| “Captive or Free” Scripture Lesson: Galatians 5:1, 23-25 Sermon Transcript for July 5, 2009 By Pastor Bob Coleman
Galatians 5:1: “For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.” 1 Peter 2:15-17: “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” Galatians 5:12-14: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself.” With Pastor Andy and Jenothy and Roger on vacation, then I feel liberated to confess for them today. They have “philes” or maybe to be grammatically correct, they are philes! The definition of “phile” is: 1) One that loves or has a strong affinity or preference for—audiophile; or 2) Loving; having a strong affinity or preference for—Francophile. If you heard Pastor Jenothy last week, you know she is an “arborphile”—one who has a strong affinity or love of trees. A tree lover! Andy is a “bibliophile”—a lover of books. There is seldom a week goes by that he doesn’t get at least one book in the mail. If you compare our offices, I have more books than he does, but the catch is, he had read all of his. Roger and Sarai are “musicphiles”—lovers of music. My one son-in-law, Nathan, married to our younger daughter, Angi, who just had their first child, a beautiful girl, Alise Nicole on July 1 at 4:45 a.m. and weighing in at 9 lb 14 oz and 21 inches. The meaning of Alise is noble, exalted, great happiness. That son-in-law is a “technophile”—a lover of all things technology. Now that I have told on all those who mostly aren’t here to defend themselves and since this is communion weekend, I must confess. I am a “paradoxaphile”—a lover of paradoxes. Before you know what I love, a refresher on the word “paradox”. What is a paradox? Such statements are called paradoxes: statements that seem contradictory, unbelievable or downright absurd, but that, in fact, may actually be true. A fish is not free to be a fish unless it remains a slave to the water. Imagine the ludicrous consequence if a fish should argue, “I’m tired of this watery home. I’ll make on giant leap and hope I land in a tree. If I make it, I will build a nest and then be like a bird!” Likewise, that bird is not free to be a bird unless it is a slave to the air. Nor is a seed of corn free to grow unless it becomes a slave to the soil. My paradox is that at times I can be a closet patriot and a closet Christian. How can that be a paradox? Let me explain a little about some of my background that may help. I am thankful for something that I had nothing to do with—being born into a country that has so much freedom. Neither my Dad nor I have served in the military. So I cannot say I defended this country in that way. I did not choose to come here, but am very thankful for the privilege of being here through the choice of my ancestors coming. I do not claim the right to be here as if I had anything to do with something done over 200 years ago. I do not claim a God-given right to be here but accept being here as a humbling and challenging gift. I don’t feel I can exclude outright the desire for others to want to come here, or who want to find a way to gain this type of freedom in their own country. My ancestors chose to pick up and come for whatever reason. There are others who have come here not by choice but by bondage and slavery. I am thankful for those who have set a foundation of freedom in our law and have, when appropriate, defended our country from those who seriously have wanted to overthrow this form of government, not just this way of life. I do admit to a stirring of the heart and emotion when certain songs are sung that humbly present the power of freedom which we are so privileged to have and recognize the love that others have of their own country. But I do not place my love for this country, its history and heritage above or beyond the deeper privilege and honor of being a part of God’s kingdom of love, grace, forgiveness and service. When I see an American flag, I don’t feel more love and emotion than when I see the Christian flag. I don’t pledge allegiance to this flag and the country for which it stands over and above the flag of the Kingdom of God. There is a greater country of which we are a part that unites us heart, soul, and mind with people who may be in lands of equal or greater beauty, but currently are not experiencing any thing close to the kinds and levels of freedom that we have here. There is a connection that should be stronger and longer lasting than the American flag or the government under which we live. In fact, there is a citizen connection and relationship that is stronger, more powerful and more lasting than the earthly address that we so casually take for granted. I am speaking of the paradox of God’s earthly and heavenly kingdom of which Jesus spoke on numerous times and in numerous ways. Indeed, there is a paradox found in what is behind both flags. In both, freedom is spoken of. But in both, to gain this ultimate freedom we must give something up. The “freedom” to live in this country calls forth responsibility of citizenship. To receive the blessings of freedom of this country means we are to respect our leaders, follow the law of the land and, yes, even to pay taxes in order to have services. We become a part of the broader community and take on the yoke of responsibility to the greater good for “E Pluribus Unum”. A paraphrase is “many uniting into one”. An accurate translation of the motto is “out of many, one”—a phrase that elegantly captures the symbolism on the shield. To be free as an individual in this country means we give up the right to do what ever we _____ well please and at least think of and accept the greater good of others if not formally act upon such principles. We are expected to live within the constraints of the law for our good and the good of others. This takes into account that at times those very laws can be poorly written and need to be changed and at other moments, the law can be poorly applied which also needs to be corrected. Remember, the Founding Fathers were literally only Fathers—males and white males at that. Some of them even owned slaves for at least a time. Slaves and non slaves were not even counted as whole human beings. Women were not equal to men in legal ways and could not vote. (One can only imagine what might have been if women and people of all color were part of the mix of the Founding Fathers). Through amendments to the constitution and other laws, that has been changed for today. What was understood and accepted in that historical context of that time narrowly interpreted in relation to the rule of a King in England has now been spread more broadly than those early men could have imagined. Yet I would hope they would in general be pleased to know how far we have come in these areas. We cannot forget the paradox that “freedom costs each of us something”. People in the military understand this. They give up freedom to submit to military authority. And if called to do so like police and firefighters and others who pledge to protect, they will lay down their lives for others, if only for the one in the patrol next to them. The same paradox is true for the Kingdom of Heaven. To gain forgiveness and life eternal, we submit ourselves to the greater calling of Jesus’ voice to worship the Lord our God with heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. We accept a yoke of responsibility and constraints in our lives to live free from the death sentence of sin. Like the fish and the bird, we are only free to be the people God created us to be when we accept our place as slaves to His Lordship. This is a profound paradox. There are many paradoxes in the Bible. In II Corinthians 12:10, Paul states, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” And in Luke 9:48, ,”For he who is least among you, all will be great.” And in John 12:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” In the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, there is a binding of spirits and souls that crosses the natural barriers of mountains, rivers, and oceans and the unnatural barriers of political and social divisions. While indeed we can and should be vigilant in protecting basic rights for all peoples living under the law of this land, the Kingdom of which Jesus spoke was first captivating before it was freeing. Isaiah spoke in this way, “Of his government, there shall be no end.” Matthew 22:20-22, “and he asked the, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s”, they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.” John 18:35-37, “Am I a Jew? Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” The founding leaders of this country and the common person fought to be free from the tyranny of a King. Yet paradoxically, as Christians we pledge our allegiance to King Jesus. The hymn, “Make me a Captive, Lord”, lists a series of paradoxes. George Matheson wrote it as an interpretation of Ephesians 3:1, where Paul speaks of being the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Originally titles, “Christian Freedom”, the hymn lists a series of paradoxes. The first phrase, “Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free” is related to the beginning of a historic Church of England prayer, “O God … whose service is perfect freedom …” My heart is weak and poor until it master find; My power is faint and low till I have learned to serve; My will is not my own till Thou hast made it Thine; Matthew 10:39, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Our sinful nature does not appreciate this kind of language. In our culture, prestige, position, and power are prized possessions. We prefer the sentiments of Henley’s famous poem, “Invictus”: I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. No doubt Matheson learned this lesson in his own life. Blind by the time he was 18, he eventually had to give up studying theology, which he loved. He then put his time and energy into devotional writing and preaching. As a preacher, he had a profound effect on all that heard him, including Queen Victoria and Oswald Chambers. Dick Cheney, former vice president said, “I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone.” In truth, freedom means being a captive to something (the law of the Land) or someone (King Jesus).
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