Text: John 8:31-37
Theme: A place in us
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Intr – Reading the Chapter 8 of St. John as I prepared today’s sermon, I noticed something there that, in a sense, was new to me. And it is something that, in many ways, is heartbreaking. Jesus has just told the crowd—people who had believed in him—”If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But then verse 37: “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.”
My word finds no place in you.
Can you hear the sadness in that? These are people who belonged to God’s People. They showed up. They listened. But somewhere between their ears and their hearts, the path was blocked. Jesus’ word didn’t have a place to land and to take root. Not only that. Now they want to kill Him for those words.
This leads us to reflect, on this Reformation Sunday, about our own hearts. What’s occupying the room in our hearts?
REFORMATION
Let’s connect it back 508 years ago. On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg. He wasn’t trying to start a revolution. He was trying to clear out the clutter that had filled up the space destined to the Gospel of forgiveness of sins.
At that time, the church had become crowded with other things:
-Buy this indulgence and you’ll shave years off purgatory
-Do these works and you’ll earn God’s favor
-Fear this punishment, follow these rules, pay these fees
The clear, liberating message of Jesus was somewhat buried under layers of human additions. The place for the Gospel was severely reduced.
Luther’s great insight wasn’t something new. It was something old—something that had been there all along in Scripture but had gotten buried. Luther’s work wasn’t much of innovation as it was of excavation. Later on, the Lutheran Church summed the Reformation core message in three latin “Solas” (only/alone):
Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone is our authority
Sola Gratia – We’re saved by grace alone
Sola Fide – Through faith alone
These “solas” weren’t inventions. They were clearing away the debris so people could see what had always been there: Jesus. Just Jesus. Only Jesus.
The Reformation was never about change for change’s sake—it was about making room for what never changes: Christ alone.
However, Reformation Sunday is not about celebrating the Reformation itself. At least not above what the Reformation was about. Luther is not our perfect saint, we don’t want to make an idol out of October 31st, 1517. We don’t want to fill our hearts with pride about being Lutheran.
It’s not the Reformation that needs a place in us. It’s the One the solas point to. It’s Christ himself. It’s His Word—living and active. It’s the Gospel that says you are loved, forgiven, freed, and sent to serve. I guarantee you, Luther would be horrified if we turned his insights into a new kind of law, a new way to feel superior, a new clutter filling up the space where Jesus should be.
This brings us to the question: What’s actually occupying our hearts today?
WORLD vs WORD
We can understand what happened to the Pharisees when we see the parallel: When the WORD doesn’t find a place in us, the WORLD does.
And I don’t mean “the world” in some abstract, out-there sense. I mean the world that’s right here in PoCo, in our homes, in our own heads:
–The world says: You’re only as valuable as you are productive. (So we work ourselves to exhaustion and feel guilty when we rest)
–The world says: We’ll magnify your failures and make redemption and forgiveness very hard to achieve. (So we carry shame for things Christ has already forgiven)
–The world says: Security comes from control. (So we exhaust ourselves trying to manage everything and everyone)
–The world says: You’re on your own and you have to become the best version of yourself. (So we isolate when we’re struggling instead of reaching out, or we rely on our own strength only)
You’ve heard these messages before — in ads, in school, even in your own thoughts. And when we the room is not for Jesus’ Word, something else moves in. We stop being disciples and start acting like masters —masters of our own fate. We know best. We decide. We’ve got this. Or at least we think we do. We don’t need help, don’t need grace, don’t need rest. Or at least we think we do.
Ill: A friend once told me that before company comes over, they clean every room—except one. That’s the “junk room.” The place where everything gets shoved when time runs out. The door stays closed, the light off. I remember doing something similar myself.
Sometimes our hearts are like that. We let Jesus into the tidy living room—the parts of life we’re comfortable showing—but we keep the door closed on the clutter: the habits, fears, and regrets we’d rather hide. Or if we can to connect to what the Pharisees thought of Jesus, we want to “kill him” so His word will not denounce the thoughts we have, the places we go, the keys in the keyboard we hit.
Then, instead of TRUTH, we get “my truth”—whatever makes us feel better in the moment, whatever justifies our choices, whatever lets us avoid the hard work of repentance and trust.
Instead of FREEDOM, we get SLAVERY—slavery to our anxieties, our need to perform, our fear of not measuring up, our exhaustion.[1]
Think about it: The devil doesn’t need to make you an atheist; he only needs to keep your heart too full for the Word.
A place in us
But here’s the good news: Jesus isn’t afraid of clutter. He doesn’t stand in the hallway waiting for a cleaner heart. He walks right in, opens that door, and says, “This is the room I came for.” We can’t clean out the clutter ourselves. But Jesus doesn’t wait for a tidy heart — He moves in and makes it new.
That’s the good news: Christ came to set you free from the tyranny of your feelings, your habits, and your pride. In His Word and Sacraments, He gives you a freedom no one can take away—the freedom of being forgiven, loved, and restored.
Here’s what Jesus offers—here’s what the Reformation recovered—here’s what Hope Lutheran exists to proclaim:
–WORD – The Bible IS the Word of God. Not our opinions about it. Not our feelings. God’s actual voice, speaking life to us.
–DISCIPLES – Through faith, we become followers. And notice: Jesus doesn’t say “if you do all the right things ” but “if you abide in my word”— as His Word has a home in you. That means worship, Scripture reading, prayer, fellowship, the Sacraments. Not to earn anything, but to receive everything.
–TRUTH – God justifies us by faith, apart from works of the law. You don’t have to earn this. You can’t earn this. Christ has done it all. That’s the truth that actually sets you free.
–FREEDOM – Free to serve without resentment. Free to love without keeping score. Free to fail without despair. Free to rest without guilt. Real freedom isn’t doing whatever we want. Real freedom is being able to do what you were made for In Jesus.
Only by grace, through faith, because of Christ, can we finally answer ‘Yes—the Word has found its home in me.’ Not because we’ve made room for it. But because Christ makes room for Himself. He comes in the water and the Word at baptism. He comes in bread and wine, His body and blood. He comes in Scripture read and proclaimed. He comes in the fellowship of believers who remind each other who we are and Whose we are.
CONCLUSION – On October 31st, 1517, when Luther nailed his thesis to the Church door, it wasn’t just to protest indulgences—it was to knock on the Church’s heart and say, “This room belongs to Jesus’ Word alone.” And in a way, every time the Word calls us to repentance, that hammer swings again—clearing space for Christ to dwell in us.
Many things compete for a place in our hearts: worry, ambition, pride, fear, comfort, control. But only One is the perfect fit: Jesus’ Word. It makes us DISCIPLES—not isolated individuals but part of His body. It gives us TRUTH—not changing opinions but the unchanging Gospel. It sets us FREE—not to do whatever we want, but to become who we were meant to be.
Reformation can continually happen in our lives too, through the Word and life with Christ. In faith, His Word always finds a place in us — not just in our minds, but in our mouths, our hands, and our lives. This Word is Truth. And this Truth sets you free. Free to serve. Free to love. Free to live every day in the palm of His hand.
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[1] Here’s the irony: We think we’re free when we’re running our own lives. But actually, we’re trapped. If I say “I don’t need daily prayer, I’ll pray when I feel like it”—I’m not free. I’m rather at the mercy of my feelings. If I say “I don’t need to worship regularly, I can encounter God anywhere”—I’m not really free. I’m tied up to my own perceptions and cut off from the community and means of grace.
