Messengers of Freedom
HWSS 2020: The Freedom of the Christian • Sermon • Submitted
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Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Gospel, Content
The minister of the gospel must not be afraid of conflict with the wisdom of the world. Gregory the Great said, “God first gathered the unlearned, afterwards philosophers, nor has He taught fishermen by orators, but has subdued orators by fishermen.”
Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
Remember “Rev. Eric Camden” from the TV series, “7th Heaven” or “Father Mulcahy” from “M*A*S*H*?” They were two fictional pastoral figures who generally were well received by everyone else in their fictional communities. How about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, the iconic American Civil Rights advocate whose nonviolent confrontation with racism as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference set the standard for engagement with government and social forces that restrict or deny the Constitutional rights of citizens? In his case, while he did not enjoy the support of everyone while he was alive, he is now extolled by individuals on both sides of the political spectrum.
For those of us who not only serve congregations in Word and Sacrament, but also seek to engage their communities for the common good, we have, as bookends, either well-beloved figures or transformational leaders. In Gary, IN, an active pastor is one who is somehow involved in community work that addresses needs that pertain to the
1st Article of the Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
What does this mean?
Answer: I believe that God has made me and all creatures. He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my limbs, my reason, and all my senses, and still preserves them. In addition, He has given me clothing and shoes, meat and drink, house and home, wife and children, fields, cattle, and all my goods. He provides me richly and daily with all that I need to support this body and life. He protects me from all danger and guards me and preserves me from all evil. He does all this out of pure, fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.
For all this I ought to thank Him, praise Him, serve Him, and obey Him. This is most certainly true.
Paul Timothy McCain, ed., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 328.
In these circumstances, “Freedom” is existentially defined as “having the resources that enable one to live without having to relying upon the benevolence of others.” It is more material than spiritual, and temporal than eternal.
Therefore, for those whose eyes are primarily focused upon this life, a “good” pastor/minister is defined, not by the impact his work has upon your Christian faith, but upon how well he or she is able to help you navigate the daily drama of life in Gary. In fact, “the Bondage of the Will” is less of a concern than “the shackles of inequality.”
In that kind of environment, and I’m sure that Gary, IN is not alone in this respect, we are often pressured to feel and operate as if we were entrepreneur/salespeople. We purchase books and seminars from other pastors who claim to have mastered the “art of the deal, or who have planted “purpose-driven churches,” or who have found an esoteric teaching that promises to change your faith as you know it.
We go from conference to conference, not to become stronger in our most holy faith, not to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him who called you by his glorious virtue, but to say that we have been to the latest, hottest new pastoral craze.
Meanwhile, the world in which we live, move, and have our being, is going “ to hell in a hand-basket,” and is thanking the devil for supplying the tickets. The father of lies, the enemy who seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy, has worked long and hard to develop the conditions that exist today, now moves his slaves into position to attempt to thwart the plans of his Creator.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, 19 who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!” 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!
In previous efforts, the enemies of the Gospel sought to prevent access to the Scriptures, burning the books and threatening those who sought to distribute them. This time, the enemy of our souls has gone for a more strategic objective - nullifying knowledge, attacking meaning itself. He seeks to take away our ability to hear the Word by taking away our confidence in the Word:
From the article, “No, the Woke Won’t Debate You - Here’s Why:”
In a 2014 paper by the black feminist epistemology heavyweight Kristie Dotson, she explains that our entire epistemic landscape is itself profoundly unequal. Indeed, she argues that it is intrinsically and “irreducibly” so, meaning that it is not possible from within the prevailing system of knowledge and understanding to understand or know that the system itself is unfairly biased toward certain ways of knowing (white, Western, Eurocentric, male, etc.) and thus exclusionary of other ways of knowing (be those what they may). That is, Dotson explains that when we look across identity groups, not only do we find a profound lack of “shared epistemic resources” by which people can come to understand things in the same way as one another, but also that the lack extends to the ability to know that that dismal state of affairs is the case at all. This, she refers to as “irreducible” epistemic oppression, which she assigns to the third and most severe order of forms of epistemic oppression, and says that it requires a “third-order change” to the “organizational schemata” of society (i.e., a complete epistemic revolution that removes the old epistemologies and replaces them with new ones) in order to find repair.
https://newdiscourses.com/2020/07/woke-wont-debate-you-heres-why/
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
So we have two different worldviews - two different ways of understanding reality, understanding what is true. The opposing view says that we alone are responsible for solving the grievous problems that embroil our nation, just as we alone are responsible for them - well, some of us are, anyway.
You see, we agree about certain words - we both like the word “Freedom.” We both like the word “justice.” We even both like the words “equality” and “equity.” We both talk about “peace.”
And yet -
7 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!
They offer a vision based upon destruction of the foundations upon which the nation was established, exchanging propositions for narratives, and in some of our communities, exchanging discourse for violence. Their vision of a perfect world presupposes that the imperfection is racially rooted and can only be rooted out by the functional removal of everything that has existed because it worked to the benefit of whites. If that doesn’t mean, in the extreme, killing, it is only because so far, it has gotten by with slaughtering rational discourse, destroying meaning while leaving people living and breathing - for now.
By faith, we know that the Word is living and powerful, and by feelings, they know that words can move people in powerful ways. By faith, we know that God has made exceeding great and precious promises - the Gospel - that takes sinners who were under God’s wrath and judgment and turns them into God’s dear children, who are capable, though imperfectly, of loving their neighbor as God commands. By feelings, they know that those who have power use it to oppress those who do not, and they believe that the solution is to remove the oppressor from his position of power, thus ending their ability to oppress.
One of these two worldview perspectives reflects the lived reality that humans have experienced for over 2000 years, the other is an adaptation of a philosophy that has failed in every attempt that has been made by humans to implement it because it ignores that same lived reality. While both perspectives recognize that there is a problem with humans that enables us to live in such a way that is the opposite of God’s will concerning us, that we love one another, Christianity presupposes that humans, as we now exist, are fundamentally evil, while the spirit that energizes Critical Theory leads its adherents to presuppose the opposite in those who are in its worldview defined as the Oppressed.
So what? Well, the Cliff Notes version simply says that the Gospel actually does what it claims; it is “the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.” Critical theory promises that when the Oppressed have the ability to control society away, everyone will be treated equally, but this requires a complete restructuring of society. Such a restructuring includes a restructuring of the way all humans view reality. That makes this nothing less than an alternative to the revelation that God has given us regarding both reality and salvation - it is another Gospel:
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Paul does not say, “let him be accommodated” or “let him be tolerated.” There is no fellowship between light and darkness.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
This is not an attempt to “rally the troops.” I am not telling you this because it tickles your ear, nor is this a thinly veiled venture into the political arena. The outcome of the November elections will not affect the proclaimers of this alternative to the Gospel of Christ. They are on a mission, and it transcends the goals of Joe Biden to make it to the pinnacle of American political power. He might try to ride this wave to fulfill his bucket list, but it will swallow him as well as his opponent, President Trump, for they each are just two sides of the same coin to them. The former would accommodate them, and the latter might fight them for control, all the while illustrating, by his actions, the very reason why they are engaged.
The White House is not their target - the Altar and the pulpit are. True freedom is not rooted in the Left-Hand Kingdom, but in the King who rules over both the Left -hand and Right-hand Kingdoms.
1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
The freedom of a Christian is not rooted in humanistic philosophies, but in Christ’s generous self-donation that purchased our deliverance from the power of sin. That Good News transforms us from being God’s enemies to God’s beloved children, not because we will it so, but because it is the will of God in Christ concerning us, as it is written,
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I know that those words are often used to comfort people in the midst of trials, but that is such a limited use of a powerful Word. God wills us to be in the circumstance of being His children. God wills for us to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. God wills that we be no longer the slaves of sin. God wills that we be at peace - peace with Him, and peace with one another.
23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
There it is, from God’s Word to my mouth to your ears. God wants you to be free, free of care, free from fear, free from sin. He wants you to “go in peace, to love and serve the Lord, thanks be to God.”
The Annotated Luther, Volume 1: The Roots of Reform The Main Themes
The Christian individual is a completely free lord of all, subject to none.
The Christian individual is a completely dutiful servant of all, subject to all.
He wants you to see the person sitting next to you or across the street from you or however that person is connected to you, not as an enemy, a competitor, or worst of all, as an object for the fulfillment of your desires, but as a fellow-member of the household of faith whom you are privileged to serve. It is my happy assignment to serve as an ambassador of Christ to the world, proclaiming to people far and near, the unsearchable riches of Christ, making known His deeds among the people:
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
No, not according to the flesh - not according to your temporal social status, not according to your physical characteristics, not according to your reaction to me or those who are near an dear to me. In like manner, our life as citizens in two realms, the earthly, where we have vocations as servants, and the heavenly, where we are rulers with Christ.
As a Messenger of Freedom, I have had my eyes anointed with eyesalve so that I can see you as Christ sees you, and long for you with the longings that Christ has for you, that you would be complete in Him:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This is our aim, not to make you culturally acceptable, not to add you to our list of converts, not to control you. We desire simply to see you made whole. Through the power of the Word, Christ is able to make us whole, just like He did for the Centurion's servant:
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.
That centurion knew that Jesus’ Word had power, even though he saw only a man, seemingly subject to the same limitations as himself of time and space. By faith, however, he know that this Man could transform a situation that was beyond human help, even though it was beyond his visual range. Now that He has “all authority in heaven and on earth,” Jesus is able by the power of His Word to heal all those who hear it and cling to it in faith. There is no one who cannot be saved, no one who is out of reach of the mercies of God.
22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
God puts no limits upon Himself, there is no limitation upon His Son, and there is no limitation upon His Spirit:
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus didn’t stutter, there is no asterisk to this statement. He said what He meant, and He meant what He said. He has authority, and He has given us power. We have an ambassadorship, an ambassadorship of a Kingdom that is over all kingdoms, representing a King Who is over all Kings. We are the children of the God who not only created the heavens and the earth, but who wills it to be filled with His salvation which is in His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord:
5 And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— 6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Jesus did everything that the Father sent Him do to; we are given the charge to make Him known, to become His messengers, exercising the authority of His Children upon His earth, resisting the devil and watching him flee, and continually drawing near to God, and He will continually draw near to us.
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
Today, God, who worked through His Church on the Day of Pentecost, Who preserved His Church when Caesar sought to destroy it, who restored the purity of the Gospel when it had become obscured by the doctrines of men, Who watches over it when usurpers seek to remake it in man’s image, He is Lord. He has not changed, nor will He.
20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
You have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, you are filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
And let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen