Free to serve

During the month of July, especially around the fourth of July, the idea of freedom is an ever present idea in the United States. Freedom has been the cry of American since the settlers landed here. We hear the voices of freedom echo down the long halls of our history as a country. We hear the words of Thomas Jefferson in the declaration of independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The passion of Patrick Henry is on display when he gave his impassioned plea, “Give me liberty or give me death.” In the foundational document of our Country, The Constitution we read, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Liberty and Freedom have been the cries of the American Spirit from day one.

Do I come today to talk about the freedoms that we experience in America? No; but in the thinking about this idea and what it means to our country, the question of freedom and liberty have been on my mind. However, not the type of freedom that we experience as citizens of this nation, but the freedom that we experience as citizens of something greater, the kingdom of God. Although as Americans we value and treasure the freedom that we have as citizens, the spiritual freedom that we have in Christ is of infinite worth and value. While our freedoms as citizens is limited to our earthly life, our spiritual freedom is begun now and perfectly experienced for eternity.

If there is a book of the Bible that speaks most clearly about Freedom, it is Paul’s letter to the Galatians. I would say that his letter is a declaration of independence of sort, as Paul is declaring to the Galatians that they are indeed free. Whereas our forefathers pushed back against tyranny, Paul makes abundantly clear that the Galatians are free from an even greater tyranny; spiritual tyranny.

In order to really talk about freedom, we must first recognize the book of Galatians as a whole. Simply put, Galatians was written to a people who had the message of Jesus and had once believed it. However, they were infiltrated by a group of people that Paul says were preaching another Gospel; A Gospel that says that righteousness before God comes through law-keeping, specifically circumcision. Galatians 2:15-16 clearly points out that the law cannot save us; External acts will never cleanse a person of the stain of sin that covers their soul. Only Christ can do that. Paul really goes a step further to say that we are Free in Christ. We are free from the bondage of the sort of law-keeping that says, “Keep the law and you will be saved.” We are free from the condemnation of the law. Now, we do not say, “The law is bad and we should not follow it.” No, that is also a false teaching with a technical name, Antinomianism. God’s laws are good but we are free from the bondage of turning to the law to please God.

This morning we will find ourselves in just a few verses in the book of Galatians, specifically Galatians 5:13-15. As mentioned before, Paul highlighted Christian freedom and how critically important it is, to the very nature and core of the Gospel. We are not saved through law-keeping. In this passage, Paul tells us what our freedom is for. This is a critical point. Often times when we consider freedom, with think of it as Freedom FROM something, such as tyranny. We are free from the restraints that would keep us enchained. And this is important as we understand freedom. However, Paul does not understand freedom from a strictly human perspective and what we quickly find out is that the freedom that we have in Christ is not simply FROM something but it is also FOR something. Let us Read Galatians 5:13-15, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

There is essentially one major point, with several other points that build up to it. Here is the main point that Paul is saying, “In your freedom, you are now free to serve.” Now to make this point, Paul has to deal with a few things that are probably swirling in the minds of the Galatians and maybe many today. You see, freedom is sort of a scary thing. When people who were not free, are now free indeed, they have a choice to make. How are they going to use their freedom? Parents, isn’t this something that you think about? Maybe some of you who have kids that are grown, didn’t you have some level of anxiety and trepidation when your kids began to exercise some level of freedom? I mean, I remember when I first felt this level of freedom! That’s the point of freedom, someone has a choice to make and we understand that; they can choose the good or the bad. Paul recognizes that and he says a few things to build that point, “In Freedom, you are now free to serve.”

Regarding freedom, Paul recognizes that it would be tempting to utilize your freedom for negative ends, so he says, don’t gratify the desire of the flesh. When Paul says the flesh, what does he mean there? The flesh, like the skin that covers our bones? No, he is speaking of that sinful, spiritual side of humanity. That fallen, empty side of humanity that desires to fill itself with its own pleasure. The flesh is the thing that we war against. In just a few verses Paul tells us what that looks like: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, envy, drunkenness, carousing and things like these. Paul is saying, look, “You are free from the bondage of sin. You are no longer a slave to sin, yet your flesh is still weak. You will be tempted, don’t use your freedom for the flesh.” In Romans 7 paul says, “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me.” He goes on to say, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Do you see that tension? People debate that passage to determine what it means, for good reason, but I think we can all identify that we do struggle with the flesh. Not as we once did, but we do still struggle. I now that I do! I feel like Paul in Romans 7, do you?

So in building his point, “In your freedom, you are free to serve” Paul says in a negative sense, “Don’t use your freedom for the flesh.” So Christian, here is the first take away… if you have come to know Christ and have freedom in him, but say, “Hey I can do whatever I want… I’m free from the law… I’m saved… Once saved, always saved… I’m good…” You have perverted the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have fallen into gross error. Repent! So Christian, your freedom is not to give you a license to sin. So, he says you are free, not to sin, but to something else. Free to serve.

Paul makes a life-altering point, Our freedom in Christ, is not for ourselves but it is for other people. There is something happening in this text that you cannot fully grasp in your English translation. So, not to bore you, but in order to make what I think is a significant point, we have to look at the original language for just a moment. The word that is used in verse 13 for serve is the Greek word Duoleuo, which is related to the word Doulos, which is the word slave. So don’t miss it… when we say serve, we have a tendency to minimize the magnitude of service, but Paul is saying something extraordinary, “You are now free to be a slave.” Ok, let that sink in just a little bit… If you are perplexed by this, why don’t you hear what the great reformer, Martin Luther said, “A Christian is free and independent in every respect, a bond servant to none. A Christian is a dutiful servant in every respect, owing a duty to everyone.”

Paul is saying in a powerful way, Your Freedom is for other people. I get really excited about this because I believe that this is the power of the Gospel. Everything that we do in the redeemed, Christian life should be to the glory of God and to the good of those around us. We know what we are against, but we are FOR people. We are people people. But the force is not that we just want to be nice to people, help them… we are their servants. It’s just Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Was this not so perfectly seen in the life of Jesus, who with the greatest freedom, laid His life down?

Now, I get it. This makes us uncomfortable for many reasons. One is because of our experience, we have seen this abused, right? We’ve seen people taken advantage of. We’ve seen people of a weak nature or quiet disposition that can’t say no and become servants of others. We’ve seen people become doormats for other people because they can’t stand up for themselves. Is that what Paul is saying. No. Get this: Paul is saying that in your freedom to serve, you have made the choice, the decision to lay your rights and privileges down for the good of other people. You aren’t forced into it. You desire it. It also makes us uncomfortable because it seems to rub against this American individualism that we like. Just leave me alone. I’m going to live away from people, isolated, just me, myself and I. Don’t mess with me. So when we start talking about being the servants of others, isolationism doesn’t work, does it? There is no freedom in being alone. The whole Bible and the New Testament specifically speaks of Christian living as life in community. This verse gives the bases of the community… service. We are free to serve.

So Paul has said you were called to be free. Freedom isn’t for Sin, but it is for service. Now, it’s as if Paul has anticipated some pushback, and he says the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: love your neighbor as yourself. Let’s talk about this a little bit. We are familiar with this passage, first in the book of Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own peple, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” But we probably more popularly understand it from Luke 10:27, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Now, in Paul’s formulation, he says the whole law is fulfilled in this one statement, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Does he mean that if someone Loves their neighbor, they have satisfied the law. No, contextually, I think he is saying something more pointed to the Galatians… “You are following these people who say that you must follow the law, circumcision and following certain dates… Hey, I’ve got a law for you to follow: Love your neighbor as yourself. Try that on for your size.” Paul is saying look, “If you love your neighbor, then you will fulfill the works of the law.” Love will seek the good for other people. You won’t murder or hurt someone if you love him. Stealing wouldn’t make sense against someone you love. Gossip wouldn’t come out of your lips towards someone you love. When you recognize that everyone is your neighbor, you would never cast off the downtrodden, the sick, the abused, the neglected. You wouldn’t have harsh words of condemnation. “ Love! And the greater point in this passage is that now, You and I are free to LOVE people in that way. The whole point of Galatians and the writings of scripture is that you and because we are in bondage to sin CANNOT on our own strength and ability love people that way. We may try, but it is not the type of love that Christ showed. But because you and I are new creations, totally new, we aren’t slaves to sin anymore. We are now free to serve and LOVE.

And if you want to know what love doesn’t look like, it doesn’t look like biting and devouring one another. Sadly, we see that even in the church. Instead of using our freedom for service to others, we attack one another with our words. We tear down. The way to have peace in our body of Christ and to live the way that he has called us to live is through loving service to the body. This was a message to the Galatians who were likely quarreling about these questions about the law. Paul says, “Love one another.”

As we accept that full weight of the text in our hearts and our lives this morning, I want us to get a little be introspective and ask ourselves, “Am I using my freedom in Christ to serve everyone.” Later Paul would tell us to do good to all, especially the household of faith. Are you using your freedom to love, but to love and serve those who can serve you back? Are you serving those that are easy to love? Are you willing to serve those who look like you? I mean have you given your life for others? What does your calendar look like? Mine? How about your bank statement? I mean, let’s get real, right? We like the freedom that we have in Christ and hey, we don’t even mind serving people… but what about when it gets messy? What about when those people reject you? Are you willing to sacrifice your own good for the sake of others? Listen, it’s not simply being nice to other people, it’s willing to become a servant of all people so that they will experience the freedom found in Christ. It is for the sake of the Gospel that I will give up my time, energy and resources to serve other people. It is also an opportunity to give up my rights for the good of others. It is to magnify the glory of God that I am willing to suffer for the cause of Christ. That’s FREEDOM brothers and Sisters. We, you and I are so abandoned to the cause of Christ that we are willing to give all rights up… that is what Freedom looks like… Who could ever stop us when we love and serve others that way?

I think we often understand that, but I think it’s often worth saying, “What good is it for you to love the unbeliever like that, if you can’t even love your fellow believer like that.” Ouch. Church member, how are you loving your fellow member? Are you seeking the good of the body of Christ here at Richland Hills Baptist? We will be known by our love. So believer, you are free to love each other. What a joy it is to see when we truly and serve one another. When someone is sick and you care for them. When a fellow believer is suffering, you provide to bring them relief. When they are hurting inwardly, you work to comfort them. You don’t seek evil for them, but you seek good. We pray for each other. We encourage. We lift up. We reach out. We are free to do that. Remember, we give up ourselves for the good of others. Perhaps this morning, there may be areas in your life that you need to seek repentance because you have not loved your fellow believer the way that you should.

As we close this morning, I must ask you though, have you ever experienced the freedom that is found only in Jesus Christ? Maybe you are here this morning and you realize that you are still a slave to your sin. You have never trusted in Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord. You have never experienced the freedom that is found in Jesus and only Jesus. My prayer is that this morning you would come and seek that spiritual freedom.

Or perhaps you needed to be reminded that you and I are free to love and serve ALL people. May we be reignited in our radical love for others.

Let us pray.