in name only. We are not free. We are slaves. All of us.

But saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church starts of like this, “In Jesus we are also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” For you, those words will either be words of comfort or terror. On what does the distinction depend? Do you believe that you are free or a slave? If you believe that you have free will, you will hate this passage when it says God has “chosen” you without your choice or that you are “predestined according to the plan of him” not the plan of you. You will shudder at the possibility that he is working out “everything” yes EVERYTHING in conformity with the purposes of HIS will and not asking you for your permission according to the purposes of YOUR will. Jesus’ love with feel restrictive and controlling, like he’s not giving you responsibility and the chance to prove your good intentions.

On the other hand, if you believe that you are a slave to sin and chained to your bad habits, not free, constantly tempted into your old sins like a dog returning to its own vomit, then these words in Ephesians are like sweet music to your ears. Because no matter how many times you have freely chosen to deny your Savior, you have been freely chosen by him. While there are times you feel destined for destruction according to your hideous desires, God says you are predestined according to his plan and that his choice was made long before your choices were made. That no matter what happens in this life whether good or bad, creating prosperity or suffering for you, everything is in conformity with God’s purpose and will. And God’s purpose and will is to love you no matter what.

People who believe in free will are always arguing for our freedom as creatures. But you will notice that we seldom talk about being free to believe in God, or free to love God or free to choose God. Because if you believe that the human race is free, then you will spend your life trying to keep people in line, in case they use their freedom too freely. When free will is spoken of, you often hear that we are free to reject God, or free to say “no” or some such action. I agree, we are not only free to do these things, these are in fact the only things we do! We don’t seem free NOT to do them!

On the other hand, if you believe that the human race is a slave to their sin, you will spend your life trying to free them. Where do you believe Jesus stood on this issue? “Jesus replied, ‘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.” If I assume that you are all free to choose God, I will seek to become a better motivational speaker to help you better your chances of getting saved. If I assume you are all slaves to sin, I will seek to free you in the only way I know how—by giving you Jesus so that you might trust in his salvation. Jesus is the key to set you free.

In his explanation to the third article of the apostle’s creed Martin Luther wrote this, “I believe that I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him.” In other words, while I have the free will to choose to have a beer or have wine, to go to bed or stay up, to run for office or not, I do not have the freedom to trust in Jesus Christ and thus be saved. I am a slave to my sin. I have no hope. But Luther continues, “But, the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts and sanctified and preserved me in the one true faith.” You only find freedom when you confess your lack of free will and trust in God’s mercy alone to save a hopeless sinner like yourself.

We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. It’s not that we have to sin, we WANT to sin and can’t make ourselves stop! We must take full responsibility for this because there is no one else to blame. Apart from Jesus, like Judas, we are destined for destruction. If we seek our own justification apart from God, even his love and mercy will harden our hearts like Pharaoh. Thankfully, once we realize, as Luther did, that our coffins are nailed shut and we have no freedom to escape this mess we are in, Jesus Christ comes to us and says, “Now you will receive me totally and completely. Now you will have me be your all in all. Now you will trust me by faith alone. I have chosen you. I have saved you. I have predestined you according to my plan, according to my will, to live again with me. Yes, you are dead, enslaved, bound in your sins. But your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When you can’t place your trust in your free will any longer, all you can do is surrender: because it is God’s will to love you. Amen.