You were called to be free...
What do you think of when you hear the word free? Most people think of things like slavery, america, the sky, birds, or my favorite: buy on get one free sale! the truth is that the word free has so many different meanings and definitions.
Well the word free comes from the PIE root pri which means to love. so my favorite outake on the word free is that we are free when we are loved. free when we are loved... that is crazy. this means that because God loves each and everyone of us, we are free.
well in the Bible there is a passage that talks about freedom. it is found in the book of Galatians...
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Galatians 5:13-14
this is apostle paul talking here. he is writing to the church of Galatia. he is writing them because they had forgotten about their freedom to love one another, but instead were using judgement towards one another.
well we are called to be free. we are called to be free because God loves us. it is the only way we are truly free. free to love one another. when i think about loving one another, a different passage comes to my mind. it is from the book of 1 john.
19 we love because God first loved us...
1 John 4:19
this is so true. God loves each and everyone of us, which makes us free. and that allows us to love one another freely. that is what life is all about. but sometimes we forget about our freedom. we forget about how God loves us for who we are. we all have had that point or points in our lives where we forget about being free.
the time in my life when i forgot about being free was in high school and my first year of college. in high school i really wanted to be popular. there was so much pressure to be accepted by the popular crowd, especially for girls. so i really had this group of girls that i wanted to impress. i tried so hard to impress them that i did things that i never thought i would. i started wearing clothes that were "in" to impress them, i started saying things about people that werent nice, liking talking bad about someone for different reasons to impress them, i went to parties to impress them, and i spent most of all my high school career trying to impress this group of girls, that is all i thought about and all i wanted, was their approval.
well after high school i went to college. i was still in the mind set that i had to impress people. so i really wanted to impress my roomate and the girls on my floor. well my roomate was completely different then me. she was a very nice girl but just really different. she was a huge partier. and i wanted her to like me and i wanted the girls on my floor to like me. so i started partying. i went out with her almost every weekend and just got into that lifestyle. i was trapted. i was still going to church almost every sunday and chi alpha ( a christian group on campus ) every tuesday night. i was trapped in two different life styles. well in late april 2008 i went on a retreat with chi alpha. a youth pastor prayed for me, i had never met him before. after praying for me he looked at me and told me that he felt God wanted me to hear this. he said "God loves you, for you. There is a line with God and i feel like you are living right on it or crossing it all the time. God is black and white. and remember God loves you for who you are." at that moment it hit me. i was no longer the person that God made me to be. I was so wrapped up in trying to impress people of this world that i had forgotten that God loved me and that is all that mattered. nothing else. in that moment i felt so free. and i loved it.
so i challenge you to think about your life. focus on God's love and how it frees you. God's love is always forgiving no matter what! think about a situation in your life where you may be trapped. a situation where you have forgotten about God's freedom.
take a moment to imagine...
- you are free from the limits of your life...
- what are the limits that God is inviting you to leave behind...
- that you dont worry about all the things that usually limit you from being or doing what you wish you could...
- that you are completely free
- what is God inviting you to do with your freedom?
Freedom from Fame...
Faces. We all put them on. We put faces on for friends, for family, and even sometimes God. We feel pressured. We feel pressured to act a certain way because of standards. Standards from our culture, the media, etc.
I want to share with you MyFace (facebook and myspace put together) This is my 11th grade myface. Picture a profile with a profile pic that I spent hours taking. I wanted to have the sweetest profile pic so everyone would think that I was artsy and would want to be my friend. Then I had so many friends because I wanted to appear cool, so I would add anyone and everyone just to make it look like everyone loved me. Then I also had a ton of wall posts to make it appear as everyone wanted to talk to me. My interests included football games, the trendiest clothes, and the latest hit music, because I wanted to fit in with the “in” crowd. This was the face I put on for the group of friends at school. The group of people I wanted to be accepted by. But I also had another face…
I had a “holy” my face. This was the face that I put on for people at church and I even put it on for God. This myface included interests such as respect others, be kind, pray before you eat, read the Bible, no swearing. Notice how those are all simply rules, there is nothing about love or compassion. There was no actual relationship with God, just guidelines with this face.
Well my “holy” myface is like people from Jesus’ day. They were called the Pharisees. The Pharisees were people who strictly followed the Jewish law. They had no relationship or love or compassion behind it. They just followed the law.
There is a passage in the Bible where Jesus addresses people who put on faces. It is found in the book of matthew. This passage comes from the sermon on the mount and is specifically known as the beatitudes.
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying: 3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:1-10
This passage can be difficult to understand, especially when you are first reading it. Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn? It just doesn’t make sense. But let us remember to whom Jesus is talking to. He is talking to people who put on faces, people like you and me. He is talking to people who wanted fame.
The definition of fame is the condition of being known or talked about by many people or the state of being widely honored or celebrity status.
Now Jesus is not giving us rules here. He is not saying you can do this or you cant do that. But instead he is tearing down the standards. He is tearing down the standards of the Jewish law. He is saying that the laws are nothing without the love or compassion or the true relationship with God. He is telling people, like you and me, who put on a face to stop!
But the amazing part about this passage is that Jesus is tearing down the standards of our culture. Think about myspace or facebook. Think about that standards that come along with that. How people judge you because of how many friends you have, the number of wall posts, your profile picture, if your status is set as single or in a relationship. Or what about the standards at school. Like the standards of what brand or kind of clothes you wear, your hairstyle, the language you use, the sports you play, your extra-curricular activites, your friends.
Well Jesus’ message is that you don’t have to fake it anymore. God loves you for who you are and who he created you to be! Not because the brands you where, the number of friends on facebook or myspace, your hairstyle, whether you have a bf or gf, what sports you play, if you are in band, what your profile picture is, but because of who you are. That’s huge! You are free from fame and putting on faces.
This allows us to be free. It allows us to live in the true freedom to be yourself.
I challenge you all to really evaluate the faces you put on. Lose the face. Know that God loves you for you not who you pretend to be.
Freedom from wealth...
Wealth is something that can control us. We get caught up in the things that we use and rely on daily. But sometimes we forget how little some of the world around us has. Here are some statistics that put into perspective how much differently most of the world lives.
46% of the world’s 2.2 billion children live in poverty. 53% of students of secondary school age (middle and high school) are not in school.
22% of adults in the world cannot read.
17% of the world’s population (1.1 billion people) have no access to clean water.
24% of children under 5 are underweight due to malnutrition.
7% of the world’s children are orphans.
58% of people in the world do not have a phone.
82% of the world’s population does not use or have access to the internet.
19% of the world lives on less than $1 a day.
These statistics are eye opening. Reading them really makes me think about little things like my cell phone. 58% of people in the world don’t even have a phone and my cell is something that I rely on daily for communication. Overall it really makes you think about wealth and how we have dependence on things in our lives.
There is a passage where a Jesus informs a young rich man that his dependence on wealth is a trap. It is in the book of matthew.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" 26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 27Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" 28Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Matthew 19:16-30
Wow. Sell all of your possessions? When I think about selling all of my possessions I cant even begin to fathom what that would look like. I really enjoy some of the things I have.
Well I want to share with you the definition of wealth. The definition of valuable possessions or money or plentiful supplies of a particular resource.
In this passage Jesus isn’t condemning wealth. He isn’t saying that wealth is a bad thing. It is not about how much cash this rich young man had, but he was revealing to this young man his dependence on the cash. So this passage is about not holding on to the wealth but it is about letting go of our dependence on it. It is revealing to us how our desire for wealth and self dependence is a trap. Jesus is calling us to give up the craving we have for wealth and depending on material things.
So I am currently reading this book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. The other day I was reading for devotion time and came across this:
How many of us would really leave our families, our jobs, education, our friends, our connections, our familiar surroundings, and our homes if Jesus asked us to? If he just showed up and said, “follow me”? no explanation. No directions.
You could follow him straight up a hill to be crucified. Maybe he would lead you to another country, and you would never see your family again. Or perhaps you would stay put, but he would ask you to spend your time helping people who will never love you back and never show gratitude for what you gave up.
We say to the creator of all this magnitude and majesty, “well, im not sure you are worth it….you see, I really like my car, or my little sin habit, or my money, and im really not sure I want to give them up, even if it means I get you”
When we put it plainly like this—as a direct choice between God and our stuff—most of us hope we would choose God. But we need to realize that how we spend our time, what our money goes toward, and where we will invest our energy is equivalent to choosing God or rejecting him. How could we think for even a second that something on this puny little earth compares to the creator and sustainer and savior of it all?
Think about things in our lives that represent wealth and what we might be depending on. What about computers specifically email or facebook or myspace. Or what about your favorite TV show and how you crave to watch it. Or what about your IPOD and depending on it to listen to music when you want to distract yourself. Or a cell phone and how much we can depend and rely on that. Or what about something more abstract like time. What we do with our time can represent wealth, especially when we are not using it wisely.
This past year I was holding on to my time specifically Friday nights. I had just started at Northwestern and I was making all these new friends. I really enjoyed just hanging out with them especially on Friday nights. We would go out to dinner or watch movies or go to parks and always just had a great time. But also Friday nights at Northwestern there is this ministry called Streetlight. Streetlight goes downtown Minneapolis on Friday nights to three different homeless shelters. They serve meals to people, eat with them, and just talk with them. It is a wonderful ministry but it goes from about 6pm to 1am and I just wasn’t willing to give up my Friday nights. I just really enjoyed hanging out with my friends. Well one of my friends got involved with streetlight and absolutely loved it. Every week they would ask me to go, but I would turn them down because I wasn’t will to give up my Friday night because I already had plans. Well after a while passed they asked me on a Monday what I was doing Friday night. And I didn’t have plans so I said I would go, but only this one time. Well Friday came around and I went. Now when you go you have to leave your cell phone and wallet behind, only bringing yourself. That was hard at first, just leaving things I depend on behind, but I did. Well we got downtown and I started serving food at the first homeless shelter. It was amazing. I was having conversations with people about Jesus, I was sharing his love. I was having conversation about the MN twins, and just talking. I was loving and serving God’s children. It was so amazing that I was speechless. As the night went on it only got better, I was able to pray with people and share the Bible with them. Needless to say I realized that night that that is where God wanted me and what he wanted me to do with my time on Friday nights. I wasn’t doing anything bad on Friday nights before it just wasn’t where God wanted me. He had other plans for me on Friday nights.
I let go of my time and God completely took over. I found freedom. I found freedom from wealth by giving up my time to God. When you give up your rights you are able to experience God’s love and are able to fully love others.
Think about your life. Think about an area in your life where maybe God is asking you to let go and let him take over. Letting Go means letting go of that dependence. Realizing that we need to only depend on God and not our wealth or self dependence.
Think about the thing that is holding you down as a rock. Let’s say a pebble to be specific. Picture yourself holding that pebble in your hand. As you are holding it imagine the weight that the pebble has. That is the weight of what is holding you down. The thing that you have dependence on. Well now picture a vase filled with water. Imagine that you take that pebble and drop it in the vase. As you drop the rock in it sinks to the bottom and the water rises. That is exactly what God does when we let something go. God is the vase full of water. When we let something go in our life. He takes it. And he fills us up and restores us because of it just like the water in the vase rises.
Freedom from power...
The definition of power is different then what you might think. Power: the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events or the right or authority that is given to a person or body.
Power is something that can be hard to understand, especially the difference between our power and Gods power. Well the scripture that goes along with the idea of laying down our power to have God’s power in our lives is in the book of matthew.
47While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." 49Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him. 50Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for." Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51With that, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" 55At that time Jesus said to the crowd, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
Matthew 26:47-56
At this point in the scripture Jesus knew that his death was approaching. He knew what was coming. Before this took place he was in the garden. He was in the Garden praying to our Father. He was pleading with God that if there was any way to save him from death, to do it. Any way at all. But in that prayer he also said “Father, your will be done.” At this very point Jesus started to lay down his power. He knew that God had a will for his life and that the scriptures had to be fulfilled so he knew he had to lay down his power.
Well in the scripture Jesus is willing to be unjustly arrested. He doesn’t do anything to stop them. Not only that but he tells peter to put his sword back. Peter pulls out the sword and cuts off the ear of the servant and Jesus says no. He tells peter that those who live by the sword die by the sword. Meaning those who live by individual power die by power.
Jesus also had the power to stop them. He says that he could call upon his Father and at once thousand of angels would be there, but he doesn’t. he chooses to give up that power.
So Jesus is telling us to lay down our swords. He is telling us to lay down the power that we individually have. He wants us to lay down our power so that by giving up our power God’s will can be done in our lives. In the garden Jesus said “Father your will be done.” We are to do the same. To know that God has a will for each and every one of our lives.
This means that sometimes we might not know what is going to happen in our lives. We might not understand how things are going to turn out, but that is ok, because God has it in control. God has a perfect and wonderful plan for our lives. And we are not to know all the plans all the time, but he will let us know and reveal them to us as we go on in life.
I heard the song “My Savior, My God” by Aarron Shust the other day. It starts off saying “I am not skilled to understand, what God has willed what God has planned.” And that is how it is suppose to be. We need to trust in God and that he has a will for our lives.
Well all of our individual powers look different in our lives. Power can look like many different things. For example:
· Money
· Opportunities
· Achievements
· Technology
Freedom from power is about letting go of control. Letting go of having things our way and saying “Father your will be done” It is about letting go of fear and desire to secure our own comfort and giving freely to other out of love.
When you let go of control and put down your earthly power God will fill you up with his power.
16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:16-21
In verse 20 it says that God’s power is at work within us! When we lay down our swords God’s power fills us up and that is the most important power you could ever have!
Free to be revolutionary...
When we start living our life for God, he starts a revolution in our life. The most important thing is to not let the revolution stop. God shows us how to be free in Christ and how we are free to follow Christ’s example.
Following Christ’s example is what our lives should be about. Having a servant heart and loving on another.
1It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." 9"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" 10Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." 11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
John 13:1-17
WOW. That is the ultimate example of a servant heart. The ultimate example of loving one another humbly in love.
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Galatians 5:13-14
Well looking back to the first passage, this was Jesus’ the last dinner with his disciples before his death. During this last dinner he chooses to serve them. Not only that he chooses to serve them by washing their feet. Now back in the day washing feet was something the lowest servant did. The very bottom of the chain servant was the person to get down on their knees and wash people’s feet. In that moment Jesus was doing something revolutionary.
The definition of revolution is a drastic and far reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving or a sudden or momentous change in a situation.
Also in this passage Jesus acknowledges that he is their teacher and their Lord. That is why this is revolutionary. Jesus is taking like a million steps down from teacher and Lord by getting down on his knees and washing their feet.
When he does this he is setting them free to love and serve. He is setting us free to love and serve. He is setting us free to serve without boundaries of fame, wealth, and power. He is freeing us from boundaries so that we can give without boundaries.
Jesus said “now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them”. In that moment he is not giving us a job, but the kingdom of God! The kingdom of God, that is huge. He is handing off the task to us. To wash feet as a lifestyle.
Washing feet as a lifestyle means living a life of servant hood. Not being afraid to get down on our knees to serve others. Not being afraid to go the extra mile to serve others. Not being afraid to serve when it isn’t convenient for us.
That is what life is about loving others and being loved. When God comes into your life a revolution is started and you cant let it stop. You are free to keep the revolution going.
Love all…serve all…
