The truth will make you free. Jesus did not free us so that we can do whatever we want. Instead, we are made free by Christ so that we can be who we truly are, children of God. Our freedom comes from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (not from any gift of humans). In this we are free from our sin through the forgiveness Jesus gives us. In this we have eternal life that we live right now as children of God. Sometimes we may feel that we are not good enough or important enough to matter, but each one of us is so important to God that Jesus gave his life so we can live as God's children. All people are important to God. All people are children of God whether they know it or not.
Our salvation, our life, our hope is in Christ alone. There are some who believe that they can save themselves. Many in print, on the radio, and TV tell us that if we try hard enough we can achieve greatness. We can even make ourselves good and be god-like. But, history has shown time and again that when we rely on ourselves, and not on God, when we try to be god-like, we fail miserably. Instead of being free, we become enslaved to the self.
Let's go back to the beginning, to the story of Adam and Eve. In that story the serpent told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, they would not die but they would be like God having knowledge of good and evil. So they ate the fruit, but they did not become like God; instead sin and death entered creation.
During the time of Exodus, after God had freed the people from slavery, Moses goes up the mountain to receive the law from God. As soon as Moses does this, what do the people do?They become impatient. They don't wait for Moses to return. Instead they turn their back on God. They worship a false god of their own making; one they can control. How soon they forget God's promise to them and their promise to God. Instead, they make a god for themselves, forgetting how God had saved, rescued, and freed them.
God has also saved, rescued, and freed us. Like the Israelites, we did not do anything to merit our rescue, salvation, and freedom. God alone took the initiative. Whether we like it or not, only God can save us. At the right time God sent Christ to die for us. While we were still sinners God sent Christ to die for you and me. We are made right, righteous, we are saved, we are freed to truly be ourselves by Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Paul says in Romans 5 that when we rely on our own ability, we run into trouble, we fall short, we fail. But, God showed us true love, for while we were still sinners Christ came and died for us. Jesus is our lifeguard freeing us, saving us, and giving us life through his own life.
How then do we respond to God's free gift of salvation? Do we hide this gift of forgiveness and life, locked away in a vault, so no one can get at it, only taking it out for display on Sunday mornings, then hiding it away until the next Sunday gathering? Are we freed on Sunday only to let ourselves be enslaved again on Monday? Or do we respond to God's saving grace by living as a freed disciple of Christ every day of the week?
Each of us is called on to respond to God's loving grace. Only you can answer your calling from Jesus to be an example of faith through word and action. Others can guide and help us in our response to God, but in the end, each of us are called on to respond. As an individual and in community we are called on to respond to the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Today many are lost and drowning in a sea of confusion that is our world. They are pulled in many directions, bounced around from one inadequate philosophy to another. In times of crisis, all they can respond with is hopelessness, despair, anger, and fear, often using some hyped up form of patriotism that forces God to be on our side. All this only causes more hopelessness, pain, and suffering.
But, God calls on us to be beacons of light, love, and peace in a world of darkness, pain, and war. We are callled on to show the one true way of freedom and life, the way of Christ Jesus. This is why God has called us: to be lights in a dark world, to be living examples of the Gospel in action. God calls on you and me to take a stand, a stand for the good news of Jesus, to proclaim to the world God's saving and freeing grace.
Martin Luther writes in his explanation of the second article of the Apostles' Creed. "I believe that Jesus Christ.... Has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person. He has purchased and freed me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil...with his holy, precious blood...He has done all this in order that I may belong to him, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in eternal righteousness." Today we have the opportunity to take a stand, to respond to salvation, to respond to God's forgiveness, to respond to the true freedom we have in Jesus.
Today you and I have the opportunity to share with others the gifts that God has given to each of us, to use those God-given gifts for the benefit of all. Working together as the body of Christ, we can lift one another up, we can proclaim to our community, and to the world that in Jesus Christ there is hope, there is freedom, there is life. That through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ all are offered God's free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. We have been rescued by God and are free indeed. How then will you respond?
Lord Jesus, guide us in being your disciples. Help us to live under the freedom you have given us and to proclaim your love to all the world. Amen.
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