JOHN 8:31-37

[31] So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

[32] and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

[33] They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

[34] Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

[35] The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

[36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

[37] I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.

[38] I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

You could call it the Charlie Brown Syndrome. You remember Charlie Brown, the loveable loser who always seemed to be a day late and a dollar short.  Well, the Charlie Brown Syndrome has to do with self-esteem and the feeling that you’re not quite good enough.  Consider if you will the Peanut’s cartoon where Charlie Brown is talking to Lucy.  Charlie Brown says with great fan fare, “My dad told me that someday I might be able to run for President.”  Lucy is impressed and says, “Really, Charlie Brown?  He must think very highly of you!”  At that point Charlie Brown shrugs his shoulders and says, “I don’t know.  He also said he probably wouldn’t vote for me.”

When was the last time you felt like you just weren’t good enough? It happens from time to time. In high school you find yourself sitting on the bench.  Why?  Because you weren’t not quite good enough to be a starter on the baseball team.  Or, your boss at work tells you that you’re not going to get the promotion that you wanted.  Why?  Because someone else’s qualifications were better than yours. Or your unemployed son is going nowhere with his life and you can’t help but think that things would be different if you had been a better parent.

The Charlie Brown Syndrome…It’s the feeling that you’re not quite good enough.  It’s like the wife who was feeling a little down in the dumps one day and said to her husband, “Just look at me.  My hair is grey.  My arms are flabby and my face is full of wrinkles.”  With that she plopped herself down in a chair and said, “Tell me something that will help me feel better about myself.” The husband smiled and said, “Well, look on the bright side.  At least we know there’s nothing wrong with your eyesight.”

It’s the feeling that you’re not quite good enough and sometimes it carries over to your relationship with God.  That was certainly true for Martin Luther.  Martin Luther the great Protestant Reformer felt like he wasn’t good enough to be loved by God.  He knew that he had sinned and because of those sins he felt like he wasn’t good enough to be allowed into heaven.  So, what did he do?   He did what we all do when we feel we feel like we’re not quite good enough.  He pushed himself to work a little harder.  He worked harder to discipline himself. He slept on a stone slab with no blanket in the middle of winter.  He got up at all hours of the night to pray.   He fasted and did penance for his sins.  He pushed himself to be better and still it wasn’t good enough.

Does that sound familiar?  These days it goes like this.  If I live in a bigger house and drive an expensive car and send my kinds to a private school I’ll be able to feel good about myself.  Yes, it’s true.  I’ve done a few things I shouldn’t have done. I know I’ve sinned from time to time but that’s okay. I’ll just put an extra $10 in the collection plate this week. I’ll help a little old lady across the street and I’ll make the minister a plate of chocolate chip cookies but wait.  I’m not doing that because I want to give a little more to do God’s work.  I’m not doing that because I want to help the little old lady across the street.  I’m not doing that because I think the minister is a nice guy and deserves those chocolate chip cookies.  I’m only doing it because I want to get that black mark off my record.  So, all those good deeds really aren’t good deeds at all.  They’re really bad deeds and now instead of just the one bad black mark I’ve got four marks on my record.  Oh woe is me.  I’m doomed.

By the way, isn’t that what Charlie Brown said from time to time?  I’m doomed!  You’re doomed!   We’re all doomed except…

Except for the promise that Jesus made that day.  Jesus said, “if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  It’s the truth that Martin Luther discovered that set him free. So what is this truth that will set you free?   It’s the truth that you are already loved.  It’s the truth that God already loves you in spite of your faults, in spite of your flaws, in spite of your imperfections.   On the Cross Jesus came face to face with all of our pride, our selfishness our fear and anger and said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  In other words on the Cross the God who was in Jesus Christ said, “There isn’t anything that you can do that will ever make me stop loving you.  I will always love you.  When you do good I will love you with a love that is glad and when you do wrong I will love you with a love that is sad; a love that will always be there to help you turn your life.”

That is the truth that will set you free.  It’s also the truth that will set you free from peer pressure and the feeling that you have to keep up with the neighbors.  It’s the truth that will set you free from the guilt and low self-esteem that leave you feeling like you’re not quite good enough.  It’s the truth will free you from the stress of always pushing yourself to be the perfect mom who can out duel Martha Stewart with glue guns at six paces; or the perfect husband who can work fulltime and be there fulltime for his family, or the perfect daughter who gets straight A’s in school and is a star on the soccer field. 

You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  God loves you Charlie Brown.  So, don’t worry if the Christmas pageant isn’t perfect.   Don’t listen to Lucy when she calls you a blockhead.  Don’t get angry and call Peppermint Patty names if she doesn’t send you a Valentine.  And when you refuse to let Linus use your baseball glove because you’re being selfish just say you’re sorry and really mean it.

Then go on with your day and remember that God loves you.  God really does loves you.

So many people don’t do that.  They live their lives like Shoichi Yokoi.   Now you’re probably wondering who the heck is Shoichi Yokoi?  Shoichi Yokoi was a Japanese tailor until he was drafted in 1941.   Two years later he was sent to Guam.   When the Americans invaded the island he when into the jungles to hide.   He refused to surrender even when he saw leaflets that said the war was over.  He thought it was a lie.  So, he continue to fight and resist.  He lived in a case and hunted at night until January 24, 1972.   That was when two fishermen found him.  The fishermen were able to subdue him and take him back to civilization.   Shoichi Yokoi was flown back to Japan and when he got off the plane he said, “It is with some embarrassment, but I have returned.”

For 27 years Shoichi Yokoi had been fighting a war that was already over.   That’s why he was embarrassed.  Jesus would say the same thing to us.  The war is over.   Just accept the fact that God loves you.   When you do that you will find salvation.  It changes everything.   You don’t have to worry about guilt.  You don’t have to worry about peer pressure.  You don’t have to worry about low self-esteem.  The truth has set you free to be loved and to love like you’ve never loved before.  Now though instead of trying to earn God’s favor, your deeds of love will be an expression of gratitude for what God has already done for you.  Your love will be better. Your love will be purer.  You might even end up loving the way Stacie Crimm did earlier this year.  Her story was in the news last week.   Stacie Crimm was 41 years old and she was expecting her first child.   She was delighted because she had been told that she would never be able to give birth to a child.  Then her doctors told her that she had neck cancer.  She had to make a difficult decision.  Her doctors told her that she had to choose between chemotherapy and her unborn baby.   Stacy quickly announced that she had lived her life and refused to undergo the chemotherapy.   Several months later Stacy collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital.  The doctors had to deliver the baby ten weeks early and little Dottie Mae only weighed two lb. and one ounce when she was born.   Stacy was able to hold the baby in her arms though and then three days later she died.

When you know the truth, the real truth that is at the heart of the gospel, it will take you beyond the Charlie Brown Syndrome.  It will set you free to be loved and to love like you’ve never loved before.   Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

October  30, 2011