Freedom Is Not Free

Introduction

Perhaps you have been to Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital, and have seen the Korean War monument. It is a beautiful demonstration of bigger than life infantrymen walking with the packs and weapons. There is a wall with the inscription: “Freedom is Not Free.”

In 1981, Kelly Strong was a senior in High School and a JRROTC cadet. He wrote a poem entitled “Freedom is Not Free” to honor his father.

I watched the flag pass by one day. It fluttered in the breeze. A young Marine saluted it, and then he stood at ease. I looked at him in uniform So young, so tall, so proud, He'd stand out in any crowd. I thought how many men like him Had fallen through the years. How many died on foreign soil? How many mothers' tears? How many pilots' planes shot down? How many died at sea? How many foxholes were soldiers' graves? No, freedom isn't free. I heard the sound of TAPS one night, When everything was still I listened to the bugler play And felt a sudden chill. I wondered just how many times That TAPS had meant "Amen," When a flag had draped a coffin Of a brother or a friend. I thought of all the children, Of the mothers and the wives, Of fathers, sons and husbands With interrupted lives. I thought about a graveyard At the bottom of the sea Of unmarked graves in Arlington. No, freedom isn't free.

As we celebrate throughout this month the freedom we have and the fact that freedom is not free, I am reminded of that fact that throughout the history of mankind, there has always been a price to pay for freedom. Even in the book of Exodus, Moses realized a price had to be paid for freedom. Today, as we celebrate our freedom and have done these pledges and sang these songs, let us be reminded of several lessons we can learn about the price of freedom.

Exodus 17:8–16 NIV84

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord. The Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

Readiness

In order to comprehend what it means for freedom to not be free, we have to experience a sense of readiness. Moses was willing to take what God had given him and to put it to use. In . we learn that Moses was given the staff of God. He was instructed to use it for God’s glory and to show the power of God. His specific instructions were to “take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.” Numerous times the Lord commanded Moses to use his staff and indeed mighty things had happened.

We come to our text today in this great book of Exodus where up to this point, the staff has been used for many things. I encourage you to read through 17 to see its many uses. In Chapter 17, just prior to our text that has been read, Moses used that staff to strike a rock that produced water to provide yet another miracle for the Israelites.

In all of the previous instances, the Lord commanded Moses to use his staff to do some miracle or sign of the Lord’s power.

We see in , that Moses is not commanded by the Lord to use his staff. Moses recognizes that power of God he has access to and is ready to use it. How much do you need to see before you recognize the power of God in your life? How long do you have to wait? When are able to see the hand of God work, it is easier to realize that His mighty hand will continue to work. When that happens, we have a sense of readiness.

These Amalekites have done a dirty thing and attacked the Israelites from behind and in doing so, they have taken advantage of those that were weak and older. We learn this from that the Amalekites “cut off those that were lagging behind. We see in that this caused great bitterness towards these people.

Moses tells Joshua to chose men to go fight the battle and he will go up the mountain and hold the staff of the Lord up. Joshua was battle ready. Moses was ready to utilize the power of God in his staff.

The Bible speaks often about being ready.

mentions that our feet should be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Being ready means you have set Christ apart as Lord.

1 Peter 3:15 NIV84

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

tells us to be ready for the return of Jesus.

There is a sign on a church just outside of Statesville that says, “Jesus is coming back soon, look busy.” Looking busy is not the same as being ready. Being ready means that you trust that the One who is coming back is the One that can take care of you right now.

Titus 3:1 NIV84

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,

Titus 3:1

What drives your readiness? Often, readiness comes from your level of belief. Mitchell Paige was a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s most prestigious military honor. He was given this because of his actions in the Battle of Guadacanal in the Solomon Islands. On October 26, 1942, after all the Marines in his platoon were killed or wounded, Paige operated 4 machine guns, single-handedly stopping an entire Japanese regiment. Had that position fallen and the Japanese regained the airfield the Marines had taken, it is possible that the outcome of World War II may have been significantly changed.

Years later he was asked why had had been willing to put his life on the line for his country. He said the answers to him back to a 3 room school in Pennsylvania where the children learned the traditions of America so well that they literally felt themselves part of a glorious heritage. Each day their teacher began the school day with a Bible verse and the Pledge of Allegiance and they memorized the great documents that became the bedrock of our country. He said, “My undying love of country, and my strong loyalty to the Marines fighting by my side gave me no choice but to fight on unswervingly throughout my battles, utilizing my God-given ability to make use of what I had been taught and learned.”

Mitchell Paige’s readiness helped his fellow countrymen, as well as you and me, to have the freedom we have today.

Moses also reacted.

Reacting

In the pursuit of freedom, sometimes we have to react. The Amalekites surprised the Israelites in attack to the rear flanks. The peace of the Israelites had become threatened. God’s ultimate goal for the Israelites as well as for me and you is to have peace. Peace with Him, peace with each other, and peace with ourselves. When that peace is threatened, God grants us the means to regain the peace. Moses under God’s leadership reacted to the threat of peace. Moses had a plan. He told Joshua that he would lift up his staff toward God.

Think with me about this. When you are holding your hands up before the Lord, typically you are doing two things: you are praying and you are praising. You have to be ready to do that. When you are ready, you can react as in this case in prayer. Before prayers can be answered, they have to be prayed. Before they can be prayed, you have to be ready which means you have to know that Lord has enabled you, equipped you and empowered you to be able to pray and trust in Him that He hears and acts on your prayer.

We have the freedom in this country to pray and worship freely. That came at a great cost because of our forefathers recognizing the need to build our country on the prayer and the desire to worship.

In the Summer of 1787, America’s founders met at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to lay out the specifics of our nation’s governing constitution. Tempers were flaring among the delegates of the 13 colonies and the entire meeting was in danger of breaking down. In the midst of this conflict, an 81 year old statesman stood up slowing and spoke words of profound wisdom. Although he was probably one of the least faithful in the room, Benjamin Franklin recognized how important that good morals and biblical virtues would be to this new country. Appealing to which says,

Psalm 127:1 NIV84

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

Franklin addressed George Washington and his fellow delegates to call on the aid of God Almighty before they proceeded any further.

He said:

I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that “except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

I therefore beg to leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.

God indeed answered the prayers of the Founding Fathers and on September 17, 1787, the U. S. Constitution was completed and has been called the greatest political document ever written.

Freedom is not free and sometimes we have to react. The Biblical example is often found in prayer. As long as Moses prayed and worshiped, the battle being fought was victorious. Because the battle is victorious, redemption takes place.

Redemption

You and I have battles to fight that stem from injustice, greed, and selfishness all coming from sin. Moses became tired and as he let his arms down, the battle belonged to the enemy. He needed help. The Bible says that Aaron and Hur helped hold up the arms of Moses, recognizing that the outcome of the battle depended on prayer and worship. When we pray and worship the One Who paid the ultimate cost for our freedom, we experience redemption.

Colossians 1:13–14 NIV84

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

You and I are designed to uphold each other and help each other in our prayer and worship. That is a sacrifice in itself. Think about those in your life that prayed for your salvation. For those that perhaps in your darkest times that held your arms up and prayed with you so that you could be victorious. Every stone in this church represents the prayers, the work, the toil that took place before us in order that we might be here to worship freely. Even through redemption, freedom is not free. The costs have been extreme. And therefore, lastly, we should remember.

You and I are designed to

Remember

Exodus 17:14 NIV84

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

Too often we fail to remember what the Lord has done for us because we get caught up in wondering what He is doing right now. The Lord told Moses that it was important to remember what was done. We have the written word that gives us great details about the faithfulness of God and the reminder the indeed freedom is not free. The Psalmist declared in :

Psalm 132:1 NIV84

O Lord, remember David and all the hardships he endured.

There have been many hardships that have been endured in order that you and I can worship freely. We must remember that the freedom we enjoy today is the result of the price paid by many men and women not only on our country’s battle lines, but also in our church pews and prayer closets.

Moses built an altar to remember and called it the Lord is my Banner. This pile of rocks here was raised in order that the people of God could assemble, worship, remember and be light for Christ in this community.

Psalm 77:11 NIV84

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

Are you remembering the miracles of God in your life?

The ultimate freedom we have been given is from the price that Jesus paid for our sins on a cross. Even for the Son of God, freedom was not free.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you have an opportunity to build an altar with your life. May we raise our banner high. May we never forget that freedom is not free.