In Christ Jesus, We are Free – July 4, 2021
Romans 8:1-8, Acts 9:1-21
July 4, 2021
“For you were called to freedom, brethren. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:13-14)
Those are the words of the Apostle Paul, written to the church in Galatia. (Galatians 5) And on this day when we celebrate our freedom in this country, I’d like us to think about the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, freedom that Paul wrote about often. He experienced that freedom in a dramatic way! And we remember his story today. In one blinding instant, he was freed from his stubborn willfulness, his “stiff-necked-ness.” On that road, he was freed from his struggle against God!
I have often wondered about Paul in his former life. As the Pharisee, Saul, I really think he was divided within himself. As I’ve said about the Pharisees in the past, they were the “keepers of the faith.” It was their job to protect the faith. They were the “apologists,” like I talked about last week with Stephen. Apologists are people who can speak and reason and defend the faith. That’s what the Pharisees were called to do. And it was also their job to protect the people from those who would lead them astray. And deep inside, I think Saul truly believed he was doing that. And yet, in his great “zeal” – maybe even “extreme zeal,” he became this man who is described here as “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”
I don’t know about you, but that part doesn’t sound right to me! I think there are certain actions and attitudes that we can see as “red flags.” Jesus said we know someone by their “fruit,” just like we know a tree by the fruit it produces. If you see and apple on a tree, you can be pretty certain what kind of tree it is. And if someone is “breathing threats and murder” I think that’s a “red flag.” That’s a pretty good indication that they are probably not following God’s will.
So, Saul would become Paul. In this story, he was on his way to Damascus with arrest warrants for any Christians he found there. Remember, they were scattered around the region because of the persecution that arose in the beginning of chapter 8, after the stoning of Stephen. So Saul was pursuing them! And on the way, a blinding light knocked him to the ground, and he heard Jesus speaking to him, and everything changed!
This is a wonderful story of transformation. As I’ve said before, I’d like to think this was the inspiration for the story of Ebenezer Scrooge. I’ve never actually heard that, but I’d love to ask Mr. Dickens if it was. Because Scrooge was transformed in a similar way to Saul. And we love this guy Ananias, don’t we? He’s the one who was sent to Saul from Damascus – despite his objection! “Lord, you’ve got to be kidding!” he said. “We know all about this guy, and what he’s done to your people in Jerusalem. And now he’s after us!” And yet, Ananias walked into that room and what did he say to him? “Brother Saul!” I love that! He was a man of great faith! And he was also very brave!
As I said, Saul was a man of great zeal. He did things with great “intensity!” And so, he went from being the biggest antagonist of the Church to its biggest advocate – it’s greatest champion! And what great strategy that was on God’s part! How do you deal with your worst enemy? You get him on your side! You make him your greatest ally! Now, Paul became an “apologist,” a “defender” of this new faith. He became one who could debate and prove the faith very effectively. And he would do so with great zeal!
Remember, the Roman world was modeled on that of the Greek civilization before them. And in the Greek world, discourse and debate were very big! There were public debates that were thought of the way we think of sporting events. And those who were good in those debates were thought of the way we think of sports heroes. And it was the same thing in the Roman world. To be able to speak and reason and argue well was a big thing!
So Paul told the Galatians, and others, about the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. It was a freedom he experienced in a big way that road to Damascus. Saul was set free from so much anger and fear that he held! And don’t we sometimes feel bound by such things, too? Don’t we need that freedom? I believe the freedom that Paul felt must have been a like huge weight lifted off of his shoulders! The relief from all that inner turmoil had to have been uplifting, even exhilarating!
So we think of that freedom today. In Christ Jesus we are free! That’s the title of this message, and the thought for today. And I think the Fourth of July comes at a good time this year. There’s a lot being said these days about freedom. In many ways, we are reexamining what it means to have “liberty and justice for all.” And among the various things that are being talked about is freedom of the African-Americans from slavery.
We just celebrated “Juneteenth.” The 19th of June. That’s the day in 1865 when slavery was officially abolished in the last state of the Confederacy. (Does anybody remember what state?) The actual end of slavery took place in each state as the Union army advanced and gained control of that state. And the last state was the most remote state, Texas. So slavery was abolished there last. But even after that, we know it wasn’t that simple. There were a lot more struggles to come, and we still have those struggles today.
By the way, that’s what the Statue of Liberty is all about. We’ve come to think about her as having to do with immigration. But I finally got to visit her for the first time in 2008. I know it was that year because it was right around the time when we in this area had recently been freed from the tyranny of not winning a World Series for a long time!
What I learned on the Liberty tour surprised me! The statue was given to the United States by France to celebrate the ending slavery in this country. And if you remember the story, they gave us the statue, but we had to come up with a plan (and the money!) to build a pedestal to put her on. And that wasn’t easy! There was a public fund raising campaign, and as part of that campaign, they used Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus.” And that’s the poem that was etched on the statue as part of the dedication. I won’t read you the whole poem, but the last part of it reads like this:
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Those are wonderful words! And that is a noble sentiment. And ever since then, we’ve thought of Lady Liberty that way. And indeed countless people “yearning to breathe free” looked for her after long voyages, then knowing they had made it, and that freedom was nearly theirs.
But that wasn’t her original story. If you look at her, she’s striding forward, treading on the broken shackles and chains of slavery, with the tablet in her arm that says July 4th, 1776, which is the date of the Declaration of Independence – which was read in public 245 years ago this very day – just down the road. And she holds aloft the lamp of freedom. And that’s a lamp that should have represented freedom for all people – and perhaps now might. And yet we’re still struggling with that even today.
And in our struggle, I think we’ve come to understand that some of the worst prisons have no bars or chains. They’re the prisons we put people in by our attitudes toward them. And hopefully we’re on the road to doing away with those prisons.
At the same time, I think we often find ourselves in prisons, enslaved to so many things. We’re enslaved to our own stress and anxiety, to other people’s expectations, to our own financial worries, to our mistakes and out guilt. And those are things from which Christ Jesus sets us free.
I believe our story for today shows Saul being set free from so much! And so are we! We are if we are vigilant, if we continue to work towards it, and if we talk to God about it, and if we’re thankful for it. So, as we celebrate our freedom in this country this day, let it indeed be a time to remember that, in Christ Jesus, we are free.
Prayer
Eternal God, we are grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. And we are thankful that in Christ Jesus we are free. Help us to live in the freedom and the peace that only you can give. For we pray in our Savior’s name, Amen.