Dear fellow redeemed, Veterans’ Day is not a part of the liturgical calendar. But, neither is New Year's Day, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, or Thanksgiving Day. And yet, on each of those days we stop, pause, and reflect for a little bit, on the significance of those days. And so, today I would like to do the same with this Veterans' Day.

Veterans' Day had its origin at the end of World War I, when on November 11^th, 1918 the Allies and Germany signed the Armistice Agreement. For various years, different celebrations took place, until by an act of congress; Armistice Day became Veterans' Day in 1954.

On that very first Veterans' Day, President Eisenhower gave a threefold address to the people. The three things that President Eisenhower wanted us to remember were these things. First of all he wanted us to remember those who sacrificed their lives in death for our freedom. He also wanted us to give thanks to living veterans. (We did that here at Holy Cross on Friday night, as a number of our own members marched in, stood up as they were a part of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard, and we gave thanks to living veterans.) Thirdly, it was President Eisenhower who said that we should promote an enduring freedom.

Today, I would like to give further details about that enduring freedom in connection with our text, and the true freedom that we have in Christ.

One of the things that our text for today tells us is that we have true freedom from slavery. In a very immediate context in our section of scripture for today, from John, chapter 8, it says Jesus was talking to those Jews who believed in Him, but certainly, there were also Jews who did not believe in Him that were listening. They must have had short-term memory, because they tell Jesus, "We are Abraham's descendents, and have never been slaves of anyone."

Well, they must have forgotten how their forefathers were enslaved in Egypt for 430 years. They must have forgotten that they were enslaved, first of all by the Assyrians, and then by the Babylonians in captivity. They had short-term memory, because they forgot about those things.

Well, just as the Jewish people had been slaves, so also it is you and me who are slaves, as well.

We are slaves to anything that has mastery over us. Let me share with you a couple of light hearted examples. I admit that I am slave to coffee. Coffee has mastery over me. I love the taste of it. I love drinking it. But, I drink it by the pot full! Therefore, there are times, during the course of the year, where I tell myself, "You have to stop drinking coffee!" I am proud to say, "I am on day fourteen, right now! It has been two weeks since I have had coffee."

But, I know when my time for being without coffee is up, I will be very good. I will start out with just one cup of coffee. But then, in a couple of weeks, that one cup will lead to two, two cups will lead to four, and finally, four cups will lead to a pot again. I am a slave to coffee.

I am also a slave to football on TV. I love football on TV. And, it gets the best of me. It has mastery over me. And so, I know there are times in which I need to turn the game off. I know there are times in which I need to go outside. Sometimes, even in our household, we have to unplug the TV, because it has mastery over, (I will admit it), me!

Well, those are just some light hearted things in life that may have mastery over us.

But, what about the sin that so easily enslaves us and has mastery over us? For each and every one of us those sins that enslave us are different. It may be anger. Maybe anger holds you in captivity and has mastery over you. Maybe it is drugs or alcohol that you are enslaved to and it has mastery over you. Maybe it is gossip that you are enslaved to and it has mastery over you. Or, is it cheating. Maybe you are enslaved to cheating and it has mastery over you.

Ezekiel put it this way when he said,

"The soul that sins

is the one that will die."

Those sins that enslave us and have mastery over us are for each and every one of us going to lead to the day of our death. If salvation were left up to ourselves, we would be lost forever.

Right before our Epistle Lesson for today, in Galatians chapter 5, it was Paul, who reminded us,

"It is for freedom

that Christ has set you free."

Christ has set you and I free from the mastery of our sin. And the way that Jesus has freed us from the mastery of our sin is through His death on the cross.

As we then read about that in God's Word, we see that we have true freedom, in God's Word. It is in God's Word that we are reminded of who Jesus is and how He won true freedom for us. God's Word tells us that Jesus is true God and true Man in one person. Jesus is God-sent from God. Jesus not only lived a perfect live for us, perfectly keeping even those sins that enslave us, but also took that perfect life to the cross. There, Jesus gave up His life in death so that we could have forgiveness and we could have true freedom in Him and true freedom for eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Now, what is the mark of true followers of Jesus? The mark of true followers of Jesus is to hold to His teaching and to remain in His Word. Jesus simply put it this way in our text for today where He said,

"If you hold to my teaching

(if you remain in my Word),

you are really my disciples.

Then you will know the truth,

and the truth

will set you free."

True freedom from the slavery of our sin and true freedom found in God's Word now means that we have true freedom to serve God.

There once was a man who went to a farmer's market. There, he approached a man who was selling a covey of quail (a flock of quail). People could come and buy a quail and bring that quail home for dinner. Those quail were attached by a string between their leg and a pole. They would walk around that pole, following one another. So the man went to the seller and asked, "How much for the whole covey (flock) of quail?"

They settled on an agreed upon price. Then, the new buyer cut all of the strings that were attaching those quail to the pole. They had true freedom.

But, you know what? Those quail continued to walk around in a circle. That is what they had been doing and that is what they continued to do, even though they were no longer attached.

I think sometimes we are like that covey of quails. We have true freedom from the slavery of sin. That true freedom is given to us in God's Word. And yet, just like those quail walking around that pole, we continue to fall back into our captivity and back into our being enslaved by sin.

It was not until the man shooed those quail away that they finally had their freedom. Our true freedom means that we are no longer slaves to sin. That true freedom means that we are free from sin, death, and the devil. We are free in Christ. And, we are free for eternal life!

It is not too often that Veterans' Day falls on a Sunday. But, when it does, I think it is appropriate for us to stop and pause on the significance of the day. After all, we do so with New Year's Day, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Father's Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving Day.

On Veterans Day, from a national standpoint, we thank God for those who gave their lives in death for our freedom, and also, for those living veterans, who fought, so that we can have the freedom to worship God as we please.

But particularly, it was President Eisenhower who talked about promoting an enduring freedom. Today we heard once again that we have an enduring freedom in Christ. We no longer are slaves to sin, and it is for true freedom that Christ has set us free!

Amen.