Memorial Day Weekend 2009
The Costs of Freedom
1 Cor. 10:1-13
May 24, 2009
What is freedom to you? We take a break from the parables to celebrate this special weekend and hear how God speaks to us at these special times of celebration. Memorial Day reminds us that freedom does not come without cost. Whether we think in terms of the freedom found in country that was bought by the sacrifice of countless lives or the freedom that comes through Christ that was purchased by his blood, freedom costs. So today we look at “The Costs of Freedom.”
The pastor called the children forward for the children’s sermon and held up a very ugly looking shirt. “This shirt is one that I wear around the house during the summer but someone recently told me that it was ugly and should be thrown away.”
“Now we all have the freedom to have our own opinions but this particular comment it really hurt me. Should I forgive this person?”
His own daughter raised her hand and answered, “Of course you should.”
“Why? This person really hurt my feelings.”
To which his daughter wisely added, “Because your married to her!”
In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul recounts the story of Israel and the exodus from Egypt. Except Paul gives us an interpretation based on the aspect of freedom, which he uses to teach the church at Corinth regarding the freedom that those who believe have and how it should be treated. We’ll look at that around July 4th. Today we are going to limit our focus on the costs of freedom.
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
The Israelites had an incredible freedom given to them. They were slaves being worked to death and then God miraculously delivered them. But despite all the miracles that they saw and experienced, they kept stumbling. They were free but they used their freedom in destructive ways. Indulged in pagan revelry. Created idols. They committed sexual immorality. They tested God. “This isn’t so bad. God really won’t have a problem if I do this or that because it isn’t that bad, is it? It isn’t like I’m some serial killer.” They grumbled and complained against the person God chose to lead them and grumbled against God.
The result was that their destructive behavior destroyed them. They had been given an enormous gift of freedom but they misused and even abused that freedom. They took it for granted and failed to use their freedom responsibly.
Freedom always has costs. Not just one cost but usually many costs. Moses paid a great price. The Irsraelites paid a great price of suffering. Christ was even with them in the desert according to Paul as symbolized by the rock from which God brought forth water.
Now Paul in this letter has already detailed the sacrifices of Jesus and himself on behalf of the people at Corinth as well as all people. And what Paul is leading up to is that freedom means that sacrifices will need to continue to be made.
We worship in freedom because of the sacrifices of people who died in wars. People who gave their lives for the cause of freedom. People who sacrificed so that we have building to worship in. On Memorial Day we remember their sacrifices and at the same time ask God what sacrifices do we need to make in order to continue this legacy of freedom.
With this in mind, I have a couple of things to remember in regards to freedom.
The Costs of Freedom
• Freedom should never be taken for granted.
So quickly did Israel forget the amazing miracles and the great sacrifices that were made so that they could leave Egypt in freedom. Paul doesn’t talk about this but in Exodus, you can read how at one point the people grumbled and complained arguing that they should have just stayed in Egypt rather than go through the trials of the desert trusting God to provide for them. They had taken their freedom for granted.
A homeless person complained to the volunteer, “I hate history. It’s stupid learning about the past. What good does that do me now?”
“I disagree,” said the worker, “Learning about history does so much for us. It helps us appreciate the sacrifices that were made so that we can stand here and express our opinions even yours. In some countries around the world, if you would have said that out loud, you probably would have been thrown in jail and tortured to death. As a matter of fact, just living the way you that you do without making any kind of contribution, you would have be forced to work as basically slave labor or else you would be taken somewhere and shot. Discarded like a hamburger wrapper. Yes, none of this has been free and none of it is deserved. It has been paid for by people willing to die for you some hundreds of years before you were born and some even at this moment.”
There are several principles that I believe help us to put into practice so that we don’t slip into taking the freedom that we have for granted.
o Thankfulness
o Praise and worship
o Willingness to make our own sacrifices
All of which are part of the opportunities to worship on Sundays corporately. God has wisely built these opportunities into worship so that we might remember to practice these principles in all the affairs of our lives.
Unfortunately, I think it is so easy to slip into “automatic pilot.” We go through the motions. We realize that we are really not too far off from these Israelites. Perhaps this one reason why we often have to walk through the desert places. Are we truly desperate for Christ? Do we realize that our progress in the faith is a matter of life and death? Not only for us but for others.
A pastor name Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned in Communist Romania for being a Christian. He gave this account:
“Hungry, beaten, and rugged, we had forgotten theology and the Bible. We had forgotten the ‘truths about the Truth,’ therefore we lived in ‘the Truth.’ We could not think anymore. In our darkest hours of torture, the Son of Man came to us, making the prisons walls shine like diamonds and filling the cells with light. Somewhere, far way, were the torturers below us in the sphere of the body. But the spirit rejoiced in the Lord. We would not have given up this joy for that of kingly palaces.”
We must not take our freedom for granted. Secondly we must realize:
• Freedom means greater responsibility.
Where much has been given, much will be required. We should not languish in the exceptional freedom that has been give to us but realize that for this to continue and for others around the world to experience the freedom that we have not only in this country but as a people who have found the freedom of Christ, we are called to sacrifice for Christ.
Too often, the church in order to try to make it easy for people to come to Christ have forgotten to explain that Jesus says to talk up our crosses and follow him. These crosses are not something that you buy at the nearest Christian book store. Paul said, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Warnings for us but also Paul says that the responsibilities have fallen on us. The fulfillment of the ages has come on us. When we think that we are standing so firmly and we have everything going for us, watch out that you don’t fall. Watch out that you don’t get care-less. It is when we are confident in our own abilities and in the places that we have built that we are in the most danger!
In our day and age, there is so much suffering and yet so much opportunity. It seems like every week is another story of someone who murders his own family before committing suicide. “What a shame! How awful!” And truly it is but wasn’t there someone who saw the desperate need that could share the freedom found in Christ.
The struggles that you have or have had are usually the exact means through which God can use you to help someone else. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. There are others probably many others who have struggled or are struggling with the same circumstances or even worse. In this you are not unique and you are not alone. God always provides a way out so that you can stand up. Implication here: God always provides others to help you bear it. When God has given you freedom then you are just the right person to help someone else bear up under their burden. If we have the eyes to see their suffering and the ears to hear their cries for help.
In a letter that was smuggled secretly out of a country full of Christian persecution said, “We don’t pray to be better Christians, but that we may be the only kind of Christians God means us to be: Christlike Christians, that is, Christians who bear willingly the cross for God’s glory.”
Many have suffered. Many have died for the freedom we enjoy. Christ died so that we might be free our past, free from our mistakes, free from the plague of fears, free from being consumed by worry, free from materialism, and free from facing the uncertainty of death.
I have had the privilege to be with several people and their families when they have breathed their last breath. It is an incredible privilege to be present for those who make the transition into God’s kingdom.
I also count it a privilege and honor to visit with people and their families during these last times. Maybe I’m not there are the passing but when a saint passes during these times, it is truly an honor. Even when they are suffering physically from disease, to be present even for moment when people transcend from one degree of glory to another is something incredibly special. To hear from their own lips that they are completely ready to meet the Lord, fills me with such joy that I can’t describe.
Do we honor those who have gone before us by continuing the legacy faith? Or do we degrade by taking our freedoms for granted or not living up to the responsibility that we have been given?
