The Paradox (and confusion) of Freedom

In the movie, Princess Bride, Wesley (the main character), tells the Sicilian (one of the bad guys), "I don't think you know what that word means (referencing the word, "inconceivable"). There is a "cultural" meaning of freedom, and there is a Biblical meaning of freedom. I don't think we have a healthy grasp of what that word means. Let's see which one we really want!

Biblically, Jesus gives us a short definition of freedom. "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed (John 8:34-36)." Here's the paradox. You can live in a "free country," and you can sing the songs of freedom, but remain a slave. Or, you can be in jail in Russia, but be living in a greater freedom that can only be found in Christ.

In this short passage from John 8, in which Jesus' testimony is delegitimized by the Pharisees, He is chastised by the religious regime. In the same chapter, the Pharisees dispute the identity of Jesus.  A third thing happens in this chapter. The Jews claim the name of Abrahan as their ancestor, and they claim they are therefore "chosen" and free. Jesus responds by telling them their ancestry and country is not the source of their true freedom.

Jesus could have had this conversation with any group of Americans. Because we are confused by this "idea" of freedom, and often miss the actuality of true freedom. Jesus' message is pointed, but very unpopular.  1) Your freedom can only come from the sacrifice that has paid for your freedom. 2) Your freedom doesn't come from your ancestry ... it comes from a relationship with God's Son.  3) If you are enslaved by sin, you have not yet been brought into the family of God.

Jesus is saying, choose Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and become a free man/woman.  And, for you historians, let's take a critical look back at history.  Freedom is, historically, fleeting.  Nations can only provide a temporary glimpse of freedom.  Over time, nations have a way of forgetting their foundational principles.  Does this sound familiar?

I am intrigued by the overall discussion in John 8.  First, the leaders challenge what Jesus is saying (His testimony).  Then, they challenge His actual identity.  Then, they even say Jesus "isn't really one of them."  This scarily resembles conversations happening in denominational disputes and in extreme political disputes.  This turmoil boils down to a lack of understanding of the freedom offered by Jesus, and we must (nationally) hold to Him, lest we become spiritual wanderers, "Like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36-38)."

As we celebrate our Independence, let's remember that true freedom isn't doing whatever we want.  True freedom is choosing those things (and the one person) that offer "abundant life (John 10:10)."  Let's love our country, and long for our home with Jesus.  And let's spread the true message of freedom, from sea to shining sea!

The Battleground

Are you in or out of the battle? Is there a battle happening?  Do you know you are choosing as you live out your day?  These are questions that I think about.  What about you?

I often look at my Facebook posts and wonder what professing Christians think.  While the Bible is calling us to be aware and careful where we invest our resources and our relationships, we often seem to be wandering along as what the Bible calls, "sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36)."  When Jesus said this, he was observing the Jewish people as they did life, oblivious to the wars happening for their very souls.  He follows this statement with a verse that convicts us, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37)."

Today, I want to equate the two verses, above, with another verse from Ephesians 6.  Ephesians reminds us that we battle against forces we (in the "enlightened" world) seem to ignore or not believe.  "For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12)."  While this is a mouthful, and is starkly against a culture that ignores the idea of unseen forces, I want us to take some time to examine where these battles take place, and with whom we are fighting.

Three places are mentioned.  The unseen world, this dark world, and heavenly places.  Biblically, the unseen world represents powers and presences that are among us but are not visible.  In the Bible, there are 2 realms of creation.  The first is the Elohim, where angels, spirits, and the "sons of God (note the lowercase "s") exist.  The Elohim can be either the place or the beings from this realm.  Created beings from the Elohim have, in the Bible, come into the world, and have created both mischief and good (angels come with the blessing of God ... other beings have come in disobedience)   This dark world is where we live, in the seen part of the creation.  There are mighty powers here, some from evil people and some from beings that have come here (from the Elohim) for nefarious purposes.  Finally, there are evil spirits in heavenly places. These spirits wage a cosmic battle against God (Isaiah 14, Revelation 9).  Our world, at least as it is described in Scripture, is not one-dimensional.  

Three enemies are mentioned.  Evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world include fallen "sons of God" who are declared enemies of God in Genesis, Isaiah, and the Psalms.  Most people ignore or consign these powers (and references to them) to myth, allegory, or just hyperbole.  If you believe Scripture, and you are not blinded by our culture, you might begin to see these powers (and their patterns).  You might even ask, "Why do certain places in the world seem to produce incredible evil that permeates an entire area/culture?"

Mighty powers in this dark world are also mentioned.  There are people, some having great resources or great authority, that have joined Satan in his plan to bring people under his authority.  These people have sold out, and are now part of Satan's plan.  Some of these are even false prophets who lead people astray by looking like the good guys.  Have you seen this?  I know I have!

Finally, there are evil spirits in heavenly places.  It is interesting to know that even in God's realm of the Elohim, there are created beings that oppose God.  Lucifer, before he was cast out of heaven, was "an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11)."

I'll leave on these few thoughts.  We will sing a song in 1st Service this week.  It is called, "Ain't No Grave."  A line in the song tells us about the battleground, and about our champion.  "There is a battle, a war between death and life, there on the cross, the Son of God was crucified, He went on down to hell, and took back every key, He rose up like a lion, and now He's setting all the captives free!"  Jesus has won the battle, so Paul says do 2 things.  Put on the full armor of God (truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and God's Word).  And pray.  Pray "in the Spirit,"  For this battle is a spiritual battle.  You can't escape the battleground, but, with Jesus' help, the battle is won!  AMEN, and praise God!

Always Monkeys!

I have learned, in life, that when you are in an exciting situation with opportunities, momentum and imminent success, there is always a monkey!  It seems that obstacles and difficulties are both normal and inevitable.  It is just life, I guess!

You might ask, what kind of monkeys are you talking about?  When I visited Brazil, we were taken out into a beautiful rain forest of trees older than America.  There were beautiful birds, stunning flowers, and we had to catch our breath at the lushness of what we saw.  But, true to form, there were monkeys.  These trashy creatures gathered in the trees, chattering and leaping around, very upset with our presence.  When this didn't cause us to leave, the nasty things started throwing fruit at us.  So much for pristine and quiet beauty!  There are always monkeys!

John 4 recounts a story of ministry success.  Jesus' disciples were baptizing and leading many people to the faith, much to the dismay of the Pharisees, the church leaders of Jesus' day.  Monkeys!  To add complication to the situation, Jesus and the disciples were rerouted through Samaria.  The Jews viewed the Samaritans as monkeys (bad actors in the play of life), and the Samaritans viewed the Jews as monkeys.  And one more complication.  As Jesus comes into town, he meets a Samaritan woman, and one of notorious ill repute.  Another monkey!  Even for Jesus, no good deed goes unchallenged!

In life there are always those monkeys, trying to impede or stop things that are both good and right.  What do we do?  Jesus embraced the situation.  He took the trip through Samaria in stride, and (recounting the birth story of Jesus) it is likely his parents, Mary and Joseph, elected to travel through Samaria, ignoring the bad name of this hated place.  He looked for an opportunity to announce the Kingdom of God.

Jesus used the situation (and this woman) to make several theological points we can grasp and apply today.  The Kingdom of God welcomes those that society casts out (women, those who are sinners, those who don't have their act together, those who are not popular with the in crowd).  Jesus doesn't just embrace these folks ... He converts and redeems them!  The Kingdom of God is for all people willing to listen, believe and allow the Gospel to make its way into their hearts.  The Kingdom of God goes everywhere ... even into places the "elite, proud, popular" people avoid.

Jesus used the situation to ask this untrained, spiritually-unprepared woman to go to, tell, and bring others to the feet of their Savior.  Jesus ends this story with both promise and one more "monkey."  The promise is that the harvest is plentiful.  The "monkey" is the lack of workers.  Matthew 9:37-38 says, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

We often avoid, abandon or just stop ministries that present obstacles.  It is our nature.  But, what if we 1) embrace the situation, 2) use the situation, and (doing what Jesus did in Matthew 9) 3) pray to the Lord of the Harvest for guidance, solutions and power over those nasty monkeys?

Out Of The Box?

You all know how much I dislike cliche's, especially the politically-correct buzzwords of our time.  But I am breaking from my pattern and using the phrase, Out Of The Box. This is sort of appropriate for me, since using cliche's is "out of the box" for me.

The Acts Church was, truly, a group of dedicated believers that had chosen to leave the structure and norms of their Jewish roots.  They broke away from the Law of Stone and embraced the Law of Grace.  They deferred to God's calling through God's Spirit, leaving the control of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  They understood that God was FOR them but was not ABOUT them.  Their center was Jesus.  Their power was from God's Spirit.  They were out of the box!

Last week the Alabama Supreme Court denied the standing of 45 congregations to have their case heard in a court of law.  These 45 congregations had cited unlawful and inconsistent behavior by the United Methodist Church in relation to property and financial practices.  Without dwelling on the case, and the merits thereof, I am thinking that this decision should cause these "churches" to make some hard, and possibly freeing, decisions.  Here is my advice.

I would advise them to "just walk away."  Paul said, "I focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us (Philippians 3:13-14)."  That is a mouthful, but Paul is saying what my friend Karl Stegall shared in a message to our recent Annual Conference ... remember that the windshield is far larger than the side view mirror for a reason.

In Acts, the new Church, People of the Way (Acts 9:2), were disenfranchised and persecuted by the Jewish leadership, the Roman authorities, and those with economic interest in the "status quo."  There is an almost exact Scriptural parallel to the conflict inside the United Methodist Church and their member congregations.  It is found in Acts 5, where the apostles are basically told (by Jewish leaders) "Follow us, our reconstruction of Scripture and our control over what and where you can preach/teach."  Here is what the apostles did (Acts 5:41-42) ... "The apostles left the high council, rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.  And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: "Jesus is the Messiah."

They left the box.  They taught about Jesus and the Kingdom of God.  They followed their leader, Jesus.  They were led by the Holy Spirit.  And they (by their radical message that "left the box") changed the world.  AMEN!