Galatians 5:1,13-25 | July 4, 2010
I get my haircut by a lady who has a shop in Petaluma. Now before I go on I want to make something clear. Your pastor does not have a hair stylist cut his hair. I think of her as a barber.
Now let me tell you about her. She grew up in Vietnam. Because her dad supported South Vietnam, her family was made to live in poverty. She told me that many a night she went to bed hungry. One man complained. He disappeared never to be seen again. They couldn’t live in the city. They couldn’t get a good education. She was able to come here about 12 years ago. Then she said something that really caught my attention. If someone could spend one day in my country, they would really appreciate living here in the United States.
We who have grown up in these United States with all the freedoms this country bestows can learn something from people like that. Here she has found freedom and opportunity she did not know in Vietnam. She can live where she wants. She can build her business. She doesn’t have to worry that the police are watching her every move.
It’s easy for us to take those freedoms for granted. Don’t. They came at a terrible cost of blood and life. But it’s also easy to use our freedoms in ways we shouldn’t.
Well today the apostle Paul talks about freedom. A freedom that is far more precious than any other. The freedom that is ours in Christ. How do we use that freedom? The inspired apostle speaks very directly. In so many words he says:
Freedom! Use it. Don’t abuse it.
I. Christ has set you free
II. Serve one another.
III Follow the Spirit’s lead
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Paul paints a grim picture of life without Christ. He calls it a yoke of slavery. You know what a yoke was. It’s a heavy wooden bar that hitched an animal to a heavy load. But Paul is not talking about animals. He’s talking about people. He’s talking about life without Christ, a yoke of slavery.
Here Paul must have been scratching his head. These Christisns were allowing some false teachers to steal their freedom and yoke them up again to a terrible burden – God’s law. You see, without Christ we are slaves to that law which tests our every word, which examines every motive in our hearts. We are slaves to the 10 commandments which hold us accountable for every loveless action, every careless word that comes from our lips. We are slaves to a standard that we cannot keep and the Law’s just verdict on us all. The wages of sin is death.
That’s the burden we once bore. But here is the good news . Christ has set you free. Think about it this way. I need someone to come up here. (Signs hung around the neck) What did Jesus do? He took our guilt. (Signs now on my neck) He took it to the cross where he suffered for it all. Then God raised him from the grave to announce, your sin is forgiven.
So Christ has set you free. Think about your freedom. Instead of gnawing doubts and fears, he offers you peace and hope. The peace of knowing that we are God’s children whom he will never leave or forsake. Instead of slavery to death, he gives you to right to look death in the eye and say: No. I will live because my Savior lives. And when you were baptized into Christ, the Holy Spirit set you free from something else. Sin shall not be your master... Paul writes in Romans 5. For Christ has set you free to live a new life.
I’m thinking about a room filled with anxious men. They were anxious because they had just composed a document that declared their freedom and independence from the King of England. They were anxious because they knew by signing it they could be hung for treason. I wonder how it went. The time had come to sign the document. Was there a pregnant pause when each man hesitated. If there was such a silence, it was broken by a man came forward to sign his name in big bold letters. John Hancock was standing firm in the freedom he believed was his.
Well, you stand firm. Stand firm in the good news of Jesus Christ. Don’t let anything or anyone trip you up. Don’t let Satan make you a slave again to guilt or fear. No matter how you feel or how things seem you , say with the authority God gives. I belong to Christ and in him I am free.
But that freedom brings us each day to choices. Choices to honor and obey God or dis him. How am I going to use my freedom. That’s what Paul speaks of here. Freedom. Use it. don’t abuse it.
Think about this great country. We enjoy many freedoms. But sometimes those freedoms are used in ways our founding fathers never intended. We have freedom of speech and the press. That freedom is used to put all kinds of smut on the internet. It ‘s used to fill the airwaves with programs that showcase violence and the stinking sewerage of our society. We also have the freedom to go from place to place. How sad to see that freedom abused to traffic drugs like meth that destroys so many lives. Those freedoms were never intended to be used that way.
The same can be said with the freedom we enjoy in Christ. 13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh... How does my sinful nature abuse my freedom? Think about it. We can treat God’s forgiveness like a license, some kind of permission to sin. I know its wrong to divorce my spouse, I know it’s wrong to live with my boyfriend, I know its wrong, but God will forgive me. That’s twisted.
We also abuse our freedom when we don’t control our tongues. Jesus suffered and died for the ugly things we have said. Things that have hurt and torn down others. In Christ, You are forgiven. Don’t abuse that freedom by biting and devouring the people around you with ugly gossip and rumors. Instead he warns us. You’ll destroy each other.
Rather use your freedom as God intends. And that starts with an attitude. Not the attitude of what’s in for me. Rather this attitude that Paul says sums up the whole law. Love. Love that looks to the needs of others. You and I have been on the receiving end of God’s awesome love. Be on the giving end. Freedom, use it. Use it as God intended. Serve one another in love. Serve one another and follow the Spirit’s lead.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. We are free yet we are in a struggle. Every one of us still has a sinful nature that pulls us away from God. Paul says that direction is obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these Each of us can find ourselves here. Too often we have abused our freedom to give into our sinful nature. But the Christian does not just go with the flow. We struggle. We repent. We crucify our sinful nature with its passions and desires. We slam it to the mat with words like these: I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
You see, the Holy Spirit has given us a new heart, a new spirit that pulls in such a different direction: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; So use your freedom as God intends. Follow the Spirit’s lead. For He points you to Jesus where God drenches you with his love and forgiveness. He points you to his Word where God comes to you with so many precious promises. Like this one. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Or this one: I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, I will help you. (Is 41: ) Or this one: To live in Christ, to die is gain.
That’s freedom, dear friends, even better than the freedom of July 4th. That’s freedom. Stand firm in it. Use it, don’t abuse it. Amen.